For anyone on twitter check out g Thomas digs at dan Martin... Lol
https://twitter.com/geraintthomas86/status/354153102884085760
https://twitter.com/geraintthomas86/status/354153102884085760
Tour de France 2013 *spoilers*
- Thread starter Noodley
- Start date
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Thanks Smutch, I feel a bit of support on my point here
. I found that it was Movistar who had the biggest opportunity of using the situations (with 3 people very good placed in the GC to apply pressure with), but IMO they were not resourceful enough to use the best strategy and fell into the "standard" racing strategy (a.k.a. riding hard to make the rest drop on the climbs)e.g. the strategy that A. Schleck used with Monfort in the "Evans Tour", the day before the Alpe 'd Huez stage was showing some (uncharacteristically) big balls
Granted they indeed took Porte out of the GC, but the way I look at it is
- Your riding for the (GC) win and not the 2nd place... whenever you have a chance to do that, you should take it
- In the next mountain stages, Porte (considering he finds his form back) will only go full out until Froome attacks (or drops) and will "freewheel" to the finish (or ride slower to the finish to drag Froome)... making him fresher the next day then if he would compete for a GC place as well
(And - as spectator - don't we all like to see unpredictible races)
Say e.g. an escape with Kreuzinger and Quintana took 5 min (maybe with a Fuglsang and Ten Dam thrown in as well)... wouldn't that give some extra variables/fireworks in the next mountain stages?
Go Quintana !!!!
(but in his defence Valverde has proven in the past he understands how to hold on during 3 weeks)I don't think so on either of the two.. I would put my money on Kreuzinger putting in a better TT than Mollema and taking spot 2 in the GC
The last TT has (if he is still as strong by then) Quintana written all over it... but I'm not so sure for this one. Although he's surrounded by people who are pretty bad at TT as well, I would only see him jump Ten Dam (and maybe Contador), but he probably will get overtaken by Costa (and should watch-out for Fuglsang and Kwiatek as well)
Oh nooooo... does this mean we will get to see even more Rolland with awkard looking pants?!?
I think the differences in time from the TT will not be great in the 2-8 places on GC, so while the order may shift, it will not be a decisive shift. The two things that I think will be of key interest are a) how much time can Froome add to his leadership buffer, and b) can Kreuziger put so much time into Bertie that he will make himself the de-facto leader.
thom
____
- Location
- The Borough
Interesting comments from Frankie Andreu post Saturday's stage with Paul Kimmage.
He thinks Froome's time up Ax-3 Domaines was credible & makes some interesting points about it.
He thinks Froome's time up Ax-3 Domaines was credible & makes some interesting points about it.
smutchin
Cat 6 Racer
- Location
- The Red Enclave
You may well be right. I was going by the evidence of the Tour de Suisse stage 9 TT, but the profile of Wednesday's TT is very different so it may not be the best indicator. Mollema's performance there was solid on both the flat and uphill sections, and I'd expect him to outperform Valverde, who had a stinker at the Dauphiné TT (very similar indeed to Wednesday's TT, in both profile and distance). But yes, Kreuziger only needs to beat him by seven seconds, so the order of those three in GC may well be reversed.
I suppose Quintana is a bit of an unknown quantity on a flat TT, but on form alone, I'd expect him to do better than most of the riders above him in GC (Contador was even worse than Valverde at the Dauphiné). You're right about Costa, Fuglsang and Kwiatkowski though. They're all potential threats to Quintana, though Quintana has a decent amount of time in hand over all of them.
Sadly, I expect Ten Dam to be outside the top ten after Wednesday. But maybe that's being harsh on him.
albion
Guru
- Location
- South Tyneside
I know it is a bit MAD but tribalism now says "I only lose to dopers".
oldroadman
Veteran
- Location
- Ubique
Geraint stabilizer Thomas is a gobshiiiit
Harsh, Geraint is half right, as Dan is half Irish, mum being Maria Roche, as was. So he chooses an Irish passport over a British one, and gets an Irish licence. This did not happen early, something made him swop when already at a very good level, and I can't imagine the Irish federation were disappointed to get his application, same as Matt Brammier. Two quality riders for nothing, effectively. Maybe the motivation was getting into national teams for major championships, because it's very difficult to get a GB place, so who can blame them for that? They just don't sound very Irish, uless (in Dan's case) you're an Irishman from the midlands, as an old mate of mine is, he sounds as un-Irish as you can get but that's not what his passport says!
smutchin
Cat 6 Racer
- Location
- The Red Enclave
I believe Mr Thomas was indulging in what the youth of today refer to as "banter".
PpPete
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chandler's Ford
OMG !
I know that hotel too, it's right opposite the station.
Never stayed there, had a drink in the bar occasionally, until they accepted a booking from a certain Monsieur Le Pen.
I have no axe to grind with Dan Martin, and I'm half Irish myself, but he's as Irish as Mark Lawrenson who played under Jack Charlton by dint of owning an Irish Setter - allegedly - maybe. 
I heard his Dad interviewed recently and he didn't have a lot of time or respect for Stephen Roche. Family tiffs and all that mullarkey.
I heard his Dad interviewed recently and he didn't have a lot of time or respect for Stephen Roche. Family tiffs and all that mullarkey.
It doesn't matter and the Irish can have him!
As to the Icelandic God bit, I really couldn't give a Frigg.
