ITT stage 19 **Spoiler**

[HLaB]

If (and a big if) the mechanical had never happened and it had finished a draw, like the green jersey competition would it go to stage wins ?

 

[Genman]

Well that is his job!
Whatever one's views on the rights and wrongs - it has after all made the big difference on this tour. Not least because, without it, we would probably be having the closest TdF finish ever. You need some luck sometimes, and boy did Contador get lucky!

No, his job is to commentate, not to talk incessantly in mixed metaphors,and opinionated gibberish.
I think the closest ever finish was between Lemond & Fignon 1989 when Lemond won by 8 seconds.

 

[zimzum42]

There is so much 'what if' going on, but it's all worthless

If the chain incident had not happened, every little thing would have been different, not least the big tourmalet stage

 

[MacB]

There is so much 'what if' going on, but it's all worthless

If the chain incident had not happened, every little thing would have been different, not least the big tourmalet stage

yep, ifs, buts and maybes - I think the better rider won but I think Schleck has closed the gap between himself and Contador a lot more than was suspected previously.

I'd love to see a tour where more GC contenders attacked more often, in all sorts of zany ways and places. It can sometimes feel like you're watching scripted performance.

 

[marinyork]

I'd love to see a tour where more GC contenders attacked more often, in all sorts of zany ways and places. It can sometimes feel like you're watching scripted performance.

Think it might be time to bring back the time bonuses.

It was a lot more exciting than I thought, still not sure why Contador put in such a below average performance, must have been more tired in the mountains than we thought.

 

[chevin]

No, his job is to commentate, not to talk incessantly in mixed metaphors,and opinionated gibberish.
I think the closest ever finish was between Lemond & Fignon 1989 when Lemond won by 8 seconds.

Funny how differently we can react to commentators. I quite enjoy Sherwen and Liggett, but find the Eurosport commentating really irritating (except for Kelly) - not least because they're always messing up the rider identification (the Giro was spectacularly bad).

Yes it was, and it looks like it could have been even closer bar that incident (although, as already pointed out, there are plenty of 'what if''s that might have made a difference). The second closest was Roche's 87 win over Delgado by 40 seconds - so that's likely to be beaten.

 

[Chuffy]

I'm not sure I can cope with another three weeks of Sherwen/Liggett's witless drivelling but all we have is ITV4, so I'll just have to wait until the burbling cretins are pensioned off.

 

[zimzum42]

What happened to the Lance for TT victory suggestions?

 

[nosherduke996]

yep, ifs, buts and maybes - I think the better rider won but I think Schleck has closed the gap between himself and Contador a lot more than was suspected previously.

I'd love to see a tour where more GC contenders attacked more often, in all sorts of zany ways and places. It can sometimes feel like you're watching scripted performance.

Totally agree, it almost as if the riders are riding to a film script, Even the last stage up the mountains was predictable. I think Contador was just doing enough to keep things interesting.

 

[andrew_s]

If (and a big if) the mechanical had never happened and it had finished a draw, like the green jersey competition would it go to stage wins ?

It goes to 1/100ths in the prologue first

 

[andrew_s]

The second closest was Roche's 87 win over Delgado by 40 seconds - so that's likely to be beaten.

Contador's 23 second win over Evans, 2007

 

[chevin]

Contador's 23 second win over Evans, 2007

Yes, of course. Double whoops, as with Landis being disqualified, Pereira's win in 2006 was by just 32 seconds, making this only the 4th closest ever.