CSC dilemma

Dumbasses -

Their goal was to have Basso challenge LANCE for the jersey.

Good plan considering his ride last year and what he displayed in the
Giro this year.

Problem is, now how hard do they defend Zabriskie's jersey? If they use
up the team defending it, it makes it harder for them to protect Basso
later on.

Zabriskie's got a fat lead over everyone but LANCE.

It's a good problem to have, I suppose.



thanks,

K. Gringioni.

Dimtit.

What do you think?!! Mr. 60 has proven himself a fine tactician in the
past; why should that change now?

While I'm thinking we won't see Basso bringing water bottles back up to
Zabriskie, I'm thinking they'll defend hard.

I think their director may be smart enough to know that they should take all
the publicity they can now. It doesn't look good for the contenders...



"Kurgan Gringioni" wrote in message
oups.com...
Dumbasses -

Their goal was to have Basso challenge LANCE for the jersey.

Good plan considering his ride last year and what he displayed in the
Giro this year.

Problem is, now how hard do they defend Zabriskie's jersey? If they use
up the team defending it, it makes it harder for them to protect Basso
later on.

Zabriskie's got a fat lead over everyone but LANCE.

It's a good problem to have, I suppose.



thanks,

K. Gringioni.

Kurgan Gringioni wrote:

Problem is, now how hard do they defend Zabriskie's jersey? If they use
up the team defending it, it makes it harder for them to protect Basso
later on.

Which is why they'll put in exactly 0 effort to preserve Zaby's jersey.

Zabriskie's got a fat lead over everyone but LANCE.


With maximum team effort, how long do you suppose CSC could keep that
jersey? It'll be gone after the TTT no matter what they do.

On 2 Jul 2005 11:15:02 -0700, Kurgan Gringioni wrote:
Their goal was to have Basso challenge LANCE for the jersey.
Problem is, now how hard do they defend Zabriskie's jersey?

Another big, big goal was to have the yellow in the first week. Good
start. They will defend.

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Tim Lines wrote:
Kurgan Gringioni wrote:

With maximum team effort, how long do you suppose CSC could keep that
jersey? It'll be gone after the TTT no matter what they do.

With Zabriskie, Voigt, Julich and Basso, and Disco missing Ekimov,
that is not assured. A while back, an expert panel of RBR analysts
concluded that cumulative prologue times are a pretty good predictor
of TTT rank. CSC won the teams classification today, but by only a
hair over Disco.

CSC's willingness to defend the jersey probably depends on how
much the sprinters' teams help them reel in the breaks. CSC would
have to keep breaks close enough that teams like QS and Davitolottomon
feel it's worthwhile to pull for the last N kms of a stage.
Too bad T-Mob left Zabel at home!

On Sat, 2 Jul 2005 12:24:12 -0600, "BigLoco"
wrote:

While I'm thinking we won't see Basso bringing water bottles back up to
Zabriskie, I'm thinking they'll defend hard.

I think their director may be smart enough to know that they should take all
the publicity they can now. It doesn't look good for the contenders...


It's a bit early to think that all of Lance's main rivals have started
to think about second place, but if anyone doubted that Lance is in
good form, that has been laid to rest.

I doubt that today could have gone any better for Lance. He put
serious time on all his competitors and CSC has yellow but the man in
yellow is not Basso. If CSC expends energy defending the yellow, it
will hurt Bassos's chances in the GC. If they let it go, they could
end up with nothing. Considering that Basso is already 1'24" behind
they have to think that Basso is a long shot. My guess is that CSC
will try to defend as long as they can.

Jan has to be demoralized after seeing Lance pass him on the road.
Talk about starting the Tour on a down note. I doubt that Jan will
sleep well tonight.

Too bad that no one actually saw Zabriskie ride. A ride like that
deserves to be seen. The BBC reported that conditions worsened as the
day went on, but determining who was helped (or hurt) by the wind (or
lack of it) is a fools errand.

wrote:
Tim Lines wrote:

Kurgan Gringioni wrote:


With maximum team effort, how long do you suppose CSC could keep that
jersey? It'll be gone after the TTT no matter what they do.


With Zabriskie, Voigt, Julich and Basso, and Disco missing Ekimov,
that is not assured. A while back, an expert panel of RBR analysts

Oxymoron...

concluded that cumulative prologue times are a pretty good predictor
of TTT rank. CSC won the teams classification today, but by only a
hair over Disco.

CSC's willingness to defend the jersey probably depends on how
much the sprinters' teams help them reel in the breaks. CSC would
have to keep breaks close enough that teams like QS and Davitolottomon
feel it's worthwhile to pull for the last N kms of a stage.

This makes sense to me. I'd hate to see them put in a lot of unaided
team effort for Zabriskie. Doing so would jeopardize their ability to
provide the best possible support for Basso later on. That's why
you're suggesting they'll be dependent on help from the sprinters teams,
I'm sure.

Too bad T-Mob left Zabel at home!

Tim Lines wrote:

With maximum team effort, how long do you suppose CSC could keep that
jersey? It'll be gone after the TTT no matter what they do.

Not if they've learned from their experiences in the past and select
decent tires and pressure for the TTT. How many flats did they get in
2003?

Jim

Dans le message de
oups.com,
Kurgan Gringioni a réfléchi, et puis a déclaré :
Dumbasses -

Their goal was to have Basso challenge LANCE for the jersey.

Good plan considering his ride last year and what he displayed in the
Giro this year.

Problem is, now how hard do they defend Zabriskie's jersey? If they
use up the team defending it, it makes it harder for them to protect
Basso later on.

Zabriskie's got a fat lead over everyone but LANCE.

It's a good problem to have, I suppose.



thanks,

K. Gringioni.

Unless a strong contender gets in the breaks over the next few, flat days,
there is no motivation for CSC to actively defend anything. Bunch finishes,
all the way to Germany. No time lost, no jersey strongly defended, no
imagination.

But that's the modern tour, yes ?
--
Bonne route !

Sandy
Vreneuil-sur-Seine FR