Tour de France Stage 8 Tomblaine - Gerardmer *Spoilers*

NervexProf

Matt White on Simon Yates' ride

http://www.greenedgecycling.com/news/ya ... -de-france

OPQS

inseine wrote:

Contador
"I wanted to see how Nibali was doing and I was surprised he kept so close. I wasn't sure whether there was anyone ahead of me, that's why I moved. I saw there was someone ahead of me and then I decided to take a little bit of time off Nibali. I'm happy. The team was extraordinary and the legs responded well. We'll have to see day by day. Nibali is a great rider like all the great riders ahead of me. I must keep hoping and try to take time with each stage."

Fair enough. Hopefully we're in for a good battle between them.

Pross

pottssteve wrote:

Yates came in 6 minutes down

Thought he only got caught a few hundred metres from the finish?

No_Ta_Doctor

Alan A wrote:

pottssteve wrote:

Give that woman in the yellow hat a job!

That woman was a man in a kilt.

Sorry we didnae recognise ye, Alan.

tim000

so tinkov/saxo train timetrialed up the climbs with contador in tow until the last few hundred metres . boring

norvernrob

Pross wrote:

pottssteve wrote:

Yates came in 6 minutes down

Thought he only got caught a few hundred metres from the finish?

I think it was in the last couple of km, he must have bombed big time to lose that much time. Doesn't matter though, still a great ride from him today.

inseine

NorvernRob wrote:

Pross wrote:

pottssteve wrote:

Yates came in 6 minutes down

Thought he only got caught a few hundred metres from the finish?

I think it was in the last couple of km, he must have bombed big time to lose that much time. Doesn't matter though, still a great ride from him today.

When you're caught you might as well sit up, especially if you're way down on GC. Yates had got away from Terpstra and Petit, but Terpstra recovered to finish at 3.28 while Petit was 10.43 down!

rick_chasey

VdB - very disappointing.
Kiwakowski - disappointing
Molema - problem with I think his pedal on penultimate climb so spent a lot of energy getting back.

iainf72

A reasonable 5.5/10 today

mike6

Just watched the highlights as I was working all day. Contador has an ugly, energy wasting, too much upper body movement, climbing style. Nibs looks much neater and controlled.

Porte seems to be riding himself into good form though, roll on the big climbs.

No_Ta_Doctor

Gregor Hall ‏@HeriotVeloClub: @Vaughters not sure about the new mechanics uniform.

@DrHeadgear: @HeriotVeloClub @Vaughters he's got easy access to his tools though

Gregor Hall ‏@HeriotVeloClub: @DrHeadgear @Vaughters nice of him to give @millarmind a job at the tour after all.

hammerite

Just caught the end of the stage on ES. Regardless of the 3 seconds Nibali looked incredibly easy sat on Contador's wheel most of the way up the climb at the end. Interesting to see how this translates in to the high mountains.

Yellow Peril

Thoughts on the day are:

1. Great ride by Yates which bodes well for the future

2. Contador looked in control, has to be watched

3.Nibs looked good but a minor crack in the last 50 metres

4. Porte, dogged and trying hard to fill big boots

5. Pleased for Kadri, great ride

jscl

Yellow Peril wrote:

Thoughts on the day are:

4. Porte, dogged and trying hard to fill big boots

Tosh. The only mistake was following Valverde who couldn't keep up with the pace. Ritchie isn't as aggressive an attacker on the steep ramps, more so on the longer climbs.

Interesting day and stage. Going to be an interesting few weeks coming up.

specialgueststar

Pilot and Barrett riding like they've got a 600000 euro contact at Sky at stake!!

le_patron

Valverde let the wheel go almost immediately when Contador and Nibali stretched their legs at the end and Porte had to go round him.

Looking forward to seeing Quintana next year.

Bakunin

Nibs can't be happy -- isolated, and couldn't hold AC's wheel at the very end on a short climb. Nibs was totally focused on AC, he was hardly looking at the road.

Saxo showed up and handed out some punishment.

Saxo has to put Nibs to the rail and hope he cracks over time.

RichN95.

Bakunin wrote:

Nibs can't be happy -- isolated, and couldn't hold AC's wheel at the very end on a short climb. Nibs was totally focused on AC, he was hardly looking at the road.

Saxo showed up and handed out some punishment.

Saxo has to put Nibs to the rail and hope he cracks over time.

You reckon? Ok.

Nibali's teammate had an issue (I don't know what) and they sent men back. Gonzo was confident.
Saxo all on the front - but what was left when the last man peeled off - 20 riders maybe? - that's doing Vinny's work for him.
Saxo have to isolate Nibbles and attack. At every opportunity - 3s enough, lets see.

thomthom

Fuglsang had a stomach bug before the stage.

Yellow Peril

JSCL wrote:

Yellow Peril wrote:

Thoughts on the day are:

4. Porte, dogged and trying hard to fill big boots

Tosh. The only mistake was following Valverde who couldn't keep up with the pace. Ritchie isn't as aggressive an attacker on the steep ramps, more so on the longer climbs.

Interesting day and stage. Going to be an interesting few weeks coming up.

Can't see how my interpretation of Porte trying hard can be considered Tosh? was he not trying hard? Did I discredit him in some way? Did I say he made a mistake?

frenchfighter

Chapeau to Kadri. Didn't think he was that type of rider even after his Roma Maxima performance showed he knows how to suffer. Congratulations to Adam Yates as well. I really want Chavanel to do something of note.

Not really understanding a lot of the analysis of the race on this spoiler.

If you think the Tour is over you have no idea what you are talking about.

Tinkoff showing the rest of the peloton who is boss
Astana showing they are not going to be good in the mountains just as I said
One reason for Contador having his team work was to clear out the GC a little - this worked - so that there are less people to worry about who might get into breaks later on and present a danger
Contador not even trying particularly hard
Contador saying he eased up in the last few hundred as he was preparing to sprint for first, realised there was another up the road a little later after seeing the finish line graphic so taking it up a little
Contador distanced Nibali a little who was struggling and the rest well they were on their limit
You are going to put more than a handful of seconds on this sort of finish unless the opposition blows out
If you know Contador you know that those climbs are not his favourite

Shall we wait until there is a proper mountain before making a decision on the podium :roll:

inseine

It's obviously crazy to say that the podium is anywhere near decided, and agree that Yates was great and Chavanel is really trying hard to do something. He still looks classy on a bike.

I have to confess to being a bit confused as to why Tinkoff were doing a SKY especially since they don't have yellow. They may being showing who's boss and Contador did look pretty good, but he really made the team work. Roche and Rogers worked super hard (they looked cooked) and to all clear out who? Gallopin and Sagan? They most really be worried if they think those guys are a threat.

Some great racing to come with any luck.

No_Ta_Doctor

I don't think anyone has said the tour is over. But Contador looks strong, as do his team.

As for the podium, Contador / Nibali /AN Other would have been most people's bet as soon as they heard Froome went out. The rest of that stage put Porte in the frame for third spot and cemented Nib's chances. It would hardly be a major surprise to see them in that order in Paris.

Personally I hope Nibs manages to find something and hold on, that Fuglsang gets over his digestive issues to improve on last year's 7th and that Porte puts in a serious challenge. I won't hold my breath on any of them though.

frenchfighter

"We wanted to set a hard pace to clean out the overall classification of people who could cause us problems in the future by getting into breaks," Contador explained.

--

Costa:
"I'm a little sad because I had good legs and was in the top two near the end, when my chain jumped on the final climb,” he said at the finish. “It is true that I didn’t fall, but I had a mechanical problem in the most crucial part of the race. I just hope that I don’t have a worse day than this."

No_Ta_Doctor

inseine wrote:

I have to confess to being a bit confused as to why Tinkoff were doing a SKY especially since they don't have yellow. They may being showing who's boss and Contador did look pretty good, but he really made the team work. Roche and Rogers worked super hard (they looked cooked) and to all clear out who? Gallopin and Sagan? They most really be worried if they think those guys are a threat.

Just trying a general clear out of some minor GC riders to avoid having to mark them later. I expect the same today. The chunk they took out of Fuglsang with his tummy bug was a major bonus for them.

frenchfighter

iainf72 wrote:

That's what I thought too. A few people have been saying Contador doesn't look as strong as he did in the Dauphine.

To be fair on Bert, he did say before the stage that he didn't expect anything on this stage and Monday is where it's at.

Contador is flying, do not worry about that. His pedal stroke has been fluid, his positioning perfect all race, his face showing little exertion compared to others and we haven't even hit a mountain. Stage 5 can be discounted as it is a circus show with no relevant talents required to win a Grand Tour.

He and those that know him better than anyone have been saying he has 2009 Tour / 2011 Giro form, if not better. I would prefer to go with what they say and what my eye's see rather than some journos/commentators/twitter egos or whoever else wants to chime in.

inseine

No tA Doctor wrote:

inseine wrote:

I have to confess to being a bit confused as to why Tinkoff were doing a SKY especially since they don't have yellow. They may being showing who's boss and Contador did look pretty good, but he really made the team work. Roche and Rogers worked super hard (they looked cooked) and to all clear out who? Gallopin and Sagan? They most really be worried if they think those guys are a threat.

Just trying a general clear out of some minor GC riders to avoid having to mark them later. I expect the same today. The chunk they took out of Fuglsang with his tummy bug was a major bonus for them.

I see all that, and it's what Contador said, it just seemed like a big effort for small results. If the team are equally strong over the next few days it'll all have been worth it.

frenchfighter

Just one of many examples. Check out the faces of every rider:

No_Ta_Doctor

inseine wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

inseine wrote:

I have to confess to being a bit confused as to why Tinkoff were doing a SKY especially since they don't have yellow. They may being showing who's boss and Contador did look pretty good, but he really made the team work. Roche and Rogers worked super hard (they looked cooked) and to all clear out who? Gallopin and Sagan? They most really be worried if they think those guys are a threat.

Just trying a general clear out of some minor GC riders to avoid having to mark them later. I expect the same today. The chunk they took out of Fuglsang with his tummy bug was a major bonus for them.

I see all that, and it's what Contador said, it just seemed like a big effort for small results. If the team are equally strong over the next few days it'll all have been worth it.

I'm not sure the effort was all that big. Yes they drilled it hard, but for how long? None of the climbs were all that big and there was plenty of descent between them.

dsoutar

mike6 wrote:

Just watched the highlights as I was working all day. Contador has an ugly, energy wasting, too much upper body movement, climbing style. Nibs looks much neater and controlled.

Porte seems to be riding himself into good form though, roll on the big climbs.

I was watching it yesterday with my missus who enjoys watching the uphill bits of the Tour but isn't a cyclist and doesn't exhibit that much interest tbh. She also commented on how bad his cycling style was compared to Nibali (in fact she said she thought he cycled just like Froome which I thought was a quite revealing comment from someone with a relatively detached opinion)