Tour de France 2016 **SPOILERS**

[perplexed]

I had to change my undercrackers after Froome's descent...

What do we reckon to Yates' chances of winning the Tour in, say 3 or 4 years time? I'm just idly wondering if we can imagine a Yates v Bardet battle (with a couple of others) in the same way as it currently appears to be Froome v Quintana (plus a couple of others)...

 

[HF2300]

Mohorič seems to have developed an ability to use it for extended periods, though.

That's the key - it's not just doing it, it's doing it for more than a few revolutions.

 

[HF2300]

Thanks HF that seems intuitively sensible. Sort of "planned to be used if the opportunity arises".

Possibly not even that planned, just played with / discussed. It'd also suit Brailsford to make the opposition think they've got lots of tricks up their sleeve.

You often get these things when one person seems to say the opposite of another, but really it's the same thing from two viewpoints.

 

[HF2300]

To be honest, I'm more surprised that Froome has finally learned to tuck his elbows in on descents.

Maybe if he'd stuck to his former 'style' the fan wouldn't have been able to get that close...

 

[HF2300]

Tomorrow should show us whether Froome and Quintana are as strong as they appear and whether anyone else is capable of staying near them.
Martin has looked better than I expected; not sure yet about Bardet, Aru or Porte;
Pinot, Contador and Nibali are busted flushes.
J Rod should start to suffer.

Purito hasn't really appeared on the radar this year, but he's quietly doing much better than I think many would have expected. Be interesting to see if he cracks today or stays highly placed. Difficult to see him staying with it if Sky vs Movistar really kicks off, but you never know...

 

[coffeejo]

Maybe if he'd stuck to his former 'style' the fan wouldn't have been able to get that close...

I think I'd rather a punch from Froome's fist than a sideways swipe from his elbow.

 

[coffeejo]

To prove that my morning coffee is kicking in, I've just remembered that the coverage on ITV4 starts at one today instead of two o'clock.

 

[EnPassant]

Possibly not even that planned, just played with / discussed. It'd also suit Brailsford to make the opposition think they've got lots of tricks up their sleeve.

You often get these things when one person seems to say the opposite of another, but really it's the same thing from two viewpoints.

I'm just basing it on two things really: firstly I can't imagine anyone with no history of flying down hills that way pedalling like fury with their gentlemens parts on the crossbar at 80+ kph doing so off the cuff without practicing it in advance to be used on such an occasion (I guess I can easily be convinced of, planned but maybe not planned for this exact moment); and secondly at least to me "I just happened to have a big gear on" doesn't sound right on a day that was all hills and includes the Tourmalet.
Perhaps this just shows how little I know or how different from normal humans the pro's are, but I'd be putting a dinner plate on the back and a cotton reel on the front for that day out (and until I get fitter a battery down the seatpost, but I digress).
I'm on this site to learn though, and am doing so at a rate of knots (though perhaps less than Froome down that descent and certainly more safely for my nether regions).

 

[Dave Davenport]

I'm just basing it on two things really: firstly I can't imagine anyone with no history of flying down hills that way pedalling like fury with their gentlemens parts on the crossbar at 80+ kph doing so off the cuff without practicing it in advance to be used on such an occasion (I guess I can easily be convinced of, planned but maybe not planned for this exact moment); and secondly at least to me "I just happened to have a big gear on" doesn't sound right on a day that was all hills and includes the Tourmalet.
Perhaps this just shows how little I know or how different from normal humans the pro's are, but I'd be putting a dinner plate on the back and a cotton reel on the front for that day out (and until I get fitter a battery down the seatpost, but I digress).
I'm on this site to learn though, and am doing so at a rate of knots (though perhaps less than Froome down that descent and certainly more safely for my nether regions).

Re. the big gear; Probably had one on as it was a fast downhill finish where the likes of Valverde or Contador might try to gain time.

 

[Tin Pot]

Re. the big gear; Probably had one on as it was a fast downhill finish where the likes of Valverde or Contador might try to gain time.

Any clue as to what the gearing was?

I saw him hit 90kph, but his revs didn't look that high to me.

 

[EnPassant]

Is this a verb now?

Oh boy, I hate this, and with the Olympics coming up we're bound to hear a recurrence of "medaling". Grr.

Re. the big gear; Probably had one on as it was a fast downhill finish where the likes of Valverde or Contador might try to gain time.

Forgive my lack of knowledge but does this not entail a compromise? Either you change the chainwheels for larger or the cassette for smaller or some variation with larger jumps than the standard? Thus losing some of your uphill flexibility for this one section? But I shall look this up if I can, don't want to derail this thread with my ignorance.

 

[HF2300]

I'm just basing it on two things really: firstly I can't imagine anyone with no history of flying down hills that way pedalling like fury with their gentlemens parts on the crossbar at 80+ kph doing so off the cuff without practicing it in advance to be used on such an occasion (I guess I can easily be convinced of, planned but maybe not planned for this exact moment); and secondly at least to me "I just happened to have a big gear on" doesn't sound right on a day that was all hills and includes the Tourmalet.
Perhaps this just shows how little I know or how different from normal humans the pro's are, but I'd be putting a dinner plate on the back and a cotton reel on the front for that day out (and until I get fitter a battery down the seatpost, but I digress).
I'm on this site to learn though, and am doing so at a rate of knots (though perhaps less than Froome down that descent and certainly more safely for my nether regions).

Well, don't take what I say as gospel! I'm just taking a rationalist approach to two different comments about the same situation.

To add to what @Dave Davenport said, he did say he'd picked a big gear in case it was needed on the fast downhill finish. Sandbagging or misleading? You have to make up your own mind - we're unlikely ever to really know. For me, it's probably more impromptu than Brailsford said but rather less impromptu than Froome suggested.

 

[HF2300]

Any clue as to what the gearing was?

I saw him hit 90kph, but his revs didn't look that high to me.

Didn't he say he'd taken a 54 or am I dreaming that?

 

[Crackle]

Yes 54.

Judging by Brailsfords comments, I think he was using Froome's attack to cast some doubt amongst other teams.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Yes 54.

Which would mean he could still run something like a 42x25 lowest gear, which would be fine (for a pro) on that stage's gradients.