Dauphine *spoilers*

joelsim

Paul 8v wrote:

I'm not reading too much into Froome losing time today, it could be physical I.e. the body repairing, disturbed sleep or it could be mental. The two of them have been quite evenly matched and it's great to see it so close. Shame Nibali isn't at the same sort of form he was at last year, it must have really messed with his head getting that letter and having it plastered all over the net.

Is Chris Horner riding the tour? Haven't seen much of him after his mind blowing performance last year...

If he goes straight into the Tour and does well after not racing for months, rather like he did ahead of the Vuelta, then someone needs to check him out big time.

blazing_saddles

frenchfighter wrote:

Contador hasnt raced in 8 weeks and has just come down from altitude. Come the Tour he is going to be flying much higher.

They all have.
Biggest test for all will be getting through the first week.

thomthom

The over-analysing has begun..

rick_chasey

frenchfighter wrote:

TJ worse than I expected but JVB is a lot better. His Tour participation was in doubt a few weeks ago but not any longer.

TJ had 2 good days in the 2012 tour.

That is about it. Too much hype.

adr82

frenchfighter wrote:

Contador hasnt raced in 8 weeks and has just come down from altitude. Come the Tour he is going to be flying much higher.

Frenchie, do you realise why people bother training at altitude in the first place? Hint: it's not because it makes things harder for them when they come back down.

frenchfighter

Finhaut dam:





Anyone know why Froome is racing often without glasses?

davidof

It is interesting to see how close the riders are on these climbs. Ok this is the first day of real climbs compared to a GT but back in the day an Armstrong would have attacked at the foot of the Forclaz and put 5 minutes into his nearest rivals.

frenchfighter

davidof

frenchfighter wrote:

Finhaut dam:

I've cycled up to the dam, across it then ski toured up the valley opposite - with skis and boots on my back. Lets see Froome try that :-), he' d probably snap under the weight.

The climb is very hard in places, some very steep little sections; especially lower down.

frenchfighter

frenchfighter

davidof wrote:

I've cycled up to the dam, across it then ski toured up the valley opposite - with skis and boots on my back. Lets see Froome try that :-), he' d probably snap under the weight.

The climb is very hard in places, some very steep little sections; especially lower down.

Nice are of the World to live!

frenchfighter

frenchfighter

tuneskyline

davidof wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Finhaut dam:

I've cycled up to the dam, across it then ski toured up the valley opposite - with skis and boots on my back. Lets see Froome try that :-), he' d probably snap under the weight.

The climb is very hard in places, some very steep little sections; especially lower down.

I have rode a lot of todays stage. We were not allowed to ride across the dam though.

frenchfighter

Pokerface

frenchfighter wrote:

Anyone know why Froome is racing often without glasses?

Probably because he's sweating too much into the lenses and it obscures his view of his stem.

Moontrane

frenchfighter wrote:

They went through this lovely place yesterday:


Very composed celebration:

That first pic looks to be PeterJacksonBuilt.

DeVlaeminck

tonyf34 wrote:

Clearly there's a few here who have no idea whatsoever with regard to the effects a crash such that Froome had yesterday and its effects on him today :?
If you've ever crashed pretty hard and had to ride on in high temperatures then backing that up the next day in a professional competition scenario at pretty much full tilt you are not going to perform at 100%

Not only would the crash have affected him physiologically, pschologically it is very hard too, you've aches & pains to try to ignore throughout, that bit of your body that is essential for bike riding has being damaged and at this level, at this intensity even a minor injury is enough to make a difference so to say this wouldn't have effected Froome is an absolute nonsense.
How much did it cost him, who knows,

Well I think you are speculating. We've seen riders crash and carry on at their top level the next day and we've seen riders been affected by it - either could have been the case here. Yes I've crashed and yes I've had to carry on riding and ridden the next day - fwiw I think very often the kind of stiffness you experience from a crash affects you more off the bike than during a race but whether that was the case here neither of us know.

woody1545

Love the photos of riders high 5ing the panda.

Awesome work from Westra, overshadowed by his unfortunate camel toe :oops:

maddog 2

+1 and the Astana kit is horrid.
Shorts too short too. Sean Yates anyone?

inseine

Amazing photographs of the route yesterday. Where is that bridge into the village with the mountain behind?

Macaloon

So Contador is beating Sky's 'dominant' Tour squad solo. Nieve, 3:57 down is surely too far away to force Contador to chase unless he goes for a long one. Porte is so far behind he might as well be with Wiggins eating toblerone.

Froome's going to have to drop Contador himself. What's he made of?

inseine

Froome is in the position Contador was in two days ago. Can he turn the tables? Neither say they need to win this but psychologically of course the do, so it'll be interesting to see if he can. I tend to think Contador has this.

milton50

Just to clear up what I said about Froome misjudging yesterday, I wasn't denying that Contador was the strongest rider on the day. What I meant was that it was pretty clear within a few seconds of the attack that Porte couldn't up the pace, and yet Froome stayed in his wheel for a relatively long time.

When Froome did jump away from Porte and try to ride down Contador the gap stopped growing.

Macaloon

inseine wrote:

Froome is in the position Contador was in two days ago. Can he turn the tables? Neither say they need to win this but psychologically of course the do, so it'll be interesting to see if he can. I tend to think Contador has this.

Nieve should jump with Talansky, giving Talansky a genuine chance of a GC win, in return for making Contador chase. Ideal chance to try something interesting.

RideOnTime

inseine wrote:

Froome is in the position Contador was in two days ago. Can he turn the tables?

No.

Macaloon

Inner Ring:

When they were down to Richie Porte Alberto Contador attacked within the last two kilometres. Froome didn’t react, it’s in the Sky race manual to let a rider jump away and then reel them in like bailiffs collecting on oxygen debt. But the Spaniard quickly took time and, if the effort was visible, he managed to defend his advantage to the line.

fleshtuxedo

Macaloon wrote:

inseine wrote:

Froome is in the position Contador was in two days ago. Can he turn the tables? Neither say they need to win this but psychologically of course the do, so it'll be interesting to see if he can. I tend to think Contador has this.

Nieve should jump with Talansky, giving Talansky a genuine chance of a GC win, in return for making Contador chase. Ideal chance to try something interesting.

^^^This. But it's not in the manual so I don't think Sky will just try it. Courcheval not really steep enough for anyone to get away from a select group, so I think this could be a damp squib GC-wise.

No_Ta_Doctor

Macaloon wrote:

Inner Ring:

When they were down to Richie Porte Alberto Contador attacked within the last two kilometres. Froome didn’t react, it’s in the Sky race manual to let a rider jump away and then reel them in like bailiffs collecting on oxygen debt. But the Spaniard quickly took time and, if the effort was visible, he managed to defend his advantage to the line.

Yes and no, really. Froome defends more attacks himself than Wiggins. And when you've only got a handful of seconds on the attacker, who appears to be evenly matched, and you're in the last couple of km of the climb... I'd have expected Froome to leave Porte and chase Contador down. Unless he felt he wasn't up to it. Better to be able to blame the loss on a misjudgement or weakness in the team than risk losing in a show of strength.

We were discussing earlier in the thread that with Froome the tactic is to go hard early, leaving him isolated later and let his strength show in the last few km. This looks like the downside of the tactic.

hammerite

FleshTuxedo wrote:

Macaloon wrote:

inseine wrote:

Froome is in the position Contador was in two days ago. Can he turn the tables? Neither say they need to win this but psychologically of course the do, so it'll be interesting to see if he can. I tend to think Contador has this.

Nieve should jump with Talansky, giving Talansky a genuine chance of a GC win, in return for making Contador chase. Ideal chance to try something interesting.

^^^This. But it's not in the manual so I don't think Sky will just try it. Courcheval not really steep enough for anyone to get away from a select group, so I think this could be a damp squib GC-wise.

I think the only hope for Froome is to take the win and time bonuses and hope there are a couple more riders between him and Contador so that Contador doesn't get the bonus. I think it's highly unlikely.