Strong GC teams from Movistar, Sky and Astana but look out for Caja Rural too.
Prologue on tomorrow - 7.3km. Maybe Geraint Thomas for this.
Stage 1 - kicks off with 40km of climbing (more or less). 6 categorised climbs in total with a 2.5km hill climb finish. Mollema, Valverde or possibly Hagen.
Stage 2 - Finishes on a 7.2km climb (av 6.7%). Should decide the GC - Valverde, Porte & Scarponi the main contenders
Stage 3 - lumpy but flat finish so should be one for Giant Shimano and Kittel.
Stage 4 - 3 categorised climbs but a flat finish. GC riders should finish together.
Strong GC teams from Movistar, Sky and Astana but look out for Caja Rural too.
Prologue on tomorrow - 7.3km. Maybe Geraint Thomas for this.
Stage 1 - kicks off with 40km of climbing (more or less). 6 categorised climbs in total with a 2.5km hill climb finish. Mollema, Valverde or possibly Hagen.
Stage 2 - Finishes on a 7.2km climb (av 6.7%). Should decide the GC - Valverde, Porte & Scarponi the main contenders
Stage 3 - lumpy but flat finish so should be one for Giant Shimano and Kittel.
Stage 4 - 3 categorised climbs but a flat finish. GC riders should finish together.
First race of the season for him I think. Stage 1 would be good for him in form but you'd think he'd lose time to Valverde, Porte and Scarponi on Stage 2. I don't think there's time bonuses.
3rd in the Volta a Catalunya and 4th in the Giro last year. Really strong team behind him. If Astana don't podium they'll be disappointed. Perhaps we'll see Fuglsang do something if not.
Giant Shimano - “Although it looks like a sprinter’s line up, opportunities for Kittel will be very limited, maybe a bunch sprint on stage 3 but we will see. “We will be more looking at how the guys starting their seasons are going, and also to get Dumoulin and Simon Geschke (GER) to take their chances with the breakaways.”
Strong GC teams from Movistar, Sky and Astana but look out for Caja Rural too.
Prologue on tomorrow - 7.3km. Maybe Geraint Thomas for this.
Stage 1 - kicks off with 40km of climbing (more or less). 6 categorised climbs in total with a 2.5km hill climb finish. Mollema, Valverde or possibly Hagen.
Stage 2 - Finishes on a 7.2km climb (av 6.7%). Should decide the GC - Valverde, Porte & Scarponi the main contenders
Stage 3 - lumpy but flat finish so should be one for Giant Shimano and Kittel.
Stage 4 - 3 categorised climbs but a flat finish. GC riders should finish together.
Rob Hatch is commentating with Matt Stephens.
Hoping Ciolek will give Kittel a run for his money on st 3
Regional films, that's a new one for the spoiler thread! I couldn't resist a picture of the Andalusian Horse. Possibly getting too excited at the prospect of regular televised racing returning!
Strong GC teams from Movistar, Sky and Astana but look out for Caja Rural too.
Prologue on tomorrow - 7.3km. Maybe Geraint Thomas for this.
Stage 1 - kicks off with 40km of climbing (more or less). 6 categorised climbs in total with a 2.5km hill climb finish. Mollema, Valverde or possibly Hagen.
Stage 2 - Finishes on a 7.2km climb (av 6.7%). Should decide the GC - Valverde, Porte & Scarponi the main contenders
Stage 3 - lumpy but flat finish so should be one for Giant Shimano and Kittel.
Stage 4 - 3 categorised climbs but a flat finish. GC riders should finish together.
Rob Hatch is commentating with Matt Stephens.
Hoping Ciolek will give Kittel a run for his money on st 3
Some lumpy stages beforehand but Kittel seems to get over at least the smaller climbs reasonably well. Be nice to see someone put up a bit more of a fight against him. He looks unstoppable at the moment but fair play to him, he's put the training in. Early days yet...
I may just be able to sneak a peak on here during the one hour I have between lectures at lunchtime...
:shock: Will make a change from the trolling I suppose.
Working from home today and Friday :-)
“Road racing was over and the UCI had banned my riding positions on the track, so it was like ‘Jings, crivvens, help ma Boab, what do I do now? I know, I’ll go away and be depressed for 10 years’.”
frenchfighter
Posts: 30,642
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Prologue on tomorrow - 7.3km. Maybe Geraint Thomas for this.
Stage 1 - kicks off with 40km of climbing (more or less). 6 categorised climbs in total with a 2.5km hill climb finish. Mollema, Valverde or possibly Hagen.
Stage 2 - Finishes on a 7.2km climb (av 6.7%). Should decide the GC - Valverde, Porte & Scarponi the main contenders
Stage 3 - lumpy but flat finish so should be one for Giant Shimano and Kittel.
Stage 4 - 3 categorised climbs but a flat finish. GC riders should finish together.
Rob Hatch is commentating with Matt Stephens.
Lulu's been suffering from a stomach virus and says he's not 100%
Mollema another contender for overall...?
Has he raced every race that Caja Rural have started in 2014?
Amissa Bongo, Mallorca serries and Tour Med, so pretty much yes, I'd have thought
Hoping Ciolek will give Kittel a run for his money on st 3
MTB
NEW Cross
Track/Grass Track/Winter bike
MTB
NEW Cross
Track/Grass Track/Winter bike
Some lumpy stages beforehand but Kittel seems to get over at least the smaller climbs reasonably well. Be nice to see someone put up a bit more of a fight against him. He looks unstoppable at the moment but fair play to him, he's put the training in. Early days yet...
MTB
NEW Cross
Track/Grass Track/Winter bike
I may just be able to sneak a peak on here during the one hour I have between lectures at lunchtime...
Nice horse Paul. Very nice.
TTHR has just upped the anti for the rest of the year, we now have to find regional films for every Giro and tour stage :shock:
Anyone have a cheese?
Working from home today and Friday :-)
@DrHeadgear
The Vikings are coming!
I don't know much about horses, but I know that is a cool horse.
MTB
NEW Cross
Track/Grass Track/Winter bike
MTB
NEW Cross
Track/Grass Track/Winter bike
1. Kiriyenka (SKY) 8.35
2. Moreno (MOV) +2"
3. Boasson Hagen (SKY) +4″
4. Kittel (GIA) +5″