2012 Tour De France Spolier Thread

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  • Wrath Rob
    Wrath Rob Posts: 2,918
    Evans and Nibali attack!

    And then slowly fall back to the Sky led peleton. I wonder if Evans will give it another go or whether Sky will try and shell him out on the final climb?
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  • okgo
    okgo Posts: 4,368
    Wrath Rob wrote:
    Evans and Nibali attack!

    And then slowly fall back to the Sky led peloton. I wonder if Evans will give it another go or whether Sky will try and shell him out on the final climb?

    Hopefully the latter.
    Blog on my first and now second season of proper riding/racing - www.firstseasonracing.com
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    Game over for Cuddles?
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

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  • suzyb
    suzyb Posts: 3,449
    Whoops...naughty Froomebug.
    Whippet
  • Gizmo_
    Gizmo_ Posts: 558
    okgo wrote:
    Wrath Rob wrote:
    Evans and Nibali attack!

    And then slowly fall back to the Sky led peloton. I wonder if Evans will give it another go or whether Sky will try and shell him out on the final climb?

    Hopefully the latter.
    There's a prediction...

    Hang on, is Froome doing a regicide again?
    Scott Sportster P45 2008 | Cannondale CAAD8 Tiagra 2012
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    Bradley should be very thankful that Froome is his teammate.
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  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    ...and Froome was looking to make a big point over that last 200m.
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Greg66 wrote:
    Game over for Cuddles?

    Yeah. It was game over during the TT tbh.
    _
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,474
    Froome isn't stupid. Only a moron would attack his team leader in yellow.

    He'll get his rewards.
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,474
    I've obv missed something along the way.

    How did Froome end up 2 mins behind?
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,893
    Awww, Wiggins and Nibali have kissed and made up.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/12/tour-de-france-stage-11-live
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  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    TailWindHome wrote:
    Froome isn't stupid. Only a moron would attack his team leader in yellow.

    He'll get his rewards.

    I agree.

    However...

    a part of him must be thinking that he could have a Grand Tour under his belt already and be in line to take another.
    Swim. Bike. Run. Yeah. That's what I used to do.

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  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,893
    TailWindHome wrote:
    I've obv missed something along the way.

    How did Froome end up 2 mins behind?

    Eh? he was 55sec down at the finish
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

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  • jonginge
    jonginge Posts: 5,945
    rjsterry wrote:
    TailWindHome wrote:
    I've obv missed something along the way.

    How did Froome end up 2 mins behind?

    Eh? he was 55sec down at the finish
    He means overall on GC. Froome was delayed behind a crash on one of the first few flat stages
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  • Wrath Rob
    Wrath Rob Posts: 2,918
    rjsterry wrote:
    TailWindHome wrote:
    I've obv missed something along the way.

    How did Froome end up 2 mins behind?

    Eh? he was 55sec down at the finish
    2 minutes behind the leader overall, not the stage :roll: :wink:

    Wiggins extends his lead over Evans, Froome into 2nd. Nibali looking like he had no answer and even loosing a couple of seconds to Froome at the finish.

    A good day all round. If you're British :lol: I was trying very hard not to cheer out loud in the office!
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Anyone else read Froome's hardcore attack and obvious team radio chat afterwarsa as a big "LOOK AT ME I'M STRONGER THAN WIGGO" sign?....Or is that just me?
    _
  • jonny_trousers
    jonny_trousers Posts: 3,588
    Well that was a bit of a nail biter at times! My legs hurt just watching. Missed Cadel being dropped, though, as I was actually expected to do some work :(
  • Wrath Rob
    Wrath Rob Posts: 2,918
    Jonny_Trousers wrote:
    Well that was a bit of a nail biter at times! My legs hurt just watching. Missed Cadel being dropped, though, as I was actually expected to do some work :(
    I had someone come and sit with me for a chat at the 20km mark. Had to hide the ITV player at that point and kill the conversation as quickly as possible.
    FCN3: Titanium Qoroz.
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Anyone else read Froome's hardcore attack and obvious team radio chat afterwarsa as a big "LOOK AT ME I'M STRONGER THAN WIGGO" sign?....Or is that just me?

    Nope. That's what it was, as was his sprint over teh last 200m, and rather guarded post race interview. He knows he's the strongest rider in the mountains right now, and so does Wiggo.

    Whether - if he was not on Sky and didn't have the Sky machine working with him - he could pull out enough time in the mountains to hold off Wiggo in the final TT is an interesting question.
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Greg66 wrote:
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Anyone else read Froome's hardcore attack and obvious team radio chat afterwarsa as a big "LOOK AT ME I'M STRONGER THAN WIGGO" sign?....Or is that just me?

    Nope. That's what it was, as was his sprint over teh last 200m, and rather guarded post race interview. He knows he's the strongest rider in the mountains right now, and so does Wiggo.

    Whether - if he was not on Sky and didn't have the Sky machine working with him - he could pull out enough time in the mountains to hold off Wiggo in the final TT is an interesting question.

    I don't know why sky don't let him TBH.

    Does it matter which one wins? It's not like one is more British than the other. Makes sense to let the strongest win.
    _
  • Gizmo_
    Gizmo_ Posts: 558
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    I don't know why sky don't let him TBH.

    Does it matter which one wins? It's not like one is more British than the other. Makes sense to let the strongest win.
    Because Wiggo's the poster boy. I really wouldn't be surprised if he retired immediately after winning the Tour though.
    Scott Sportster P45 2008 | Cannondale CAAD8 Tiagra 2012
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,474
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Greg66 wrote:
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Anyone else read Froome's hardcore attack and obvious team radio chat afterwarsa as a big "LOOK AT ME I'M STRONGER THAN WIGGO" sign?....Or is that just me?

    Nope. That's what it was, as was his sprint over teh last 200m, and rather guarded post race interview. He knows he's the strongest rider in the mountains right now, and so does Wiggo.

    Whether - if he was not on Sky and didn't have the Sky machine working with him - he could pull out enough time in the mountains to hold off Wiggo in the final TT is an interesting question.

    I don't know why sky don't let him TBH.

    Does it matter which one wins? It's not like one is more British than the other. Makes sense to let the strongest win.


    Cos letting Froome 'fly' is all risk and no reward.
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • Wrath Rob
    Wrath Rob Posts: 2,918
    Gizmo_ wrote:
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    I don't know why sky don't let him TBH.

    Does it matter which one wins? It's not like one is more British than the other. Makes sense to let the strongest win.
    Because Wiggo's the poster boy. I really wouldn't be surprised if he retired immediately after winning the Tour though.
    He's got a road race and a TT in July that he'd like to win too...

    Are there enough races to go round? E.g. if Froome did the Giro and the Vuelta next year, Wiggo gets to do the TdF again. There are enough events for a big team like Sky and the modern approach to the TdF is to race less and train more.
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Wrath Rob wrote:
    Gizmo_ wrote:
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    I don't know why sky don't let him TBH.

    Does it matter which one wins? It's not like one is more British than the other. Makes sense to let the strongest win.
    Because Wiggo's the poster boy. I really wouldn't be surprised if he retired immediately after winning the Tour though.
    He's got a road race and a TT in July that he'd like to win too...

    Are there enough races to go round? E.g. if Froome did the Giro and the Vuelta next year, Wiggo gets to do the TdF again. There are enough events for a big team like Sky and the modern approach to the TdF is to race less and train more.


    Sod that. Put your best GC rider in the Tour. Seems increasingly like that's Froome, right?

    If Froome can handle the sh!t in the hotel every night he should go for it. a) he'll make it bloody exciting and b) what's he to loose - especially if he wins it?
    _
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,474
    Mrs Wiggins should stay off Twitter


    ETA Go Rick!
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • greg66_tri_v2.0
    greg66_tri_v2.0 Posts: 7,172
    TailWindHome wrote:
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Greg66 wrote:
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Anyone else read Froome's hardcore attack and obvious team radio chat afterwarsa as a big "LOOK AT ME I'M STRONGER THAN WIGGO" sign?....Or is that just me?

    Nope. That's what it was, as was his sprint over teh last 200m, and rather guarded post race interview. He knows he's the strongest rider in the mountains right now, and so does Wiggo.

    Whether - if he was not on Sky and didn't have the Sky machine working with him - he could pull out enough time in the mountains to hold off Wiggo in the final TT is an interesting question.

    I don't know why sky don't let him TBH.

    Does it matter which one wins? It's not like one is more British than the other. Makes sense to let the strongest win.


    Cos letting Froome 'fly' is all risk and no reward.

    Quite.

    First, the team drew in sponsorship based on Wiggins being the no 1 rider. You or I may be happy to see any old Brit win, but someone who's pumped in mega bucks may have a marketing drive geared up around Wiggins (three time Oly gold medallist, reasonably well known to the GBP), and not particularly want to have to parachute Froome into that drive.

    Secondly, Froome may well have contractual provisions that limit his ability to go native mid race. His job is to ride for Wiggins, so it would be a bit odd in many ways if that job was not explicitly spelled out in his contract.

    Thirdly, Froome looked to have cracked on the lower slopes and then recovered. Say Sky had let him go. Wiggins is left isolated. Froome was dragging Nibali with him. Suddenly it's not just Froome taking time out of Wiggins; Froome is helping Nibali do so too. Then if Froome has a power outage a bit further up the road, or has one tomorrow, or the day after, where does that leave Sky? They've just used their super-domestique to gift a Tour they had in the bag to Nibali. Sponsors won't like that.

    Sky have a plan, and it's working. I'd stick to it if I were Yates and not rip it up and go freestyle mid-Tour based on a single climb.

    Froome, OTOH, must be wondering why he thought it was a good idea to sign to Sky for three years. As I said earlier, in a different world he could now be looking at his second GT crown (Wiggins, OTOH, might be thinking that his form this year is no better than last year, and were it not for his broken collar bone he would be defending the number 1 this year).
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  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,474
    JonGinge wrote:
    rjsterry wrote:
    TailWindHome wrote:
    I've obv missed something along the way.

    How did Froome end up 2 mins behind?

    Eh? he was 55sec down at the finish
    He means overall on GC. Froome was delayed behind a crash on one of the first few flat stages


    Yeah. Missed that bit....
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • jonny_trousers
    jonny_trousers Posts: 3,588
    Is it worth considering that Wiggins has the exact same potential to show off, but that it would not be tactically wise for him to do so? It's easy (relatively, of course) for Froome to rip it up at times, as he's not expected to win. If Wiggo was to do something ballsy and then for it go pear shaped that could look very bad on him. That said, it would be nice if he could stamp his authority beyond the TTs, but then that's not necessary to get the job done.

    This assumption that Froome is the better GC contender seems a little, well, presumptuous to me. I'm sure he'll get his chance to prove it one way or another one day soon.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Sorry - how is Froome ripping it up and going off ahead less advantageous to sky's chances of winning the Tour than hanging around impatiently for Wiggins?

    I exagerate a bit, but you see what I mean.

    Once it's whittled down a bit, it makes sense to send someone like Froome up the road. The rivals can either chase and Wiggins gets a free ride anyway (off their work) oooor, Froome gets plenty of time.

    There's no downside to Froome gaining time, tactically. Wiggin's own personal pride maybe.

    As an aside, I want a competition, and Froome is obviously the biggest challenge.
    _
  • Specialized Needs
    Specialized Needs Posts: 802
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    Sorry - how is Froome ripping it up and going off ahead less advantageous to sky's chances of winning the Tour than hanging around impatiently for Wiggins?

    I exagerate a bit, but you see what I mean.
    I know his post was quite long and you may not have wanted to absorb it all, but I think Greg's third point in his post covers it quite nicely.

    You may want more interest at the front. Personally, I'm happy that Sky are playing the percentages so well. Wiggins is out front (and is well known to the public, so delivering on that aspect - remember, this is a professional business, not an amateur sport), and now they have a nice backup second if necessary.

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