Monday, July 06, 2009

Stage 3: Marseille to La Grande-Motte

There is a time cutoff for every stage of the Tour de France which determines which riders are disqualified for arriving at the finish line too late. However, I seem to be unable to calculate what the cutoffs are for each stage (the specific stage information may be in handbooks given to the team members, but it doesn't seem to be online), so I have to find out after-the-fact with everyone else.

Today Alan Perez Lezaun of Euskaltel-Euskadi and Dimitry Muravyev of Astana (Lanterne Rouge of the 2008 Giro d'Italia) finished together fully 13:49 after the stage winner. This put Alan Perez Lazaun into the Lanterne Rouge slot in the overall standings at 16:24 aggregate time behind the current maillot jaune wearer.

The team time trial is tomorrow, and I'll go out on a limb and predict that Muravyev will not be one of the riders who crosses the finish line with the team. His job will be to blow himself up well before the finish line pulling the team for all he's worth.

Labels: ,


This item posted by Nancy Toby @ 5:19 PM
Comments:
Great website, Nancy. However, I beg to differ on Dimitry Muravyev. Astana (or, as I'd like to think, post-US Postal, or post-Discovery Channel) would pride itself on finishing a TTT with all 9 riders. Johan Bruyneel would demand it, and Lance Armstrong would depend on it. With the rules changed this year w/r/t TTT, there is even less incentive to finish behind the team. Regardless, it is safe to say that Muravyev won't be among the top 5 Astana riders to cross the finish line. Tom
# posted by Blogger CU@UofChicago : 7:03 PM
 
We'll see tomorrow! I think they're going to go for a big team win and fast times for the top 5 at all costs. From the TdF site: "the time recorded for a team will be the time of the fifth rider. For those riders who are left behind during the team time-trial stage, their own time (real time) will be applied and taken into account for the individual general standings."
# posted by Blogger Nancy Toby : 7:29 PM
 
Hmm, Podium Cafe calls Astana for a #3 finish with Zubeldia and Muravyev getting dropped:

http://www.podiumcafe.com/2009/7/6/939719/sizing-up-the-teams-for-the-stage
# posted by Blogger Nancy Toby : 8:35 PM
 
Contador or Armstrong? Now it is up to you to decide which one of them will win this year - http://www.votetheday.com/tour-de-france/tour-de-france-winner--425/
# posted by Blogger Unknown : 6:30 AM
 
Preview: Tour de France: Stage 12. by: Gerald Weinand. Thu Jul 16, 2009 at 00:00:00 AM EDT. With ten stages to go counting this 12th one, the race is now past the halfway point. Of course, the ride through the Alps awaits, but for now, ...
More here:Tour de France: Stage 12-video
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 3:09 PM
 
Post a Comment

<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?