Tour de France 2017 ***SPOILERS***

[SWSteve]

Greipel has a decent chance to make his refined continue.

Bardet isn't happy that Uran won the sprint after 'not attacking'...it's a bloody race

 

[rich p]

The more I think about it, the more it irritates me that the Movistar management thought that Quintana could bury himself to win the Giro and still be competitive at the TDF.
Have they not watched those who have tried in recent times?
Tits.
Landa, as @smutchin pointed out, is the only one who is showing any form from the double.
Mismanagement, hubris or over-milking the golden goose.

 

[rich p]

BTW, has anyone got a plausible theory why Uran is quite good again?

Is it unfairly discriminatory of me to wish ill on Aru (Werewolves of London - @Tim Hall ) because he rides a bike with less grace than me?

 

[mjr]

That was Boardman's logic in the ITV post-match. Dan Martin's bolt is shot unfortunately. It'll be all hands on getting Kittel over the Alps.

Well, that went well for them(!)

There's always a knob with a flare!

Nice sprinting by Froome to increase the gap over Bardet.

More like to reduce the gain of Uran. I agree with various pundits who are predicting Uran will be much more of a TT threat.

BTW, has anyone got a plausible theory why Uran is quite good again?

His contract's up for renewal. And he didn't race much in May or June - just the four day Route du Sud.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Bouhanni is still riding, just in case anyone is interested. He is 15th in the points competition. Which is utterly shite. But he'll still carry on thinking he's not 3rd rate.

 

[roadrash]

Bouhanni is still riding, just in case anyone is interested. He is 15th in the points competition. Which is utterly shite. But he'll still carry on thinking he's not 3rd rate.

and he will still believe its anyones fault but his own that hes shyte ,..... fekin tool

 

[brommers]

They (on TV) keep talking about Uran and the ITT.
This is his form in TTs and Prologues in 2017, most recent first:
95th, 34th, 89th, 33rd, 56th and 25th. If Froome is still in yellow come Saturday I don't think he'll be quaking in his boots.

 

[brommers]

Bouhanni is still riding, just in case anyone is interested. He is 15th in the points competition. Which is utterly shite. But he'll still carry on thinking he's not 3rd rate.

They might all be OTL today and Bouhanni roars up the Izoard and takes green.

 

[Bollo]

They (on TV) keep talking about Uran and the ITT.
This is his form in TTs and Prologues in 2017, most recent first:
95th, 34th, 89th, 33rd, 56th and 25th. If Froome is still in yellow come Saturday I don't think he'll be quaking in his boots.

I was starting to get a bit confused about this as well. The way David Millar was talking about it reminded me of Bill Hicks' old routine about Saddam Hussain's Elite Republican Guard. "Froome has yet to face ........ Uran's Elite Timetrialling Abilities"

 

[brommers]

What was the 'Souvenir Henri Desgrange' prize that Primoz Roglic so deservedly won this year?

 

[Crackle]

They (on TV) keep talking about Uran and the ITT.
This is his form in TTs and Prologues in 2017, most recent first:
95th, 34th, 89th, 33rd, 56th and 25th. If Froome is still in yellow come Saturday I don't think he'll be quaking in his boots.

The common theme is, that they all think his TT form isn't good enough but they all respect the fact that he's got the class to pull out a good TT if the stakes are high enough and he's going well, which he is.

 

[400bhp]

He's got some historic excellent results, but even with the currentl form he is in, if he hasn't been practising on the TT then he will find it hard to produce a good ride.

Do we know whether he has been using his TT bike?

Anyway, it could all be academic after today's stage.

 

[Beebo]

Will Froome try for a late breakaway stage win today, or leave enough in the tank for the ITT, as he still hasnt won a stage this year and has not really been tested in the mountains, other than the crazy runway finish which was 20percent and well out of his comfort zone.

 

[Dave Davenport]

It looks like he's riding into form (later than usual to keep it going for the Vuelta?) and I wouldn't be surprised to see him going for the stage today as it will probably all come down to the final climb so the risk would be low.

 

[smutchin]

Do we know whether he has been using his TT bike?

He wasn't allowed to use his TT bike in the opening stage - it fell foul of the technical regulations, for some unexplained reason, so he had to use a spare bike, which perhaps partly explains his lacklustre performance.

Silly error to make though - no excuse for that kind of cock up. Surely a big company like Cannondale is savvy enough about the rules to provide him with a race-legal bike?

(AIUI, the current Slice is not UCI approved but the old Slice RS, which is, is still in service for pro teams. Maybe he'd made some modification that rendered it non-legal, I just don't know.)