Tour de France 2015: Stage 12 **Spoiler**
Comments
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Agree. Headlights do make for good shots, don't they0
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FF lowers himself to product placement for Skoda :P
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Haha.
The alternative:
Contador is the Greatest0 -
You guys expect far too much. Just cos the so called "Top four" are in this years edition you were expecting the best Tour for years?
If they are the top four they will be closely matched, and cancel each other out, as proven yesterday. All on the rivet on the last climb.
Did you expect Froome to ride away from the rest and gain 10 mins on the first mountain finish, and then Quintana to do the same the next day, closely followed by Bertie dacing away to a 15 min win on the final mountain day? Get real. All TDF's are classics, in there own way.
Sky riding so fast that the others cant attack is closing the race down is it? No one complained when Movistar were on the front. If you are going to knock a team for a tactic then at least be consistent. Without Sky in the mountains the peloton would have riden easy till the last 5k and then the top climbers would have a sprint for the line. 8)0 -
Contador is the Greatest0 -
Contador is the Greatest0 -
Ha!0
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You guys expect far too much. Just cos the so called "Top four" are in this years edition you were expecting the best Tour for years?
I don't even know if that is what people have expected but if so; - is that really that controversial? The best 4 stage racers in one race? Of course the expectations are as high as they can be. Still many climbs and days left to make a show. That's still doesn't change the fact that yesterday was god awful compared to route and what could be expected. Why do some of you have such a problem with people calling a stage poor? The World Cup final is usually more dull than exciting but that doesn't make the sport any less fantastic for the fans - nor does a poor stage (or more) in a Tour De France. It has nothing to do with not liking the sport (as some casually suggested), quite the opposite, really..Did you expect Froome to ride away from the rest and gain 10 mins on the first mountain finish, and then Quintana to do the same the next day, closely followed by Bertie dacing away to a 15 min win on the final mountain day? Get real. All TDF's are classics, in there own way.
No.. Nobody does?Sky riding so fast that the others cant attack is closing the race down is it? No one complained when Movistar were on the front. If you are going to knock a team for a tactic then at least be consistent. Without Sky in the mountains the peloton would have riden easy till the last 5k and then the top climbers would have a sprint for the line. 8)
I'm not blaming Sky for anything. As soon as someone actually tried just a littttitttle bit, Kennaugh was dropped immediately. Respect and all to him but when he's pulling the peloton with what.. 10km left.. then things aren't just going fast enough - or happening at all...When Movistar went in front they did to make an attack from either Valverde or Quintana. Their entire team was gone after 4km in front after pacing the front group. Sky's tactic was (and rightly so) defensive, Movistar was due to an forthcoming attack. Can't compare the two tactics, at all. Not sure I get your last postulate. This was pretty much what happend with Sky in front?
It was a p'iss poor stage, Sky aren't to blame for it - the 3 other favorite's poor form on the day was.0 -
Just watching the highlights (watched the stage live), Rodriguez's pain face is awesome! Especially with that rain - so cool.
The attacks on the climb actually makes for a great watch in the highlights, I really enjoyed it.0 -
Nothing lasts forever. Even the greatest fade eventuallyI just know that watching Contador and others when he was flying against Schleck and others in year's gone by got me into unbelievable levels of excitement, emotional overdrive, pure unadulterated joy. I haven't felt that for a very long time, just now and again when you see some heroics.
You used to love him racing against Schleck, but he always had Schleck in his pocket. Even in 2010 when it seemed close, Contador always knew he would whip him in the TT. Schleck never beat Contador at anything on the road.
The greatest victories are the one's where you are tested the most. And for Contador, of all his seven GTs (nine if you like), his best wins are the two Vuelta wins in 2012 and 2014 - 2012 for the audacious attack that stole the jersey and 2014 because Froome was the rival that Schleck never was.
Great point about the Contador v Schleck 'rivalry'. Sure Schleck could climb but he could never truly drop Contador and as mentioned above Contador always knew he could have him in the TT. It may have looked exciting on the climbs them covering other's moves but in reality everyone knew what the outcome was going to be. The 'rivalry' was ideal for Contador fans because they could watch him dance about on the climbs when defeat was never really an issue. Froome whether you like his style of riding or not is a great climber and very strong at the TTs and therefore a genuine threat as already proved.
Vuelta last year with Froome and Contador was quality stuff though!0 -
Last year's was pretty dull after Froome and Bert went if I recall.
There's lots of excitement to be had, you just have to look harder. Maybe the GT race is a bit boring but there's lots of other stuff going on. Races within races, wheels within wheels never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel, like snowballs down mountains, like carnival balloons or a carousel that's running rings around the moon...
This, I like
It's not all about the GC - and I don't buy that being done and dusted, the time gaps can be overcome with one bad day. Could easily happen
I do think days 2 & 3 in the Pyrenees were a bit dull when it comes to the GC, but day 1 wasn't....nor were some of the days earlier on in the week. This Tour ain't done yet. And whilst Froome might not have been challenged, we've seen two brilliant rides from Majka and Rodriguez
I understand the "Sky killing it" PoV but don't fully subscribe to it - they don't have total dominance. They are well drilled and have a couple of very strong riders supporting Froome but, well, that's just good team management and team tactics - it's up to the others to take them on, it's not the first time we've had a small number of strong teams trying to control stuff.
I think the modern Tour is possibly less exciting than the days of EPO madness but it's maybe a reflection of better drilling in teams and less PED use. Fwiw I think it's less boring than the days of Big Mig, we'd watch every year in the vain hope that this time he wouldn't put a big gap on someone on the first mountain stage and defend it to Paris, but watched in vain.
I've been watching pro bike racing & especially the Tour since the early 80s but I did take a gap. The 80s were fantastic, amazing racing, then came the aforementioned MI dominance, and after that we were into EPO stupidity. I gave up on it in the late 90s, watching also-rans like Riis suddenly become world beaters, near sprinters like Jalabert suddenly climb like Herrera and it was obvious something very wrong was going on. The Festina affair was the end for me, Tour riders going on strike in defence of people who were obviously guilty as sin, because they were all at it as well was the last straw. Finally I came back to pro bike racing when the Pharmstrong BS edifice came tumbling down 5 or 6 years ago and I could believe it actually had a chance of being about the man and the machine again.
These past few years? It's not been Lemond v Hinault v Fignon but at least we've come to the Tour (and other GTs) with anything between 2 and 5 credible potential winners....at least you feel the wheels could come off for one of the faves, as they did for Froome and Bertie last year.....and there have been some brilliant efforts by people who aren't tussling for the yellow jersey.0 -
PS Some amazing photographs on this thread - thanks0
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Hey folks, just caught up with this thread. Don't be so despondent - we are very lucky to have a sport that is so much more than the sum of its parts. For me, most of the excitement comes not from the results but the overall experience. It matters not whether it is predictable, close fought or dramatic there is always something to enjoy!0
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Time up final climb: JRod in 47.44 and GC riders in 45.30. Significantly slower.
Times from the climbs were pretty slow all race.
The climb from 2007 when Contador danced his way up it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWPbR0KupnU
Kicks of at 8mins
This is how you entertain the fansContador is the Greatest0 -
Remind me again, whatever happened to Michael Rasmussen in that Tour?0
