TDF 2017:16th July - Stage 15 - Laissac-Sévérac l'Église - Le Puy-en-Velay 189.5kms *Spoilers*

bobmcstuff

Powerful ride by Froome. I'm really starting to believe he came in deliberately undercooked to do better in week 3 and have a good stab at the Vuelta.

I really thought Froome's tour was over for a while.

Bardet was not going to attack then, he would have had to do the flat 10k to the finish solo - daft idea.

bobmcstuff

TailWindHome wrote:

If you see a cyclist changing a wheel and your assumption is secret motorized doping rather than puncture, you're probably a moron.

Sorry Froome deliberatly dropped out of the main group to borrow Kwiato's rear wheel motor??

That really is stupid.

rick_chasey

BAUKE!!!!!!!!!!!'

DeVlaeminck

underlayunderlay wrote:

inseine wrote:

DeVlaeminck wrote:

For me another stage where Froome was in trouble but the other favourites didn't have the bottle to go for it and see if they could finish him off. Three times in the last week they've not really rolled the dice.

Harsh on Bardet.

Agree - Bardet goes hard, gets clear without his teammates with 20km or whatever into the wind on his own and then does what precisely? Other than giving it a bit of a dig to see if Froome might go backwards, the situation didn't play into Bardet's hands. That said, he's unlucky that tomorrow is a rest day, as it gives Froome and Landa chance to recover.

How is it harsh on Bardet?

Gets clear with Uran, Aru, Martin and Yates and they should be able to hold off Froome and Landa if he chooses to drop back. Froome is a strong favourite and they wasted a chance to
take significant time on him.

You talk about Froome and Landa recovering but in the end Landa did no more than the other GC men and what Froome did extra is insignificant in the context of the race in terms of recovery.

mfin

Just caught up. Entertaining again. Good win.

It's been a good tour to watch really, close as could be hoped, no Cav and hence no drivel from the Cav sheep to listen to, Contador is nicely on the decline to retirement (thank god) with performances which make him on the whole ignorable, and Kidl is winning.

I don't think many people would have imagined Porte crashing out and the GC still having this much life in it.

rick_chasey

Anyone know what the mechanical was?

Sort your kit out mate. I'd be having a chat with my mechanic if I was Froome.

RichN95.

Rick Chasey wrote:

Anyone know what the mechanical was?

Sort your kit out mate. I'd be having a chat with my mechanic if I was Froome.

Yeah. I'd probably dispense with the electronic shifters until the race is over too.

imatfaal

Rick Chasey wrote:

Anyone know what the mechanical was?

Sort your kit out mate. I'd be having a chat with my mechanic if I was Froome.

Didn't see a mechanical other than a rear wheel puncture - he swapped wheel with Kwia

Richmond Racer 2

So the Doperati reckon Kwiato was riding around France with a motor in his back wheel on the off chance Fenton would get dropped and need a turbo boost?

Lolololololololol

Lanterne_Rogue

RichN95 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Anyone know what the mechanical was?

Sort your kit out mate. I'd be having a chat with my mechanic if I was Froome.

Yeah. I'd probably dispense with the electronic shifters until the race is over too.

Will Fotheringham in the Guardian reports Froome saying broken spoke.

orraloon

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

So the Doperati reckon Kwiato was riding around France with a motor in his back wheel on the off chance Fenton would get dropped and need a turbo boost?

Lolololololololol

Dontcha just lurve t'internet?

rick_chasey

underlayunderlay wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Anyone know what the mechanical was?

Sort your kit out mate. I'd be having a chat with my mechanic if I was Froome.

Yeah. I'd probably dispense with the electronic shifters until the race is over too.

Will Fotheringham in the Guardian reports Froome saying broken spoke.

Well those pinerellos ARE heavy.

Richmond Racer 2

orraloon wrote:

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

So the Doperati reckon Kwiato was riding around France with a motor in his back wheel on the off chance Fenton would get dropped and need a turbo boost?

Lolololololololol

Dontcha just lurve t'internet?

Flat earthers and fake moonlanders

Pross

SpecialGuestStar wrote:

SpecialGuestStar wrote:

Pross wrote:

Cannondale look like a strong team of domestiques where someone forgot to select a team leader. FDJ and AG2R look to be lacking any real support for the great French hopes.

Ag2R have some real strength in depth for general riding and more (Naesen and Bakelants etc) and Latour, Vuillermoz and Frank in the mountains and that team rides and rides - so I think Bardet is well protected. He also is a rider who reacts well to the race and doesn't need constant pacing

Yep, they ride and ride 45 seconds slower than Froome on a climb

Thought they were good today to be fair, tactically astute for a French team but they still fall away before the critical moments.

inseine

Gets clear with Uran, Aru, Martin and Yates and they should be able to hold off Froome and Landa if he chooses to drop back. Froome is a strong favourite and they wasted a chance to
take significant time on him.

You talk about Froome and Landa recovering but in the end Landa did no more than the other GC men and what Froome did extra is insignificant in the context of the race in terms of recovery.

The second stage that AG2R have gone on a do or die mission. Bardet had 4 riders (I think) hammering it when Froome had his mechanical and Martin said it was crazy. Landa dropped off this group then ride Froome back up. How is that only the same as the other GC riders. Like I said, the two SKY boys are the best two riders, but Bardet in particular is giving it a good go.

rick_chasey

Those efforts add up.

Vino'sGhost

Just watching the stage now, WTF was that booing all abut? I thought Froome had gone past that

RichN95.

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Just watching the stage now, WTF was that booing all abut? I thought Froome had gone past that

A lot of people are just dicks. I don't think we'll ever get past that

Vino'sGhost

RichN95 wrote:

Vino'sGhost wrote:

Just watching the stage now, WTF was that booing all abut? I thought Froome had gone past that

A lot of people are just dicks. I don't think we'll ever get past that

thats true enough

blazing_saddles

Richmond Racer 2 wrote:

So the Doperati reckon Kwiato was riding around France with a motor in his back wheel on the off chance Fenton would get dropped and need a turbo boost?

Lolololololololol

No_Ta_Doctor

So are we now fully committed to the Froome came in deliberately undercooked theory? And losing the yellow to Aru for a day was down to hunger bonk or wrong gearing? Catching back was certainly impressive, though it's worth noting that AG2R didn't shell anyone of note in the end (Quintana no longer being noteworthy in this tour).

ocdupalais

I think Quintana's demise is quite noteworthy. He's going to want a stage now (as will Movistar) something rotten...

I Own A Pushbike

No tA Doctor wrote:

So are we now fully committed to the Froome came in deliberately undercooked theory?

That fits what I'm seeing, but I can't believe Sky and Froome would change a winning formula.

In previous years he has gone into the tour either winning everything or showing some serious form. I wonder whether there was an illness / injury that hasn't come out but has affected his preparations this year. Pure speculation of course, but he hasn't seemed as race ready and invincible this tour. '

Lanterne_Rogue

No tA Doctor wrote:

So are we now fully committed to the Froome came in deliberately undercooked theory? And losing the yellow to Aru for a day was down to hunger bonk or wrong gearing? Catching back was certainly impressive, though it's worth noting that AG2R didn't shell anyone of note in the end (Quintana no longer being noteworthy in this tour).

Undercooked at the Dauphine, not the Tour - he's not looked out of form apart from that one finish. Bardet's nailing it, Uran looks good, Aru is hanging in there longer than expected, and Froome looks more vulnerable than usual but probably because of what's around him. Hard to read this tour because of a lack of MTFs, which is probably worth bearing in mind next time someone criticises the race for it, and I suspect the same factor is playing with a lot of GC teams' reading of the race too. One related thought today - AG2R didn't risk doing anything that might drop Bardet. Don't think he was struggling, but the observation is niggling me.

As for that one stage Froome tied up on, who knows? Not even sure Froome knows other than not having the legs when he needed them.

RichN95.

No tA Doctor wrote:

So are we now fully committed to the Froome came in deliberately undercooked theory? And losing the yellow to Aru for a day was down to hunger bonk or wrong gearing? Catching back was certainly impressive, though it's worth noting that AG2R didn't shell anyone of note in the end (Quintana no longer being noteworthy in this tour).

They probably got the undercooked thing right - he was undercooked for the Dauphine, but ready for the Tour start. Thursday and Friday decide this. Bardet looks good, but Aru is starting to swing.

Hunger bonk definitely. It's the only time I've seen him neck a bottle of full fat coke during his warm down.

Lanterne_Rogue

I Own A Pushbike wrote:

Pure speculation of course, but he hasn't seemed as race ready and invincible this tour. '

Wonder if part of that impression is because he has better competition this year? Uran looks good, Bardet looks good, Aru looks- well, frankly he looks like holding the yellow jersey has given him PTSD, but he's still there. No big MTFs or TTs mean that the usual pattern and time gaps haven't been established, and no chance for anyone to show exactly how they rank, so we assume Froome is rubbing shoulders with them. One big stage and the picture will look different, I'm sure, and we'll all point to something or other that makes sense in retrospect.

m.r.m.

I think it's mostly down to no long MTF's. If there had already been a Ventoux stage it wouldn't feel this way. I do believe he was purposefully a little undercooked this time. The last two Tours he struggled a little in the third week, so it seems logical that Sky would try to fix that and optimize training a little towards the back end.

ocdupalais

This won't do much for the sense of competition for the rest of the Tour, but my instinct is that Froome is transitioning from desperate reactive racing to ferocious proactive racing.
Imagine how good he's going be for his real target for the season: La Vuelta! ¡Ay, caramba!

awavey

RichN95 wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

So are we now fully committed to the Froome came in deliberately undercooked theory? And losing the yellow to Aru for a day was down to hunger bonk or wrong gearing? Catching back was certainly impressive, though it's worth noting that AG2R didn't shell anyone of note in the end (Quintana no longer being noteworthy in this tour).

They probably got the undercooked thing right - he was undercooked for the Dauphine, but ready for the Tour start. Thursday and Friday decide this. Bardet looks good, but Aru is starting to swing.

Hunger bonk definitely. It's the only time I've seen him neck a bottle of full fat coke during his warm down.

yep hunger bonk totally, its that whole thing about you just suddenly hit empty on the tank and theres nothing happening in the legs when you want it, and I just recall ITV had specifically noted Sky had started munching on food replenishment far earlier than expected in that stage, and I think its very easy to lose track of where you should be at in terms of nutrition/energy if you disrupt your normal feeding routine, as they presumably ate a normal breakfast so were eating earlier than they needed so werent feeling the normal signs to top up,. so unless someone in the team car is shouting at you all the time to keep topping up food because you need to be doing something slightly differently to what you are used to, its very easy to get it wrong IMO

whereas today, if Froome was out of form at all, he'd have never have made it back to that group, 31 second wheel change plus the slowing down/speeding up on the start of that climb, I mean it was played in an atmosphere where it looked like Froome was struggling to maintain pace with the group, but that was before we realised he had a puncture, so his struggling to keep the wheel was a technical not a physical problem, thats often where the narrative of live TV commentary can mislead because you think yeah Froome is struggling because of that earlier wobble, not well maybe its just a tech issue, oh look now hes stopping, now he's chasing back and catching etc etc

Richmond Racer 2

impressed with AG2R and Sunweb this Tour

Fraction of Sky's budget but both giving it welly, and in AG2R's case trying to put on pressure

People see the vid of Dan Martin climbing off his bike outside the bus? Ouchy