What Andy said – there'll be a breakway of half a dozen or so domestiques who are a few hours down on GC, everyone else will let them go then sit up and pootle along watching each other and staying out of trouble.
after some pretty big efforts in the last 2 stages and the TT i can't see any of the top 4 contendors making a huge effort, could be a day for some of those in 7-15th to make an impact though?
tinsy – Member
now I am no tactician, but why cant astana give it hell today and try and get all 3 of em onto the podium going into tomorrow?
They can try but more likely (because it's not a hard enough stage) all that would happen is that Astana would all be knackered so they'd be crap at Ventoux and the competition wouldn't lose any time because they'd just tuck in behind Astana. Of course, if there were crashes/sidewinds/etc. that might change things…
I think the fireworks will be more likely due to someone having a bad day than having a good day. ie. If (for whatever reason) Andy Schleck forgets to eat and cracks, I think you'll see Astana/Garmin seizing the opportunity.
There is a minuscule chance that someone will attempt to power over the final climb and take some time back, but as others have said, much more likely is that everyone saves their energy for tomorrow.
With his GC position and defecit of 1.5 mins on Frank Schleck, I wonder if Nibali might try a dig today? It would be interesting if Astana let Kloden ride for it today, as that would force everyone else to chase but I'd be suprised if they do. What a weekend – Ventoux and the Donnington MotoGP.