Tour de France Stage 5 Ypres-Arenberg *Spoiler*

pottssteve

I rode around here on a pair of Fulcrum 7 cyclocross wheels and buGgered the front one on these roads!

Give me more

ddraver wrote:

When's the first cobble section? Need to go to the shop...

like 70k to go, you have plenty of time.

Art Vandelay

Acevado and Martin were involved in a crash ahead

kleinstroker

You would have thought ITV4 would have covered the whole stage today.

adr82

From letour ticker, might need that plan B Dave:

Four Team Sky riders are trying to bring Froome back to the peloton. Dave Brailsford said before the start that Richie Porte would also be a protected rider today as they envisage the necessity of changing leadership, shall Froome be too injured to defend his title in the coming days.

Paul 8v

Above The Cows wrote:

pottssteve wrote:

Anyone who has ridden in Belgium knows the roads are sh!t. They lay them by throwing a mixture of tar and rocks out of a helicopter and patting it down with a shovel....

That's not just how they make the roads.

I wish they would do that round here, it'd improve them!

dolan_driver

Hopefully that will be Froome's only crash for the day.

This stage is going to be biblical. If it ends up with three or four major GC contenders in the hospital, we mightn't see another cobbled stage for twenty years.

DD.

Pross

Is it some sort of prophecy that my Sky Go keeps crashing?

above_the_cows

Pross wrote:

I really don't get this attitude that the cobbles don't belong in a GT. They are as much a part of being an all round cyclist as being able to climb or TT, arguably more as the race probably went over cobbles before someone introduced the 'circus act' of sending bike riders over huge mountains. The big difference seems to be that in the last 20 years riders have decided to specialise rather than ride what gets thrown at them so virtually no GT contender has ridden cobbles. That's their choice and as a result they are less complete bike riders than in a previous era where cyclists won P-R or RVV as well as GTs. Who decided that GTs should be all about the person who can climb best whilst minimising their losses in a TT?

That said, the decision to remove sectors looks sensible if they are flooded. It's one thing to have the skills to spot hazards and negotiate them but sending riders over cobbles they can't see would be a step too far.

I agree with this to some extent, but I also don't think it necessary to see riders crashing and getting hurt in order to be entertained. You can say that riders should be able to ride everything but the reality is these days that they are specialists. To then make these specialists do things they are not prepared for and run the risk of injury in order to increase the entertainment factor and advertising revenue is a little perverse.

And yes I know professional sport is all about advertising revenue but there is a fine line. The Giro has crossed it on many occasions recently, I don't want to see the Tour do the same thing.

frenchfighter

Froome, FD rider, Acevedo and Martin crashed so far. On pan-flat straight line roads.

kleinstroker

adr82 wrote:

From letour ticker, might need that plan B Dave:

Four Team Sky riders are trying to bring Froome back to the peloton. Dave Brailsford said before the start that Richie Porte would also be a protected rider today as they envisage the necessity of changing leadership, shall Froome be too injured to defend his title in the coming days.

Nice plan Dave! If only you had another option?

adr82

Dolan Driver wrote:

Hopefully that will be Froome's only crash for the day.

This stage is going to be biblical. If it ends up with three or four major GC contenders in the hospital, we mightn't see another cobbled stage for twenty years.

DD.

Well let's wait and see what happens when they actually hit the cobbles, there haven't been any yet. Might as well be a wet road stage so far.

thomthom

Dolan Driver wrote:

Hopefully that will be Froome's only crash for the day.

This stage is going to be biblical. If it ends up with three or four major GC contenders in the hospital, we mightn't see another cobbled stage for twenty years.

DD.

They are riding on normal wet roads at the moment?..

Paul 8v

Pross wrote:

Is it some sort of prophecy that my Sky Go keeps crashing?

Mine keeps breaking up to :evil: Only got another 10 mins of lunch break though, will have to watch the cobbles at home

tom3

For someone who called their team leader mentally weak, Froome does seem to have had headloss since the dauphine in more ways than one. Right now, the next 3 hours are the biggest test of his career.

frenchfighter

So Froome would be out the race had it not been for his team car dragging him all the way back. Now I don't mind this at all but it is odd that it is allowed (or not stopped) when doing things like taking a bottle or feed with less than 20km to go is penalised.

TMR

Joelsim wrote:

I'm not sure how long Froome is going to be able to carry on for if his wrist is really bad. 2 crashes in 2 days. Not looking good for Sky.

Oh dear...

frenchfighter

ThomThom wrote:

They are riding on normal wet roads at the moment?..

In Belgium, yes.

About 20km to first section.

Pross

There's likelihood of riders crashing and seriously injuring themselves on wet, mountain descents at far higher speeds and yet no-one argues mountains should be taken out. It's unfortunate that it is wet, I'd rather they were battling it out on dry pave but the organisers would have reasonably expected it to be dry at this time of year. It's ironic that it has been 12 years since they had a wet version of P-R in rainy April but they get this weather in July.

TMR

Paul 8v wrote:

Pross wrote:

Is it some sort of prophecy that my Sky Go keeps crashing?

Mine keeps breaking up to :evil: Only got another 10 mins of lunch break though, will have to watch the cobbles at home

http://www.cyclingfans.com/tour-de-france/live

frenchfighter

Pross wrote:

It's ironic that it has been 12 years since they had a wet version of P-R in rainy April but they get this weather in July.

above_the_cows

pottssteve wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

Is it too early to have a drankje?

I'm waaaaay ahead of you!

Yes but it is dark where you are Steve.

tom3

kleinstroker wrote:

adr82 wrote:

From letour ticker, might need that plan B Dave:

Four Team Sky riders are trying to bring Froome back to the peloton. Dave Brailsford said before the start that Richie Porte would also be a protected rider today as they envisage the necessity of changing leadership, shall Froome be too injured to defend his title in the coming days.

Nice plan Dave! If only you had another option?

Id have let the welshman off the leash on the cobbles and try to hand on in the mountains personally.

TMR

Pross wrote:

There's likelihood of riders crashing and seriously injuring themselves on wet, mountain descents at far higher speeds and yet no-one argues mountains should be taken out. It's unfortunate that it is wet, I'd rather they were battling it out on dry pave but the organisers would have reasonably expected it to be dry at this time of year. It's ironic that it has been 12 years since they had a wet version of P-R in rainy April but they get this weather in July.

Post of the thread. HTFU.

I am sick of the TdF being decided almost entirely by whomever is best at climbing. It's nice to have a real shake up for a change.

The_Boy

Above The Cows wrote:

Pross wrote:

I really don't get this attitude that the cobbles don't belong in a GT. They are as much a part of being an all round cyclist as being able to climb or TT, arguably more as the race probably went over cobbles before someone introduced the 'circus act' of sending bike riders over huge mountains. The big difference seems to be that in the last 20 years riders have decided to specialise rather than ride what gets thrown at them so virtually no GT contender has ridden cobbles. That's their choice and as a result they are less complete bike riders than in a previous era where cyclists won P-R or RVV as well as GTs. Who decided that GTs should be all about the person who can climb best whilst minimising their losses in a TT?

That said, the decision to remove sectors looks sensible if they are flooded. It's one thing to have the skills to spot hazards and negotiate them but sending riders over cobbles they can't see would be a step too far.

I agree with this to some extent, but I also don't think it necessary to see riders crashing and getting hurt in order to be entertained. You can say that riders should be able to ride everything but the reality is these days that they are specialists. To then make these specialists do things they are not prepared for and run the risk of injury in order to increase the entertainment factor and advertising revenue is a little perverse.

.

It's probably one for another thread, but if they're unprepared for the pave then they only have themselves to blame. The parcours has been known for a year, and every team in the pro peloton recces the stages these days. And nobody is stopping them riding in some of the minor cobbled races.

It's a bit like saying climbers shouldn't be expected to be able to TT or whatever (only a bit, mind).

thomthom

frenchfighter wrote:

ThomThom wrote:

They are riding on normal wet roads at the moment?..

In Belgium, yes.

About 20km to first section.

That's not what I meant. :--)

salsiccia1

Above The Cows wrote:

Pross wrote:

I really don't get this attitude that the cobbles don't belong in a GT. They are as much a part of being an all round cyclist as being able to climb or TT, arguably more as the race probably went over cobbles before someone introduced the 'circus act' of sending bike riders over huge mountains. The big difference seems to be that in the last 20 years riders have decided to specialise rather than ride what gets thrown at them so virtually no GT contender has ridden cobbles. That's their choice and as a result they are less complete bike riders than in a previous era where cyclists won P-R or RVV as well as GTs. Who decided that GTs should be all about the person who can climb best whilst minimising their losses in a TT?

That said, the decision to remove sectors looks sensible if they are flooded. It's one thing to have the skills to spot hazards and negotiate them but sending riders over cobbles they can't see would be a step too far.

I agree with this to some extent, but I also don't think it necessary to see riders crashing and getting hurt in order to be entertained. You can say that riders should be able to ride everything but the reality is these days that they are specialists. To then make these specialists do things they are not prepared for and run the risk of injury in order to increase the entertainment factor and advertising revenue is a little perverse.

And yes I know professional sport is all about advertising revenue but there is a fine line. The Giro has crossed it on many occasions recently, I don't want to see the Tour do the same thing.

THAT I agree with 100%. It's the unnecessary risk to riders I'm most concerned about, as well as the artificial distortion of results.

If every GT included cobbles then there's a case for saying it should be part of a GT riders repertoire. But that isn't the case and hasn't been for many years.

pottssteve

kleinstroker wrote:

adr82 wrote:

From letour ticker, might need that plan B Dave:

Four Team Sky riders are trying to bring Froome back to the peloton. Dave Brailsford said before the start that Richie Porte would also be a protected rider today as they envisage the necessity of changing leadership, shall Froome be too injured to defend his title in the coming days.

Nice plan Dave! If only you had another option?

I don't know where Sir Bradley is, but he may well be laughing like a drain.....

Paul 8v

TMR wrote:

Paul 8v wrote:

Pross wrote:

Is it some sort of prophecy that my Sky Go keeps crashing?

Mine keeps breaking up to :evil: Only got another 10 mins of lunch break though, will have to watch the cobbles at home

http://www.cyclingfans.com/tour-de-france/live

Ah, merci :-)

Coach H

Wiggins has just sent Sir Dave a text that reads 'Hi Dave. Its a bit hot in the Velodrome today but I should be OK as they have carrot cake in the cafe. Hope the Zandio decision work out for you guys, he'll be a real asset in the conditions today. Laters Brad'

Obviously this is a complete fabrication but is meant as a parody on what Brailsford should be thinking right about now