2016 Tour de France

GAV!N
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby GAV!N » Thu Jul 21, 2016 12:04 pm

Sad to see Quintana losing more time. Would have loved to see him and Froome duel it out for a good battle. My guess is that Froome will take more time on tonight's hill TT.

Although it's not over until it's over, it would appear it's now a battle for podium positions, which is still certainly a good competition.

Can Richie make the podium??

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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby slidetaker » Thu Jul 21, 2016 1:21 pm

I am not backing Quintana....Meanwhile Aru is making things a little bit more interesting.....I really hope Richie can keep up the form for at least tomorrow and day after...unlike his team mate...

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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby GAV!N » Thu Jul 21, 2016 5:41 pm

I think Phil Ligget should get the sack for saying "Richie Froome" by mistake on numerous occasions.

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DavidS
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby DavidS » Thu Jul 21, 2016 9:19 pm

Quintana doesn't seem up to winning does he? Maybe in a couple of years, he is still relatively young I think.

Great to see Astana having a go, Aru may be a real contender in a year or two, again I think he is still quite young so there's hope and he has a go. Valverde was having a go for his team mate too and that was great to see.

Then Porte at the end, magnificent. I don't really know why but I got the impression Porte might have been trying to soften up Froome in the hope that a few days of attacks might have an effect. Just a gut feeling I suspect.

Someone needs to get that damned Sky Train out of their rhythm, and the more the merrier I reckon. If a few teams try and mix it up I reckon it might have some effect. Certainly might make for a more exciting race.

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g-boaf
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby g-boaf » Thu Jul 21, 2016 9:56 pm

warthog1 wrote:47 kmh for 160 or so k's :o
Poor Alaphilippe was hanging on most of the way. Popped in the end I think, as did I. Woke on the couch at the finish.
I thought that too. Watching Tony Martin just cranking over the pedals like a machine. :shock: 8) Hats off to the both of them. Even if it didn't work out. I didn't see all of it, I fell asleep.

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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby AUbicycles » Thu Jul 21, 2016 10:04 pm

GAV!N wrote:I think Phil Ligget should get the sack for saying "Richie Froome" by mistake on numerous occasions.
On the day of the RunningMan, Tomolaris apologised for Ligget. I have the sound down by the time Ligget and Sherwin get to speak.
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby warthog1 » Thu Jul 21, 2016 11:59 pm

They called riders Pantani a few times on last night's commentary too
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby AndrewCowley » Fri Jul 22, 2016 1:42 am

g-boaf wrote:Watching Tony Martin just cranking over the pedals like a machine. :shock: 8) Hats off to the both of them. Even if it didn't work out. I didn't see all of it, I fell asleep.
There was a TT in a race earlier this year (can't recall which; perhaps Paris Nice) where he ran a 56 tooth front chain ring. Incredible.

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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby madmacca » Fri Jul 22, 2016 1:26 pm

Porte is still looking good - I like his chances of taking more time on his rivals (except Froome) and reaching the podium.

But he does need to pace his efforts on the time trial a bit. He went out with the fastest time on the 1st sector last night, outpacing the heavier and more powerful Dumoulin (who was riding a TT bike) on the flatter parts of the course, then gave up a little on the climb, where as the lighter rider, he should have had an advantage.

It was the same deal with the earlier TT, where he went out too hard too early.

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peterlip
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby peterlip » Fri Jul 22, 2016 11:03 pm

I understand why Astana would want to lead the peloton up a hill to put on some pressure on the Sky machine*, but i simply don't get why they would want to spend a single second in the valley leading the peloton. With this tactic, Sky will arrive at the final climb fully rested.


(*) Actually, I don't really understand given the pace they are riding. They can barely drop the sprinters, so it's not doing anything to Sky. They need to save themselves for when it matters.

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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby DavidS » Fri Jul 22, 2016 11:08 pm

Yep, I agree. Unless they can mess up the pace of the Sky Train then there is little point.

Maybe they are trying to set a false tempo so they are not so tired when they get to the uphills, but, apart from that I don't think that is the case, it would be pointless as they need to tire out the Sky riders so Froome is isolated.

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AUbicycles
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby AUbicycles » Fri Jul 22, 2016 11:10 pm

peterlip, I was asking exactly the same thing - why do Astana want to control the Peloton?

They have one rider in the breakaway who has no GC chances and a lot of competition for stage success with 70km to go.
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby peterlip » Fri Jul 22, 2016 11:20 pm

AUbicycles wrote:peterlip, I was asking exactly the same thing - why do Astana want to control the Peloton?

They have one rider in the breakaway who has no GC chances and a lot of competition for stage success with 70km to go.
It's driving me insane. I'm glad I'm not alone, as I thought it's so obvious that perhaps I'm missing something somewhere.

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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby AUbicycles » Fri Jul 22, 2016 11:23 pm

A short video (on twitter from @inrng) showing the Astana teamwork.

https://twitter.com/inrng/status/756475636747800576
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DavidS
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby DavidS » Sat Jul 23, 2016 12:31 am

Ooh, very nasty conditions now. Rolland had a horrible crash, both wheels out from under him.

Bit of a case of staying upright at the moment.

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peterlip
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby peterlip » Sat Jul 23, 2016 12:42 am

I wonder if Richie came off or not. (I have zero faith in P & P's commentary)

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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby warthog1 » Sat Jul 23, 2016 12:58 am

Froome crashed on white line road marking. Riding Thomas's bike.
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peterlip
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby peterlip » Sat Jul 23, 2016 1:00 am

Froome 186cm. Thomas 183cm. That bike should fit nicely.

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DavidS
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby DavidS » Sat Jul 23, 2016 1:32 am

Well that was a lot more interesting.

Well done to Astana riding off the front for so long, Aru did manage an attack late. Aru is quite young so in a couple of years he should be better

BMC had a go, Porte lost a bit of time but he had a go.

Hats off to Froome too, came off and got straight back on. BMC need to watch that video, leave a rider on a similar size bike near your leader, or even another rider, but don't leave them alone.

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peterlip
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby peterlip » Sat Jul 23, 2016 1:36 am

Totally agree DS. That 1:46 lost back at the start would've been 15s if BMC had someone near him to donate a wheel. Could've (should've) been second right now.

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bane
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby bane » Sat Jul 23, 2016 8:30 am

That was an amazing stage thanks to the rain - plenty of shakeups.

However, I have to say I am thoroughly disappointed by Quintana. He's done pretty much nothing other than stay on everybody else's wheel. Everyone tried to get away from Froome except him.

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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby Uncle Just » Sat Jul 23, 2016 11:59 am

Impressed by "Ryder" Costa's downhill riding in the wet. (Phil's new name for Rui)
That stage had it all, great win by Bardet. Looking forward to the stage into Morzine particularly the crazy fast descent into town.

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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby GAV!N » Mon Jul 25, 2016 4:35 pm

An article from cyclingtips about the boringness of the GC Battle - http://cyclingtips.com/2016/07/commenta ... so-boring/

Begs the question, would a salary cap style system be feasible for cycling? Sky's budget is clearly a contributing factor in to them winning 4 of the last 5 tours.

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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby warthog1 » Mon Jul 25, 2016 8:18 pm

Well, all in all I enjoyed that. I agree with Henk Vogel's assessment.
If people found that predictable or boring they were watching a different race to me.
Sure the climbs were neutralized to some extent by a team with a massive budget and the best domestiques. That wasn't where the race was won though.

Made my holiday enjoyable anyway. I have quite enjoyed my nightly tour fix and red wine :)
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DavidS
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Re: 2016 Tour de France

Postby DavidS » Mon Jul 25, 2016 11:30 pm

Boring tour as far as I was concerned. Froome may have made it more interesting by attacking downhill and the like, but, let's face it, he would have won without the downhill attack. He held yellow for most of the race and barely looked challenged. I don't think he is that much better than Porte, Quintana et al.

Jut the fact Sky have 5 or 6 riders to support Froome and set the pace every day up every mountain makes for a boring race. It also means it is impossible for other riders to attack as there are a couple of Sky riders to reel them in while their leader doesn't have to waste that energy.

I don't know what the answer is but my answer is to watch the Giro and Vuelta for exciting grand tours and watch the one day races which seem to have more chance for excitement.

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