TDF: Stage 20 Time Trial ***Spoilers*** Bergerac-Perigueux

Macaloon

Pross wrote:

FleshTuxedo wrote:

Just watched it and by crikey Pinot has scope to improve his tt. Off his aero bars too much, moving his head around, slow cadence, uncommitted in the corners etc etc. An excellent time despite all that and was really pleased he stayed on the podium, but some focus from a top team could get much more out of him.

So where should he move to? Jeannesson killed himself in support but not much more from FDJ for him.

I'd like to see him stay put and hopefully more sponsors putting money into the team so they can build support around him. The sport needs a strong French based team or two rather than their rising stars going elsewhere.

Not to mention the remarkable transformation from the guy who limped out last year. To recover and improve in such a short time suggests there's nothing wrong with his coaching setup.

morstar

Macaloon wrote:

DeadCalm wrote:

Macaloon wrote:

2013 Froome - Kreuziger (5th) +7:27

2014 Nibali - Péraud (virtual 5th) +7:52

Similar GC pressure. Similar margins. FWIW.

Not worth much if anything at all but how do you put Peraud virtual 5th?

Fair enough. It's fantastic for Péraud, and well deserved. But I doubt he'd beat Quintana, Froome & Contador. I thought it was more meaningful than comparing the margin from 1st to second when playing the Nibali vs Froometador game.

You do know Quintana is an irrelevance to TdF 2014.

I know we all like to speculate if's but's and maybe's. I do it myself a lot but you have to draw the line somewhere. Froome and Contador are an obvious consideration to possible scenarios but Quintana isn't.

Or do TdF's only count when all the top riders are present and in peak form?

Macaloon

morstar wrote:

Or do TdF's only count when all the top riders are present and in peak form?

You're mistaken if you thought the intention was to devalue this year's GC. Quite the opposite. Nibali's margin over the guy who targeted 5th (as Péraud himself said) was greater than Froome's.

It's pub talk. Did I just spill your pint?

fleshtuxedo

Pross wrote:

FleshTuxedo wrote:

Just watched it and by crikey Pinot has scope to improve his tt. Off his aero bars too much, moving his head around, slow cadence, uncommitted in the corners etc etc. An excellent time despite all that and was really pleased he stayed on the podium, but some focus from a top team could get much more out of him.

So where should he move to? Jeannesson killed himself in support but not much more from FDJ for him.

I'd like to see him stay put and hopefully more sponsors putting money into the team so they can build support around him. The sport needs a strong French based team or two rather than their rising stars going elsewhere.

Don't know if FDJ funding setup allows them to step it up or not. It would be good to see a French team do it for themselves, maybe this year's success will attract more sponsors to the French teams. Wonder how patriotic Pinot and Bardet will be when Sky etc inevitably come knocking though.

rick_chasey

Bauke Mollema.

FFS.

milton50

Milton50 wrote:

I think Frank Schleck will be giving Mollema a run for his money on this kind of form. Isn't he supposed to be a half decent time trialist?

Bauke Mollema lost 3 minutes to Frank Schleck in a fairly flat time trial. That's beyond being a joke. It's just embarrassing.

rick_chasey

Mollema from the NOS radio interview:

Got cramp in his arse and hamstrings after 10km and went downhill from there.

Did it on a different frame he'd never ridden before. Was supposed to be a lot faster, but obviously the wrong choice.

frisbee

Rick Chasey wrote:

Mollema from the NOS radio interview:

Got cramp in his ars* and hamstrings after 10km and went downhill from there.

Did it on a different frame he'd never ridden before. Was supposed to be a lot faster, but obviously the wrong choice.

Hamstring cramp wipes you out, you just want to fall off the bike so you can try and ease it out and you can't push once you've felt a twinge in case it does go.

milton50

Rick Chasey wrote:

Did it on a different frame he'd never ridden before.

As we all would when riding to secure 7th place in the Tour de France. :roll:

Pross

Rick Chasey wrote:

Mollema from the NOS radio interview:

Got cramp in his ars* and hamstrings after 10km and went downhill from there.

Did it on a different frame he'd never ridden before. Was supposed to be a lot faster, but obviously the wrong choice.

More likely Joelsim tipped him off with £2.50 of the £5 I now owe him from our bet. Race fixing at its worst

Macaloon

operatic opening to ITV4 coverage: outstanding. Bravo!

adr82

Shows how far ahead Tony Martin was compared to everyone else!

frenchfighter

adr82 wrote:

Shows how far ahead Tony Martin was compared to everyone else!

Great graphic. Tony Martin is absolutely incredible.

The shame is he had black glasses and kineo tape...it spoiled the photos!

frenchfighter

frenchfighter

frenchfighter

“I think the time trial bike is a very fast bike and it tested really well in the wind tunnel,” Mollema said. “But we just didn’t have enough time to train on the new bike. The fact that I didn’t have a time trial bike to train on at home all year wasn’t in my favour.”