Voeckler
Fred Flintstein
a village in the Ariege. Voeckler had yellow, after taking a
big gap in one of the early stages. Stage 13 ended at Plateau
de Beille, and I was at the saddle in between the Col d'Agnes
and the Port de Lers. The lead group came through and Voeckler
was absent.
He followed after a bit, looking like hell. There was no doubt
in my mind that this was his last day in the lead. He started
the day with 5:24 on Armstrong and he had already coughed up
some of that with two climbs left including the haul up to the
Plateau. If he had been able to maintain contact with the
front group he'd have had a chance. But being dropped at that
stage of the race meant it was over for him.
He looked to be near death as he came by.
It turned out to be a good spot to see the race because one
of the Tour sponsors had set up a private tent complete with a
jumbotron. We didn't have access to the tent but there were no
bad views of the jumbotron. Once the race went through there
was a pretty large crowd in front of the massive screen.
Lance ground up the lead group into andouillette to take the
stage and yellow. All that remained was to wait for the clock
to deliver the final blow to the fading Voeckler.
Voeckler appeared with most of his lead having passed into
memory. There are moments that you remember from the Tour and
for me one of them is the roar that came as Voeckler sprinted
for the finish line to save his yellow jersey by seconds. I
don't know where he got that. The guy that had passed through
earlier was not capable of it.
This year's Stage 14 follows the same route from Saint-Gaudens
to Plateau de Beille. And Voeckler is poised to make it another
heroic day. I'll be cheering for him. He didn't win, but he
rode with courage.
F
ilan
wrote:
Time for my annual post of the Mon Tour de France a Moi video:
http://www.wat.tv/video/mon-tour-france-par-thomas-qrbe_2h0s9_.html
Two years ago, I posted it right before his first TdF stage win. But
now, it no longer applies at all, as this year, he's in the leading
group doing late solo attacks. It's kind of late to post, but I felt
that he was up to something today when I saw that he didn't attack
yesterday in the final climb. By the way, that Plouay win is still
amazing, his first big victory and when he stopped being "le petit
francais" and became a serious rider.
-ilan
RicodJour
Yep, that was a memorable stage. I fell in love with the guy after he
was dropped like four or five times, and kept clawing his way back. I
remember thinking they'd have to shoot the guy and beat him with clubs
to keep him down. Guy's got heart.
R
ilan
I'm actually more impressed with him now that he's racing better. In
2004 he was doing that yo-yoing off the back which is just too
annyoing. I hope he won't do it this year. I also don't quite
understand the practice of these French guys to bury themselves to
keep the yellow jersey just one more day. I don't believe in
"panache", Speaking of which, I'm truly enjoying my time away from
France :).
-ilan
RicodJour
> > > Time for my annual post of the Mon Tour de France a Moi video:
> > > http://www.wat.tv/video/mon-tour-france-par-thomas-qrbe_2h0s9_.html
> > > Two years ago, I posted it right before his first TdF stage win. But
> > > now, it no longer applies at all, as this year, he's in the leading
> > > group doing late solo attacks. It's kind of late to post, but I felt
> > > that he was up to something today when I saw that he didn't attack
> > > yesterday in the final climb. By the way, that Plouay win is still
> > > amazing, his first big victory and when he stopped being "le petit
> > > francais" and became a serious rider.
>
> > Yep, that was a memorable stage. I fell in love with the guy after he
> > was dropped like four or five times, and kept clawing his way back. I
> > remember thinking they'd have to shoot the guy and beat him with clubs
> > to keep him down. Guy's got heart.
>
>
> I'm actually more impressed with him now that he's racing better. In
> 2004 he was doing that yo-yoing off the back which is just too
> annyoing. I hope he won't do it this year. I also don't quite
> understand the practice of these French guys to bury themselves to
> keep the yellow jersey just one more day. I don't believe in
> "panache", Speaking of which, I'm truly enjoying my time away from
> France :).
Legs and speed can be worked on. Heart is a binary affair. Someone
either has it or they don't. Voeckler's got it in spades. I would
guess that he has a lot to do with the resurgence of French cycling -
at least what I consider to be a resurgence. The guy gets in there
mixes it up and doesn't take no for an answer.
R
ilan
I don't personally think it has to do with French cycling, he pretty
much grew up in Guadeloupe where they have a totally different
mindset. In my opinion, it's because of his basic self-understanding
and honesty, in 2004 he had to continually tell at the French
supporters that Armstrong was in a different league from him and that
he only had the leader's jersey temporarily. Frankly, I think he must
have surprised himself by his progression.
There is an amateur bike racer here who on Saturday started railing
about how Armstrong was a doper and the testimony against him was
"fact". I used my rbr honed arguments to contradict him, with little
effect. Then I asked him if he tought Voeckler was doping, and he said
yes, his evidence being his good results this year. So, using the
moron (non-French, the person in question is Irish) criterion,
Voeckler is next to be under suspicion. He better not start a cancer
charity, which will prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
-ilan
Ryan Cousineau
While I might agree that Voeckler was comically dramatic in his last
jersey defense, he (and most other riders, and even most teams) don't
have a chance of winning it all. For Voeckler then and now, every day
in yellow was pretty much the maximum accomplishment that was
conceivable, met or exceeded personal and team goals, and was probably
worth a surprisingly quantifiable amount of money, both in sponsorship
dollars and at contract negotiation time.
I looked up the prize money, though: In 2011, the daily prize for
being the wearer of the maillot jaune is 350 Euros. In comparison,
first person to the top of a Cat 3 climb gets 300, and the daily
winner of the combativity prize gets 2000. http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/COURSE/docs/reglement.pdf
roberth...@yahoo.com
> While I might agree that Voeckler was comically dramatic in his last
> jersey defense, ...
Now we can look forward to several days of Voeckler jersey-defense
orgasm face.
Too bad there is no jersey for Mime of the Peloton.
He did a great job staying upright when Flecha smacked into him. A
very good rider, too bad he does that thing.
Fred Flintstein
> Now we can look forward to several days of Voeckler jersey-defense
> orgasm face.
I'm glad he enjoys his work.
F
Dumbass
>
> - Show quoted text -
Did you see how he outran the Peleton after that big crash? Kloden
was probably the only guy keeping up with his pace at that point.
After Voekler's amazing surge, Hushovd just gave up and started
lagging the peleton.
;-)
Dumbass
>
> - Show quoted text -
Reminds me of Contador '10. The tactics of champions.