Tour de France 2013 *spoilers*

[deptfordmarmoset]

Got one in mind?

It doesn't matter which song it was, just how long it stays at number one

 

[Crackle]

Joaquim Rodriguez had a shocker and Andy Schleck fell down a big hole. I was expecting worse from Quintana, better from Dan Martin and worse from Contador and Valverede.

I also need to shake the image of Ten Dam drooling and so does Ten Dam, shake that is.

 

[craigwend]

to the tune of ITV 4's theme tune you can sing:

It's Pepé Le Pew (repeat to end....)



does this spoil things?

 

[smutchin]

Joaquim Rodriguez had a shocker and Andy Schleck fell down a big hole. I was expecting worse from Quintana, better from Dan Martin and worse from Contador and Valverede.

I also need to shake the image of Ten Dam drooling and so does Ten Dam, shake that is.

I don't think Purito or Schleck surprised anyone with their performances today but they were never really contenders anyway. Schleck didn't really do that badly by his standards. I thought Dan Martin might do a wee bit better though.

Contador and Valverde have shown that they're realistic prospects for the other podium places. Ho hum.

I'm very pleasantly surprised with Mollema and Ten Dam so far, and I'm still hopeful that Mollema can nick one of those podium spots. (Yeah, I know I bigged up Mollema before the race bit I'm as surprised as anyone to actually see him still in the top three at this stage. )

Kwiatkowski is showing himself to be the new Talansky, which is just as well because the old Talansky is turning out to have been a flash in the pan. It's going to be an interesting battle between him and Quintana for the white jersey between now and Paris.

 

[Winnershsaint]

Ten dam looked worse than my aging Irish Setter following a long hot walk in the fields

 

[SWSteve]

to the tune of ITV 4's theme tune you can sing:

It's Pepé Le Pew (repeat to end....)



does this spoil things?

that will be all I can hear from now on

 

[SWSteve]

Watched the highlights before heading off on my own bicycle. Didn't expect Froome to put that much above everyone else, then again I think the polka-dot shorts are perfectly acceptable so it shows what I know

 

[lukesdad]

I think JRo might have had another GT in mind before this one even started.

 

[Buddfox]

It's a massive gap but with Ventoux and the Alps still to come there's plenty of opportunity for the others to make time back - particularly if there is a repeat of Sunday's calamity. Sky will need to be so focused if they want to take this all the way to Paris.

 

[dellzeqq]

1. GBR FROOME Christopher 1 SKY PROCYCLING 42h 29' 24''
2. ESP VALVERDE Alejandro 121 MOVISTAR TEAM 42h 32' 49''+ 03' 25''
3. NED MOLLEMA Bauke 164 BELKIN PRO CYCLING 42h 33' 01''+ 03' 37''
4. ESP CONTADOR Alberto 91 TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF 42h 33' 18''+ 03' 54''
5. CZE KREUZIGER Roman 94 TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF 42h 33' 21''+ 03' 57''
6. NED TEN DAM Laurens 167 BELKIN PRO CYCLING 42h 33' 34''+ 04' 10''
7. POL KWIATKOWSKI Michal 153 OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP 42h 34' 08''+ 04' 44''
8. COL QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander 128 MOVISTAR TEAM 42h 34' 42''+ 05' 18''
9. POR COSTA Rui Alberto 124 MOVISTAR TEAM 42h 35' 01''+ 05' 37''
10. FRA PÉRAUD Jean-Christophe 81 AG2R LA MONDIALE 42h 35' 03''+ 05' 39''

2 -> 6 places all within 45 secs - is this good or bad for Froome with regards to collaborations ?
Quintana will be given some rope to attack given he's so far back but if Ten Dam or Kreuziger attack Froome, the other high placing guys won't be so keen to let them go.

a good point. I think this is great news for Froome. Nothing's going to stop Movistar going for it, but Saxo won't be doing much to help.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

If Froome keeps this lead all the way to Paris, without having a bad day or two and losing some or even a lot of his lead to concerted attacks, I might normally be very suspicious indeed. But the thing is that none of the current top 10 have got much in the way of an incentive to change very much for any reason other than personal pride, with the exception of Kwiatowski and Péraud. Tinkoff (get used to the name...), Belkin and Movistar all do very well out of the current situation in terms of World Tour points (better than Sky, in fact). It would make more sense for all of them to play it relatively safe, control any attacks from lower down the field and keep their own attacks in the mountains strictly last minute for stage wins (a Quintana speciality). I don't think Froome needs his own Sky team to protect the current standings...

So I'd watch out for the biggest efforts to shake up the GC coming from Kwiatowski and Péraud, Rodriguez in 11th and Moreno in 18th (Katusha's highest placed riders), Fuglsang in 12th (ditto for Astana), and especially Nieve and Anton for Euskaltel in 15th and 20th, Poels in 23rd for Vacansoleil (all of whom may need a new team in 2014). I'm not sure about Niemiec's form for Lampre, but I can see him going for a stage in the Alps at least.

 

[The Couch]

Wonder who is in the team bus now, saying"well there is always the vuelta !"

Costa perhaps? (he didn't seem fully committed yesterday - and might have realized it's clear he's now third in line)

By the way, it wouldn't surprise me that Monfort is using the Tour to build up his form for the Vuelta as well

 

[smutchin]

and especially Nieve and Anton for Euskaltel in 15th and 20th, Poels in 23rd for Vacansoleil (all of whom may need a new team in 2014).

I was just thinking about Nieve myself, as the other big TT loser who we haven't mentioned much so far. He's been going well until yesterday. Hope he lands on his feet.

I didn't realise this was Poels's first GT. He also deserves to get picked up by a bigger team.

Anton looks like another with an eye on the Vuelta.

 

[smutchin]

Interesting stat: Nieve has finished the Vuelta and the Giro twice each, and has placed 10th on every occasion.

Wonder what the odds are on him finishing this Tour in 10th place...

 

[The Couch]

Big losers, Quintana?
Andy Schleck too, an even worse time trialler than Matt Goss

Quintana's performance was still in (my) expectations... although others might have done much better (Belkin anyone?) than expected, which indeed makes him still the loser

Schleck will loose so much time it seems .... 5 seconds slower than Voeckler (who isn't even riding for a GC) at 1st time check

Andy seems to really have been targeting the pace of Voeckler... he ended 5 seconds slower at the finish line as well... that's just weird

Losers that have missed the conversation a bit: Euskaltel
Anton didn't do a whole lot better than Schleck and Nieve actually did more than half a minute worse than Schleck