TDF 2013 - Stage 2 *SPOILERS*

DeadCalm

Yellow Peril wrote:

ddraver wrote:

Sky are boring, except when they re not...then they re stupid

:roll:

I can imagine how much cream there would be all over this thread if Dirty Bertie had done it...

That's true. If Bertie had done it, it would have been proclaimed a panache-athon. Froome's obviously got a lot of riding in his legs and he just wanted to stretch them. considering how tricky a couple of bends on the descent were it was a good call.

Why try and pigeonhole people like this? Not everyone who is questioning the wisdom of Froome's attack is pro-Contador. It saddens me the way some people try to polarise every issue. It stifles reasonable debate.

DeadCalm

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

emadden wrote:

Cant help but feel that Garmin blew it

Yeah definitely - they left it far too late to chase it down... should have seen that Cannondale were struggling

It was obvious from the telly. In fact I posted a plea up-thread before they joined the chase. I'd have loved Millar to get yellow but fair play to Bakelants, he earned it.

ddraver

DeadCalm wrote:

Yellow Peril wrote:

ddraver wrote:

Sky are boring, except when they re not...then they re stupid

:roll:

I can imagine how much cream there would be all over this thread if Dirty Bertie had done it...

That's true. If Bertie had done it, it would have been proclaimed a panache-athon. Froome's obviously got a lot of riding in his legs and he just wanted to stretch them. considering how tricky a couple of bends on the descent were it was a good call.

Why try and pigeonhole people like this? Not everyone who is questioning the wisdom of Froome's attack is pro-Contador. It saddens me the way some people try to polarise every issue. It stifles reasonable debate.

To put it bluntly mate, because it's the reality...you may not be part of that group, but to deny they exist is a little fantastical I'm afraid.

Jez mon

[geek mode]I think if we were to draw a venn diagram, the overlap between the people who complain about Sky being boring and who said yesterday that Froome was being silly would be very small...[/geek mode]

Realistically, any of the GC riders attacking the way Froome did yesterday would raise a few eyebrows from sections of the forum, yes, it's great to see and all that, but he didn't achieve anything (aside from getting down the descent safely, which admittedly, is very important!). If I were a Froome fan, I might be concerned that he's a bit on edge at the moment, and liable to make moves which are not tactically sound.

RichN95.

Jez mon wrote:

[geek mode]I think if we were to draw a venn diagram, the overlap between the people who complain about Sky being boring and who said yesterday that Froome was being silly would be very small...[/geek mode]

Realistically, any of the GC riders attacking the way Froome did yesterday would raise a few eyebrows from sections of the forum, yes, it's great to see and all that, but he didn't achieve anything (aside from getting down the descent safely, which admittedly, is very important!). If I were a Froome fan, I might be concerned that he's a bit on edge at the moment, and liable to make moves which are not tactically sound.

Yet Nibali does stuff like that all the time and no-one bats an eyelid. It's really not that big a deal.

Richmond Racer

I've banged on about not being a Froome fan, but I enjoyed that perky little hit out of his. As Rich (and others) have said, it wasnt exactly energy-sapping - it was hardly Rolland popping off the front with 50k to go.

He might even win me over at this rate...

frenchfighter

above_the_cows

The funniest part of Froome's attack was Titchy Richie looking around after Froome goes zooming past, he obviously thought Froome must have been responding to an attack that was coming from further down the bunch, so was checking to see what was going on. It's really funny, he looks sees there is no attack other than Froome's and sort of does a shrug and just carries on probably thinking, oh well that'll get people talking in the forums.

DeadCalm

I wouldn't deny for a moment that those people exist but that's no reason to be sucked into a diametrically opposing position. And in actuality I don't think it is particularly 'that group' who are questioning the wisdom of what he did.

For what it is worth, it looked to me at the time as though Porte was noticeably slowing and whether through panic, bravado or design, Froome put in an acceleration to avoid being swamped. It enlivened the race for sure and to that extent is to be admired. Whether it was a sensible thing to do is open to debate. It probably cost him very little in terms of effort expended so no real worries there.

The more interesting thing for me is whether or not the attack was planned or ordered from within the car. Assuming not (and it would hardly seem to fit in with the Sky approach) what does this tell us of the dynamics within the team?

ddraver

Nothing...

Richmond Racer

DeadCalm wrote:

I wouldn't deny for a moment that those people exist but that's no reason to be sucked into a diametrically opposing position. And in actuality I don't think it is particularly 'that group' who are questioning the wisdom of what he did.

For what it is worth, it looked to me at the time as though Porte was noticeably slowing and whether through panic, bravado or design, Froome put in an acceleration to avoid being swamped. It enlivened the race for sure and to that extent is to be admired. Whether it was a sensible thing to do is open to debate. It probably cost him very little in terms of effort expended so no real worries there.

The more interesting thing for me is whether or not the attack was planned or ordered from within the car. Assuming not (and it would hardly seem to fit in with the Sky approach) what does this tell us of the dynamics within the team?

I was listening to last night's podcast by Richard Moore and Daniel Friebe. It included a clip of Moore interviewing DaveB - it seems that it was just something that Froome decided to do, DaveB didnt seem unduly concerned - just said that Froome's in such fantastic form, he felt like stretching his legs...or some such.

Not everything's dictated to the nth degree from the Sky team car...

LutherB

Richmond Racer wrote:

He'll always be Fenton to me

Why is he called Fenton? And what happened on the team bus at the ToB - heard it mentioned a while back in relation to Fenton, might as well clear up some of my ignorance while i'm asking 8)

alihisgreat

LutherB wrote:

Richmond Racer wrote:

He'll always be Fenton to me

Why is he called Fenton? And what happened on the team bus at the ToB - heard it mentioned a while back in relation to Fenton, might as well clear up some of my ignorance while i'm asking 8)

Its from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GRSbr0EYYU

because of his antics in the tour last year riding away from bradders.

LutherB

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

LutherB wrote:

Richmond Racer wrote:

He'll always be Fenton to me

Why is he called Fenton? And what happened on the team bus at the ToB - heard it mentioned a while back in relation to Fenton, might as well clear up some of my ignorance while i'm asking 8)

Its from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GRSbr0EYYU

because of his antics in the tour last year riding away from bradders.

Thankyou ALIHISGREAT

Bo Duke

Hhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaa that's fantastic !! Fenton !! Toooo late son!

powerbookboy

DeadCalm wrote:

Yellow Peril wrote:

ddraver wrote:

Sky are boring, except when they re not...then they re stupid

:roll:

I can imagine how much cream there would be all over this thread if Dirty Bertie had done it...

That's true. If Bertie had done it, it would have been proclaimed a panache-athon. Froome's obviously got a lot of riding in his legs and he just wanted to stretch them. considering how tricky a couple of bends on the descent were it was a good call.

Why try and pigeonhole people like this? Not everyone who is questioning the wisdom of Froome's attack is pro-Contador. It saddens me the way some people try to polarise every issue. It stifles reasonable debate.

Some people seem incapable of understanding that you can criticise people you like, and like people you criticise...

There are a few notable people with Contador blindness. But I think if people look carefully beyond those exceptions, you'll find lots of people capable of rational debate and criticism...

iainf72

LutherB wrote:

Richmond Racer wrote:

He'll always be Fenton to me

Why is he called Fenton? And what happened on the team bus at the ToB - heard it mentioned a while back in relation to Fenton, might as well clear up some of my ignorance while i'm asking 8)

Nothing to do with Froome

On the bus - well, someone is alleged to have told the team to go F themselves and storm off in a strop.

LutherB

Cheers Iain!

RideOnTime

Just lining up there...

ocdupalais

LutherB wrote:

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

LutherB wrote:

Richmond Racer wrote:

He'll always be Fenton to me

Why is he called Fenton? And what happened on the team bus at the ToB - heard it mentioned a while back in relation to Fenton, might as well clear up some of my ignorance while i'm asking 8)

Its from this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GRSbr0EYYU

because of his antics in the tour last year riding away from bradders.

Thankyou ALIHISGREAT

To bang my own (and RR's) drum, I believe the name came from these very pages...
viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12872230&p=17808639&hilit=Fenton#p17808639

ocdupalais

... For what it's worth - which isn't much.

ddraver

With OCU here - his was definitely the first use of the name "Fenton"

LutherB

OCDuPalais wrote:

... For what it's worth - which isn't much.

It's summat tho', now i know who it is & a backstory - Cheers!

RideOnTime

Stage 2 is now out of sequence.
It feels dangerous.
It feels edgy.
It feels pointless. :roll:

RideOnTime

I think the sun has got to me.