Tour of Oman 2013 **SPOILERS**

ddraver

Good work Froomedog! Stepping up nicely!

mroli

andyp wrote:

The UCI are the governing body of the sport, not a broadcaster.

Absolutley - but they should (could?) have been putting pressure on to ensure that the problems were resolved. This sounds like it has been a fantastic advert for bike racing and Oman.

Macaloon

You would think that the most basic stipulation for hosting all of the sport's most expensive billboards is that you show them on the telly? That said, no expense spared for the riders' gear.


via PhilippeGilbert PHILIPPE GILBERT 3m
New truck for the bikes!! pic.twitter.com/a6srczyS

FJS

phil s wrote:

Macaloon wrote:

Possible Noob question alert. You're responsible for some of the awesome pictures on the highlights shows? If so thanks. I'm a big fan of the wave-like heli shots over summits: awesome If not :oops:

I'm the one-man camera, edit and voice on GCN for this race, filmed from a press car and the ground - sadly not a helicopter or motorbike. The highlights are produced by a much larger team. Not sure who does heli-cam, but Topsy the Belgian does a lot of the money shots on ground.

Love those reports, great to follow less covered races as this. Which races do you have scheduled next?

phil s

FJS wrote:

Love those reports, great to follow less covered races as this. Which races do you have scheduled next?

Thanks. Not sure what my schedule is: I'm taking four weeks out to help out BBC News when I return in a couple of days, then I guess back for the Classics and there's talk of me and Lloydy doing the Grand Tours together (except I haven't told my wife yet).

Pross

frenchfighter wrote:

So the Shark and Contdor (both can be counted on to race. to attack. never to give up).

Then Contador attacks again.

Hernandez is in the break for Contador.

He comes within 15secs over the KOM.

He bridges.

The group behind bride also (no news yet whether SKY used their huge budget riders to to diesel Froome up)

Frenchie, sorry to only quote part of your post but just a quick question (not a dig, I just want to try to understand your thinking a bit more). Yesterday, you raved about Contador going on the attack and made reference to wheelsuckers following him and then outsprinting him when from what I've read they actually bridged across, rested and then attacked and now you don't seem to view Froome's effort today as being as impressive as Contador and Nibali's. However, Froome appears to have again bridged without any other Sky riders (they may have taken him part of the way, I don't know) and gone on to win. Why don't you feel his efforts are as worthy? It appears to have still been an attacking effort - do you only appreciate those that initiate the attacks rather than those that chase them down before attacking / winning themselves? It all bodes well for the Tour this year I think - doubtless Froome and / or Wiggins will get the strongest team support but I don't think Bertie and possibly J Rod will make it easy to control and one or both of those two are going to eventually have to respond themselves.

zammmmo

Macaloon wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

The group behind bride also (no news yet whether SKY used their huge budget riders to to diesel Froome up)

Once again Contador made the race and made it incredibly exciting. He never gives up. It would have been great if he could have got a stage at least for his efforts. Froome has got great legs and motivation and deserves his win. The Grand Tours where they face off will be amazing. Nibali off the pace.

We can see now that Sky only looked so dominant last year because Contador was absent and everybody left was scared or not good enough. Last two stages have ended with hand-to-hand combat over extended finales where you risk taking a packet if you blow. Outstanding

+1
Cue TDF with Contador and Froome slugging it out with erratic but damaging accelerations, and Wiggo dieseling his way through the stragglers.

Macaloon

Paging someone with professional standing in Albertology to the thread to decipher 'honey on the lips'

albertocontador 11:51am via Twitter for BlackBerry®
Beautiful day of cycling in @TourOfOman3 Finally with 'honey on the lips', but happy with sensations and the team.

Let's get to work, FF.

wallace_and_gromit

zammmmo wrote:

Cue TDF with Contador and Froome slugging it out with erratic but damaging accelerations, and Wiggo dieseling his way through the stragglers.

I love the verb "to diesel"!

I usually don't like invented grammar such as "to medal" or even the accursed "Team GB" (not that this is a grammatical issue but I dislike it all the same) but all conjugations of diesel as a verb just sound so good.

Can anyone provide the Latin equivalents, so I can sound like an even bigger prat when I describe my dismal dieseling displays?

ddraver

c*ck up

pat1cp

I think I'm right in saying this would be Froome's first GC win.

Lets not get ahead of ourselves.

alihisgreat

Macaloon wrote:

Paging someone with professional standing in Albertology to the thread to decipher 'honey on the lips'

albertocontador 11:51am via Twitter for BlackBerry®
Beautiful day of cycling in @TourOfOman3 Finally with 'honey on the lips', but happy with sensations and the team.

Let's get to work, FF.

Its just been lost in translation... means he's slightly unsatisfied with the performance, as in you would want to eat all the honey off your lips.. and he wasn't able to.

Macaloon

Makes sense, thanks. Like the poetry of it and hope he sticks with 'sensations'.

cal_stewart

sky 1 2 at the tour again then

Macaloon

"Froome wins battle royale
After possibly the greatest battle the Tour of Oman has ever witnessed..."

http://tourofoman.om/news.php?NID=14

frenchfighter

Pross. I have mentioned several times about liking Froome's racing.

Eg/. the part you didn't quote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Froome has got great legs and motivation and deserves his win. The Grand Tours where they face off will be amazing.

At the end of the day it comes down to initiative vs reaction. The first is better. If Contador wasn't in the mix, we may well have seen no action from the contenders and the race would have been boring. Or maybe one final dig on the final climb.

Contador does this time and again and everyone races about it (and those that hate him secretly wish they could support him).

I don't expect Froome to go off on the attack today - he doesn't need to. But if the roles were reversed and Froome had done exactly what Contador had then I would have written about it in praise.

frenchfighter

Macaloon wrote:

Makes sense, thanks. Like the poetry of it and hope he sticks with 'sensations'.

He always talks about sensations just as past Greats did. Not numbers.

ddraver

Oh for a world class psychiatrist..

andyjr

Oh how proper cycling has been missed for the last few months (Qatar doesn't count as it's a pan flat sprinters paradise).

By all accounts sounds like the last couple of days have been pretty decent. The GC would suggest so. As FF says if Contador isn't around then we'd probably not of seen much but that's the beauty of racing- there's so many factors which could affect how the race could pan out. Who knows what would be the case if Froome/Contador's roles are revsered?? Hopefully we'll get to see later in the year

RichN95.

frenchfighter wrote:

Macaloon wrote:

Makes sense, thanks. Like the poetry of it and hope he sticks with 'sensations'.

He always talks about sensations just as past Greats did. Not numbers.

Sensations are just posh Walkers. The Greats didn't have them. They had to make do with Golden Wonder and Monster Munch

Paulie W

RichN95 wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Macaloon wrote:

Makes sense, thanks. Like the poetry of it and hope he sticks with 'sensations'.

He always talks about sensations just as past Greats did. Not numbers.

Sensations are just posh Walkers. The Greats didn't have them. They had to make do with Golden Wonder and Monster Munch

Surely Smiths withe the little blue bags were the crisp of the great champions!

Pross

frenchfighter wrote:

Pross. I have mentioned several times about liking Froome's racing.

Eg/. the part you didn't quote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Froome has got great legs and motivation and deserves his win. The Grand Tours where they face off will be amazing.

At the end of the day it comes down to initiative vs reaction. The first is better. If Contador wasn't in the mix, we may well have seen no action from the contenders and the race would have been boring. Or maybe one final dig on the final climb.

Contador does this time and again and everyone races about it (and those that hate him secretly wish they could support him).

I don't expect Froome to go off on the attack today - he doesn't need to. But if the roles were reversed and Froome had done exactly what Contador had then I would have written about it in praise.

Fair enough, it was more the link to the Sky diesels and the possible insinuation that he wouldn't be able to do it without them whilst Contador does it all for himself. I hear what you are saying regarding initiating the attacks but ultimately tactics are an important part of the sport and going off attacking too early is likely to cost you the race.

frenchfighter

I don't think Wiggins would have won the TdF last year (or would have had to fight massively) if his team didn't do all the riding. They will work for Froome too. Yes it is a team sport and yes there are team tactics but teams like Sky shut down the race and make the viewing worse for the fans. Contador has a team and they ride for him but they are no where near as strong as Sky. And Contador often has to ride for himself.

Mano a mano, Contador would beat these guys 8/10 times. Froome is the most dangerous but he is still untested and shows sign of weakness. He also burst onto the scene 1.5 yrs ago from being an unremarkable rider to being a 3 week GT top contender.

Yes those longer attacks wear you out and might have a high chance of failure but the sport is also a gamble and the payoff is huge. Riders like Contador don't ride for 2nd place - they would rather try and blow to 15th in GC then not try and wonder. There are several examples of this - Vuelta 2012 being a prime one.

frenchfighter

Cédric Vasseur ‏@cedvasseur
Incroyable de voir le podium du prochain Tour de France presque déjà au Top niveau en février...Nouveau cyclisme..

-Incredible to see the next podium of the TdF alsmost at top level in February...New cycling..

slim_boy_fat

frenchfighter wrote:

He also burst onto the scene 1.5 yrs ago from being an unremarkable rider to being a 3 week GT top contender.

Whereas Contador is a convicted drugs cheat?

mroli

FF - mano a mano is the TT. Contador would not beat Wiggins 8/10 in a TT.

frenchfighter

frenchfighter

mroli wrote:

FF - mano a mano is the TT. Contador would not beat Wiggins 8/10 in a TT.

I'm talking hypothetically. Say there was 1 member from every team in a race. Yes Wiggins should beat Contador in a TT - I don't care about that.

inkyfingers

Frenchie, I know i'm pushing water uphill here, but Contador is not the messiah, he's just a very good bike rider.

frenchfighter

And? What is the problem?

If there was a racer like Contador then I would go on about that racer.

When someone races well IMO I will talk about it a lot.