I was watching the Stage today and when Evans went on the attack Paul and Phil immediately hailed it as a "brilliant" maneuver. I check the stage profile and decided that it was a desperate move by a leader and team that recognized they were over matched. It was nearly Vino attacks in its breathtaking optimism. Evans would have had to be strong enough to stay away for the majority of the remaining mountains, he wasn't. Wiggins would have had to panic and tried to cover a deranged move, he didn't. Evans decision was as nearly breath-takingly stupid as Volckler's decision to go with Contrador last year.
What the attack and the stage did, however, show was that the idea that, as Armstrong used to say, that the Tour was an old man's game is false. Both Wiggins and Evans could have and should have been beaten by their younger and stronger teammates.
What happens next is, I think, the reason this largely leaderless tour is going to be so interesting. Also, can anyone explain what Jens' previous two attacks mean in terms of Radio Shacks "strategy" for the rest of the tour. I would have been glad to see him win but it made no sense.
And also too it look to me like Volckler could hardly walk after his stage victory. Bets on his withdrawal?
Volkler won't quit. I think europcar and radio shack are both going after the team title, basically letting all the team members place as high as they can. It's making for a great tour. If Jens can win a stage it will be the best tour ever
ReplyDeleteRight, they want the team title but how does letting Jens go on to solo assaults in the Alps aid them in that pursuit? Maybe they are desperate for a stage and figure lets let the big guy go, which makes certain amount of sense. And what the hell happened to Fraenk Schlecht? Is he really just the Luxemburgian version of Andreas Kloeden?
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