Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 81 total)
  • TdF Stage 5 – A Time To Take Stock [Spoilers]
  • RealMan
    Free Member

    Finally, the riders can ease off a touch and take some time to catch their breath! Our objective at this point as the organisers was clear: to give the sprinters and hopefully the baroudeurs an opportunity, because it would even better if an escape could survive all the way to the finish? Plenty of teams will already be taking stock of where they stand in terms of the race as a whole. Who is in good form? Who has lost form? Who must forget about the general classification and start thinking about stage wins? I think in some eras, a Merckx or an Hinault would have come away from Corsica with an advantage of three or four minutes and the Tour would already be as good as done! In Marseille, this year, the race should still be a lot more open.

    Only one video worth watching right now…

    [video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEvX_vKDYEw[/video]

    Photos from Stage 4

    Today – Sagan… Please??? Will be expecting Chavanel to have another go too, given the chance.

    A few useful links

    Live Cycling News Text Updates
    Steephill
    Official Tour Live Feed App
    Classifications
    Withdrawals
    Fantasy League Standings
    Loser League Standings

    The Hounds of Zaroff by Ceri remains in 1st place in the Fantasy league, with team Wait for me! by headfirst leading the loser league.

    http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-shows-no-mercy-for-ted-kingI’m guessing that won’t be a popular decision

    http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/pro-bike-simon-gerrans-scott-plasma-3-tt

    http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bakelants-hoping-to-shine-again-before-the-tour-is-out

    http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/sky-delighted-with-nice-ttt-performance-at-tour-de-franceon not having to defend yellow

    swavis
    Full Member

    Sagan 2nd again in a repeat of stage 2 would be good to watch 😉

    I’d really like Dan Martin to win in a breakaway. 😀

    brakes
    Free Member

    What does the second graphic show? With the 5-1 axis on the bottom?

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
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    swavis
    Full Member

    Last 500m downhill sprint?

    mogrim
    Full Member

    Looks like a stage made for an escape, perhaps Gilbert’s big day?

    IvanDobski
    Free Member

    Chavanel to have a go, non-OPQS sprint teams to pull him back resulting in a Cav/Sagan 1-2 and me to rocket up the STW fantasy standings…

    warton
    Free Member

    I’ve put a few quid on Gilbert. 33-1
    I don’t think it’s going to be the sprinters stage everyone is expecting.

    swavis
    Full Member

    Cav/Sagan 1-2 and me to rocket up the STW fantasy standings…

    This would be good also 😉

    llama
    Full Member

    those hills aren’t all that I’m going CAV

    in fact I’m sticking my neck out and saying Cav today AND tomorrow

    RealMan
    Free Member

    What does the second graphic show? With the 5-1 axis on the bottom?

    Profile for final 5k.

    brakes
    Free Member

    and the significance of the 7m and the triangle?
    is that the height at the flamme rouge?

    brakes
    Free Member

    I’m going to go for Chavannel or Cav – cos they’re in my team.

    llama
    Full Member

    yes 7m is the height of the flamme rouge so that bus drivers know if they can fit under it or not 🙂

    or it might be the altitude

    brakes
    Free Member

    haha!

    RealMan
    Free Member

    White horizontal line indicates 25m elevation, red triangle is indicating the elevation at 1km to go, AFAIK.

    Ro5ey
    Free Member

    After moving Gerrans out for the TTT ….. Grrrr

    He’s back in

    Surely with Orica (trying to keep their man in yellow) and Cdale/OPQS without a stage win yet, any break will be caught.

    Fingers crossed

    crashtestmonkey
    Free Member

    cav and sagan in a sprint, and/or Gerrans holding on to Yellow will do wonders for my fantasy team, thanks!

    Anyone notice ITV4 edited the commentary of the sagan/gerrans sprint when shown in a Corsica highlights montage last night to make it sound like Phil Liggett called it right?

    “Orica bringing Gerrans up, oh but Sagan is coming strong round the outside and he’s there, across the line!” type thing.

    Maybe just irked me as I can’t stand the bloke!

    RealMan
    Free Member

    Nah, Phil’s alright, he’s pretty cool.

    crashtestmonkey
    Free Member

    at the risk of re-treading old ground, he’s a blood-diamond-mine-investing Lance apologist, who talks in hoary cliche and routinely gets riders names wrong (by an entire generation). The Bruce Forsyth of the cycling commentary world.

    Just my opinion, like, but if this doesnt contain enough to boil your p1ss youre a better man than I.

    http://road.cc/content/news/74348-phil-liggett-says-lance-armstrongs-accusers-were-motivated-jealousy

    He seemed slower than most media figures to come round to the idea that the cyclist might be guilty of doping, last year branding USADA as a “nefarious local drugs agency.”

    Sherwen formerly worked as a press officer at Motorola, Armstrong’s team in the mid-1990s, and the rider and, it is thought, Liggett, invested in a gold mine run by Sherwen in Uganda.

    With their voices familiar to cycling fans in the United States as a result of their Tour de France commentary, both Sherwen and Liggett have been paid to speak at fundraisers for Livestrong, the charity founded by Armstrong

    Apologies, not trying to de-rail your threads, I’ll start watching it on Eurosport 😉

    jfletch
    Free Member

    Interesting side interest in today’s stage

    http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/will-impey-be-the-first-african-yellow-jersey

    Daryl Impey is on the same time as Simon Gerrans but 10 places behind on count back so if they finish on the same time today but Impey is 10 places ahead of Gerrans he will steal yellow from his own team mate. Not good form.

    But Impey is Matt Goss’s leadout man so he will naturally be up front.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    he’s a blood-diamond-mine-investing Lance apologist, who talks in hoary cliche and routinely gets riders names wrong (by an entire generation). The Bruce Forsyth of the cycling commentary world.

    FFS dont bring Bruce into that is unfair and you were far too restrained about Ligget who is a **** as a commentator and as a judge of character

    warton
    Free Member

    he’s a blood-diamond-mine-investing

    Liggett, invested in a gold mine run by Sherwen in Uganda

    Get your facts right!

    FWIW I can’t stand him either. Should have been ditched years ago.

    whatnobeer
    Free Member

    Big Andre Greipel for the win today, Sagan and Cav in the other podium finishes. Flecha to make a mad dash for it on the final climb.

    llama
    Full Member

    Interesting side interest in today’s stage

    http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/will-impey-be-the-first-african-yellow-jersey

    I think that the first African to wear the yellow jersey is likely to be that gangly chap in team sky no?

    WackoAK
    Free Member

    Big Andre Greipel for the win today

    It’s a decent shout, he appeared to effortlessly out-sprint everyone at the intermediate sprint on stage 1.

    RealMan
    Free Member

    😀

    I’m not too bothered about what channel I watch it on, I’m just glad those bloody halfords adverts aren’t on this year.

    thisisnotaspoon
    Free Member

    those hills aren’t all that I’m going CAV

    Except there’ll be 180 people thinking the same, and therefore trying to break him to give their finishers a fighting chance.

    I’m going for a repat of the (failure of the) olympic tactics, not sure who’ll break away though.

    rusty90
    Free Member

    The Bruce Forsyth of the cycling commentary world

    I thought that honour belonged to Hugh Porter, after his lamentable performance in the Olympic RR
    HP “I don’t know what’s going on, we’re not getting a lot of information here. But there’s Fabian Cancellara in the unmistakable red and yellow colours of Australia”
    Chris Boardman “(sigh) It’s Samuel Sanchez of Spain”

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    Big Andre Greipel for the win today

    please no he is the sprinter in my rubbish team …please dont let him win before either cav or Sagan

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    I think that the first African to wear the yellow jersey is likely to be that gangly chap in team sky no?

    Chuckles

    RealMan
    Free Member

    “I don’t know what’s going on, we’re not getting a lot of information here. But there’s Fabian Cancellara in the unmistakable red and yellow colours of Australia”
    Chris Boardman “(sigh) It’s Samuel Sanchez of Spain”

    😆

    crashtestmonkey
    Free Member

    warton, think my facts were right (diamond mine), sadly road.cc (gold mine and in quotations as lifted from the site I linked to) was wrong.

    Rusty, Junkyard, fair points. Realman, give it 3 weeks there’ll be another advert thats got under our skin. Think the Wiggle ad might be tolerable though…

    RealMan
    Free Member

    I think I was ready to throw the TV out the window every time the halfords advert came on by this point last year, so it can’t be any worse..

    I’m surprised no one seems too bothered about Ted King being kicked out?

    IvanDobski
    Free Member

    Why should they be?

    RealMan
    Free Member

    It’s pretty merciless, and he’s well liked.

    Off we go, break already gone…

    YellowBelly
    Free Member

    Why oh why did I not go for Simon Gerrans in my Fantasy team? My lot are still languishing in the lower half of the STW league.

    Matt Goss for the win today, as the Orica Green Hedge is on fire. Goss has come a long way since his 80s pop career finished.

    The bus incident has really got OGE revved up. Hopefully the Sky team bus will have an embarrasing ‘Italian Job’ style incident up Alpe Duez to fire the Sky riders up a bit. I can see it now, as the Pinarellos are sliding out down the bus towards the back doors.

    warton
    Free Member

    Ted King hasn’t started. pretty poor decision IMO. will they be that mercenary when all the sprinters are outside the cutoff on the alpe d’heuz stage? No, they won’t.

    if they want cycling to be cleaner, they have to make some compromises regarding time cut offs etc. the guy had a separated shoulder ffs, he should be applauded, not kicked out the race.

    brakes
    Free Member

    not sure how the hell he can ride with a separated shoulder.
    I struggled to walk when I did mine and that was whilst on some killer pain-killers.

    Ro5ey
    Free Member

    Hopefully the Sky team bus will have an embarrasing ‘Italian Job’ style incident up Alpe Duez to fire the Sky riders up a bit. I can see it now, as the Pinarellos are sliding out down the bus towards the back doors.

    😀

    I can see Dave B now, sporting driving gloves, saying … “Hold on lads. I’ve got a plan”

    dazh
    Full Member

    I think I was ready to throw the TV out the window every time the halfords advert came on by this point last year, so it can’t be any worse..

    Was that the one with the annoying cockney who was saying things like ‘it’s such an honour to ride these roads, it’s just magic!’? If so I understand your pain. Those adverts almost destroyed the entire thing.

    Also the first time I hear about ex-mountain bikers being good descenders and I’m hitting the mute button (eurosport not an option in chez daz unfortunately).

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