Tour de France Stage 5 Ypres-Arenberg *Spoiler*

RichN95.

hammerite wrote:

Next year they should include the Tro Bro Leon route.

And a BMX prologue.

Lanterne_Rogue

Also, any GT rider whose 'talent suitcase' doesn't involve being able to ride on cobbles has had plenty of chances to pack a different suitcase by occasionally rocking up for the cobbled classics. If they've chosen not to do so, that's hardly the fault of M. Prudhomme.

Edited to add - it can;t possibly live up to our fevered expectations. But wouldn't it be ace if it did?

cal_stewart

Massively hard thinking about this stage.

With Cav out, OPQS could really go for this tomorrow and cause big time gaps. Can't see GVA getting a free role.

Think sky's tour may end tomorrow. If Froome's hands and wrist are bad its not going to be a go dry.

andyrac

I have to agree with others - surely a GT is to find the best 'all round' rider over 3 weeks?? So an ability to climb, TT, cobbles/ gravel, etc rather than being a 'pure climber' - which is were the Vuelta, and the Giro to a lesser extent fall down.

Taken half a day tomorrow; I'm wondering what tactics will be played out. Do any of the GC teams send men up the road? Do the 'classics' teams treat it as such?

Bring it on!

thomthom

Time for Der Panzerwagen to realise that these cobbles aren't so bad for him afterall.

Paul 8v

RichN95 wrote:

jam1e wrote:

Froome confirmed as starting tomorrow's stage. Sky to surprise everyone and attack - can Kiriyenka ride cobbles?

Kiryienka can ride treacle.

(The FdJ team named the scooter they do motorpacing behind 'Vasil' after him)

Haha, love this!

You can tell the cobbled stage is coming, 5 pages and it hasn't even started yet!

I'm doing a rain dance, the same one as I do for Paris Roubaix

DeVlaeminck

iainf72 wrote:

It's a funny one - But I suspect none of the big GC guys will really have a problem with the cobbles. It's more like mechanical issues etc

Yes mechanical issues could be huge - punctures are far more common on the cobbles and assuming the peloton are in bits and team cars will have problems staying close behind their leaders a mechanical at the wrong time could easily see a rider lose contact with his rivals and without significant helpers close by to get them back.

ddraver

TailWindHome wrote:

Juan Antonio Flecha ‏@ComounaFlecha
@f_cancellara @tomboonen1 @ghincapie @letour HTFU!!!!

There is something to be said that Sky need to do a lot better at letting people get to know their riders. A lot of you diss the OGE shenannigans but that team and it's riders have a proper identity and personality. Since retiring Flecha has come across as a really likeable, funny guy that never came across when he was riding!

RichN95.

ddraver wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

Juan Antonio Flecha ‏@ComounaFlecha
@f_cancellara @tomboonen1 @ghincapie @letour HTFU!!!!

There is something to be said that Sky need to do a lot better at letting people get to know their riders. A lot of you diss the OGE shenannigans but that team and it's riders have a proper identity and personality. Since retiring Flecha has come across as a really likeable, funny guy that never came across when he was riding!

The problem is that Sky are a much higher ranked team than Orica, so they get all the arsey questions. No journalist wanting to ask the 'hard' questions goes to an Orica press conference.

When the pressure is on, people ask you questions about that. When it's not, it's fun and games.

ddraver

Paul 8v wrote:

I'm doing a rain dance, the same one as I do for Paris Roubaix

No offence dude but that's been proven to be a pretty lame rain dance!

RichN95 wrote:

hammerite wrote:

Next year they should include the Tro Bro Leon route.

And a BMX prologue.

Advantage Froome! But surely Sagan would take the first yellow jersey?

I suppose I'm like everyone here in that I think cobbles in a GT are a great idea until my guy punctures or crashes and loses the race...

hammerite

Shouldn't Froome be pretty handy for stages like this, having grown up riding on dirt roads and all that.

ddraver

Think so, yep. The concern is with his wrist now and then the possibility of bad luck...

RichN95.

Here's a little bit of retro activity. The forum the last time that the Tour went over the cobbles:

viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12713317

"It's like blowing up the moon to deter werewolves" - so many good lines that I don't remember

Kléber (aka Inrng) wrote:

Yes, I always thought the cobbles were being hyped. Don't get me wrong, they are not easy and some will suffer from the rough roads and from being flicked sideways. But it's only a handful of sections. What characterises P-R is the succession of cobbles, the constant battering until the race splits towards the end. A few short sharp sections will let the race regroup.

above_the_cows

hammerite wrote:

Shouldn't Froome be pretty handy for stages like this, having grown up riding on dirt roads and all that.

No, no, the consensus based on no evidence at all is that Froome is a bad bike handler oh yeah and his wrist.

RideOnTime

milton50

I personally think that if the Tour de France is going to be held up as the pinnacle of the sport then it should test all round ability to some extent. These cobbles are, after all, in France.

If a big name GC rider who has spent the whole season working towards the yellow jersey crashes tomorrow will it be a shame? Of course it will. But you can lose the Tour de France on every single stage of the race.

Pross

ThomThom wrote:

What is it with this site not being able to start a bloody decent race thread with at least a stage profile.

Baffling.

A profile map for this stage isn't worth the hassle. A pave sector map is far more interesting and possibly a route map with wind arrows.

fleshtuxedo

RichN95 wrote:

Here's a little bit of retro activity. The forum the last time that the Tour went over the cobbles:

viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12713317

Well that was another time and place wasn't it. Fignon & Armstrong were both still with us.

FJS

Above The Cows wrote:

hammerite wrote:

Shouldn't Froome be pretty handy for stages like this, having grown up riding on dirt roads and all that.

No, no, the consensus based on no evidence at all is that Froome is a bad bike handler oh yeah and his wrist.

Just as any Belkin rider is obviously a poor bike handler, because Gesink and Menchov used to fall off all the time, you see.

takethehighroad

Saying the TDF should only have mountains is silly. What about the medium mountain stages in the Vosges?

Just because you don't get Froome and Contador mano a mano does that make it any less of a stage.

FJS

Now, a carbon copy of LBL on Sunday turned out to be a race of attrition with few attacks until the end. I'm not sure this mini Paris-Roubaix will turn out to be the spring classic attack-fest some are hoping for.
Still, on Sunday the select group at the finish contained all the GC favourites. Today the interest will be more in the two different battles going on at the same time.

blazing_saddles

Pross wrote:

ThomThom wrote:

What is it with this site not being able to start a bloody decent race thread with at least a stage profile.

Baffling.

A profile map for this stage isn't worth the hassle. A pave sector map is far more interesting and possibly a route map with wind arrows.

Le Tour's forecast is somewhat optimistic compared to the one I've seen:

Fresh and very rainy stage, even on the paving stones.
Westerly wind 20 to 30 kph, up to 50km/h on the belgian part.
Temperature around 14 degrees only.

Map:



Intermediate sprint (+map):



Last 5km:


Detailed map:


Profile:

Paul 8v

ddraver wrote:

Paul 8v wrote:

I'm doing a rain dance, the same one as I do for Paris Roubaix

No offence dude but that's been proven to be a pretty lame rain dance!

RichN95 wrote:

hammerite wrote:

Next year they should include the Tro Bro Leon route.

And a BMX prologue.

Advantage Froome! But surely Sagan would take the first yellow jersey?

I suppose I'm like everyone here in that I think cobbles in a GT are a great idea until my guy punctures or crashes and loses the race...

Yeah I'm sorry, I need to do a better one

After Millar's comments on the cycling podcast, Sagan would definitely win a BMX prologue.

Actually, sod it, just bring back the prologue in general.

Macaloon

RichN95 wrote:

Here's a little bit of retro activity. The forum the last time that the Tour went over the cobbles:

viewtopic.php?f=40002&t=12713317

"It's like blowing up the moon to deter werewolves" - so many good lines that I don't remember

That was a treat. Cheers.

FJS

Photos of the current (yesterday's?) wet state of all the cobble sections, plus Museeuw, Leukemans, and Hoste's analysis (Dutch): http://www.nieuwsblad.be/sportwereld/cn ... ?#photoset

I think the Flemish are looking forward to this

So is Nikki Terpstra. Says riding Paris-Roubaix in the rain for once would be 'fun'

fat_cat

I know it's easy to be wise with hindsight but I bet OPQS are regretting putting all their eggs in one basket with Cav now.

Where's Tom Boonen when you need him!

tailwindhome

the Inner Ring ‏@inrng · 7m
Four riders in the Tour today started the 2002 Paris-Roubaix: Matthew Hayman, Jens Voigt, Thomas Voeckler and Samuel Dumoulin. None finished

peat

Well, that looks delightful.

above_the_cows

RichN95 wrote:

hammerite wrote:

Next year they should include the Tro Bro Leon route.

And a BMX prologue.

With a game of cycle polo on the rest days.

Macaloon

Froome wrist-watch watch. Any updates?