Tour de Romandie 2014 "spoiler"
Comments
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Turfle wrote:TailWindHome wrote:Has Kwiato finished yet?
30 minutes 45 seconds down.
Wow!
Kid should just go home now and sleep for a bit.
Nothing left for him here.“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
RichN95 wrote:
It's Nibali's sixth stage race of the year though, and he's yet to crack the top ten (and he's only been in the top ten on one stage before today).thegreatdivide wrote:RichN95 wrote:
He's done nothing all season. I reckon he hasn't really recovered from last season.Turfle wrote:FleshTuxedo wrote:Must be worrying for nibali if froome can just rock up and take a minute off him on a stage like that, or was he not taking today seriously?
I don't think Nibali is in great form to be honest. That attack today was a bluff imo.
Froome's not done much either...
It's only Froome's third race - he was 1st & sixth in the other two.
The Tour of Oman is a not very challenging at all corporate chipper/chance to get an early season tan. It doesn’t count.
Today’s stage looks like the first impressive thing he’s done all year.
Agreed re Nibs though.0 -
Sounds like this stage is worth watching, any links to highlights yet ?0
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UncleMonty wrote:Sounds like this stage is worth watching, any links to highlights yet ?
SS3 at 70 -
I don't think the Romandie is quite the Dauphine. It comes at a transient part of the calendar. The northern classics have just ended and there is a bit of a dip either build up prep for the Giro or a bit of racing down time . Nibali not riding Giro. I think he is a month behind where he was last year . He won the Giro. To compete in this packed wall to wall calendar a strategy is needed. Froome comes out of whatever tent they are keeping him in on whatever island and it's all good. Nibali 57 seconds down on that is all good to me. He's raced over twice as far this year. Froome bobbing up here and there doesn't speak to me of much passion .
Allez Thibaut ! Did he crash early on a climb? Still eligible for the 'youth' jersey (2nd at present behind Herrada who showed a good performance)0 -
thegreatdivide wrote:RichN95 wrote:
It's Nibali's sixth stage race of the year though, and he's yet to crack the top ten (and he's only been in the top ten on one stage before today).thegreatdivide wrote:RichN95 wrote:
He's done nothing all season. I reckon he hasn't really recovered from last season.Turfle wrote:FleshTuxedo wrote:Must be worrying for nibali if froome can just rock up and take a minute off him on a stage like that, or was he not taking today seriously?
I don't think Nibali is in great form to be honest. That attack today was a bluff imo.
Froome's not done much either...
It's only Froome's third race - he was 1st & sixth in the other two.
The Tour of Oman is a not very challenging at all corporate chipper/chance to get an early season tan. It doesn’t count.
Today’s stage looks like the first impressive thing he’s done all year.
Agreed re Nibs though.
Oh, be away with ya0 -
Limiting myself to one post here for fear of upsetting people. I'll leave the photos and links to someone else. Anyone coming to the spoiler thread to find out what happened in the race I suggest not bothering to read it as I went through it and am not sure. Lucky I watched the race and followed it all day on twitter - I would recommend watching it to form your own opinion or reading the summaries from the usual sources.
A shame we didnt get coverage early doors given it was a cracker and the coverage when it was on was not done very well. It was great that the riders made a proper race today and took it up from the off. The results are not typical of this parcours - 180km, 4 Cat 1s, long descent and flat between 2 and 3 - which goes to show how hard it was ridden. Good to see riders all over the place on a stage like this.
Good to see Nibali take it up from the off on the final climb - 25ks out. I wonder how long it would have taken for someone to make a move if he hadnt gone early. Froome did his typical 200 rpm acceleration to drop Nibali. Good effort from Froome and I am glad he didnt play it safe although part of me thinks he was doing it simply because it was Nibali. As a previous Tour winner and supposed best rider in the peloton his sort of performance it is to be expected, but he still has to work to reach Contador's standard - 35km solo and put several minutes in to the others. I find it a shame that Froome has no desire to work with anyone and will just try and drop them - he really doesnt like Nibali does he. Huge from Spilak - but he has done this before numerous times so not too much of a surprise - would be nice if he managed to perform more often like this. Too much flat at the end in order for them to finish in a town so was happy to see them hold the chasers off. Nice sprint on Froome at the end and good to see his complimentary comments regarding Kwiatek.
For those of you saying Nibali is overrated I would suggest taking a look at his palmares, then take a look at Froome's. The facts speak for themselves.Crampeur wrote:Costa with leg warmers but no arm warmers :roll:
Not a good look and too often done by Valverde. Froome rode the climb like this.knedlicky wrote:
Peraud +12:01TailWindHome wrote:Has Kwiato finished yet?
Basso +14:54
Nieve +14:54
Danielson +22:52
Kwiatkowski +30:45
Wasnt happy to see Peraud down there and Basso was poor. Kwaitkowski had his bad day this year - I guess at some point he stopped trying and is thinking of the TT on Sunday.
Lots of other good riders got smashed today. Gruppetto rolled in a ridiculous 42mins down.
Glad to see Pinot up there. Lopez of Movistar continues to impress - only 23 and right up there. Definitely worth keeping an eye on him going forward even if he has been with Movistar for the last three years. Great job by Costa today.frenchfighter wrote:I reckon M Frank could do well actually. May be a dark horse. He also raced LBL and finished only 23secs off the top spot 4secs behind pt neo pro, lightweight climber and fiery attacker Arredondo.
Glad he came good today.Contador is the Greatest0 -
Don't the "Rules" say that this is ok, but the other way round is not ok?Crampeur wrote:Costa with leg warmers but no arm warmers :roll:http://www.georgesfoundation.org
http://100hillsforgeorge.blogspot.com/
http://www.12on12in12.blogspot.co.uk/0 -
I so nearly went for Spilak in the PTP but just couldn't quite pull the trigger. He always seems to surprise with just how good a climber he is. Certainly a Romandie specialist.
To anyone who watched the race live: what was the action like on the final climb? Did Sky have numbers there? I take it Froome attacked rather than Spilak?0 -
frenchfighter wrote:Lucky I watched the race and followed it all day on twitterfrenchfighter wrote:I find it a shame that Froome has no desire to work with anyone and will just try and drop them .
No, you didn't.0 -
mroli wrote:Don't the "Rules" say that this is ok, but the other way round is not ok?
Nope - I'm wrong:It is important to note that while one can wear arm warmers without wearing knee or leg warmers, one cannot wear knee or leg warmers without wearing arm warmers (or a long sleeve jersey). It is completely inappropriate to have uncovered arms, while covering the knees, with the exception of brief periods of time when the arm warmers may be shoved to the wrists while going uphill in a Five and Dime situation. If the weather changes and one must remove a layer, the knee/leg coverings must go before the arm coverings. If that means that said rider must take off his knee or leg warmers while racing, then this is a skill he must be accomplished in.http://www.georgesfoundation.org
http://100hillsforgeorge.blogspot.com/
http://www.12on12in12.blogspot.co.uk/0 -
Milton50 wrote:I so nearly went for Spilak in the PTP but just couldn't quite pull the trigger. He always seems to surprise with just how good a climber he is. Certainly a Romandie specialist.
To anyone who watched the race live: what was the action like on the final climb? Did Sky have numbers there? I take it Froome attacked rather than Spilak?
Sky had 3 riding on the front going into the climb (Nieve, Lopez, Froome). Nibali attacked right from the bottom (while Sky television were on a break), Froome dragged the group back, and immediately attacked Nibs. Nibali went with him for a couple hundred metres, then cracked big time. Spilak clawed his way back to Froome, and they rode the final 20k or so together.0 -
Turfle wrote:frenchfighter wrote:Lucky I watched the race and followed it all day on twitterfrenchfighter wrote:I find it a shame that Froome has no desire to work with anyone and will just try and drop them .
No, you didn't.
Arf! Amusing0 -
Turfle wrote:Milton50 wrote:I so nearly went for Spilak in the PTP but just couldn't quite pull the trigger. He always seems to surprise with just how good a climber he is. Certainly a Romandie specialist.
To anyone who watched the race live: what was the action like on the final climb? Did Sky have numbers there? I take it Froome attacked rather than Spilak?
Sky had 3 riding on the front going into the climb (Nieve, Lopez, Froome). Nibali attacked right from the bottom (while Sky television were on a break), Froome dragged the group back, and immediately attacked Nibs. Nibali went with him for a couple hundred metres, then cracked big time. Spilak clawed his way back to Froome, and they rode the final 20k or so together.
Ok cheers. The Tour is looking increasingly interesting.0 -
Sky had two on the front going into the final climb (Nieve and someone). Then Nibali attacked early. Froome led a steady chase, slowly closing the distance. Froome attacked when he got back to Nibali, who was the only one able to follow with Spilak further back. Froome dropped NIbali and opened up a gap, which Spilak slowly closed passing Nibali who had gone too big too early.Milton50 wrote:To anyone who watched the race live: what was the action like on the final climb? Did Sky have numbers there? I take it Froome attacked rather than Spilak?Twitter: @RichN950 -
Sounds like a good stage, have to watch the highlights!
Whoever made Frenchie start sulking enough that he confined his thoughts to a single post, thank you.0 -
frenchfighter wrote:
I find it a shame that Froome has no desire to work with anyone and will just try and drop them - he really doesnt like Nibali does he. Huge from Spilak
I thought Froome and Spilak worked quite well together.
Much better than Contador and Quintana on the Queen stage in Tirreno Adriatico for instance.
I agree on Spilak. Man of the match."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
This makes no sense.frenchfighter wrote:but he still has to work to reach Contador's standard - 35km solo and put several minutes in to the others. I find it a shame that Froome has no desire to work with anyone and will just try and drop them
How can you win solo without dropping the other riders.Twitter: @RichN950 -
Maybe not the best choice of photo from Sky for their race report
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adr82 wrote:Maybe not the best choice of photo from Sky for their race report
I imagine a conversation like this might have happened...
- Chris is getting a lot of stick for always staring at his stem, see if you can find a photo where he's looing up
- Well we've got one, but it's not great...
- that'll do, just put it up0 -
Warning No formatter is installed for the format0
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where is this
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frenchfighter wrote:
Froome did his typical 200 rpm acceleration to drop Nibali.
Opposed to standing up and pedaling really fast like your hero? Suppose you had to ind something to criticise in his flawless performance.but he still has to work to reach Contador's standard - 35km solo and put several minutes in to the others.
I find it a shame that Froome has no desire to work with anyone and will just try and drop them - he really doesnt like Nibali does he.
So you say he has to work harder to put more time into rivals, but then you criticise that he doesn't work with his closest rival. Do you know anything about cycling? He worked well with SpilakFor those of you saying Nibali is overrated I would suggest taking a look at his palmares, then take a look at Froome's. The facts speak for themselves.
He has been at a WT team for 8 years and has won 4 WT races (2 GT's) with 4 GT podiums, Froome has been at a WT team for 4 and has won 4 WT races (1 GT) with 2 podiums. So again I ask do you actually know anything about cycling?0 -
RichN95 wrote:
If Quintana decided to ride the Tour instead of the Giro it would probably make both races more competitive.FleshTuxedo wrote:Yeah that's what I mean, can nibali have any confidence in himself as a contender for the tour with 9 weeks to go or will he be resigning himself to being a bit part player? Looks a 2 horse race already which is a shame. Quaint, rococo notion.
...a rare 100% loyal Pro Race poster. A poster boy for the community.0 -
Macaloon wrote:RichN95 wrote:
If Quintana decided to ride the Tour instead of the Giro it would probably make both races more competitive.FleshTuxedo wrote:Yeah that's what I mean, can nibali have any confidence in himself as a contender for the tour with 9 weeks to go or will he be resigning himself to being a bit part player? Looks a 2 horse race already which is a shame. Quaint, rococo notion.
Giro will be competitive. I am not buying into the theory that Quintana will rock up and smash everyone.0 -
sjmclean wrote:frenchfighter wrote:For those of you saying Nibali is overrated I would suggest taking a look at his palmares, then take a look at Froome's. The facts speak for themselves.
He has been at a WT team for 8 years and has won 4 WT races (2 GT's) with 4 GT podiums, Froome has been at a WT team for 4 and has won 4 WT races (1 GT) with 2 podiums. So again I ask do you actually know anything about cycling?
plus 1 tour > 1 vuelta + 1 giro"Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago0 -
smithy21 wrote:Macaloon wrote:RichN95 wrote:
If Quintana decided to ride the Tour instead of the Giro it would probably make both races more competitive.FleshTuxedo wrote:Yeah that's what I mean, can nibali have any confidence in himself as a contender for the tour with 9 weeks to go or will he be resigning himself to being a bit part player? Looks a 2 horse race already which is a shame. Quaint, rococo notion.
Giro will be competitive. I am not buying into the theory that Quintana will rock up and smash everyone.
Purito is the only one who will live with him.0
