TdF 2016 Stage 15 *Contains spoilers*

pottssteve

yourpaceormine wrote:

Ou est Monsieur Boardman?

Family issue, I think.

above_the_cows

jam1e wrote:

Porte now 20 seconds clear of his (not so) super-dom. Go Ritchey, the podium awaits!

Tres bien!

pottssteve

any news on the grupetto?

bobmcstuff

adr82 wrote:

bobmcstuff wrote:

I have quite a high tolerance for watching cycling (apparently, judging by how I seem to be enjoying stages which other people have a good whinge about. There's a lot of very jaded cycling fans). But that stage was not exciting.

I'm not saying it was either. I just don't see what the point is of going on about it in every spoiler thread. There are always likely to be more boring stages than exciting stages. Most people would rather hang on to a high GC placing than take a risk and blow up. It's exactly the same as seeing football teams playing defensively the further they get in a big tournament because they don't want to risk losing. Maybe some adjustment of expectations is in order.

Yep all fair. I think people use a lot of rose tinted glasses and compare every stage to the small number of exciting stages you get per tour per year that they remember.

bobmcstuff

Rick Chasey wrote:

Reducing the team size would be better.

Then more pro conti teams would get a ride, which would probably be good for them.

jerry3571

Did Teejay lose time on the way down? Thought I saw him on the last climb?

TheBigBean

bobmcstuff wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Reducing the team size would be better.

Then more pro conti teams would get a ride, which would probably be good for them.

It would also reduce the dominance of the sprint teams and give more hope to the breaks. That said, I can imagine that the logistics of more team cars etc. wouldn't help.

Basically, what the race needs is a fit Contador.

rick_chasey

Or just have a smaller peloton.

bobmcstuff

TheBigBean wrote:

bobmcstuff wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Reducing the team size would be better.

Then more pro conti teams would get a ride, which would probably be good for them.

It would also reduce the dominance of the sprint teams and give more hope to the breaks. That said, I can imagine that the logistics of more team cars etc. wouldn't help.

Basically, what the race needs is a fit Contador.

Or Froome to crash out or fall ill, not that I want that to happen (just more attacks please). Or for him to suffer a large freak time loss event.

bobmcstuff

Rick Chasey wrote:

Or just have a smaller peloton.

If you cut the team size to 7 you could cut the peloton size and have another pro conti team.

yourpaceormine

pottssteve wrote:

yourpaceormine wrote:

Ou est Monsieur Boardman?

Family issue, I think.

Merci

salsiccia1

Rick Chasey wrote:

Salsiccia1 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Team sky turning this into a bore.

They're doing their jobs. It's up to the other riders to attack and make it interesting.

I'm going to lose my sh!t in a minute.

Literally need to say it every year.


JUST BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT TACTIC DOESN'T MEAN IT IS EXCITING.

Said it before the Tour - they're too strong to have a good spectacle.

Keep your sh!t. Defending is never usually exciting, no one is pretending otherwise. But you make it sound like Sky are somehow at fault for being good at defending, when in truth it's down to other teams' weakness or conservatism.

What do you want Sky to do differently?

above_the_cows

jerry3571 wrote:

Did Teejay lose time on the way down? Thought I saw him on the last climb?

Dropped on the climb like he was dropped on the Arcalis.

Porte must be ruing that puncture on stage 2.

rick_chasey

Just wish there wasn't such a team imbalance.

Just strangles the race.

Sky have their cycling cum running shoes on the neck of the race and are squeezing hard enough to put it to sleep.

salsiccia1

bobmcstuff wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Or just have a smaller peloton.

If you cut the team size to 7 you could cut the peloton size and have another pro conti team.

And another 2-3 team cars, another team bus, and so on...

emadden

Salsiccia1 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Salsiccia1 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Team sky turning this into a bore.

They're doing their jobs. It's up to the other riders to attack and make it interesting.

I'm going to lose my sh!t in a minute.

Literally need to say it every year.


JUST BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT TACTIC DOESN'T MEAN IT IS EXCITING.

Said it before the Tour - they're too strong to have a good spectacle.

Keep your sh!t. Defending is never usually exciting, no one is pretending otherwise. But you make it sound like Sky are somehow at fault for being good at defending, when in truth it's down to other teams' weakness or conservatism.

What do you want Sky to do differently?

It has nothing to do with the weakness or conservatism of opponents. It has everything to do with the way the sport has evolved in the scientific domain. Most riders in the peloton now ride to power, and modern riding tactics are influenced by greater scientific understanding. I think the sport has changed for the worse... and I do think that Sky contributed enormously to these developments - certainly with the investments they have made they have accelerated this. Unfortunately, stage racing has become quite clinical.

emadden

emadden wrote:

Salsiccia1 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Salsiccia1 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Team sky turning this into a bore.

They're doing their jobs. It's up to the other riders to attack and make it interesting.

I'm going to lose my sh!t in a minute.

Literally need to say it every year.


JUST BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT TACTIC DOESN'T MEAN IT IS EXCITING.

Said it before the Tour - they're too strong to have a good spectacle.

Keep your sh!t. Defending is never usually exciting, no one is pretending otherwise. But you make it sound like Sky are somehow at fault for being good at defending, when in truth it's down to other teams' weakness or conservatism.

What do you want Sky to do differently?

It has nothing to do with the weakness or conservatism of opponents. It has everything to do with the way the sport has evolved in the scientific domain. Most riders in the peloton now ride to power, and modern riding tactics are influenced by greater scientific understanding. I think the sport has changed for the worse... and I do think that Sky contributed enormously to these developments - certainly with the investments they have made they have accelerated this. Unfortunately, stage racing has become quite clinical.

EDIT: To add: I do see a possible solution to this in reducing team size to, say, 5 riders. 9 riders is a big team when they are riding a pace line at a predefined (high) speed

salsiccia1

Rick Chasey wrote:

Just wish there wasn't such a team imbalance.

Just strangles the race.

Sky have their cycling cum running shoes on the neck of the race and are squeezing hard enough to put it to sleep.

But look at the other teams:

Astana - Aru, Nibali, Fuglsang, Tiralongo, Kangaert, LL Sanchez

Movistar - Quintana, Valverde, Anacona, Izaguirre brothers

They're not weak teams, they just aren't challenging properly. That being said, there's a hell of a week coming and they could be waiting for that.

jerry3571

Rick Chasey wrote:

Just wish there wasn't such a team imbalance.

Just strangles the race.

Sky have their cycling cum running shoes on the neck of the race and are squeezing hard enough to put it to sleep.

Just like old USPS and the Disco boys!

blazing_saddles

Rick Chasey wrote:

Or just have a smaller peloton.

Start by getting rid of all the Dutch.

salsiccia1

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Or just have a smaller peloton.

Start by getting rid of all the Dutch.

*and the crowd roared*

above_the_cows

Salsiccia1 wrote:

Blazing Saddles wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Or just have a smaller peloton.

Start by getting rid of all the Dutch.

*and the crowd roared*

Oi!

Can we at least have the BBQ Koning, Laurens?

DeadCalm

emadden wrote:

Salsiccia1 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Salsiccia1 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Team sky turning this into a bore.

They're doing their jobs. It's up to the other riders to attack and make it interesting.

I'm going to lose my sh!t in a minute.

Literally need to say it every year.


JUST BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT TACTIC DOESN'T MEAN IT IS EXCITING.

Said it before the Tour - they're too strong to have a good spectacle.

Keep your sh!t. Defending is never usually exciting, no one is pretending otherwise. But you make it sound like Sky are somehow at fault for being good at defending, when in truth it's down to other teams' weakness or conservatism.

What do you want Sky to do differently?

It has nothing to do with the weakness or conservatism of opponents. It has everything to do with the way the sport has evolved in the scientific domain. Most riders in the peloton now ride to power, and modern riding tactics are influenced by greater scientific understanding. I think the sport has changed for the worse... and I do think that Sky contributed enormously to these developments - certainly with the investments they have made they have accelerated this. Unfortunately, stage racing has become quite clinical.

Nah. It's nothing new. The Armstrong years and the Indurain years were boring too. It's dull when you have someone so dominant as Froome is now.

mfin

Today was always going to be boring by design GC-wise, you can't blame Sky for that, they're going to simple execute the best strategy for the day most of the time. It is a shame that both of the weekend's stages were lacking even the potential of spectacle, but that's the TDF for you, you get what you're given.

A mixture of rose-tinted glasses and looking back to a less modern approach can make it seem dull sometimes (especially if you miss the out and out attacks of the proper drugged up years). As others have said too, memory tends to look fondly on some previous TDFs when you can just think back to the exciting bits whilst you experience the reality of sitting in front of the TV for 5 hours to see nothing much happen.

Maijka looked just a little too burnt out at the end, pleased for Pantano to get the win.

salsiccia1

^^In fairness, the Indurain years were boring more because of the parcours being so time trial heavy, rather than because of his team.

RichN95.

pottssteve wrote:

yourpaceormine wrote:

Ou est Monsieur Boardman?

Family issue, I think.

Turns out that it's really bad. His mother has been killed after being hit by a car riding her bike.

above_the_cows

RichN95 wrote:

pottssteve wrote:

yourpaceormine wrote:

Ou est Monsieur Boardman?

Family issue, I think.

Turns out that it's really bad. His mother has been killed after being hit by a car riding her bike.

Sheeeeeeeeeeet!

DeadCalm

mfin wrote:

Today was always going to be boring by design GC-wise, you can't blame Sky for that, they're going to simple execute the best strategy for the day most of the time. It is a shame that both of the weekend's stages were lacking even the potential of spectacle, but that's the TDF for you, you get what you're given.

A mixture of rose-tinted glasses and looking back to a less modern approach can make it seem dull sometimes (especially if you miss the out and out attacks of the proper drugged up years). As others have said too, memory tends to look fondly on some previous TDFs when you can just think back to the exciting bits whilst you experience the reality of sitting in front of the TV for 5 hours to see nothing much happen.

Maijka looked just a little too burnt out at the end, pleased for Pantano to get the win.

I don't blame Sky for it. It is what it is. It's just that, when you have a team that is so dominant, it kills the excitement.

salsiccia1

RichN95 wrote:

pottssteve wrote:

yourpaceormine wrote:

Ou est Monsieur Boardman?

Family issue, I think.

Turns out that it's really bad. His mother has been killed after being hit by a car riding her bike.

Holy crap

DeadCalm

Salsiccia1 wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

pottssteve wrote:

yourpaceormine wrote:

Ou est Monsieur Boardman?

Family issue, I think.

Turns out that it's really bad. His mother has been killed after being hit by a car riding her bike.

Holy crap

Very, very sad news indeed. Condolences to her family and friends.