Tour de France 2017 ***SPOILERS***

[Dayvo]

A few guesses based on what I observed from watching today's stage:
1. Green jersey and KOM are already decided so there was nothing to fight for there.
2. GC battle was effectively neutralised ahead of the TT tomorrow.
3. Also the TT specialists will have been treating it as an unofficial rest day ahead of their chance at a stage win.
4. Plus the racing in the first hour was so insanely frenetic that once the break had formed, everyone else just wanted to take their foot off the gas for the rest of the stage.
5. Besides which they must all be pretty knackered by now, at the end of three weeks racing, especially after the last two very tough days.
6. Also it was very hot and humid out there today.

Good analysis.

 

[LarryDuff]

They can never be allowed to win because of the hideous team kit

I quite like it.

 

[smutchin]

They can never be allowed to win because of the hideous team kit

Is that why Footon-Servetto never won anything?

 

[Crackle]

Eddy knew the way around the rdbt it seems and had no intention of waiting for the sprint.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tou...sson-hagen-take-victory-in-salon-de-provence/

 

[Dayvo]

Eddy knew the way around the rdbt it seems and had no intention of waiting for the sprint.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tou...sson-hagen-take-victory-in-salon-de-provence/

A 'magic' bit of riding.

 

[Bollo]

Eddy knew the way around the rdbt it seems and had no intention of waiting for the sprint.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tou...sson-hagen-take-victory-in-salon-de-provence/

What I enjoyed about that was David Millar was deep into his tactics voodoo when they hit the roundabout.

 

[themosquitoking]

Eddy knew the way around the rdbt it seems and had no intention of waiting for the sprint.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tou...sson-hagen-take-victory-in-salon-de-provence/

It looked to me though that he was happy to stay in the line until he saw Arndt go the other way and he followed.

 

[smutchin]

My guess is that they did all check out the finish in advance but in the heat of the moment most of them just followed the moto without thinking.

 

[lyn1]

He didnt attack, he got lucky with that roundabout, and found himself with a 30m lead and just put him head down.

No, luck had nothing to do with the choice of direction.....DDD employ a guy to video key sections of the run in. This is then played on a tv screen in the bus, by the DS before the stage and a strategy developed.. The team knew the right side was significantly quicker which is why Eddy went that way.

 

[smutchin]

DDD employ a guy to video key sections of the run in.

I was reading an old interview with Cav the other day in which he talked about him and Renshaw, back in their HTC days, spending the evening before a sprint stage checking out the final kms on Street View, before any of their rivals even knew about Street View.

 

[lyn1]

I was reading an old interview with Cav the other day in which he talked about him and Renshaw, back in their HTC days, spending the evening before a sprint stage checking out the final kms on Street View, before any of their rivals even knew about Street View.

Yes, if it is available, find it and use it, if not go get it.

Loads of these DDD clips on you tube


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcPS_CWP2cc

 

[Bollo]

Pah! I do that for audaxes.

If anyone's got any tips for getting red wine, cherios and shame out of a keyboard...

 

[Fight.The.Power]

I was reading an old interview with Cav the other day in which he talked about him and Renshaw, back in their HTC days, spending the evening before a sprint stage checking out the final kms on Street View, before any of their rivals even knew about Street View.

Absolutely. I used to do the exact same thing when I used to stack pretty hefty wagers on the Tour. But this was not a sprint finish. If EBH did revise the finish then credit to him, my gut tells me he was lucky. If he knew the roundabout trick then why the hell would he have attacked like a noob 1km before the roundabout ?

EDIT: When I say not a sprint Finish I mean not a flat stage.

 

[perplexed]

They can never be allowed to win because of the hideous team kit

AG2R have the best kit - love it!

 

[rich p]

Anybody really believe that Uran Uran can topple Froome Froome today?