Tour of Oman *Spoiler*

frenchfighter

frenchfighter

25ks left. Gap still 3mins.

Rick Chasey wrote:

Liking the colour matched sides.

Want.

Amazing aren't they.

frenchfighter

Look how cool (and small) Uran looks now:

frenchfighter

Total wrong - Bouhanni's shorts:

calvjones

frenchfighter wrote:

Total wrong - Bouhanni's shorts:

When the DS said 'I want you to ride up to the leaders...'

frenchfighter

20ks and 2mins gap.

Profile:

frenchfighter

10ks, 30secs gap.

No_Ta_Doctor

frenchfighter wrote:

Total wrong - Bouhanni's shorts:

I really didn't need to see that. Are you going to pay for my therapy now?

frenchfighter

1. Froome 2. van Garderen 3. Uran

jam1e

Any idea of gaps?

frenchfighter

Not yet - Uran had 8 secs over Froome coming in.

Ed-tron

Team Sky ‏@TeamSky · 1m
Chris Froome also moves into the lead of the #TourofOman overall. A huge performance! Still waiting on the exact time gap

frenchfighter

Yeah unfortunately Froome moves into GC.

MartinB2444

frenchfighter wrote:

Yeah unfortunately Froome moves into GC.

Unfortunate for whom? Is this a comment about Sky or Chris Froome or both?

ugo.santalucia

Nibali?

frenchfighter

They are still struggling to make the official results public.

MartinB2444 wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Yeah unfortunately Froome moves into GC.

Unfortunate for whom? Is this a comment about Sky or Chris Froome or both?

For the people who didnt want him to win. I was supporting Uran.

iainf72

Solo win for Froome - Exploded from the group according to Saxo...

r0bh

frenchfighter wrote:

Yeah unfortunately Froome moves into GC.

Sigh...

above_the_cows

frenchfighter wrote:

Total wrong - Bouhanni's shorts:

I thought it was Liz Hatch for a minute!

frenchfighter

JRod 4th on stage and in GC. Gesink 5th on the stage.

iainf72 wrote:

Solo win for Froome - Exploded from the group according to Saxo...

Sprint to win the day after his team destroyed the opposition. From the horses' mouth:

“It feels absolutely fantastic getting that win today, especially with it being my first race of the season. Coming into the race I wasn’t sure exactly where my form was but this has proved I’m where I need to be right now.
“I know I say it a lot but the team were phenomenal today. Danny [Pate] and Ben [Swift] set a really good pace up to the base of the climb, and then once we hit it, we set up the train to perfection.
"David [Lopez] did a massive pull on the first really steep section which did a lot of damage, and when he pulled over Mikel [Nieve] carried on where he’d left off.
“That set Sergio [Henao] up for a pre-planned attack with about 2km to go when the climb ramped up again, and that meant I could sit on the wheels and conserve my energy.
"Robert Gesink and Tejay [van Garderen] were forced to go after him, and the second they’d made the catch, I made my move with about 1.5km to go.
“I could see Rigo chasing me for a while, and obviously Tejay again, and they both deserve respect for that, but I was pleased with the amount of time I was able to put into them.
“I’m really, really happy to be back in the leader’s jersey. We came into this race with much less stress than previously, and no massive expectations, but to be able to do what we’ve done here today is fantastic and it all bodes well for the season to come.”

mroli

Little bit different from the normal train (that we've been seeing in Anadalucia) where Valverde has just been able to sit and bide his time? Sounds like a refinement of their tactics to get someone to attack to force the others to chase and the no 1 rider to sit in and counter punch.

Anonymous

frenchfighter wrote:

JRod 4th on stage and in GC. Gesink 5th on the stage.

iainf72 wrote:

Solo win for Froome - Exploded from the group according to Saxo...

Sprint to win the day after his team destroyed the opposition. From the horses' mouth:

“It feels absolutely fantastic getting that win today, especially with it being my first race of the season. Coming into the race I wasn’t sure exactly where my form was but this has proved I’m where I need to be right now.
“I know I say it a lot but the team were phenomenal today. Danny [Pate] and Ben [Swift] set a really good pace up to the base of the climb, and then once we hit it, we set up the train to perfection.
"David [Lopez] did a massive pull on the first really steep section which did a lot of damage, and when he pulled over Mikel [Nieve] carried on where he’d left off.
“That set Sergio [Henao] up for a pre-planned attack with about 2km to go when the climb ramped up again, and that meant I could sit on the wheels and conserve my energy.
"Robert Gesink and Tejay [van Garderen] were forced to go after him, and the second they’d made the catch, I made my move with about 1.5km to go.
“I could see Rigo chasing me for a while, and obviously Tejay again, and they both deserve respect for that, but I was pleased with the amount of time I was able to put into them.
“I’m really, really happy to be back in the leader’s jersey. We came into this race with much less stress than previously, and no massive expectations, but to be able to do what we’ve done here today is fantastic and it all bodes well for the season to come.”

I'll reiterate: Valverde goes from 300m after sucking wheels and is a "true champion" but Froome goes longer and isn't.

You're a bitter man.

If anyone had the strength of team Sky had then they would do the same but they don't, they''re week.

frenchfighter

Both Koenig and Frank Schleck had mechanicals at the bottom of the climb.

No_Ta_Doctor

mroli wrote:

Little bit different from the normal train (that we've been seeing in Anadalucia) where Valverde has just been able to sit and bide his time? Sounds like a refinement of their tactics to get someone to attack to force the others to chase and the no 1 rider to sit in and counter punch.

They did that in the Giro as well though, didn't they, sending Uran off? Though admittedly with no counter-punch from Wiggins....

Ed-tron

No tA Doctor wrote:

mroli wrote:

Little bit different from the normal train (that we've been seeing in Anadalucia) where Valverde has just been able to sit and bide his time? Sounds like a refinement of their tactics to get someone to attack to force the others to chase and the no 1 rider to sit in and counter punch.

They did that in the Giro as well though, didn't they, sending Uran off? Though admittedly with no counter-punch from Wiggins....

Looks like Nieve has slotted straight in the role to help soften other teams up in the latter quarter of a stage, ala Henao, Porte, Kennaugh

mroli

No tA Doctor wrote:

They did that in the Giro as well though, didn't they, sending Uran off? Though admittedly with no counter-punch from Wiggins....

Yeah - as you say, Wiggins doesn't have the explosiveness to attack in the last 500m - Froome does. And it appears as though Porte may not have judging by Andalucía. Valverde does, J-Rod does, Contador used to.

In the brave new world of marginal gains, are we looking at marginal time gaps between the top contenders - ie the 5-10 seconds that someone can put into their rivals at the top of a mountain top finish, with the real gaps being made on time trials? If everyone rides to their capabilities and all the top riders have similar capabilities and no-one has a bad day....

joelsim

Why does it take so long to get the full result out after this race?

frenchfighter

Stage:
1. FROOME C. SKY 03h 49' 53''
2. VAN GARDEREN T. BMC 00' 22''
3. URAN URAN R. OPQ 00' 33''
4. RODRIGUEZ J. KAT 00' 38''
5. GESINK R. BEL 00' 47''
6. POZZOVIVO D. ALM 00' 51''
7. JEANNESSON A. FDJ 00' 56''
8. BARDET R. ALM 00' 59''
9. HENAO MONTOYA S. SKY 01' 09''
10. KREUZIGER R. TCS 01' 15''
11. NIEVE ITURRALDE M. SKY 01' 19''
12. ELISSONDE K. FDJ 01' 20''
13. TSCHOPP J. IAM 01' 22''
14. MORENO FERNANDEZ D. KAT 01' 24''
15. CLEMENT S. BEL 01' 30''
16. NIBALI V. AST 01' 45''

GC:
1. FROOME C. SKY 18h 36' 45''
2. VAN GARDEREN T. BMC 00' 26''
3. URAN URAN R. OPQ 00' 31''
4. RODRIGUEZ J. KAT 00' 48''
5. GESINK R. BEL 00' 57''
6. POZZOVIVO D. ALM 01' 01''
7. HENAO MONTOYA S. SKY 01' 19''
8. KREUZIGER R. TCS 01' 25''
9. TSCHOPP J. IAM 01' 32''
10. MORENO FERNANDEZ D. KAT 01' 34''
11. JEANNESSON A. FDJ 01' 50''
12. NIBALI V. AST 01' 51''
13. BARDET R. ALM 01' 53''
14. IMPEY D. OGE 01' 58''
15. LÖVKVIST T. IAM 01' 58''

So he managed to take 30secs in 1.5km...

frenchfighter

Poor lad, he doesn't have the face, the physique or the style of a champion.













Every rider has their jersey open apart from Froome in all the photos I have seen. Marginal gain I guess :roll:

inseine

frenchfighter wrote:

Look how cool (and small) Uran looks now:

They all look cool in that shot, though you can't go wrong with the Belgium nat champs jersey.