TdF Stage 3 *spoiler*

Kléber

Yes, I always thought the cobbles were being hyped. Don't get me wrong, they are not easy and some will suffer from the rough roads and from being flicked sideways. But it's only a handful of sections. What characterises P-R is the succession of cobbles, the constant battering until the race splits towards the end. A few short sharp sections will let the race regroup.

stagehopper

David Hamron's ridden the last 6 sections of cobbles through to the finish, ahead of commentating for Eurosport - here are his tweets after each one:

# Section 2 pave typical Flanders. Goo to ride on re crown, dusty in the gutter. Nit hard but a fast one

# Section 3 at Rongy 700m of small smooth fan laid pave. No problem for the peloton. There is a good tailwind between 2 and 4 to line them out

# Section 4 very rough both gutters ridable, left is better than the right.

# Section 5 fast in the gutters, crown ok 2nd half smoother, BIG gravel patch at 90 degree left hander half way through section.

# Section 6 is really 2 sections linked with a 90 degree Tarmac left hander. Depending on the spectators left gutter then switch to right

# Final section a real hammer down job. Good crown but very little gutter and rammed with spectators already. Rode it in 53-17. Don't slow up! People all over the place on that section and its a full gas job.

# It's as dry as a bone at the moment and unless the specialists rip it to pieces there may be a bigger group than expected at the line.

# Last 5kms a mixture of great Tarmac, wide roads and side wind....fantastic last road section, really fast.

avoidingmyphd

you missed the last tweet:

# WHOOOOOOOO!!!! that was fantastic...

bearfraser

Lets have a Fuel spill and some rain just to make everything interesting and how about some dogs as well (Mountain bikes anyone????) :!:

disgruntledgoat

VDV's got it bad... 5 stitches in his eye, out of the race and on top of it all having to fly home on Ryan Air.

FransJacques

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photos/ ... arm/129145

Holy sheit look at his left lower arm near the elbow. Is that thing inflamed or what? There's not many things they can take for that which aren't banned. Remember Vaughters and his bee sting.

frenchfighter

Voeckler's bike and kit are super cool:

iainf72

frenchfighter wrote:

Voeckler's bike and kit are super cool:

I thought Colnago's were ugly?

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ht=colnago

pb21

iainf72 wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Voeckler's bike and kit are super cool:

I thought Colnago's were ugly?

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ht=colnago

calvjones

iainf72 wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Voeckler's bike and kit are super cool:

I thought Colnago's were ugly?

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ht=colnago

Only when they're laden with superfluous apostrophes

eh

Voeckler's bike and kit are super cool:

Well as thats answered the most important TDF question of the day, thankfully I can get back to work now :roll:

gabriel959

pb21 wrote:

iainf72 wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Voeckler's bike and kit are super cool:

I thought Colnago's were ugly?

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ht=colnago

To be fair, he says 90% of Colnago's bikes so this might just be the exception to the rule.

In any case, I also prefer Time to Colnago - in looks alone!

Pross

So based on Harmon's tweets the cross wind in the final few ks could open up any gaps that are created by the cobbles. Here's hoping!

camerone

biq question:- will the shack and Sky crank it up today in the hope of putting schlecks and contador in trouble?
or will it be an anti climax?

blazing_saddles

Laurent Fignon is back, commentating on France 2. He looks reasonably well, but his voice is terrible. A vocal chord problem, rather than cancer, it seems.

iainf72

camerone wrote:

biq question:- will the shack and Sky crank it up today in the hope of putting schlecks and contador in trouble?
or will it be an anti climax?

Saxo have a far better team for the cobbles than the Shack, don't they?

Also, Berts got Vino there who may be many things, but he can read a race well and can muscle into the right position.

But I'm sure they're try. The thought of little Levi and skinny AndyK trying to work people over on the cobbles does amuse me.

frenchfighter

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Laurent Fignon is back, commentating on France 2. He looks reasonably well, but his voice is terrible. A vocal chord problem, rather than cancer, it seems.

I hope it isn't cancer related. He almost sounds like he is dying. Excellent insight that he gives.

calvjones

frenchfighter wrote:

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Laurent Fignon is back, commentating on France 2. He looks reasonably well, but his voice is terrible. A vocal chord problem, rather than cancer, it seems.

I hope it isn't cancer related. He almost sounds like he is dying. Excellent insight that he gives.

Unfortunately, he is.

Damp today :shock:

camerone

iainf72 wrote:

camerone wrote:

biq question:- will the shack and Sky crank it up today in the hope of putting schlecks and contador in trouble?
or will it be an anti climax?

Saxo have a far better team for the cobbles than the Shack, don't they?

.

i agree, but surely they will have to ride at the speed of the schlecks? does the cobbled surface limit the speed riders can travel at. What i think i am trying to say is it doesnt naturally follow that schleck could keep the wheel of a specialist like ogrady or cancellara over the cobbles does it? therefore if some of the favourites are slower over the cobbles their classics teammates will need to hold back to pace on the tarmac? sorry its garbled i only just know myself what i am trying to say!

frenchfighter

3.30 at 75km. QS on the front going hard.

calvjones

Chavanel's bike.... it ain't Voeckler's!

clanton

Slightly off topic - how IS Fignon?

takethehighroad

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Laurent Fignon is back, commentating on France 2. He looks reasonably well, but his voice is terrible. A vocal chord problem, rather than cancer, it seems.

How are you watching it? I fancy watching the stage in French today

TheStone

camerone wrote:

i agree, but surely they will have to ride at the speed of the schlecks? does the cobbled surface limit the speed riders can travel at. What i think i am trying to say is it doesnt naturally follow that schleck could keep the wheel of a specialist like ogrady or cancellara over the cobbles does it? therefore if some of the favourites are slower over the cobbles their classics teammates will need to hold back to pace on the tarmac? sorry its garbled i only just know myself what i am trying to say!

Could end up with each team having an independent train, each going at the speed of
their slowest GC rider.

Cobbles are like mountains as you need more power to travel at the same speed, but without
the gravity, so the heavier stronger riders are at a huge advantage.

frenchfighter

http://video.eurosport.fr/cyclisme/audio.shtml

chriskempton

Sean says it's a day for standard road bikes and not worth lugging heavy tyres around, but there's lots of green Pave CGs in evidence?

DaveyL

Maybe they are 25s instead of 27s?

donrhummy

Does anyone think Cancellara can help get Andy some of that minute plus he lost in the prologue back on the cobbles?

iainf72

donrhummy wrote:

Does anyone think Cancellara can help get Andy some of that minute plus he lost in the prologue back on the cobbles?

Only if he carries him. Andy will have just as bad a time as Contador. Probably worse because he's a crap bike handler.

frenchfighter

How can Merckx produce a half green half yellow bike for Chavanel so quickly?!