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Tour of Qatar Stage 4 LIVE

Al Takhira - Madinat al Shamal 147.5 km

Climbers, no sorry, sprinter's stage. Podiumcafe's likely suspect: Adam Blythe

Official site , Startlist , Stageinfo

Live video:13:00 CET (07:00 US EST, 23:00 AUS EDT)
Video: steephill , cyclingfans , Procyclinglive , Sports Livez.

0 recs  |  318 comments

Comments

Lars Petter...
He's building on that good form he had

at the end of last year

Don't get over-excited, but I see Sports-Livez are getting ready....

Oh for goodness sake, I've just realised I have to work that Saturday!

Why do the cycling gods hate me so? :(

Go tell your boss that you will be sick on that day

“Contaminated steak, it’s a Basque thing.”

Channel 12 is racist
3rd. Better than nothing.
Presuming they're in the front group again after echelons puts everyone in the gutter

Can’t see past Boonen or Cavendish again.

Oh, don't worry.

Cav. is so short I’m sure you can see past him.

You can see past Bert Grabsch too,

but the image is distorted by the gravitational lensing around his backside.

PdC is in midseason form already, I see.
Not at all.

We are not yet frustrated and disillusioned by the performance of our F-VDS teams.

I haven't even thought about VDS

Or even whether or not I’m going to do that this year. Last year was a huge flop for me. Dan Jansen-esque.

It can only get better then, right?
taxi!

or rather, team car to hold onto :P

I'm rather hoping for Boonen in the front group and Cav getting caught out.

He can’t match Cav for pure speed in a straight out sprint but it’s not a hopeless cause ;)

This is the bet sprint train he’s had in many years.
I think this year could be much better for him then recent history.

I agree. It's looking more promising for sure.
A
erm...

not sure what happened here, sorry

B

I’m quite good at this game.

D

In the Basque alphabet there is no C.

In Chinese, there is no ‘R’; only ‘er’ & ‘ru’

So, "arrot rash!" from now on?
That's General Arrot Ash to you!

It's pronounced like a z, so we would

have bleeding zarrots…

It'd be funnier if it were pronounced like a p
Sounds like a Monty Python skit.
Is it time for Renshaw to show he deserves to be the main sprinter on Rabo?
I think that will end up being one of the worst signings of the year
The hype is perhaps bigger than the talent, we will see.
Agree

It’s one thing to look good leading out a guy who would win without his own train, but it’s another thing altogether to actually be the guy there at the end duking it out for the line.

and its unrealistic to think he'll have the better sprint results at Rabo by season's end?
Many riders have failed to take the step up:

Steegmans was a good leadout man for Boonen then failed trying to win himself.
I am sure there are others.

Pre-Renshaw, Ciolek was Cav's favorite lead out, to the point where they talked about spending their careers together as a team.
and Ciolek is struggling with the winning part.
Yup--I was strengthening your point.
perhaps Milram was not the best place to get confidence.
Until they put him on leadout duty for Matthews

Joke aside, I suspect you are right but I’d give him a season or at least half a season to get into the new role.

He says his visits to sports psychologists with AIS are important in changing his mindset.
Are they secretly hypnotizing him?

“You are feeling sleeeepy. When you wake up you will want to lead out Matthews so Australia can win countless victories in the years to come.”

That could be difficult. Matthews is apparently GE bound when his contract finishes.
oooo

Source?

I don't remember, but I think if you google Bannan you'll find it.

For those who understand Dutch

a collision between two trams in Tervuren today three slightly injured?

my dutch is limited

is this an attempt to spread the language of Dutch?
It's a funny

last sentence: “Both trams are old models, like the people on it.”

Ah, thanks.

I was thinking some sort of extended metaphor—like, the two “trams” represented sprint trains, and was working on the “three slightly injured,” still trying to decide whether that was literal injury or the pain competitors like Boonen, Farrar, and Renshaw felt as Cavendish whooshed past them once again.

wooden shoes all over the tracks.. :-)
Cav going by those guys looks similar to a TGV train going past a

bunch of grazing deer.

stay off drugs!
Ha. They've already corrected it
www.steephill.tv - Preview of today's stage

Of all of the 2012 Tour of Qatar stages that can be affected by the wind, this is the one to keep an eye on. After all we finish in Madinat Al Shamal and a “shamal” is the name for a northwesterly wind blowing over Iraq and the Persian Gulf states which is often strong during the day.

Someone on Twitter says the stage is about to end.
What? Already?
Strong tailwind.
Must be a mega tailwind, coverage hasn't even started yet!
I know, the tweet was something along the lines of "ES hasn't started, but the stage is 4km from ending" but I can't find it now.
Maybe they were wrong...or someone would have tweeted results by now.
Hmm. Someone has tweeted a result...
I'm now wondering if its just the UCI being late with the stage 3 result
Could you share with us the name of this someone?
signing off. Need to go to work...

Tommeke, Tommekke, Tommeke…

o/t the final race of Mallorca Challenge is cancelled.
Le bah.
will Northug be the overall winner now?
Don't think there is any overall

Because its not specifically a “stage race”. Don’t quote me though, I may be wrong but I haven’t seen any GC result

No, no GC. Riders don't have to do all the 'stages'
the GC is very unofficial.
I think it was Dowsett who tweeted that Henao was the very unofficial GC leader
Anyway, an hour or so ago Bak and Shimizu were the break.
Cavendish wins?
UCI @UCI_cycling

#UCI Road World Champion #MarkCavendish wins again at #TourofQatar. In 2011 he captured 14 victories. How many this year?
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
28 kms to go. Echelons and breakaways.
Hi, all. They're saying "live" at 28k to go.
Michael Barry injured.
Bummer.
Looks like a hard fall.
Chute! Oh, noes, Michael Barry!
great racing

today!

Boonen is hungry for this race.
Nice to see him going for it.
I agree.
AFter taking the 2nd sprint over Farrar, he's now 7" ahead on GC.
o/t: oh, ffs, twitter, did you really need to reverse the interface?
What does that mean um?
tweets use to be on the left, now on the right.

plus, the font is smaller, and the time since tweeted has also been moved.

Ouch. And we read left to right :(
oh, and, to compose a tweet, it's now on the upper left corner
+1

What a waste of 1/2 the screen

No Cav in front group

Farrar and Boonen there

Cav got his win. Letting the kids play.
Tombo with 3 teammates

Says the OPQS twitter (which is exceptionally good this season so far)

Indeed it is! They even interact with me! :)
any news on your prize?
No! :(
If I repeat my joke, will you kill me?
Jebus help me

the red Gilbert shorts are growing on me.

Some growths should be removed.
You need to lie down.
a Swede liking lots of red. Rare indeed.
23k to go, gap 19" between first and second echelon.
My feed seems to be a few seconds behind, but it's beautifully clear so I don't think I'll look for another.
Aidis Kroupis won the first sprint. Good boy :)
He wants to be on many FSA VDS teams.
I want him to be too...has potential I'd say :)
I want bonus for being the only one to take him last year...

you all copied!

I'm betting he will be on less than ten teams.
I'll take that bet.
Excellent. I'll send you a copy of 'Cloudstreet' when you win :)
Missed the first minutes

did we see the split?

Farnese Vini trying to shut the break down
ES2 Commentator Brian Smith says the 2nd group will catch the first,

but Boonen and Gert S. are driving that first group like crazy, gap now 26".

Echelon 2 splitting too
16 guys left in first echelon
fantastic racing!
echooooloooons
Fantastic work by Boonen, Fabian and the Sky riders
ES says Eisel is there for the win
Cruel racing, love it
Very cruel.

I’m starving, but don’t want to go make breakfast and miss anything.

Boonen showing leadership capability again.
Is this a rerun of yesterday's stage?
It feels like a while since he's been this assertive and 'present' with his team.
I thought I was replying to Uphill.
Splosh...
It was really a big neigh splosh :(
It's been a while,

approximately 365 days to be semi-exact.

Gogo EchelonEdge :D
Baden & Kruopis
Cookie's sticking to Kroupis like glue.
Langeveld too?
I think he punctured and was trying to come back.
Think he got dropped a few minutes ago
I think the first group will be caught

riders starting to look around

nah, doubtful

many seem keen still

true

riders slowing the other group

don't think so

all the strong guys are in the front

Gap 34", 13.4k to g
16 riders in front group
I don't think Langeveld's there.
Cancellara, Kroupis, Boonen, Farrar, Eisel
Flecha
would ride for Eisel surely

otherwise, wtf are Sky doing

wow, cyclingfever revamped it's home page also today
Are Sky just riding for the hell of it?
I think it's just in case Group Two catches up.
That's right, wouldnt want Cav to catch them,

‘cos he’s on HTC.. No, wait!

Sky DS yelling out the window "stop riding ffs, Cav is not in the front group"
Eisel
yeah, most "logical" conclusion

but who knows?

Bad. Idea.
not in February
:) Well, maybe not, but iIf you let Cav sprint, you win.

Let’s see if Eisel can do better than that.

Cav is still recovering from that virus--might make sense to let him get a bit of a breather today.

Especially since he made his point yesterday.

Well, of course if you look at the picture,

this may be perfectly sensible.

But if you stifle your greed and throw Eisel a bone in February

He will be better help March-August. Net gain?

Flecha riding for 4th GC
Boonen's like a kelpie with a mob of sheep.
Why did they replay Boonens bellydance?
They've got a female working the "replay" button today.
disclaimer: it's early

Farrar not looking good for bunch sprints, but making all of the right breaks looks good for classics

Let's say that for everyone bar Cav shall we? excellent excuse.
I fired and then rehired him yesterday for those exact reasons.
Offredo too, he's got a bit of a sprint on him, did well at MSR last year too
Fabian was quite fast there too
Thor looks terrible, which looks good for the classics.
Ramunas Navardauskas

will keep this together for Farrar

Navadauskus

Lithuanian Jens? Is a monster on the front, no wonder he made the TDF team last year

+1 Amazing, especially for such a young guy.
Back to the cameltrack section now
fingers crossed for no flats
Should be a cool little sprint

Not many but some fast & interesting names there

not sure it will end in a sprint
It feels like a mini classic in the sun.
This has quite the classic feel to it

Very enjoyable

So pissed I couldn't get up for this...

…your comments make it sound great.

cance and blythe ripping it up
Vamos Spartacus!

With Offredo on his wheel

Amazing ride by Fabian
kruopis has a puncture
Flecha catches up
Tom & Steegmans too
Ha! This is great
steegs drags boonen and friends back up
Very very clever by Blythe. Learning quickly.

Updating FSA DS.

and the a mech ffs.
Ha! I broke my no1-pointers rule and added him yesterday.
3.3 k to go, down to 5 riders!!
This is reminiscent of

And then there were none.

what a classic preview

Boonen v Cancellara

Boonen using a bit more brains today. Could bode well.
Fabian, Boonen, Steegmans, Van Keirsbulck, Flecha and Kluge
kudos to Kluge as well
fun comments on his effort in the TTT the other day
Yup, only one who managed to close the gap alone (Van Keirsbuck on his wheel)
Maes no?
I thought VK
you were right
weird, graphic must've been wrong, never saw him mentioned

strong ride either way

(I meant Jens was right)
He was listed when they where 16
there is nothing better in bike racing then when riders split the peloton on a flat road
best race of the year so far!
So exciting! I'm on the edge of my seat!!
veelers catches up
veelers 2nd, cance 3rd
Boonen

Cancellara
Kluge
Flecha

Veelers apparently
and he was 2nd, not third
Hell yeah!
Goooooooo Tom!!!!
Tyler swore...good heavens
is that a quote?
I think 'Fuck' would be accurate :)
14" back today, not including the bonus seconds Tommeke will get.
Well, team Sky did get the coveted 4th place. Well done!
that was fun. can we have redo now?
so, when does the tour of qatar get renamed to the tom boonen invitational?
When that one berg in Flanders gets officially renamed th Boonen-berg
Tommeke is looking scary
it's february
That's why it's scary.

Tempting a lot of people right now, I bet.

Me for one.
I'm too lazy to go through that much of an overhaul of my draft team.

Thank the god/s/esses

What does he cost?
Like, six gummy bears and some scotch?
12
Thanks

8 would have been a bargain, 12…a gamble :P

It's all a gamble :)
12 for a 500 point guy

is robbery.

500 points?

we’re not talking about Edvald now

Also massively overpriced. :D
So if you're convinced he's a 500-point guy

don’t take him.

On the other hand, if you suspect he’s really a 1200-point guy…

I will make a note of this.
Yeah, I'm confused now

500 points is is less than Nuyens, who’s 10pts @700pts

Boonen only scored about 570 points yesteryear.
so it it robbery because he costs 12pts for 500pts last year of robbery to the player because he can exceed that?
One of us needs to stop drinking...
Lol

I’m sober :(

So am I, so perhaps i'm just comprehension challenged.
I think proven long term earning potential

weighs in there vs. a possible flash in the fan dicount for Nuyens

Mine isn't even close to finalised, so it's easy.
I'm calling you Antipodean-Drew now

(except he’s had Boonen since day 1 of course)
(since 2006 really)

Clearly you're not into that whole brevity thing.
I have submitted my team 3 days ago

and I have him

Actually with Tommeke and El Pistolero

You’re guaranteed to book-end the season nicely.

Remember, this is the race that predicted the Haussler glory year...

That is all.

February's not early if your season only goes through early April
reminds me of 2005 somehow
MASSIVE HAPPYDANCE!
Brammeier wasn't looking very happy

(didn’t make the break)

Cameraman, please do not pan away when Tommeke removes his jersey!
People have been calling for the next Eddy Merckx for quite some time..
eddy has boo-boos on his elbow
Barring a badly-timed flat, Boonen's got this.

But there sure were a lot of badly-timed flats today.

I take offense

when sucky little pebbles bring down my clever predictions

Roubaix must be hell for you.
If those are pebbles, what are these?

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