Tour de France Stage 9 Gerardmer - Mulhouse *Spoilers*
Comments
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Pierre Roland doesn't look the most comfortable descending. In contrast Tony Martin looks so smooth on the bike. Was it last years vuelta when he was out front on his own for about 150miles.0
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Rojas (Movistar), Rodriguez (Katusha), Paulinho (Tinkoff), Koren (Cannondale), Boom and Kruijswijk (Belkin), Chérel (AG2R), Dumoulin (Giant), Valls (Lampre), Ladagnous (FDJ), Gallopin (Lotto), Moinard (BMC), Gautier, Pichot, and Reza (Europcar), Cancellara (Trek), Meier (Orica), Chavanel (IAM), and Feillu and Bideau (Bretagne)Contador is the Greatest0
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18 teams out front. Astana should have shut it down early. They are going to be chasing all day long hard against 28 odd riders with some strong ones there.Contador is the Greatest0
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Instead of a cow have a stork...
This be stork country.
And here's one called Menes that got imprisoned by Egypt for spying...
Correlation is not causation.0 -
Gruppetto at 4mins.Contador is the Greatest0
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Martin and De Marchi (not seen De M at the front yet) have 2.30 on the entire Astana squad who are lined out.
The other group is being led by Europcar.Contador is the Greatest0 -
So Kadri went for spotty shorts with his spotty jersey. Now while that is a sartorial faux pas it is still probably better than a spotty jersey/brown shorts combo.Correlation is not causation.0
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Nice to see the OPQS car helping out De Marchi with some gels / bars or whatever0
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frenchfighter wrote:18 teams out front. Astana should have shut it down early. They are going to be chasing all day long hard against 28 odd riders with some strong ones there.
They should let the jersey go, or at least engineer the situation where someone a few minutes back is the virtual yellow jersey. Then they can ride tempo and save themselves, or Tinkoff-Saxo could start riding to keep Nibali in yellow.0 -
andyp wrote:frenchfighter wrote:18 teams out front. Astana should have shut it down early. They are going to be chasing all day long hard against 28 odd riders with some strong ones there.
They should let the jersey go, or at least engineer the situation where someone a few minutes back is the virtual yellow jersey. Then they can ride tempo and save themselves, or Tinkoff-Saxo could start riding to keep Nibali in yellow.
Yeah I suppose.
Nibali did say he wanted to hold onto it but the current situation my change that.
Rolland would be an acceptable level of danger to let take it by a small margin.Contador is the Greatest0 -
Looks like the peloton took a nature break or something. Gap at 4.20 and Rolland group is 1.30 behind Martin.Contador is the Greatest0
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It's criminal to design stages like this. Absolutely criminal.0
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Astana want Galopin in the yellow.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0
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Why? It's not a mountain stage, is it? I'm enjoying this. There's a strong breakaway, with loads of very strong riders promising some fireworks later on for the stage win. This was always going to be an intermediate mountain stage, right?There'll be plenty of real muontain stages for the GC riders to fight it out. As long as it doesn't replace proper mountain stages, I can't see what's wrong with it. Do you prefer another flat sprinters stage?ThomThom wrote:It's criminal to design stages like this. Absolutely criminal.0 -
Off topic:
Michael Hutchinson @Doctor_Hutch · 18m
I suspect that Kennaugh winning Tour of Austria is better preparation for winning a future Tour de France than domestique-ing in Tour team.
Seems a good point.0 -
Cheng Ji puts the "he" in hero....
Come on, Cheng!Head Hands Heart Lungs Legs0 -
Above The Cows wrote:So Kadri went for spotty shorts with his spotty jersey. Now while that is a sartorial faux pas it is still probably better than a spotty jersey/brown shorts combo.
With only about half a dozen spots in total. The climber's jersey used to look a lot better than it does nowadays.Giant TCR Advanced II - Reviewed on my homepage
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Some other junk...0 -
ThomThom wrote:It's criminal to design stages like this. Absolutely criminal.
No, what's criminal is not televising the start of it.
You need variety. This throws open different possibilities (Sagan going off the front in the first 2km?) and different tactical possibilities. It encourages good descenders (and potentially punishes those who can't). The Cat 1 climb will encourage those fancying the KoM to have a go and we have 28 in a break as a result. The yellow jersey now has a choice whether to try and defend it or not. This parcours allows teams to try and shed the non-climbers early, meaning that leaders can be more isolated in the later stages.
Now they may not take that opportunity but if every stage was an uphill finish they wouldn't feel so special.0 -
SCR Pedro wrote:Above The Cows wrote:So Kadri went for spotty shorts with his spotty jersey. Now while that is a sartorial faux pas it is still probably better than a spotty jersey/brown shorts combo.
With only about half a dozen spots in total. The climber's jersey used to look a lot better than it does nowadays.
It really could do with more spots I agree.Correlation is not causation.0 -
Doesn't look like the chasing group is going to get this, right? Martin and De Marchi now almost 3 minutes clear.0
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Tony Martin is ridiculously strong. Not only has he done the whole amount of work, he has increased his gap to the Rolland group by 1min or so.
Why Martin is not getting De Marchi to work is odd. He is a good climber and will arrive fresh and just attack him.Contador is the Greatest0 -
frenchfighter wrote:Why Martin is not getting De Marchi to work is odd. He is a good climber and will arrive fresh and just attack him.
He is. I've seen them taking turns.0 -
Not a big fan of today's poem. Here's my contribution for the ad break - Death on a Live Wire by Michael Baldwin
Treading a field I saw afar
A laughing fellow climbing the cage
That held the grinning tensions of wire,
Alone, and no girl gave him courage.
Up he climbed on the diamond struts.
Diamond cut diamond, till he stood
With the insulators brooding like owls
And all their live wisdom, if he would.
I called to him climbing and asked him to say
what thrust him into the singeing sky:
The one word he told me the wind took away,
So I shouted again, but the wind passed me by
And the gust of his answer tore at his coat
And struck him stark on the lightning's bough:
Humanity screeched in his manacled throat
And he cracked with flame like a figure of straw.
Turning, burning he dangled black,
A hot sun swallowing at his fork
And shaking embers out of his back,
Planting his shadow of fear in the chalk.
O then he danced an incredible dance
With soot in his sockets, hanging at heels;
Uprooted mandrakes screamed in his loins,
His legs thrashed and lashed like electric eels;
For now he embraced the talent of iron,
The white-hot ore that comes from the hill,
The Word out of which the electrons run,
The snake in the rod and the miracle;
And as he embraced it the girders turned black,
Fused metal wept and great tears ran down,
Till his fingers like snails at last came unstuck
And he fell though the cage of the sun.Head Hands Heart Lungs Legs0 -
OPQS wrote:frenchfighter wrote:Why Martin is not getting De Marchi to work is odd. He is a good climber and will arrive fresh and just attack him.
He is. I've seen them taking turns.
Yep, he is, perhaps FF isn't watching it.0 -
Cheng, Kittel etc. 12 minutes back already......
Head Hands Heart Lungs Legs0 -
pottssteve wrote:Cheng, Kittel etc. 12 minutes back already......
Is King Edward also there? If not this could do Cheng's Lanterne hopes all manner of good.Correlation is not causation.0 -
mfin wrote:OPQS wrote:frenchfighter wrote:Why Martin is not getting De Marchi to work is odd. He is a good climber and will arrive fresh and just attack him.
He is. I've seen them taking turns.
Yep, he is, perhaps FF isn't watching it.
Good to know. I am listening to commentary - French - and checking it now and then. Have not seen him once on the front.Contador is the Greatest0 -
Cheng towing the grupetto!!!
Cheeeeeeeng!Head Hands Heart Lungs Legs0
