Spoiler : Paris - Nice. 3-10 March

[thom]

Talansky wins, Porte must move up a lot in GC. The group of 7 had 7 secs over a very reduced chasing group.
Maybe Talansky has the yellow jersey out of that.
Quite a fun finish really.

 

[smutchin]

Eurosport commentators think Porte might have yellow.

Edit: Nope, they've changed their minds and are saying Talansky now... I'll just ignore them and wait for the official results.

 

[thom]

Eurosport commentators think Porte might have yellow.

Edit: Nope, they've changed their minds and are saying Talansky now... I'll just ignore them and wait for the official results.

time bonuses (according to France 3)

 

[raindog]

That climb certainly blew the peloton apart.
Chavanel missed out big time there.
Another interesting stage for tomorrow, apparently.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Kiryenka's tumble was certainly spectacular, but that was a really convincing finish by Talansky who went for it from some way out. Porte and Grivko in very good positions for the overall right now, but Talansky himself has got the talent to see this through as well.

 

[beastie]

That was a good last 30 mins. Talansky sounded pretty keen for the overall after. He fancies both the queen stage final climb and the TT. I liked Porte's aggression to steal 7 seconds, he looked pretty strong.

 

[thom]

I liked Porte's aggression to steal 7 seconds, he looked pretty strong.

Yes, SKY made that one happen coming over the top of the penultimate climb, when they had 4 guys on the front. Takes a bit of guts to do that through the wet. Kiryenka in particular went balls out on the final descent, closing to then passing Grivko (I think it was), before his fall.

 

[smutchin]

Tomorrow's stage looks like it could really shake up the GC standings and filter out the contenders from the also-rans - I don't think there's a metre of flat in it from the off. Three Cat 3 climbs and four Cat 2 climbs. An exciting day's racing in prospect.

 

[Crackle]

Tomorrow's stage looks like it could really shake up the GC standings and filter out the contenders from the also-rans - I don't think there's a metre of flat in it from the off. Three Cat 3 climbs and four Cat 2 climbs. An exciting day's racing in prospect.

yep

• Km 11.5 - Côte de Lachaud4.8 kilometre-long climb at 5.6% - category 2

• Km 27.5 - Côte de Condat6.9 kilometre-long climb at 4.4% - category 2

• Km 87.5 - Côte de la Chomasse3.4 kilometre-long climb at 5.1% - category 3

• Km 105.5 - Côte de Laprat2.1 kilometre-long climb at 3.8% - category 3

• Km 136.0 - Col du Rouvey2.8 kilometre-long climb at 5.6% - category 3

• Km 176.5 - Côte de Talencieux2.9 kilometre-long climb at 8.1% - category 2

• Km 191.0 - Côte de la Sizeranne2.9 kilometre-long climb at 6.6% - category 2

 

[oldroadman]

Just the sort of day that's really lovely for the climbers and 'orrible for everyone else. Much better when there are one or two long climbs, get into a nice rhythm, do what you can for the leader, form a bus with some others, and calculate how strong you need to ride to get inside the time limit.
This stage people could be in trouble early on and recovery is difficult, probably a long chase from 28 to 60 km just to get back and help out, then a bashing from about 105 onwards. Like I said, 'orrible. Plus if the weather is like today, miserable as well, with less chance to get a bit back on the wet descents.

 

[Monsieur Remings]

Yes, SKY made that one happen coming over the top of the penultimate climb, when they had 4 guys on the front. Takes a bit of guts to do that through the wet. Kiryenka in particular went balls out on the final descent, closing to then passing Grivko (I think it was), before his fall.

Fair play to him, it was a gutsy thing to do and I hope he's okay. Horrid incident and could have been as bad as the crash yesterday.

Let's hope the weather improves because it was a seriously enjoyable stage today, even whilst all the big names are in Italy.

 

[rich p]

yep

• Km 105.5 - Côte de Laprat2.1 kilometre-long climb at 3.8% - category 3

Got that bit wrong, Andy Schleck's in the Tirreno Adriatico.

 

[montage]

Got that bit wrong, Andy Schleck's in the Tirreno Adriatico.

For how much longer?

 

[Herzog]

For how much longer?

10 mins probably

 

[smutchin]

I didn't see any of the coverage but I'm pleasantly surprised to see from the standings that he at least finished the TTT - albeit with only one team-mate for company, some way behind the rest of the team - and amazingly, isn't last overall. Yet.