Pro Tour Punditry
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Loved yesterday's stage, Grand Tours need grand stages and not just mountain stages should be seen as grand.
Tour de France 2018 **SPOILERS**
- Thread starter rich p
- Start date
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- Tags
- tour de france
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roadrash
cycle chatterer
- Location
- sitting on the edge of wigan pier
I did hear the question, is it fair to have the Roubaix stage in the tour de france , as @Dogtrousers mentioned above, when riders have put so much effort into training for the mountains, My take on it , of course its fair ,if its the same for all the riders then its fair ,some riders are sprinters some are climbers etc...they all have to ride the stage.
Does the stage have a place in a grand tour would have been a better question , rather than ask is it fair on climbers,
for what its worth , I think it does ,it gave the race something different , something it needed, as mentioned above the tour de france isn't only about who can climb the best, I hate the way some years the organisers say something along the lines of , the tour has been designed with (insert rider of choice) in mind. bollox to that , that's what isn't fair.
Does the stage have a place in a grand tour would have been a better question , rather than ask is it fair on climbers,
for what its worth , I think it does ,it gave the race something different , something it needed, as mentioned above the tour de france isn't only about who can climb the best, I hate the way some years the organisers say something along the lines of , the tour has been designed with (insert rider of choice) in mind. bollox to that , that's what isn't fair.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Wow, harsh, even his teammates take the mickey out of Tejay! What did Tejay do in the mountains last time he rode the Tour as leader?
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WivglTITDLs
I am so excited about G being in front of Froome now.
I have never forgiven Froome for that withering over the shoulder look he gave Wiggo when he wanted to go faster in 2012.
I really, really, really would love it if G buried that loyalty card and chased his own yellow jersey to Paris.
Is it possible? Do the Sky boffins “know” who is literally strongest out of these two?
A bit of team-leader rivalry always adds spice, this is one I really care about
I have never forgiven Froome for that withering over the shoulder look he gave Wiggo when he wanted to go faster in 2012.
I really, really, really would love it if G buried that loyalty card and chased his own yellow jersey to Paris.
Is it possible? Do the Sky boffins “know” who is literally strongest out of these two?
A bit of team-leader rivalry always adds spice, this is one I really care about
smutchin
Cat 6 Racer
- Location
- The Red Enclave
I think Geraint Thomas's best chance of overall victory came - and very rapidly went - in 2011. When Wiggo crashed, Geraint waited for him and by the time they worked out that Wiggo couldn't carry on, Thomas had lost too much time to be worth considering as a Plan B. Just as the course was suited to Wiggo that year, it would have been well suited to Thomas as well, who was still built more more like a pursuiter.
He's undoubtedly a lot stronger on the climbs now than he was then but he'll still get found out on the steepest slopes. It will take a lot of other riders coming unstuck for him to be in with a chance of overall victory this year.
For me, Froome remains Sky's only realistic GC hope.
He's undoubtedly a lot stronger on the climbs now than he was then but he'll still get found out on the steepest slopes. It will take a lot of other riders coming unstuck for him to be in with a chance of overall victory this year.
For me, Froome remains Sky's only realistic GC hope.
I think you are right, but one aspect that will be interesting and different this time round, rather than Sky having the Yellow jersey and all the "rights and privileges"* that go with it, and defending a lead, Froome will be chasing seconds from the start of the mountains and if he has a mechanical no one will neutralise the race till he gets back
* https://www.velonews.com/2017/07/co...been-yellow-fleeced-by-unwritten-rules_443430
His GT results thus far, for a rider of his calibre, have been less than stella. Naturally he's been riding as support but I'm unconvinced he can do it over three weeks. Plus, when push comes to shove, the team are going to throw themselves behind Froome and he won't get the support when he most needs it.
The Paris Nice win, remains his grittiest performance in a stage race.
The Paris Nice win, remains his grittiest performance in a stage race.
smutchin
Cat 6 Racer
- Location
- The Red Enclave
GT's GTs?
Yeah, that was good.
And then a month later, at the Tour de Romandie, he got his ass well and truly whupped in the mountains by Quintana.
Beebo
Firm and Fruity
- Location
- Hexleybeef
I am so excited about G being in front of Froome now.
I have never forgiven Froome for that withering over the shoulder look he gave Wiggo when he wanted to go faster in 2012.
I really, really, really would love it if G buried that loyalty card and chased his own yellow jersey to Paris.
Is it possible? Do the Sky boffins “know” who is literally strongest out of these two?
A bit of team-leader rivalry always adds spice, this is one I really care about
Sky's mountain tactics have always been the big train giving their chosen rider an armchair ride as far up the mountain as possible. Before they unleash the final attack. That doesn't work with 2 team leaders, one has to sacrific themselves for the other. Thomas is prone to the odd bad day in a three week race, you can't win a GC if you have a bad day and drop 5 mins.
They could both finish on the podium, but I suspect Froome will be given top billing.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
Sky should inherit yellow as soon as GVA falters, but with Thomas... and then it could get interesting: does he try to play patron and neutralise it if Froome has a mechanical, or does he keep chasing attacks?
Oy, the lager thread is thaddaway....>>>>>>
I wish I could blame spell check.....
