# [SPOILER] Team SKY - Tour de Romandie



## Cheddar George (24 Apr 2012)

Team SKY - Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome, Danny Pate, Richie Porte, Michael Rogers, Kanstantsin Siutsou, Geraint Thomas, Bradley Wiggins.

This is looking closer to the Tour de France line up, just reading the team sheet gets me excited. I have high expectations for Wiggins.


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## Nearly there (24 Apr 2012)

Sky have been very average since portugal its time to deliver


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## subaqua (24 Apr 2012)

my money is on Geraint


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## raindog (24 Apr 2012)

prologue today from 3 to 5.30 - 3.3ks long and slightly downhill so will be bloody fast.


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## Flying_Monkey (24 Apr 2012)

raindog said:


> prologue today from 3 to 5.30 - 3.3ks long and slightly downhill so will be bloody fast.


 
A bit silly, really.


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## smutchin (24 Apr 2012)

Flying_Monkey said:


> A bit silly, really.


 
I'm sure Chris Boardman will agree with you there.

d.


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## Flying_Monkey (24 Apr 2012)

smutchin said:


> I'm sure Chris Boardman will agree with you there.


 
Why? Is he racing?  Seriously though, these very short TT prologues are not much more than a parade for the sponsors. It would be more meaningful in racing terms if it was even 10km.


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## smutchin (24 Apr 2012)

Flying_Monkey said:


> Is he racing?


 
I don't think he was ever "racing" even at the peak of his career...

I suppose the argument is that a short prologue is more fair on the non-TTers who might otherwise lose significant time before the race has even started, but even taking that into account, 3.3km is ridiculously short.

d.


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## raindog (24 Apr 2012)

A prologue is just a way of getting the race rolling and "introducing" all the riders to the public, the length hardly matters.


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## raindog (24 Apr 2012)

Thomas fastest so far. Changing conditions - windy with possible rain, which will bugger things up.

Can the OP or a mod put "spoiler" in the thread title, or we'll all get a bollocking if we discuss results.


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## Scoosh (24 Apr 2012)




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## raindog (24 Apr 2012)

cheers Scoosh

Cav 3rd and it's started raining


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## smutchin (24 Apr 2012)

Watching the live coverage now. Richie Porte's cadence is just silly.

Edit: having seen a few more riders going off now, they seem to be all just as silly. Spintastic!

d.


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## raindog (24 Apr 2012)

have you seen Basso go yet? Not heard them mention him


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## smutchin (24 Apr 2012)

Just seen a tweet that said the last rider has gone off, so presumably Basso went early.

Evans looks like he's quick so far...

[edit: ...but finishes 20 seconds down on Thomas, who therefore wins the prologue. Yay!]

d.


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## smutchin (24 Apr 2012)

Holy crap, watching Kwiatowski is making me feel ill... he ain't holding back on the corners. [edit: marginally quicker than Wiggo at the line for 11th place]

d.


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## raindog (24 Apr 2012)

Basso went off just before Evans. Nice to see Thomas top the times, but it's a shame it rained.

See you tomorrow.


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## subaqua (24 Apr 2012)

smutchin said:


> Just seen a tweet that said the last rider has gone off, so presumably Basso went early.
> 
> Evans looks like he's quick so far...
> 
> ...


 
i really wish i had gone to the bookies. £100 at 16-1 would have been very welcome at moment


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## smutchin (24 Apr 2012)

raindog said:


> Basso went off just before Evans.


 
Ah. I probably missed him cos I only had half an eye on it (I'm at work).

d.


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## musa (24 Apr 2012)

It certainly looks like Team SKY will be a force in TdR


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## Cheddar George (24 Apr 2012)

subaqua said:


> i really wish i had gone to the bookies. £100 at 16-1 would have been very welcome at moment


I have just seen a tweet from Cavendish telling people to "put your money on the welshman" for the time trial.


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## subaqua (24 Apr 2012)

runs to check twitter ....... obblocks , wish i had seen that earlier . ah well.

main reason i said he could do it was the fact he is a welshman !!


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## jdtate101 (24 Apr 2012)

I bet Cav's well chuffed with third, not bad considering he's weak at TT. Still a 3.3km TT could not have been kinder to the sprinters, who can just about max it for that distance, giving them a fair crack at a decent time.


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## raindog (24 Apr 2012)

jdtate101 said:


> I bet Cav's well chuffed with third, not bad considering he's weak at TT.


He won the same prologue in 2008


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## Herzog (25 Apr 2012)

raindog said:


> He won the same prologue in 2008


 
Yep, it's just short enough for him. I'll be going to the stage on Friday and hope to see him in action (albeit struggling up a hill in the gruppetto).


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## raindog (25 Apr 2012)

Herzog said:


> I'll be going to the stage on Friday and hope to see him in action.


Cool - can we have photos? 

One of my sons lives in Vevey.


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## Cheddar George (25 Apr 2012)

Anybody watching this .... whats going on ?


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## rich p (25 Apr 2012)

It's just about to go live on ES.


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## rich p (25 Apr 2012)

50km to go. Break of 4 has 2m21s on the bunch with Cav favourite for a sprint when it all comes back. Not much sprint opposition here, Matthews, Davis and....not much else.


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## Cheddar George (25 Apr 2012)

Looking good for Cav.


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## raindog (25 Apr 2012)

Not an action day today. Nice to listen while I'm working though.


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## Herzog (25 Apr 2012)

raindog said:


> Cool - can we have photos?
> 
> One of my sons lives in Vevey.


 
Yep, I'll take a few snaps. He should be going slow enough to get a decent shot...


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## Scoosh (25 Apr 2012)

Wiggins the sprinter  !


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## beastie (25 Apr 2012)

Scoosh said:


> Wiggins the sprinter  !


He looks very strong. What a super ride.


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## raindog (25 Apr 2012)

Christ on a bike - worrabout that then?


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## Scoosh (25 Apr 2012)

raindog said:


> Christ on a bike -


Wiggins might be good - but I don't think he's quite reached those levels ..... 

Wait till [if] he wins a TdF - then the press/nation will be handing out similar plaudits


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## smutchin (25 Apr 2012)

Damn, I missed it. Definitely going to have to record the highlights - and save them for posterity, I think.

d.


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## Flying_Monkey (25 Apr 2012)

One of the things that Wiggins has been missing is the ability to lay down sudden acceleration - he certainly seems to have been working on that! If he can do this on the climbs too, he'll have become the kind of complete rider that really can win a GT. I am impressed.


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## iLB (25 Apr 2012)

it seems quite prudent to have named the thread as the Team Sky Tour of Romandie, thus far at least. Wiggins takes up the lead in the GC on time bonuses btw.


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## smutchin (25 Apr 2012)

@Vaughters Wow. Wiggo. I've been saying it for a few months, he's my Tdf favorite. And the one guy who left that I wish I could have kept ....


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## rich p (25 Apr 2012)

Great ride - he looked to cover everyone from 3km out so he knew he was strong.


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## brockers (25 Apr 2012)

Love this picture







Almost like a Photoshopped image of an amateur English sportive rider kicking a bunch of Euro-poseurs' bottoms !

And so thoughtful of him to point out what 'Sky' is to all them forriners as he crosses the line.


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## raindog (25 Apr 2012)

Shame about the helmet - looks like a merangue.


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## rich p (25 Apr 2012)

raindog said:


> Shame about the helmet - looks like a merangue.


 Indeed RD!
By the way, we spell it meringue over here en Angleterre


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## thom (25 Apr 2012)

Can't say I'm a Sky fan as such but what with the green jersey too, today they were sporting a decent variety of jerseys.


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## andrew_s (25 Apr 2012)

A pity they couldn't get Rogers in shot wearing the points jersey.


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## raindog (26 Apr 2012)

rich p said:


> Indeed RD!
> By the way, we spell it meringue over here en Angleterre


oops


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## Flying_Monkey (26 Apr 2012)

An unexpected win for Jonathan Hivert, but that was well-controlled today for Brad. Not so good for Cav though - I know he's probably here to work on his mountain legs for the TdF, but he certainly hasn't got them yet and he's being dropped on the most inoccuous climbs (by GT standards) and it looks like he's pretty much being left to fend for himself as a result. It wasn't that bad a parcours for the sprinters either - GreenEdge managed to get Alan Davis near to the front in the final showdown, even if he couldn'd do much once he got there...


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## smutchin (26 Apr 2012)

Flying_Monkey said:


> he's being dropped on the most inoccuous climbs (by GT standards) and it looks like he's pretty much being left to fend for himself as a result.


 
Presumably that will change when they bring Eisel into the team?

d.


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## Dave Davenport (26 Apr 2012)

brockers said:


> Love this picture
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
And chewing a toffee at the same time!


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## Flying_Monkey (26 Apr 2012)

smutchin said:


> Presumably that will change when they bring Eisel into the team?


 
Oh, no doubt. They will have a bit more room for manouevre with the larger team sizes in the GTs. I think Cav is basically just using this as mountain training, and to take opportunities if they happen to come up.


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## thom (26 Apr 2012)

Flying_Monkey said:


> Oh, no doubt. They will have a bit more room for manouevre with the larger team sizes in the GTs. I think Cav is basically just using this as mountain training, and to take opportunities if they happen to come up.


There's Edvald B-H to come in too. If he's fit, you can't see him being left out of the tour given he won 2 stages last year.
It means the likes of Rogers, Pate and Sivtsov are likely after two places along with Uran of course - Geraint Thomas won't be there due to the Olympics.


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## Flying_Monkey (26 Apr 2012)

thom said:


> There's Edvald B-H to come in too. If he's fit, you can't see him being left out of the tour given he won 2 stages last year.
> It means the likes of Rogers, Pate and Sivtsov are likely after two places along with Uran of course - Geraint Thomas won't be there due to the Olympics.


 
I wouldn't count Henao out either. If you want a specialist climber, he is the real thing - though I think they will use him in the Giro and/or the Vuelta instead.


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## thom (26 Apr 2012)

Flying_Monkey said:


> I wouldn't count Henao out either. If you want a specialist climber, he is the real thing - though I think they will use him in the Giro and/or the Vuelta instead.


Absolutely - they have a pile of talent. I hope that the rest, including Froome, properly get their heads and proper support in either the Giro or Vuelta.


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## smutchin (27 Apr 2012)

What's really great is that they don't just have a pile of talent, they have a proper team. OPQS arguably have a bigger pile of talent but don't appear to have the same level of organisation as Sky. 

d.


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## lukesdad (27 Apr 2012)

smutchin said:


> What's really great is that they don't just have a pile of talent, they have a proper team. OPQS arguably have a bigger pile of talent but don't appear to have the same level of organisation as Sky.
> 
> d.


I ll hold fire on the organisation untill the fireworks kick off in the big one. Im still not sure about Eisels role, if he s there just to look after Cav they re still lacking a road captain to make the descions on the big calls IMO.


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## raindog (27 Apr 2012)

My FP for today's stage is Pierre Rolland.


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## thom (27 Apr 2012)

smutchin said:


> What's really great is that they don't just have a pile of talent, they have a proper team. OPQS arguably have a bigger pile of talent but don't appear to have the same level of organisation as Sky.
> 
> d.


I dunno. Seems like Tom Boonen is pretty happy with the organisation this year...
Did you see the bit of Paris Roubaix where he held off 4 chasing SKY riders with his team mate disrupting the SKY guys ?

I reckon OPQS could turn into something pretty special now, although maybe not going for Grand Tour GC so much - they are after all relatively new in terms of personel and I think it's interesting that this is where Brian Holm ended up after HTC.


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## smutchin (27 Apr 2012)

thom said:


> I dunno. Seems like Tom Boonen is pretty happy with the organisation this year...


 
Fair point.



> Did you see the bit of Paris Roubaix where he held off 4 chasing SKY riders with his team mate disrupting the SKY guys ?


 
Tbh, I didn't really see it that way - I thought it was just that Boonen was too strong and EBH was having a bad day. But maybe you're right. It was definitely a very clever bit of teamwork from Terpstra to help get the Boonen breakaway started though. Also, I suppose if Sky's teamwork was really that good, they would have got Plan B into action sooner when they realised EBH was off colour.

d.


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## thom (27 Apr 2012)

smutchin said:


> Fair point.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Well I think you're right in that Boonen was too strong and that was the clincher. But my point would be that for all his individual enviable success, there was undoubtedly planning and tactics that were executed by the team to put him in positions to win.

Flecha did do well in PR given he'd had some kind of hand or wrist injury not long beforehand though.


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## Herzog (27 Apr 2012)

Just got back from Mt Vully. Brad was head of the peloton chasing the break, whilst Cav was left alone to fend for himself again in the middle/back of the peloton. Looking forward to watching the rest live. Videos to follow.


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## Herzog (27 Apr 2012)

The Breakaways
http://youtu.be/zZ4sv5-3Z44​


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## raindog (27 Apr 2012)

Get any bidons?

Cav's pulling the peloton up a climb at the moment


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## Herzog (27 Apr 2012)

The Peloton

​http://youtu.be/n3j_N454jgA​

Brad at 15 secs
Cav at 30 secs
Madness of a modern cycle race 40 seconds onwards...


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## Herzog (27 Apr 2012)

raindog said:


> Get any bidons?
> 
> Cav's pulling the peloton up a climb at the moment


 
No, but I could have had my pick of the numerous lovely bikes strewn on the roadside (mine was nearly run over by the broom wagon)


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## raindog (27 Apr 2012)

Herzog said:


> The Peloton
> 
> ​
> http://youtu.be/n3j_N454jgA​
> ...


cheers - crikey, that was a narrow little road wasn't it?

Well my FP didn't turn up today. Insanely fast finish up that climb. 1 second gap for Brad!!


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## Herzog (27 Apr 2012)

raindog said:


> cheers - crikey, that was a narrow little road wasn't it?


 
Yep it was like that on the way down as well. Am tempted to try and get to the final time trial, but think my wife wouldn't let me off child care duties...


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## Flying_Monkey (27 Apr 2012)

LL Sanchez! Great finish and tactically, an astute ride. I thought yesterday that he would be a danger man.


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## lukesdad (27 Apr 2012)

Flying_Monkey said:


> LL Sanchez! Great finish and tactically, an astute ride. I thought yesterday that he would be a danger man.


 
Totaly agree LLS is very astute allways seems to make the most of the opurtunities when they come his way.

On the sky front does anybody else worry they may be showing their hand ( as far as the GTs ) a little early ?


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## musa (28 Apr 2012)

cav and thomas have pulled out of todays stage race


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## Nearly there (28 Apr 2012)

musa said:


> cav and thomas have pulled out of todays stage race


Cav's been very poor imo this year


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## rich p (28 Apr 2012)

Keeping their legs for the Giro rather than flogging over the lumps of today's stage. Cav may have been distracted by childbirth but he usually peaks for the GTs


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## Nearly there (28 Apr 2012)

rich p said:


> Keeping their legs for the Giro rather than flogging over the lumps of today's stage. Cav may have been distracted by childbirth but he usually peaks for the GTs


He does seem to pull it out the bag in the big races im sure he'll bag a couple in the Giro next week


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## raindog (28 Apr 2012)

incredible controling ride up front from Porte and Wiggins today


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## iLB (28 Apr 2012)

raindog said:


> incredible controling ride up front from Porte and Wiggins today


 
Shame not to contest the sprint for bonus seconds, but saving as much as possible for tomorrow i guess. Sanchez is/was the Spanish tt champ right?


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## raindog (28 Apr 2012)

Brad should be OK tomorrow, after all he beat him ok in the Paris-Nice tt, but then again you never know. Going to be interesting.

Did you see the last descent? Jesus, it was fast - don't know how these guys do it sometimes.


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## rich p (28 Apr 2012)

It was scarily fast, true enough. They didn't even look at the wonderful scenery


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## Flying_Monkey (28 Apr 2012)

It's a very short TT tomorrow. Sanchez could hang on. But clearly Brad feels confident enough not to have worried about contesting the sprint today.


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## musa (28 Apr 2012)

Is he gonna go last? (Brad that is)


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## raindog (28 Apr 2012)

No, second to last in front of Sanchez


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## Strathlubnaig (28 Apr 2012)

Is 9 seconds a big gap to make up in a short TT like that ? Genuine query.


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## iLB (28 Apr 2012)

Strathlubnaig said:


> Is 9 seconds a big gap to make up in a short TT like that ? Genuine query.


 
It has a pretty decent size climb in the middle of it, and an undulating finish too, so not a massive gap no.


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## oldroadman (28 Apr 2012)

Good TT rider who can climb will take up to a minute or more from even a decent rider in difficult terrain over less than 20km. The gamble part is that nothing goes wrong, puncture, crash, mechanical. A bike change will lose a lot of time, with the getting back to speed and break in cadence.


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## shaunb (28 Apr 2012)

just looking at the standings on eurosport , when did sanchez make up the 2 minutes he was down on wiggo on stage 2 , i thought it was only 10 seconds for winning a stage ?


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## iLB (28 Apr 2012)

Not sure where you are looking but he hasn't been more than 15 seconds off the pace.


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## shaunb (28 Apr 2012)

on stage 2 they have sanchez down as finishing in 88th place 2:03 down on wiggins . must be an error on their part...


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## iLB (28 Apr 2012)

He finished 3rd that day, http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/tour-de-romandie-2012/stage-2/results some sort of error there yes.


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## musa (29 Apr 2012)

Wiggin's chain come off during TT, doesn't look like much time was taken...

both LLS and BW gone for road bike with clip on set up


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## musa (29 Apr 2012)

Wiggins fastest at Intermediate checkpoint 17 min something LLS down 55.44 on first inter

however talansky fastest overall beating riche porte run of 29.13 by 15 secs

talansky 28.57


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## raindog (29 Apr 2012)

Brad should be ok I think


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## musa (29 Apr 2012)

raindog said:


> Brad should be ok I think


 
yeah 1 2 brad talansky respectively


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## rich p (29 Apr 2012)

great ride by Brad


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## Herzog (29 Apr 2012)

rich p said:


> great ride by Brad


Yep - will be interesting to hear from Sanchez, he looked awful today.


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## rich p (29 Apr 2012)

Herzog said:


> Yep - will be interesting to hear from Sanchez, he looked awful today.


 Very over-geared according to the commentators.

Apparently had a 48 tooth small ring which made him looked very laboured on the steep bits.


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## raindog (29 Apr 2012)

Good result for Sky with Porte and Rogers in the top five on GC, and exceptional ride from Wiggo considering he lost his chain.

also cracking ride from Talansky!!


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## PpPete (29 Apr 2012)

Bradley needs a haircut... looked a right haystack on the podium


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## Paul_L (29 Apr 2012)

Bosh.

Great ride by Wiggo and a great tour by Sky. LLS was abysmal. Wrong gear and didn't look discilpined at all.


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## musa (29 Apr 2012)

PpPete said:


> Bradley needs a haircut... looked a right haystack on the podium


 
+1


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## Paul_L (29 Apr 2012)

i think Brad's hair looks ace. He always sports the mod look early in the season. Admitedly it looks a bit crap under a cap though!


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## musa (29 Apr 2012)

Maybe those long woolly hats would suit him


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## alecstilleyedye (29 Apr 2012)

be interesting to be a fly on the wall when the discussion about the oval chain rings takes place…

wiggins is probably the favourite for the tour de france now, with cuddles looking off the pace the whole week (although he may have been treating the race as a training exercise, of course)...


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## brockers (29 Apr 2012)

B0llox! I knew there was something on telly I was meant to be watching!

By how much have Big Wig's odds shortened for a podium/win in the Tour? anybody know?


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## Flying_Monkey (29 Apr 2012)

Well, that definitely looks a lot better for Sky. Sanchez was not at his best today - and Talansky: he's going to win (big) things.


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## Keith Oates (30 Apr 2012)

I'm happy for Wiggins and Sky, they have shown that they are a team that can get results at the highest level. We now hve to wait and see if this can be carried over to the big one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## musa (30 Apr 2012)

Credit goes to the team. Sky managed to control the peloton. Organised well


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## Strathlubnaig (30 Apr 2012)

I find the overwhelmingly partisan commentary in favour of Sky on eurosport annoying.


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## musa (30 Apr 2012)

I think it's with every sport. Look at the Olympics to come it'll be the same. Root for your own people.


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## Beebo (30 Apr 2012)

These oval chain rings are nothing new, when I bought my first MTB in 1989 it can with an oval chain ring. Wiggo's chain was bouncing all over the place and if he uses an oval chain ring again he will have the worry of a mechanical at the back of his mind.

I agree with comments about his hair, I'm surprised his image rights sponsors dont tell him to get a hair cut and shave those bloody side burns!!


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## smutchin (30 Apr 2012)

Strathlubnaig said:


> I find the overwhelmingly partisan commentary in favour of Sky on eurosport annoying.


 
If you think the British Eurosport coverage is partisan, you should try watching the French coverage.

d.


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## Scoosh (30 Apr 2012)

... they support Sky too .... ?


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## Flying_Monkey (30 Apr 2012)

Beebo said:


> I agree with comments about his hair, I'm surprised his image rights sponsors dont tell him to get a hair cut and shave those bloody side burns!!


 
What? And look like everyone else in the peloton. Not likely. Brad is one of the few top cyclists with a recognisable personality. That's worth a lot more to sponsors than someone who just wants to 'fit in'.


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## smutchin (30 Apr 2012)

Cath tweeted the other day about his hair - something about it keeping it long as a good luck thing.

d.


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## Paulus (30 Apr 2012)

I would of thought the last thing on a sponsors mind would be Wiggin's hair style. Chippolini had flowing locks, the professor had a ponytail, as long as the riders get results who cares what haircut they have.


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## Muguruki (30 Apr 2012)

I also had a MTB with oval chain rings in the eighties. I was a lovely dayglo yellow green and orange MBK. Ahh the eighties aye!

And it is about time Sky employed a barber, Cav always looks like he could do with a shave un all. Nowt wrong with pony tails tho as I have one sticking out the back of my lid, I don't have the wire rim glasses like the Prof though!


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## Strathlubnaig (30 Apr 2012)

Wiggins certainly has his own style for sure, the hair etc, the over long socks etc, nothing wrong with that really, individualism can be an asset to a team too.


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## thom (2 May 2012)

Did people see this ?

Normally I think Bradley can take himself a bit too seriously in interviews but this is quite amusing.


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