The big four and the Tour
Comments
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adr82 wrote:
Just systematic doping by everyone on the team...?Joelsim wrote:coriordan wrote:Joelsim wrote:mm1 wrote:Joelsim wrote:If only they'd got the Yates twins! Sky's way is to go for their best option in every race, SDB has targets to meet to justify his budget, and let's not forget the next great UK hope needs to be up there with Quintana etc. My guess is that they'll offer the Yates boys a huge sum at their next contract time if all goes to plan with their development at OGE.
Didn't want them both, which is why they ended up at OGE. They seem to be happy there and aren't being burnt out as part of someone else's mountain train.
Yes but since then they have both shown what they can do, not just Simon. Sky will be able to offer them far more money than OGE when their contracts are up for renewal at the end of 2016. By then they may have made so much progress that Sky can offer them leader status in a good selection of races.
But what about the systematic doping going on at Sky? Wouldn't that tarnish them for you? :roll:
Where have I said systematic doping at Sky? I don't actually believe there is any systematic team doping going on, not even at Astana.
Far from it. From a small few I imagine at Sky.0 -
I meant Astana - you said earlier "Astana goes without saying after everything that's happened and their strength and powers of recovery in the Giro etc" - do you believe there's much of a difference between "systematic team doping" vs "everyone on a team systematically doping as individuals"?Joelsim wrote:adr82 wrote:
Just systematic doping by everyone on the team...?Joelsim wrote:coriordan wrote:Joelsim wrote:mm1 wrote:Joelsim wrote:If only they'd got the Yates twins! Sky's way is to go for their best option in every race, SDB has targets to meet to justify his budget, and let's not forget the next great UK hope needs to be up there with Quintana etc. My guess is that they'll offer the Yates boys a huge sum at their next contract time if all goes to plan with their development at OGE.
Didn't want them both, which is why they ended up at OGE. They seem to be happy there and aren't being burnt out as part of someone else's mountain train.
Yes but since then they have both shown what they can do, not just Simon. Sky will be able to offer them far more money than OGE when their contracts are up for renewal at the end of 2016. By then they may have made so much progress that Sky can offer them leader status in a good selection of races.
But what about the systematic doping going on at Sky? Wouldn't that tarnish them for you? :roll:
Where have I said systematic doping at Sky? I don't actually believe there is any systematic team doping going on, not even at Astana.
Far from it. From a small few I imagine at Sky.0 -
adr82 wrote:
I meant Astana - you said earlier "Astana goes without saying after everything that's happened and their strength and powers of recovery in the Giro etc" - do you believe there's much of a difference between "systematic team doping" vs "everyone on a team systematically doping as individuals"?Joelsim wrote:adr82 wrote:
Just systematic doping by everyone on the team...?Joelsim wrote:coriordan wrote:Joelsim wrote:mm1 wrote:Joelsim wrote:If only they'd got the Yates twins! Sky's way is to go for their best option in every race, SDB has targets to meet to justify his budget, and let's not forget the next great UK hope needs to be up there with Quintana etc. My guess is that they'll offer the Yates boys a huge sum at their next contract time if all goes to plan with their development at OGE.
Didn't want them both, which is why they ended up at OGE. They seem to be happy there and aren't being burnt out as part of someone else's mountain train.
Yes but since then they have both shown what they can do, not just Simon. Sky will be able to offer them far more money than OGE when their contracts are up for renewal at the end of 2016. By then they may have made so much progress that Sky can offer them leader status in a good selection of races.
But what about the systematic doping going on at Sky? Wouldn't that tarnish them for you? :roll:
Where have I said systematic doping at Sky? I don't actually believe there is any systematic team doping going on, not even at Astana.
Far from it. From a small few I imagine at Sky.
From what I read there is huge pressure to perform at Astana, and we know all about Oleg at TCS too. That probably doesn't help. But 5 busts at Astana including youth team, do their internal testing procedures not show this up? Especially the steroids? It's amazing when riders are taking blood tests all the time with their teams0 -
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Rick Chasey wrote:The alp stage will decide.
Those short stages are utter bonkers.
If Contador is down by the time we come to the end, 100% he his going for a minimum 75km attack on this stage:
http://www.steephill.tv/2015/tour-de-fr ... ile-20.jpg
Completely badly designed with a 50km descent. Who thought that would be a good idea :roll: It will even take half way up the Alpe d'Huez before they warm up again and are able to pedal properly.Contador is the Greatest0 -
frenchfighter wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:The alp stage will decide.
Those short stages are utter bonkers.
If Contador is down by the time we come to the end, 100% he his going for a minimum 75km attack on this stage:
http://www.steephill.tv/2015/tour-de-fr ... ile-20.jpg
Completely badly designed with a 50km descent. Who thought that would be a good idea :roll: It will even take half way up the Alpe d'Huez before they warm up again and are able to pedal properly.
It's a route that's been used before and has prompted long range attacks, so once again you are spouting nonsense. :roll:
In any event, had you read the thread properly, you might have spotted there is a good chance the route will need to be altered. :idea:0 -
Dorset Boy wrote:*vitriol*
babywipe?0 -
Dorset Boy wrote:frenchfighter wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:The alp stage will decide.
Those short stages are utter bonkers.
If Contador is down by the time we come to the end, 100% he his going for a minimum 75km attack on this stage:
http://www.steephill.tv/2015/tour-de-fr ... ile-20.jpg
Completely badly designed with a 50km descent. Who thought that would be a good idea :roll: It will even take half way up the Alpe d'Huez before they warm up again and are able to pedal properly.
It's a route that's been used before and has prompted long range attacks, so once again you are spouting nonsense. :roll:
In any event, had you read the thread properly, you might have spotted there is a good chance the route will need to be altered. :idea:
This seems to be the problem
http://www.ledauphine.com/isere-sud/2015/05/31/tunnel-du-chambon-pas-de-reouverture-avant-le-20-juillet-yege
If the stage is re-routed the descent will likely be from the Glandon, which probably isn't too far off 50km to the bottom of the Alpe. To be fair there's probably only one descent locally with a shorter run in (without going up the Alpe twice) and that would be off the Ornon.0 -
I don't think Froome has poor bike handling skills - certainly not from what I've seen. He does seem to have terrible group riding skills which appears to be why he spends so much time on the floor but that's not quite the same thing.
Certainly I'd say it's not something which can be actively exploited by his rivals, rather they can take advantage of it when something does happen.0 -
Week one will leave the potential realistic winners to 2 at best.
The rest will be decided on the Alp.0 -
I always think of Froome as being poor in cold, wet weather rather than necessarily a bad bike handler.“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0
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Ok
Contador is the best of his generation - but that was a bunch of 3rd tier GC men he beat in Italy.
TDF prediction
1 Quintana
2 Contador
3 Nibali
4 Froome“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0 -
TailWindHome wrote:Ok
Contador is the best of his generation - but that was a bunch of 3rd tier GC men he beat in Italy.
TDF prediction
1 Quintana
2 Contador
3 Nibali
4 Froome
One of them will crash out or suffer something unfortunate and I think there will be one surprise (or next tier) rider who will end up on the podium. Not going to say who or what order, I have no idea about that.0 -
hammerite wrote:Dorset Boy wrote:frenchfighter wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:The alp stage will decide.
Those short stages are utter bonkers.
If Contador is down by the time we come to the end, 100% he his going for a minimum 75km attack on this stage:
http://www.steephill.tv/2015/tour-de-fr ... ile-20.jpg
Completely badly designed with a 50km descent. Who thought that would be a good idea :roll: It will even take half way up the Alpe d'Huez before they warm up again and are able to pedal properly.
It's a route that's been used before and has prompted long range attacks, so once again you are spouting nonsense. :roll:
In any event, had you read the thread properly, you might have spotted there is a good chance the route will need to be altered. :idea:
This seems to be the problem
http://www.ledauphine.com/isere-sud/2015/05/31/tunnel-du-chambon-pas-de-reouverture-avant-le-20-juillet-yege
If the stage is re-routed the descent will likely be from the Glandon, which probably isn't too far off 50km to the bottom of the Alpe. To be fair there's probably only one descent locally with a shorter run in (without going up the Alpe twice) and that would be off the Ornon.
The descent of the Glandon/Croix de Fer (they share the same descent to Bourg) is fast and much more technical though - the descent of the Galibier via the Lautaret is a main road (well once you get on to the Lautaret) and while some of it is fast some of it is quite shallow and favours a big chasing group.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
DeVlaeminck wrote:hammerite wrote:Dorset Boy wrote:frenchfighter wrote:Rick Chasey wrote:The alp stage will decide.
Those short stages are utter bonkers.
If Contador is down by the time we come to the end, 100% he his going for a minimum 75km attack on this stage:
http://www.steephill.tv/2015/tour-de-fr ... ile-20.jpg
Completely badly designed with a 50km descent. Who thought that would be a good idea :roll: It will even take half way up the Alpe d'Huez before they warm up again and are able to pedal properly.
It's a route that's been used before and has prompted long range attacks, so once again you are spouting nonsense. :roll:
In any event, had you read the thread properly, you might have spotted there is a good chance the route will need to be altered. :idea:
This seems to be the problem
http://www.ledauphine.com/isere-sud/2015/05/31/tunnel-du-chambon-pas-de-reouverture-avant-le-20-juillet-yege
If the stage is re-routed the descent will likely be from the Glandon, which probably isn't too far off 50km to the bottom of the Alpe. To be fair there's probably only one descent locally with a shorter run in (without going up the Alpe twice) and that would be off the Ornon.
The descent of the Glandon/Croix de Fer (they share the same descent to Bourg) is fast and much more technical though - the descent of the Galibier via the Lautaret is a main road (well once you get on to the Lautaret) and while some of it is fast some of it is quite shallow and favours a big chasing group.
It's more technical than the Lauteret yes, but it's still not a narrow descent and not incredibly technical for these riders. I can't imagine it would be too much bother even in the wet.
Wasn't it last used in 2008? I think I remember Cancellara and Jensie pulling the bunch along at break neck speed and dropping Sastre and Schleck off at the bottom of the Alpe.0 -
Agree it's not the most technical descent - maybe I exaggerated - still a lot more technical than the Lautaret which is a bus route ! I still think it offers more scope for an attack over the Glandon or Croix de Fer than the Lautaret does for an attack over the Galibier even if the Galibier itself is harder. God knows why they have to keep inflicting Alpe D'Huez on us anyway.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0
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No tA Doctor wrote:
*draws a picture for Not a Doctor*Team My Man 2018: David gaudu, Pierre Latour, Romain Bardet, Thibaut pinot, Alexandre Geniez, Florian Senechal, Warren Barguil, Benoit Cosnefroy0 -
He managed to win Romandie in 2013 and 2014 with the main GC stage held in pretty poor conditions IIRC. And he was 3rd this year when the weather wasn't great either. I think it's maybe more that if you're not at 100% in the first place, then that type of weather is likely to exacerbate things.TailWindHome wrote:I always think of Froome as being poor in cold, wet weather rather than necessarily a bad bike handler.0 -
Joelsim wrote:philbar72 wrote:Joelsim wrote:Ashbeck wrote:frenchfighter wrote:Macaloon wrote:Similarly, Froome (
) is desperate to assert his dominance over this generation, especially Contador.
Indeed he is. He has only 8 GTs to go at time of writing. Only two years younger than Contador so he just needs a few GT doubles and he will be there in no time.
Froome being at a major disadvantage, being clean of course.
What makes you so sure that Froome is clean? Bertie isn't and Nibali isn't. But I don't think Froome, Quintana, Purito, Valverde are either. Pinot may be though.
What you're saying is that Froome is so good that he can beat all the dopers?
Do you actually know these people are on something Joel?
I'm suspicious of quite a few riders, but without being 100% certain, you sure that's wise?
As sure as it's possible to be without a positive test as proof in the cases of Contador, Valverde and Nibali. Less sure about the others as they don't still deny/refute their bans etc. To be honest I'm pretty sure that doping is still a massive problem and I actually think it's getting worse again the more I watch and read now that the scientists know the parameters of the passport. Rebellin is still getting away with it, Horner too, Katusha extremely iffy, Astana goes without saying after everything that's happened and their strength and powers of recovery in the Giro etc. The main reason is it's clearly very easy with the right knowledge to not fail a test or go outside the acceptable area of the passport, so why would proven dopers stop...and that creates a vicious circle.
I do however, think there are a some clean riders these days too though.
Have you read the sticky about defamatory posts? I'm pretty certain you've just libelled several people."In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"
@gietvangent0 -
so have you by quoting his post 0
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He will be alright baby wise this year.
Its when the little one is born he will be sleep deprived
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jimmythecuckoo wrote:He will be alright baby wise this year.
Its when the little one is born he will be sleep deprived
I have Froomey in my UCI fantasy team for 3 years.
So I really don't want sleep-deprivation.
Anyway the RV is going to the Tour and could then go back chez Froome for peaceful nights.
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In February 2014, both Quintana and Nibali had babies. It worked out OK for them.jimmythecuckoo wrote:He will be alright baby wise this year.
Its when the little one is born he will be sleep deprivedTwitter: @RichN950 -
Rick Chasey wrote:Also descent looks longer on the profile because the stage is only 110km
A 110km stage??? It's starting to get silly.0 -
Well, assuming no catastrophes.
The Big 4 are all in the top 5. I find that quite remarkable really.0 -
He's an odd one Mr. Tinkoff.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/oleg-tinkov/oleg-tinkov-chapeau-to-team-sky-but-theyre-going-to-kill-the-business
Does he really never stop to wonder if there's a reason the other GC favourites aren't riding the Giro?
Or when he complains that Sky and their blasted long term planning are killing the sport... Why don't other teams go and hunt huge sponsors and make a long term plan too? If Warrington RL can get Emirates as a shirt sponsor, I really don't see why a team with a 3 week billboard in the biggest annual sporting event in the world can't do the same."In many ways, my story was that of a raging, Christ-like figure who hauled himself off the cross, looked up at the Romans with blood in his eyes and said 'My turn, sock cookers'"
@gietvangent0
