Tour de France 2012 |OT| 99th edition (June 30rd - July 22nd)
- Thread starter bjaelke
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Kung Fu Jedi
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Tomorrow seems to be the only opportunity for an attack, but I don't expect it to happen. This year has been more interesting for the stage wins rather than the GC. Wiggins doesn't look like he'll crack, so it doesn't appear that anything will change between now and Sunday, particularly with another individual time trial to come.
TheGoldenGunman
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This tour has been a dull affair. Last year's was far more thrilling, with Andy Schleck's bonkers mountain attack 60Km from the line, Contador's attack on the Alpe d'Huez and the time trial between Evans and Schleck on the penultimate day. By contrast this year has been a procession.
Kung Fu Jedi
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Great ride by Voeckler. You've got to admire his attacking style. It's a shame he's not a GC contender.
He wouldn't have won a single stage if he posed even a little threat. They would have killed the escape before they even got a minute.
Skellig Gra
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Man my wife still can't wrap her head around the tack thing. She just keeps saying "why would anyone do that!?"
Reminds me so much of those stages Virenque used to win.
Yeah. I guess he is pretty hated in the peloton for his attacking style because it messes with the tactics of pretty much every other team on the field.
If he was a threat then yeah, he would be incapable of pulling out these stage victories. I'd be surprised if they even let him near the front.
Kung Fu Jedi
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Totally understand that, but I feel like he would still attack when he could and test the leader more so than some of the other riders. Hell, even last year Cadel was reluctant to attack and just seemed to wait things out and win a war of attrition. I enjoy the riders that are more aggressive, although I understand why that isn't a good strategy when you're contending.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOK1sXXHWMg
If it wasn't for the national jersey, you couldn't have easily told this actually happened 2 years ago :lol
If it wasn't for the national jersey, you couldn't have easily told this actually happened 2 years ago :lol
The problem is just that the competition is too weak this year. No Schleck, no Contador and a really weak Evans. And way too many time trials. Last year Evans was afraid of attacking, but you had people like Schleck doing unbelievable things.
The peloton also dislikes his attitude, it is not just his attacking style. Considering the fact his team is still being investigated for doping usage, I also wouldn't hope too much on Voeckler. I would have preferred he didn't win any stage if it turns out they did use last year.
Also good: all Belgians can stop pretending Van den Broeck would be 3rd if he didn't have a flat in the first mountain stage. The podium is a lot stronger than the rest.
Kung Fu Jedi
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Yeah, at least we have a battle for the Polka Dot Jersey. Voeckler is riding well considering the effort from yesterday. There will be double mountain points at the finish today as well so they will likely fight to the end.
The fog and mist earlier was eerie to say the least. But now things seem to have fallen into the usual pattern. Looks like not much is going to change between now and Paris.
The fog and mist earlier was eerie to say the least. But now things seem to have fallen into the usual pattern. Looks like not much is going to change between now and Paris.
who is in the second group..? Chris Anker..? damn missed some fun..
oh he crashed... :Ó(
edit.. he did not crash.. he dropped a newspaper when he was up at the top of the climb, and it got stuck in a wheel. He reached for it to get it out and got two fingers in his wheel... ouch... ouch..
oh he crashed... :Ó(
edit.. he did not crash.. he dropped a newspaper when he was up at the top of the climb, and it got stuck in a wheel. He reached for it to get it out and got two fingers in his wheel... ouch... ouch..
We don't know if he blew himself up or if that was some gamesmanship. What we do know is that he was never dropped from the contending group and has had to wait for Wiggins on multiple occasions AFTER doing all the work for Wiggins. Froome is certainly the best, strongest rider in this year's race. Wiggins isn't capable of winning any stages outside of a TT.
I hope the dog is okay. If it is a wild animal, he obviously can't know there is a race going on. If it is a pet, it is the owner's fault.
And I'm curious to see what Froome will do in the Vuelta. He'll be their lead racer, but the competition is going to be better there with the return of Contador.
And I'm curious to see what Froome will do in the Vuelta. He'll be their lead racer, but the competition is going to be better there with the return of Contador.
I love the time trials and think 3 is the perfect amount.
I love the idea of the riders going as fast as they can without any support from the team. One short, one medium mountain, and one long TT would be great. It would be the perfect balance for some of the long mountain stages.
The problem isn't the number of time trials, that's fine. The problem is the severe shortage of tough mountain stages with finishes on the top of a mountain. I would say at minimum you need 5-6 finishes on top of a mountain, at least 2-3 of which should be on the top of an HC climb.
Kung Fu Jedi
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Wow! Cav just blew past everyone else at the finish like they were standing still. Unbelievable.
I love the time trials and think 3 is the perfect amount.
It doesn't make for an exciting tour if you have someone that is quite good on mountains, but world top in time trials. Nobody could have protected the tour would have less time riders though.
Basically this. They need to just get rid of a few middling mountain stages because all the GC contenders do is try to conserve a few seconds over those stages. If there are any attacks it is like with like 1k to go. Yay?
They need a couple more just vile mountain stages (by removing the semi-mountain ones), only one long time trial (plus the prologue) and they need to re-introduce time bonuses to the top 5 finishers. I don't mean piddly ones either but give the winner of each stage like 45-60 seconds and scale it back from there. Winning a stage NEEDS to mean something to the GC.
I can't stand watching the ITT's. if they want them in, they have to make them more interesting too watch. Maybe have the cyclist start much closer together, so they don't last that long. 3 min between each rider is too long. And they need to improve production with more splits and showing the standings more often.
It was the dog. Like the tackles. It's always the dog.
FrankI thought they weren't going to do it until Sunday?
haha sorry for the confusion.
I've been watching cycling only for a couple of years and love it. I wanted to ask you guys what you thought of Nibali being asked to leave the break away yesterday by Valverde. I know Nibali being there means the peloton is going to follow closely but what is you guys' thoughts on that? I'm torn but I am newer to the sport so don't know the intricacies and unwritten rules.
And congrats Cav! Great win.
And congrats Cav! Great win.
It is quite normal. Nibali wouldn't have been able to finish the race with a lead, and it meant the others had no chance. The rule is you only go in the offensive as a GC racer if you honestly believe you could reach the end with a lead. At that moment the escape would have been killed by Sky, it would have been impossible for them to stay in the lead.
Ah, ok. Thanks for that. I thought it was a gutsy move but the reality was that they never would have let him go off without a chase. And considering Valverde did win the stage, he was right.
Think it was a stupid move on his part to go back. Yes Sky would have reeled them in but would have had to expend resources to do so. That could easily have paid dividends at the end of the stage.
Actually it would have been suicide. Do you think any of the others in the escape would have helped him? It would have been Nibali together with ten dead weights against 5 Sky riders. They wouldn't waste energy. We have already seen the Sky riders have no problem bridging the gap at their own speed. Look at all the attacks Nibali placed in the mountains. Neither Froome or Wiggins made a sudden move to follow, they just put their pace a little bit higher. If Nibali had continued, he would have lost a lot of time. This could only have been worthwile if there were multiple people with the same ambition as Nibali and a couple of his teammates.
They were reeling them in in no time. The breakaway knew they were losing time, so they wouldn't work a second for nibalis gc-chances. A nice try, but it couldn't work out
Wax Free Vanilla
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