Analysis of the first 9 days of the Tour de France **SPOILERS**

[Buddfox]

Just to clarify, Adam Yates might be a cyclist and be British but he ain't a "British Cycling" success story; he learned his road cycling in France in the amateur ranks. Likewise Froome is not a "British Cycling" success story. Capitalisation is all important...

This is a good point, not sure if I meant to capitalise it or not, I've frequently had issues with how BC has approached top level road racing, particularly with regard to women's racing. Anyway, Adam Yates still looking strong, with one TT out the way.

 

[smutchin]

The whole BC ethos stems from Lottery funding, which is predicated on winning medals at the Olympics, hence the focus on track cycling. This has its pros and cons - on the one hand, it has hampered the development of the road career of certain riders, but on the other hand, some of those riders might never have got into cycling at all without BC's support.

Don't forget that when the development program was started in the 90s, you could have counted the number of British riders in the Tour de France on the fingers of one hand, and the idea of a Brit winning the Tour was laughable. It's got to the stage now where bike racing is almost a mainstream sport in Britain. Back in the 80s, my parents never showed the slightest interest in cycling and I was the only person in our house who watched the Tour on telly. Now my parents are both avid viewers of the ITV coverage and get quite excited when it's on. Even if BC haven't been directly involved in the development of the Yates brothers, they may have indirectly influenced their decision to pursue pro cycling as a career.

Hugh Carthy, however, seems more the Robert Millar type and would probably have got into cycling anyway.

As does Froome, for that matter, though he probably wouldn't have got where he is today without the involvement of British Cycling in pushing his career along.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Back in the 80s, my parents never showed the slightest interest in cycling and I was the only person in our house who watched the Tour on telly.

Going back to the 70s, when I was at school we had a vague idea that some people raced bikes, and could possibly name Reg Harris and Eddy Murx but we didn't know who they were (and certainly couldn't spell Mercx). We all rode bikes though.

 

[smutchin]

(and certainly couldn't spell Mercx)

And still can't!

 

[Dogtrousers]

And still can't!

PMSL. I can, honest. I can't believe I just typed that.

 

[brommers]

I'm thinking about a thread along the lines of BC development . Feel free to make comments about the TdF if you like.

 

[coffeejo]

I'm thinking about a thread along the lines of BC development . Feel free to make comments about the TdF if you like.

I think the tangents are really interesting. I'm learning a lot from them.

 

[HF2300]

Even if BC haven't been directly involved in the development of the Yates brothers, they may have indirectly influenced their decision to pursue pro cycling as a career.

This is a crucial point - that cycling's profile has been raised massively means people who wouldn't previously have been aware of it can now consider cycling as a mainstream sport, and pro cycling as a viable career, without having to butt heads against all sorts of obstacles or commit to difficult routes via obscure continental teams. Lizzie Armitstead was saying the other day that women's cycling is getting faster and more competitive every year, almost every race, and that's got to be good.

A lot of people criticise the blurring of the lines between Sky Procycling and GB track cycling, but it seems to me it's mostly a good thing - I think it's made it easier for many riders to move between road and track while maintaining a professional career, and road cycling's benefited significantly from that.

I think also that British road cycling had developed along a quite different route from continental cycling over the years - the club staple 10 mile TT, for example - to the detriment of British riders wanting a pro career. The increased profile of cycling sport has broken down those barriers.

 

[suzeworld]

Two questions for Rest Day pondering --

Does anyone see any way for Quintana to get past the Sky train and Froome?
Will Cav win in Paris?

 

[Dogtrousers]

Quintana is like a coiled spring. He's just waiting for his chance to spring, like a springy spring. Waiting ... waiting ... biding his time.

So: No and maybe.

 

[oldroadman]

Two questions for Rest Day pondering --

Does anyone see any way for Quintana to get past the Sky train and Froome?
Will Cav win in Paris?

It would be a long shot, Quintana is either a very good actor and keeping it all in for one big stage in the Alps, or he does not quite have the edge of previous years. The team keep talking him up and that's adding pressure to him, which is never good in a long stage race. To succeed, you have to be unafraid of losing, and all I've seen Quintana do is steadily lose time a few seconds at a time. In mountain top finishes he has not been properly with the "heads" in the final.
The biggest potential dangers to Froome are Yates (unlikely, but this guy is a potential grand tour winner in the near future) and Mollema, although I think he may be close to his limit. Froome has never appeared to be in difficulty, is surrounded by the strongest Sky team yet, and looks solid.
Cav may not even go on to Paris. I would not be surprised to see him come home on or after rest day, before flogging over the Alps dents his track speed, which he clearly has judging by the sprinter's stage results. Focus now is likely to be an Olympic medal either in TP or Omnium, which will finally tick a career objective box. Then again if he does finish the tour, it's hard to bet against him in Paris.

 

[Crackle]

Quintana has to take time tomorrow if he has any chance. I think he'll lose more time in the TT so realistically he only has three stages to claw back three minutes. Last year he only managed 30 odd seconds from a sick Froome in the final week.

 

[brommers]

Quintana has to take time tomorrow

He doing too much of this already.

 

[suzeworld]

I am a Quintana fan, but he has got to find something very big in the Alps to get his time up enough, and SKY look formidable ..

Does anyone know if the heat wave we are getting in the UK is forecast across the Alps too? Added heat will probably sap them all, but then, both Froome and Quinatna have lived in hot countries so maybe more used to it than some?
I think Cav's sensible head will be telling him to go home and not clamber through the Alps but he loves winning on the tour, esp in Paris, so I think he will be very conflicted about what to do. He is on great form for spinting, but keeps saying he has done no mountain training this year.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I saw an interview/quote from Cav (on the letour.fr site I think) in which he pretty much said he was continuing to Paris. But obviously left himself a bit of wiggle room to quit.