TDF 2016 Stage 20 *SPOILERS*

thomthom

adr82 wrote:

On another note, this is glorious

Perfect.

thomthom

I'm sitting with a feeling that I haven't watched a mountain stage in this race. Genuinely.

dabber

ThomThom wrote:

adr82 wrote:

On another note, this is glorious

Perfect.

Wasn't there a police moto rider dragging one of these idiots out of the way as he carries on riding. I can't find any video of it though.

rick_chasey

ThomThom wrote:

I'm sitting with a feeling that I haven't watched a mountain stage in this race. Genuinely.

Feel your pain.

ic.

Dabber wrote:

ThomThom wrote:

adr82 wrote:

On another note, this is glorious

Perfect.

Wasn't there a police moto rider dragging one of these idiots out of the way as he carries on riding. I can't find any video of it though.

Black rain cape? Yeah I saw that. Commentators didn't pick up what it made me chuckle. It was near the top of the Joux Plane if anyone wants to go check.

frisbee

underlayunderlay wrote:

I think NIbali got a reputation for descending purely because he was always eager to give it a go, rather than any actual skill at doing so. Millar today was opining that as you get older you accumulate scary moments until your head just can't face the peril any more, which seems reasonable.

Well to be fair he won the Giro by not crashing into a snow bank.

ben@31

Why are they no highlights for todays stage on ITV Player "ffs !"

markwb79

JSCL wrote:

Am I right that Aru was in the top 10 on GC yesterday? (can't remember)

After his finish today, he's nearly 20 mins off Froomey.

Will probably win the sprint tomorrow now based on previous bad days

Pross

bobmcstuff wrote:

Pross wrote:

Decent stage as an individual stage. Disappointed with Yates in particular, he had a lot to gain by taking a risk. I'm sure he was near his limit on the climb but was expecting him to move forward towards the top and try his luck in a similar way he did on the kite stage. I don't think Nairo would have been able to hold him.

Maybe but then he risked losing the white (either by cracking on the climb like Mollema or crashing on the descent). I think he'll be more than happy with the white and 4th.

I think I'd take 3rd and risk losing the white jersey. You can argue he'll get plenty of other opportunities but Tour history is full of riders where you thought they'd get on the podium at least after a good early ride on for them to never do so. I'm talking about taking off a couple of hundred metres from the top and the riders in front of the yellow jersey group descended far more quickly than the jersey group did. The problem was that once Sky were all over the front there was no chance for anyone to pass. He may not have made it but when you're only 20 odd seconds off the podium surely you have to try? He was very unfortunate though,would probably have gained more time on the stage the kite collapsed on him and then getting docked a further 10 seconds yesterday while Quintana got a motorbike tow with no sanction.

philbar72

Rick Chasey wrote:

Ok.

Here's a statement for you to wrangle over.

Easily Froome's weakest win, hidden by the strongest team.

Nonsense. Played to his strengths. Backed up by a formidable squad. Tts with the best and can't be out climbed by any of his contemporaries, and showed real racing flair in his stage win...

Lanterne_Rogue

Rick Chasey wrote:

Ok.

Here's a statement for you to wrangle over.

Easily Froome's weakest win, hidden by the strongest team.

I don't think Froome has really had to monster this one and has largely ridden within himself. Agree that he's not had to blow anyone apart on a mountainside, but then he's not had to blow anyone apart on a mountainside. Whether he's been weak or not is kind of a moot point - the only time he looked weak he'd had a crash, and the rest of the time he had everything totally under control.

RichN95.

Rick Chasey wrote:

Ok.

Here's a statement for you to wrangle over.

Easily Froome's weakest win, hidden by the strongest team.

You can say it was the weakest win because it had the weakest opposition, but he's never looked in trouble and has even done a couple of Peter Sagan impressions. The team hid little.

2015 was the one time he looked like he may be beaten, but that was against a really high quality top five.

norvernrob

ThomThom wrote:

I'm sitting with a feeling that I haven't watched a mountain stage in this race. Genuinely.

Yep, it's made worse by the fact that any stage that had anything resembling a mountain in it was won by the breakaway. We never saw the GC favourites battling for a stage win uphill.

RichN95.

NorvernRob wrote:

ThomThom wrote:

I'm sitting with a feeling that I haven't watched a mountain stage in this race. Genuinely.

Yep, it's made worse by the fact that any stage that had anything resembling a mountain in it was won by the breakaway. We never saw the GC favourites battling for a stage win uphill.

That's part of the Sky strategy. Let the break go - take the stage win off the table for the GC riders and it gives them less reason to gamble on an attack.

bobmcstuff

And idea why they didn't include the climb to Avoriaz? Seems pretty typical for Joux Plane stages (and would have given another MTF).

TheBigBean

Average speed is now 39.56 kph. Only 2007 has been slower since 1997. Not sure tomorrow's effective rest day will be enough to bring it below 2007's 38.98 kph.

RonB

philbar72 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Ok.

Here's a statement for you to wrangle over.

Easily Froome's weakest win, hidden by the strongest team.

Nonsense. Played to his strengths. Backed up by a formidable squad. Tts with the best and can't be out climbed by any of his contemporaries, and showed real racing flair in his stage win...

Froome in best shape yet and a parcour not best suited to him. I agree that we saw the strongest team for a long while there, but the single minded approach, plus Froome's ability to try new tactics to give him the buffer he is always looking for, going into the final week, enabled Sky & Froome to a much deserved win.

hypster

NorvernRob wrote:

ThomThom wrote:

I'm sitting with a feeling that I haven't watched a mountain stage in this race. Genuinely.

Yep, it's made worse by the fact that any stage that had anything resembling a mountain in it was won by the breakaway. We never saw the GC favourites battling for a stage win uphill.

And in previous Tours when Froome monstered the rest on a MTF people complained about that. There was one stage on this Tour when that would have happened as well I am sure, - the Ventoux, if we hadn't been robbed of a summit finish by the wind. Remember how that went in 2013?

adr82

Froome will be relieved he can approach tomorrow without the major threat of last year's Paris stage

effillo

I'll be interested to see how he goes in Vuelta after the Olympics. If he has ridden within himself then he should still have a lot in the locker. Plus he said he was riding to peak in week 3 and beyond so maybe best is yet to come.

salsiccia1

RonB wrote:

philbar72 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Ok.

Here's a statement for you to wrangle over.

Easily Froome's weakest win, hidden by the strongest team.

Nonsense. Played to his strengths. Backed up by a formidable squad. Tts with the best and can't be out climbed by any of his contemporaries, and showed real racing flair in his stage win...

Froome in best shape yet and a parcour not best suited to him. I agree that we saw the strongest team for a long while there, but the single minded approach, plus Froome's ability to try new tactics to give him the buffer he is always looking for, going into the final week, enabled Sky & Froome to a much deserved win.

I think it's weak opposition dominated both physically and mentally by perfect execution from Sky. Not at any point was there a serious threat to him. Does it devalue his win slightly that the opposition was so impotent, or does that just underline that Sky's superiority was so assured that no one felt they could seriously challenge him?

RichN95.

adr82 wrote:

Froome will be relieved he can approach tomorrow without the major threat of last year's Paris stage

I was by the Arc de Triomphe last year, and there was a big gasp from the crowd when that happened.

salsiccia1

Dup post

RichN95.

Kelderman's crash - "Sh1t... Medics": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGKm9uzLiqY

adr82

RichN95 wrote:

Kelderman's crash - "Sh1t... Medics": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGKm9uzLiqY

That sounded painful! Long slide then the massive *crunch* as he hits the barriers :shock:

RichN95.

Nicolas Portal should have his third Tour win as a lead DS. He's only a month older than Joaquim Rodriguez. Not bad for an underwear model.

Lanterne_Rogue

adr82 wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

Kelderman's crash - "Sh1t... Medics": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGKm9uzLiqY

That sounded painful! Long slide then the massive *crunch* as he hits the barriers :shock:

Not as painful as one I saw in York a few years ago during a crit: a long high-pitched whimper as the rider slid across the various cobbles and a speed bump followed by the inevitable crunch of the barrier.

Meanwhile, award for best crowd control: Chris Froome's brutal forearm to the face of the spectator who presumed to run alongside him with a a flag. I don't normally condone violence, but yeah, more of this sort of thing please.

DeadCalm

I thought that stage was a good as could have been expected in the circumstances. Of the top 8 in GC going into the stage, only Porte and Aru had more to realistically gain than they could potentially lose. I was a little disappointed, but not particularly surprised, that Porte didn't try something.

As Rich says above Sky's tactic has been to let the break go this year. But even if they or another team wanted to chase, the conditions dictated that the break was likely to stay away.

Apart from that, the battle for the stage was epic. It would have been nice if either Pantano or Alaphilippe coul have got the stage win though.

argyllflyer

While on the subject of spectators coming a cropper, the one from Alpe d'Huez a few years back is up there...

https://youtu.be/7anLbVv3cdM?t=4s

blazing_saddles

adr82 wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

Kelderman's crash - "Sh1t... Medics": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGKm9uzLiqY

That sounded painful! Long slide then the massive *crunch* as he hits the barriers :shock:

That looked really nasty. Heras corner isn't it?
He was in tears in the team car, right after he finished.
Clearly in pain and off for a scan.

Still, there was one crash on the Joux Plane yesterday looked much better.

https://streamable.com/cmre

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