2012 Tour De France Spolier Thread

DonDaddyD

Where was Sagan?

tailwindhome

DonDaddyD wrote:

Where was Sagan?

Crash apparently

optimisticbiker

TailWindHome wrote:

DonDaddyD wrote:

Where was Sagan?

Crash apparently

Got taken out by Tyler Farrar's riderless bike...

mattsaw

BigMat wrote:

ketsbaia wrote:

Cav well beaten there. Still feeling it from yesterday?

He seemed a bit all over the place in the final km - first he was second wheel behind EBH far too early, then seemed to fall way back, then got boxed in a bit. Not a good day at the office.

It looked like he ended-up at the front far too early. I think with 1.5k left he only had EBH leading him out, at that stage they easily could have used 2 more in the train, especially with the hill.

He almost would have been better-off not having the lead-out and trying to get Griepels or Goss' wheel.

tailwindhome

Shamelessly reposted from Pro Race - Just for DDD

jonny_trousers

TailWindHome wrote:

Shamelessly reposted from Pro Race - Just for DDD

jonny_trousers

Whatever the reason for Cav getting it wrong yesterday, it made me think about what's going to happen this time next year for Team Sky. It's fine this year, as Cav has been tossed the bone of olympic glory, but next year at The Tour, Bradley is either going to be defending his title (I hope), and obviously will be wanting to put up a good fight, or he'll be having another pop at it before it's too late. Cav will surely want the green jersey back by then, and although he may be the most talented sprinter in the world today, can he realistically compete, race after race, with sprinters who have highly organised lead out trains? Despite all the glamour that comes with joining Team Sky might he be sacrificing his goals?

PS. I know I should really take this to Pro Race, but I have a feeling I'd be eaten alive there.

mattsaw

Sagan has put a bell on his bike. ffs

tailwindhome

Jonny_Trousers wrote:

Whatever the reason for Cav getting it wrong yesterday, it made me think about what's going to happen this time next year for Team Sky. It's fine this year, as Cav has been tossed the bone of olympic glory, but next year at The Tour, Bradley is either going to be defending his title (I hope), and obviously will be wanting to put up a good fight, or he'll be having another pop at it before it's too late. Cav will surely want the green jersey back by then, and although he may be the most talented sprinter in the world today, can he realistically compete, race after race, with sprinters who have highly organised lead out trains? Despite all the glamour that comes with joining Team Sky might he be sacrificing his goals?

PS. I know I should really take this to Pro Race, but I have a feeling I'd be eaten alive there.

Pro Race is safe for newcomers.

Sheriff Chasey is cleaning up the town.


Sky's priorities for next year will depend on the course of the TDF. This year is Wiggins best hope of winning, long on TT miles and with relatively easy mountain stages. If he can't win this year he never will


Cavs priorities for this year would seem to been the Milan San Remo which was a disaster - dropped on an early climb and wheezing like me on a club run. He went to the Giro and started to win some stages. He had a good crack at the point jersey but came up short as Joachim (sp?) Rodriguez was too strong on the mountain stages. (I think the point structure for the Giro isn't as weighted towards flat stages)

Personally I'd be suprised if Cav is still in the TDF by after the first rest day. His goal is Olympic gold. I can see him going home to prepare. Some of his rivals for gold including Boonen have avoided the TDF altogether and have decided to race the Tour of Poland instead.



You should pop over to Pro Race - Rick has a newbie thread going for 'dumb' questions, posters there are enthusiastic, though as with any forum it takes while to get the humour/in jokes. Get involved with the PTP (Pro Tour Pundit) thread too. It's like having money on the race, only more important

tailwindhome

Another repost from Pro Race.....great wee blog article from Robert Millar

http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/robert ... econd-more

greg66_tri_v2.0

"Suitcase of courage" @ 9km to go.

tailwindhome

Sagan

Hell Yeah!

DonDaddyD

OK, credit where it is due. That was a good win.

"gumbles"

gabriel959

On a dead pan flat sprint.

If I was the Olympic organisation I would be getting at least prepared to put the Slovak national anthem in a few weeks time.

greg66_tri_v2.0

gabriel959 wrote:

On a dead pan flat sprint.

If I was the Olympic organisation I would be getting at least prepared to put the Slovak national anthem in a few weeks time.

Yes. Cav yesterday looked like his legs just didn't have the zing in them that they usually have. He sat in behind Greipel, but you could see form the overhead shot that he had nothing in them when he needed it.

I wonder how much longer he will stay in the Tour this year.

tailwindhome

Greg66 wrote:

gabriel959 wrote:

On a dead pan flat sprint.

If I was the Olympic organisation I would be getting at least prepared to put the Slovak national anthem in a few weeks time.

Yes. Cav yesterday looked like his legs just didn't have the zing in them that they usually have. He sat in behind Greipel, but you could see form the overhead shot that he had nothing in them when he needed it.

I wonder how much longer he will stay in the Tour this year.

Goss had him well beat for the intermediate too (the lower placings after the break went through)

bigmat

Cav not having much luck, and doesn't seem to have the legs at the moment. Greipel was a bit crash damaged today so would have done well to beat Sagan, not sure on Goss' excuse though - that was a golden opportunity for him. Sagan probably Olympic favourite right now, but a lot can change in 3 weeks. Boonen will be there and hopefully Cav will find some form.

greg66_tri_v2.0

Also thought the guy whose chain snapped seemed remarkably balanced throughout the process. The only time it's happened to me was when I was going uphill. I hit the deck like a sack of spuds. Only quicker.

vermin

Johan Van Summeren, wincing across the finish line, wearing one and a half shoes and about one third of a jersey. Hero.

rick_chasey

gabriel959 wrote:

On a dead pan flat sprint.

If I was the Olympic organisation I would be getting at least prepared to put the Slovak national anthem in a few weeks time.

They've been scrounging around for a Belgian anthem since April...

iclestu

Tasty finish to todays stage! Really thought evans had it in bag but he wasnt even close

cjcp

Yesterday was just brilliant.

@twh - your boy, Roche, is doing well. Beat Martin up there, too.

jonny_trousers

Astonishing last push from Chris Froome.

iclestu

Huge day tomorrow!

tailwindhome

Best thing could happen today is for Evans to beat Wiggins in the TT by about 4 seconds.

Then we could have a exciting race.

t4tomo

I reckon Wiggins will put at least half a minute into Evans.

That could still spice things up as Evans will have to seriously attack Wiggins in the mountains, rather than trying to grab a few seconds at the end of a stage.

greg66_tri_v2.0

t4tomo wrote:

I reckon Wiggins will put at least half a minute into Evans.

That could still spice things up as Evans will have to seriously attack Wiggins in the mountains, rather than trying to grab a few seconds at the end of a stage.

During the stage that Froome won, I was a bit surprised to hear Phil & Paul saying that Evans had explosive acceleration on the climbs, more so that any other rider in the lead bunch.

When did he acquire that skill? All the time I can remember watching him he's been a grim sight, grimacing as others burst out of the pack and then winding up his diesel engine to reel them back in. Or not.

rick_chasey

Greg66 wrote:

t4tomo wrote:

I reckon Wiggins will put at least half a minute into Evans.

That could still spice things up as Evans will have to seriously attack Wiggins in the mountains, rather than trying to grab a few seconds at the end of a stage.

During the stage that Froome won, I was a bit surprised to hear Phil & Paul saying that Evans had explosive acceleration on the climbs, more so that any other rider in the lead bunch.

When did he acquire that skill? All the time I can remember watching him he's been a grim sight, grimacing as others burst out of the pack and then winding up his diesel engine to reel them back in. Or not.

He's always had it.

Most of his stage wins have come from short steep hill finishes.

Think stage 3 last year.

Think his Fleche Wallonne win, or that Giro win.


Now that there's less juice about, Evans is nearer the front.

suzyb

Greg66 wrote:

t4tomo wrote:

I reckon Wiggins will put at least half a minute into Evans.

That could still spice things up as Evans will have to seriously attack Wiggins in the mountains, rather than trying to grab a few seconds at the end of a stage.

During the stage that Froome won, I was a bit surprised to hear Phil & Paul saying that Evans had explosive acceleration on the climbs, more so that any other rider in the lead bunch.

When did he acquire that skill? All the time I can remember watching him he's been a grim sight, grimacing as others burst out of the pack and then winding up his diesel engine to reel them back in. Or not.

I'm not the only one that thought that

I think it was actually during last years tour or maybe the year before, Phil and Paul kept saying how Evans would have wind up his engine to follow an attack from Shleck or Contador as he didn't have the same quick acceleration as them.

FoldingJoe

Was there on Saturday. First time at the TdF and it was such a buzz.

Walked up Les Planches Des Belles Filles to about the 2km mark and watched from there. Saw Froome and Brad come past on the front, which was a huge relief as I was expecting some attacks earlier on and Brad to be a bit further back.

Icing on the cake was when we were driving back to our accommodation in Belfort we saw the Sky bus pulling into the Novotel. By the time we'd got parked the riders had jumped into the hotel, but hung around for a while having a look at the bikes being cleaned by the mechanics. Had a brief chat with Rod Ellingworth. Then Brad and Chris turned up in one of the Jag's, so shook Chris's hand and congratulated him, and got a couple of decent shots.

Went to the depart in the town yesterday and hung around for while and got a few shots, one of Brad in Yellow and Chris in KOM jersey.

Great experience and will most probably be back next year.