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Tour De France thread


Lanterne Rouge

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1 hour ago, MichaelRobartes said:

Unfortunately the sprints have been boring enough with little competition for Kittel. Annoyingly I think there'd have been a lot there for Cav, Dimension Data did really well to nearly get Boasson Hagen over the line the other day as well. Today should be a lot more interesting.

The sad reality is so far IMO is the incidents/crashes have been the best bits, the racing has been quite boring to say the least and if somebody doesn't soon 'have a go' or Froome crashes out, he will win it again without to much threat.

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1 hour ago, Esmond Million's Bung said:

The sad reality is so far IMO is the incidents/crashes have been the best bits, the racing has been quite boring to say the least and if somebody doesn't soon 'have a go' or Froome crashes out, he will win it again without to much threat.

Partly the organisers fault for trying to make this years against Froome. If anything he's barely had to get out of 2nd gear so far. 

Todays HC might sort out the classification a bit

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1 minute ago, Tomarse said:

Partly the organisers fault for trying to make this years against Froome. If anything he's barely had to get out of 2nd gear so far. 

Todays HC might sort out the classification a bit

I agree in the past the organisers came up with a route that was pro Wiggins when he won and have attempted more sprints to accommodate Cav in his attempt to beat Merckx stage win record, I can see why they do it to try to make things more interesting and not the procession that this has turned into, but they cannot be blamed for trying or the fact that most of his major opponents have either crashed or are not up to beating him.

in a backhanded way if Froome does win this year it could be claimed as his best because it was against all the odds and not a course suited entirely to him and there is also an argument that suggests that the riders who chose to ride in the Giro d'Italia as well as the the tour de France have put themselves at a disadvantage. 

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2 hours ago, MichaelRobartes said:

Well that was intetesting! Worrying finish for Froome, especially after being pretty much perfectly set up by his team.

He definitely cracked - I don`t think I`ve ever seen him do that before. I honestly thought Sky would be in yellow for the whole tour.

Still, two more mountain stages and a time trial to go so I expect Chris is still fairly confident.

 

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56 minutes ago, Red Right Hand said:

He definitely cracked - I don`t think I`ve ever seen him do that before. I honestly thought Sky would be in yellow for the whole tour.

Still, two more mountain stages and a time trial to go so I expect Chris is still fairly confident.

 

I still expect him to win handily enough. The other lads will need a minute at the very least going into the time trial.

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11 hours ago, Esmond Million's Bung said:

Froome wasn't in the best of form coming into the tour, but I still expect him to win, he usually has at least one bad day.

I suppose the bigger question is whether Aru or Uran (who is also a threat) can sustain their challenges?.

 

The consensus seems to be that Aru has a weak team around him so would have to do it on his own which would be impressive enough. It would be a great story if Uran won, he must have thought his chance had gone. Loved it the other day when he won the stage with one gear!

Agree with you Es, I just don't think anyone will be able to take enough time out of Froome with that time trial coming up at the end. The other lads will need to be near enough flawless before then to have any chance. Looking forward to today, have seen that the descent at the end might favour Bardet which would be popular on Bastille Day!

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6 hours ago, Esmond Million's Bung said:

Typical bent French take 20 seconds from Uran and Bennett but not from their own Bardet for exactly the same indiscretion, as bent as ....

Perhaps, but all three riders were later reprieved (once they realised that Bardet had committed the same 'offence'). 

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9 hours ago, PHILINFRANCE said:

Perhaps, but all three riders were later reprieved (once they realised that Bardet had committed the same 'offence'). 

Exactly.

I love the tour but have been more than a little bored this year, the organisers seem very keen on a French winner for a change.

I don't like the French treatment of Froome, a man who is pretty much tested on a daily basis, I would like to know how many times Bardet or Barguil are tested in comparison, the French media print nonsense about him and have over the years turned French crowds against him.

And also Barguil get's an easy ride (pun intended) from commentators over his negative tactics in breakaways.

Just my opinion.

 

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4 minutes ago, Tomarse said:

Boom.  Sky as a team nailed it today. Unfortunately Aru just doesn't have a strong enough team to suppot him imo.

It is a shame as I like him as a rider - seems to have it all and should challenge well in years to come. He`s only 27 so his best is to come I think.

Much as I want Chris to win, Sky`s domination is threatening to make cycling like F1 if we`re not careful.

Still, Murray can`t win Wimbledon this year so will Chris get SPOTY or will they still invent a reason to give it to him?

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Just now, Tomarse said:

What a stage that was. One of the best for ages. 

Terrific wasn`t it, it`s what makes stage racing such a great watch. Chris still in yellow and for once, I suspect he`s looking forward to the rest day!

Quintana is effectively out now but Dan Martin is looking to be getting stronger as the race goes on - I wonder where he`d be in the GC if he hadn`t got creamed by Richie Porte the other day - he`s 1`12" down now and according to twitter he lost 1`15" in the crash!

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23 minutes ago, Esmond Million's Bung said:

Fair play to Froome today's performance was incredible and the best way to deal with ignorant mainly French booing him.

 

It's hillarous how pathetic it was in a way. No wonder they don't get the Olympics and so forth :facepalm:

Think Froome will enjoy that rest day. 

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Just now, Tomarse said:

It's hillarous how pathetic it was in a way. No wonder they don't get the Olympics and so forth :facepalm:

Think Froome will enjoy that rest day. 

Sadly they have been wound up by pathetically ignorant and xenophobic sports press corps for several years now and swallowing every word like the motor in his frame shite.

it seems to me that the organisers are to trying hard to assist in a French win this year.

I would love to see the breakdown of drugs testing for the top 5 or 6 this year.

 

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5 minutes ago, Esmond Million's Bung said:

Fair play, he should also criticise the French press who seem to love to whip up this bad feeling.

If it's anything like sections of our press then I imagine most would think very carefully about criticising them. To be fair to Bardet he doesn't have to say anything at all so good on him.

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19 hours ago, Tomarse said:

It's hillarous how pathetic it was in a way. No wonder they don't get the Olympics and so forth :facepalm:

Think Froome will enjoy that rest day. 

I'm not sure whether this is a 'whoosh', but, unfortunately for us taxpayers, France are guaranteed the Olympics for either 2024 or 2028.

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