The Tour de France

Somebody outta do a montage of it with soundtrack...

Kate+Bush+Running+Up+That+Hill+338822.jpg
 
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Froome was only just over a Kilometre from the line, his main problem wss that he had to have a bike when he crossed the line.

This was an accident waiting to happen, the "fans" seem to think that they are clever being able to interfere with the race, it was unfortunate that due to the relocation of the finish line there was insufficient time to to move the barriers into place. I wonder if the idiot who made the motorbike brake to avoid him will have the brains not to brag about it on social media.

An unfortunate incident which took attention away from the failures of Quintana and Aru to respond when Froome put the hammer down.
 
Very unusual tactics this yr more by Chris Froome than team sky. As its all out him catching the rivals of guard because that brilliant attack downhill & yesterdays. I dont understand how movistar & quintana can counter act this because as Geraint Thomas was hinting about these moves are so impulsive his own team were surprised. But the unpredictability does make fantastic viewing. As everyone expecting a battle between Cavendish kittel & griepal on stage 11. Then it's Sagan v Froome

that stage Unbelievable drama yesterday ive been watching cycling for a nearly a decade & other sport decade before that,.the last time I was so speechless watching sport. was when sergio aguero scored that title winning goal 4 years ago. just bonkers After Porte crashed into camera motorbike doing emergency stop (Which id be Interested in seeing the front view as to why he had to brake suddenly) was just stunned When Froome ditched his bike & ran up ventoux ascent. which will be image shown for years to come. :o:dizzy:

But I would kept it as is you got to cope with everything tour throws at you for 3 weeks & it wouldn't show any favouritism. It wouldn't have affected the race as I would have still made froome odds on favourite because he is on a another level to anyone But I would certainly say that we need barriers now 4 or 5 km before the finish
 
Another day, another Sky stroll in the park. There simply wasn't a single realistic attack from the rest of the field. Aru had one attempt, once Valverde joined him it was doomed, the Sky machine just speeded up and closed the short gap that was there, a later attack from Bardet which was treated the same way. All these were unrealistic as any gap which could have been created would not have been sufficient for the flat section with which the race completed. The only other action was when Froome made a dummy attack just to relieve the boredom.

I did actually see a very brief shot of Quintano but the rest of the leaders were invisible. If anyone is to beat Froome they need to attack much earlier on the stage when there are two or three climbs still to go. But it needs the Sky riders to be neutralised, not an easy task, but attacking with only ten minutes left on the final climb is doomed to failure.

What has happened to Nibali? Did he take too much out of himself in the Giro? Yesterday he was in the early breakaway group which built up a lead of over eight minutes, could not keep up the pace on the final climbs and finished thirteen minutes forty nine seconds behind the stage winner which meant over ten minutes behind the yellow jersey group. It looked like a useful team with Aru before the start but there seems to have been no team work at all, what on earth are Astana doing having two very good riders who don't gel?

Oh, yes. Pantano won the stage in a sprint with Majka who was really only there for the KOM points.

The final climb over the Lacets du Grand Colombier was incredible, because of the narrowness of the mountain there was a bend just about every twenty yards at one point.

Lacets du Grand Colombier, france - Google Search
 
What do you think of Yates, can he cope with the remaining of the tour and keep his podium spot? Will he wrestle GC from Froome if not this year, maybe in the next couple of years?
 
From the looks of the way Quintana is riding Yates is in with a very good shot at a podium on Sunday. I can't see him doing it this year but would suggest that in two years time with a quality team he might well be there.

Tomorrow should make it clear who is going to be this year's winner, either someone has to do a Charly Gaul and get a good lead over Froome or the Sky machine will ensure that any challenges will be squashed without mercy.

Today was just a regular ride, fast enough to prevent meaningful attacks without stressing Froome; he did show his class when he rode steadily until he felt the time was right and he just accelerated to Porte's back wheel and then just sat there quite satisfied that once again he was gathering a few more seconds over his rivals. The stage leaders started the final climb some ten and a half minutes in front of the yellow jersey group who then took some two and a half minutes back, wouldn't it be great for the race to start say on the first climb and then be a fight to the finish?
 
Due to the F1 FP2 I am running the TdF well behind real time. Froome has just come off his bike and lost several seconds before one of the other Sky riders handed his over.
 
Bardet has broken away from what remains of the peleton but not by a long way, Froome is in the bunch but not looking really comfortable but Mollema. With 7km uphill to go the finish no-one seems able to attack Froome, he is now looking more chirpy.
 
So the result:
Bardet
Rodrigues, Valverde and Meintjes at 23 seconds
Quintana at 26 seconds
Aru and Martin at 28 seconds
Poels and Froome at 36 seconds
Porte at 53 seconds

As far as Froomes challengers go it was all too little too late.
 
Absolutely love it yesterday stage best stage of the tour such drama ironically once the yellow jersey battle finished. Finally we had riders willing to have ago not just follow the leader with Porte Quintana Martin & Bardet all attempting an attack Although I was thinking yesterday. is it me or is Nairo Quintana alot like cycling equivalent of Sheffield United last season. Started with massive expectations to win something was massively underwhelming & didnt start to find some form until its was basically over (March/stage 19)

Although didn't know what channel to have on for best around 4pm as I had the sam allardyce news broke on 1 channel & everyone including yellow jersey crashing in tour de France on eurosport

Even though its correct strategy I have a problem its froome rarely chases down the attacks. Like yesterday it was always poels or henao that went up the road to bring back Martin Porte Quintana
 
Harsh in my opinion.

Im no expert, but i think the original punishment of a demotion was sufficient despite the severity ov thd incident.

The tour will miss Sagan.
 
The Pits said:
Harsh in my opinion.

Im no expert, but i think the original punishment of a demotion was sufficient despite the severity ov thd incident.

The tour will miss Sagan.
Click to expand
I do not consider the penalty to be harsh. They reach speeds of up to 80 kph when sprinting towards the line and there is no other protection apart from the helmet.
Cavendish has suffered a fractured shoulder and thus, he can no longer compete. The injury could have been worse.
 
I think it was cumulative, from the clip of the crash that wiped out G and Froome it looked like Sagan going for a gap that wasn't there caused it, that coupled with trying to jump on the wheel that Cav had and wiping him out was just too much for the comisars(sp)

I read somewhere that the sprinters had all been warned that any incidents resulting in falls would be dealt with more severely this year, no idea if it's true though.
 
when i heard i the penalty i was stunned. i wanted punishment at the time as i watched it live. because that elbow cant be seen to be acceptable. but i thought 30sec penalty to drop him to last & docked 80pts was just about right. for me doing that move without the bike is fine thats a sprint stage for you. but the elbow is problem & problem for him is replays are pretty damning.

also post stage was weird as he went straight to dimension data bus to see him he was ok which i felt was almost an admission of guilt that he done something wrong. like we all have as kids & then to press said i didnt think there was anyone behind. which if so why the elbow needed. as Harsh as i feel this isnt out of the blue as mark renshaw was chucked of the tour for headbutting another rider while leading cavendish out & no one was injured or fell that day few years back. i wouldnt have but i thinking maybe organisers sagan was DQd because it did force cavendish out of the tour & maybe worried that with his talent even with 100pt deifcet could still win green jersey in 2 weeks time which wouldnt be good for the sport
 
The race really started today (Wednesday). So as not to give anything away here goes:

The first salvos were fired by the big guns on the final climb of 6km when the Italian Fabi Aru broke away with 2.3 km to go and never looked like being caught. Dan Martin of Ireland followed, Chris did most of the work for the chasers but at one time forced the remaining riders to put in some effort. Martin finished 16 seconds behind Aru with Froome and Richie Porte finishing 20 seconds behind Aru; since there wasa a four second bonus for the third rider and none for the fourth Porte lost more time to Froome, who now wears the yellow jersey.

Among those trailing in behind in eighth, ninth and tenth were Contador (26 seconds), Quintana (34 seconds) and Geraint Thomas (40 seconds). Despite being in yellow at the start of the day Thomas acted as a domestique for Froome as was expected. Maybe it's bias but I cannot see Contador winning any of the big Tours again, in the case of Quintana he may well perform better in the big mountain climb.

But it was refreshing to see Aru go, he looked almost like one of the climbers from my youth who did not rely on the team to get them into position but did it by whatever bit of magic a true "grimpeur" possesses. Two years ago he performed well in the Giro, now he has more experience and is nearing the peak of his powers.

There will surely be more drama to come.
 
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