TDF 2018, Stage 12: Bourg-Saint-Maurice Les Arcs > Alpe d'Huez 19/07/2018 - 175,5 km *Spoilers*

yorkshireraw

Pross wrote:

I'd ban flags as well, especially those festival flags on 5m poles - why do people feel the need to drage them around every cycling event these days? Just watch the race and cheer the riders, it's about them not you.

overall I thought the crowd did look smaller than in previous years, maybe with it being a Thursday and not Bastille day or anything.

Still a load of total smokers up there though. It really is about them, for them. They don't care what the result is or if the race is dramatic.

Can't be too many athletes in any sport who are at the mercy of the crowd like that, if any.

No_Ta_Doctor

Richard T. Biscuit wrote:

Sagan in at +31'29". Looks understandably not unhappy with how this day has turned out.

He's stuffed. How will he know which wheel to follow now all the sprinters he took a tow from are gone?

yorkshireraw

Pross wrote:

First person to win at Alpe D'Huez whilst wearing yellow apparently.

They stated he was the first brit to win there as well - need to clarify that's in the Tour, or Pete K will be firing off a few tasty tweets no doubt.

No_Ta_Doctor

So.... Froome, Dumoulin, Thomas, Bardet.... They could have put Landa, Nibz and Quintana to the sword today the last 2-3km.

I think that shows not just being scared of losing a few seconds to one of the others, but really wanting to win on the Alpe.

And that's why the stage is there, even though it's a bloody nightmare with so many dickheads.

onyourright

No tA Doctor wrote:

So.... Froome, Dumoulin, Thomas, Bardet.... They could have put Landa, Nibz and Quintana to the sword today the last 2-3km.

I think that shows not just being scared of losing a few seconds to one of the others, but really wanting to win on the Alpe.

I think it shows that Froome was cooked, Thomas was still confused about whether he should race or be loyal to Froome, Dumoulin mainly cares about the overall GC with the guys in that group, and Bardet was only interested in the stage.

ben@31

Gweeds wrote:

Thomas looks like he’s pedalling squares.

Note to self... " I need to learn how to pedal squares if that's the result ! "

It must be fast as duck.

No_Ta_Doctor

OnYourRight wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

So.... Froome, Dumoulin, Thomas, Bardet.... They could have put Landa, Nibz and Quintana to the sword today the last 2-3km.

I think that shows not just being scared of losing a few seconds to one of the others, but really wanting to win on the Alpe.

I think it shows that Froome was cooked, Thomas was still confused about whether he should race or be loyal to Froome, Dumoulin mainly cares about the overall GC with the guys in that group, and Bardet was only interested in the stage.

Yeah, could be that as well to be fair.

Hendrix2430

Geraint Thomas wins consecutive mountain stages, wins alpes dhuez wearing the yellow jersey,wow! I bet nobody would have believed this a year ago...

ademort

According to Dumoulin he was not feeling well at the top of the climb and made a gear change mistake (his own fault not a material problem) but was otherwise pleased with his performance. Obviously the Big question now is What do SKY do about the Froome/ Thomas situation.

Pross

No tA Doctor wrote:

OnYourRight wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

So.... Froome, Dumoulin, Thomas, Bardet.... They could have put Landa, Nibz and Quintana to the sword today the last 2-3km.

I think that shows not just being scared of losing a few seconds to one of the others, but really wanting to win on the Alpe.

I think it shows that Froome was cooked, Thomas was still confused about whether he should race or be loyal to Froome, Dumoulin mainly cares about the overall GC with the guys in that group, and Bardet was only interested in the stage.

Yeah, could be that as well to be fair.

And that they aren't bothered by them as potential contenders.

shirley_basso

If Bardet were a skybot, would he have won that stage?

Lanterne_Rogue

ademort wrote:

Obviously the Big question now is What do SKY do about the Froome/ Thomas situation.

Nothing publicly. Why make Dumoulin's job easier for him?

Keep TD guessing, and sort out some ground rules in private. With Froome showing signs of fatigue at last and G only ever a second away from falling over they'd be mad not to be trying to get as much time for both of them right now anyway.

Pross

Shirley Basso wrote:

If Bardet were a skybot, would he have won that stage?

What would he have done any differently?

craigus89

Not sure why the confusion around this from sky. Did people expect G to smash himself and lead out Froome so he could take yellow and only have a few seconds lead compared to how it has panned out?

I really don't see how it affects team sky which one of the two were to win overall.

hypster

Amazing stage but I don't really know what happened there. Froome attacked and went past Bardet and Kruijswijk pretty easily. Started to pull away and I thought it was all over. Then he just wilted. I was wondering if he got his food wrong and just bonked. He's done that before or maybe it was just the Froome curse of l'Alpe d'Huez.

RichN95.

ademort wrote:

According to Dumoulin he was not feeling well at the top of the climb and made a gear change mistake (his own fault not a material problem) but was otherwise pleased with his performance. Obviously the Big question now is What do SKY do about the Froome/ Thomas situation.

Froome attacks & Thomas sits on wheels, like today. If Froome doesn't have it, he doesn't have it.

Matthewfalle

Pross wrote:

Shirley Basso wrote:

If Bardet were a skybot, would he have won that stage?

What would he have done any differently?

Been dragged 3/4 of the way up the hill by a team mate and saved a shed load of energy mostly.

shirley_basso

Matthewfalle wrote:

Pross wrote:

Shirley Basso wrote:

If Bardet were a skybot, would he have won that stage?

What would he have done any differently?

Been dragged 3/4 of the way up the hill by a team mate and saved a shed load of energy mostly.

This. His attacks were pretty strong and he held the wheel until G sprinted.

The other teams riders spend a lot of time with their nose in the wind whereas G and Froome get to chill.

I think perhaps Bardet could win a tdf with but not in a way that will please the french fans.

Matthewfalle

Milton50 wrote:

Korhag wrote:

G said himself on interview, "I still ride for Froomey"

He's such a solid bloke. I'd love to have him as my team mate.

Bullsh. He'd love to have you as his team mate.

Pross

Shirley Basso wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Pross wrote:

Shirley Basso wrote:

If Bardet were a skybot, would he have won that stage?

What would he have done any differently?

Been dragged 3/4 of the way up the hill by a team mate and saved a shed load of energy mostly.

This. His attacks were pretty strong and he held the wheel until G sprinted.

The other teams riders spend a lot of time with their nose in the wind whereas G and Froome get to chill.

I think perhaps Bardet could win a tdf with but not in a way that will please the french fans.

But he was dragged up most of the hill anyway, he only went in the wind when he mounted a half hearted attack. TD probably worked harder for the second day running and managed to outsprint Bardet.

bigmat

Salsiccia1 wrote:

BigMat wrote:

The French not covering themselves with glory. Fail to control idiot fans, who take out one of the riders. Their man then attacks when the others try to wait. The crowd then boos the winner. Not good.

In fairness, I think fans of a few nationalities were at it.

I did plan to edit that post, but then got called into a meeting! Anyways:

Edit - I have no idea where the idiots are from, but there doesn't seem to be any issue in Italy and I doubt the Vuelta will have it either. Pretty sure I saw someone aim a blow at Froome. They'll ruin it for the rest of us cycling fans, the openness of road racing is a beautifyul thing but its getting hard to argue against 10km barriers and charging to watch.

DeadCalm

BigMat wrote:

The French not covering themselves with glory. Fail to control idiot fans, who take out one of the riders. Their man then attacks when the others try to wait. The crowd then boos the winner. Not good.

Huh? It was Froome that attacked when Nibali went down. No footage as far as I'm aware but assume Froome didn't see the incident.

bigmat

DeadCalm wrote:

BigMat wrote:

The French not covering themselves with glory. Fail to control idiot fans, who take out one of the riders. Their man then attacks when the others try to wait. The crowd then boos the winner. Not good.

Huh? It was Froome that attacked when Nibali went down. No footage as far as I'm aware but assume Froome didn't see the incident.

They all seemed to be waiting but then Bardet had another dig. Anyway, to be fair, there was probably a lot of confusion and Bardet seems like a decent guy. Seems more reluctant than some to take a sticky bottle!

DeVlaeminck

Yes looked like Froome attacking to me too but would have to watch it back.

Froome usually wins these races with a combination of time taken on time trials and mountain top finishes. Assuming he isn't likely to take significant time from Thomas in the TT (he may even lose time) he has one MTF left. If Thomas doesn't suffer illness or mishap then this is going to be interesting.

phreak

Shirley Basso wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Pross wrote:

Shirley Basso wrote:

If Bardet were a skybot, would he have won that stage?

What would he have done any differently?

Been dragged 3/4 of the way up the hill by a team mate and saved a shed load of energy mostly.

This. His attacks were pretty strong and he held the wheel until G sprinted.

The other teams riders spend a lot of time with their nose in the wind whereas G and Froome get to chill.

I think perhaps Bardet could win a tdf with but not in a way that will please the french fans.

That's funny, because I didn't see Bardet doing any work on the front for the entire stage. If Froome and Thomas are being magically towed up the climb, then the rider sat on their wheel must be too.

adr82

Possible fractured vertebrae for Nibali... possibly not helped by the idiot fan dragging him off the ground before he'd even started to get up himself.

DeadCalm

Some people might suggest that, given his behaviour and comments vis a vis 2012, it would be hypocritical of Froome should he not offer to ride for Geraint, who is clearly the stronger of the two.

moonshine

BigMat wrote:

DeadCalm wrote:

BigMat wrote:

The French not covering themselves with glory. Fail to control idiot fans, who take out one of the riders. Their man then attacks when the others try to wait. The crowd then boos the winner. Not good.

Huh? It was Froome that attacked when Nibali went down. No footage as far as I'm aware but assume Froome didn't see the incident.

They all seemed to be waiting but then Bardet had another dig. Anyway, to be fair, there was probably a lot of confusion and Bardet seems like a decent guy. Seems more reluctant than some to take a sticky bottle!

I thought Froome, G , TD and Bardet had come to a gentleman's agreement and were waiting for Nibali to get back on before resuming hostilities... then BArdet broke the agreement by attacking... thats how I saw it.

DeadCalm

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Yes looked like Froome attacking to me too but would have to watch it back.

Froome usually wins these races with a combination of time taken on time trials and mountain top finishes. Assuming he isn't likely to take significant time from Thomas in the TT (he may even lose time) he has one MTF left. If Thomas doesn't suffer illness or mishap then this is going to be interesting.

More significantly from Sky's point of view, Froome and Thomas are both likely to lose time on the TT to Dumoulin who has emerged as the only credible threat. Froome will probably need to gain time over Tommy whilst Geraint needs merely to limit his losses to a reasonable amount. Sky would be nuts to ask Geraint to sacrifice himself for Froome in these circumstances.

blazing_saddles

DeadCalm wrote:

BigMat wrote:

The French not covering themselves with glory. Fail to control idiot fans, who take out one of the riders. Their man then attacks when the others try to wait. The crowd then boos the winner. Not good.

Huh? It was Froome that attacked when Nibali went down. No footage as far as I'm aware but assume Froome didn't see the incident.

There is footage. It's already been posted. It was Bardet.