34 year old Valverde has been speaking to cyclingnews:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/incycle-video-valverde-says-hes-stronger-than-before-his-doping-ban
Not watched it but the title is enough to depress me. Have he and Horner been to Antarea or something?:
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sagan doing no hander wheelies - I would soooo laugh if he fell off
are the bookies paying out yet ? 😉
Yep, Nibali isn't the best TTer, but neither is Porte.
Nibali won the second TT at the Giro last year. He's not too shabby.
I hear the cheat Contador is out. Struggling to ride clean hey
Gallopin, what a ride!! Totally blew himself inside out, hats off to him.
Then Porte and Valvpiti in the top 3, amazing.
I'm sitting here in Vosges, having watched the climb out of Mullhouse where Tony hammered it, then this morning caught them not far from our hotel, it's been epic.
Yep, Nibali isn't the best TTer, but neither is Porte.
Porte's a pretty good TTer.
Nibali won the second TT at the Giro last year
it was an up hill time trial
Struggling to ride clean hey
Well his jersey was filthy after that fall.
Porte looks like a number 2, a "true" gc contender doesn't look round for someone else to take it up when your main contender goes up the road.....
Would you say the same if it was Froome?
Absolutely. It's hard enough the pro cycling community trying to convince the world they are clean without DS's knocking about who were convicted and unrepentant dopers.
I don't agree that Froome should have blabbed about the lack of testing when Sky, Tinkoff and Astana were all on Tiede but I guess if he saw the improvement in Nibali before the public did, his query was a reasonable one - just didn't need to be public.
I don't know. It's hard to quantify the improvement in Nibbles given the absence of Froome and AC now.
it was an up hill time trial
4th in the first long ITT too, not far behind Dowsett and Wiggins.
Sadly, I can get rid of the thought that he's riding for the blood doping, gold medal [s]stealing[/s] [i]purchasing[/i] vino and it all looks a bit too easy.
In 2012 the only people who beat Nibali to the top of todays climb were Froome, Evans and Wiggins. Each one a TdF winner. Nibali was 20 odd seconds back and the time gaps behind that similar today.
Performance is never a good indicator of doping but this stage isn't even a shabby indicator. It was just someone who was just slightly better than the other remaining riders.
Jeeez. Broken tibia for Contador, apparently. And yet he still managed to climb a few km before he pulled out.
Contador update over at [url= http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-fractured-tibia-in-tour-de-france-crash ]cyclingnews[/url].
Riis...
"Alberto has a broken tibia. It's not a bad fracture but he needs surgery," Riis told a small group of journalists at the Tinkoff-Saxo bus.
"He was going fast on the downhill at about 60 or 70km/h. It was a bumpy road and he lost control of he bike. Maybe he was eating."
Alberto has a broken tibia
😯
I did my tibial plateau in Morzine. No 'kin way was I getting back on my bike, let alone berating a doctor for not getting it strapped up quick enough.
Some great rides today, Tony Martin being a juggernaut after yesterday's efforts, and brilliant timing and managing of effort by Nibali. Glad to see Rodriguez riding competitively now.
hear the cheat Contador is out. Struggling to ride clean hey
No. It was beef on the road apparently. Keep up.
Seen the pictures of Contadors bike, WT actual F? Was that from the accident?
Got any links to the pics of his bike?
Team claim it was not broken and that the broken bike seen was Roache's bike that fell off the team car.
Specialized comment in Business Insider...
Specialized, the team's bike sponsor, sent this statement to Business Insider:"All of us at Specialized are devastated to see Alberto Contador withdraw from the Tour," Specialized said in an email. "He is a true champion with the heart of a warrior and he had a great chance at yellow this year. We have spoken to Alberto's brother as well as his personal mechanic (Faustino Muñoz) and the mechanic who was at the scene (Rune Kristensen), and contrary to some early, unconfirmed reports, frame failure was not involved in Alberto's incident today.
"Nicolas Roche was involved in a separate incident today and while his bike was laying on the road it was run over by a car causing it to break, potentially giving rise to the initial inaccurate reporting," Specialized told Business Insider. "Live race reporting is difficult and sometimes mistakes are made. We are continuing to research the events of today and will share any further details as we learn more."
Cover up...? 🙂
The pics are on Twitter, it's clearly Contadors bike as it's got a 31 plate on it.
https://twitter.com/JohnMacLeary/status/488734126787530752
I think its one of those situations where no one will know for a couple of days. Massive confusion, bikes being swapped, cars/motorbikes/people running round everywhere. Someone could easily have stepped on it or driven over it, maybe it fell off the car.
Its very unusual for a frame to break at the top tube/seatstay junction mid ride, much more likely that he binned it, it cracked then later broke or simply that someone dropped it.
That has really gone, bloody hell.
Can't say I am surprised that specialized are trying to blame something else.
Planche des Belles Filles 2014 : Nibali 16'43
Froome 2012 : 16'23. Nibali 2012 : 16'30
ITV4 highlights show saying he actually had two crashes, first a minor one where he just jumped onto Nick Roche's bike, second one the leg breaker where his hand slipped off the bars causing him to lose control.
Beginning to wonder if this Tour is simply going to be last man standing and there are some massive time gaps already.
There was an incident a few minutes earlier where a saxo tinkoff riders bike was lying on the left hand side of the road and he was stood on the right hand side of the road. I think it was Nikki Roche but the pictures were fairly poor with the weather at that point.
There were tons of photographers at the scene. It's going to be fairly hard to lie about it.
It wasn't so much nibalis speed on the planche it was the fact he distanced everyone else, rode a 20 degree slope and then was able to stick his thumb in his gob for several seconds. Try going at 90odd percent of max hr for 4 minutes then do that. Maybe he was indeed breathing through his arse.
I wonder whether this might be harder for Astana to manage as every one that might have been eyeing up top 10 now 'only' has to beat one of the 3 favourites. It's going to be their best chance to win the GC so they'll chuck the kitchen sink at it over the next week. Are Astana up to managing everyone on their own.
So is the thought that Contador crashed and Roche gave him his bike and then he binned it again? Would explain why Roache looked fine waiting for a bike
Still no reason why it has contador's number on it though
Can't see that as it's got the 31 plate on it, but it's not the one he was riding when he had the crash where he was patched up (that was orange) and the next bike he got didn't have a number on at all.
I think Nibali has made Contador irrelevant.
Defo berties bike that was broken:
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Story seems to be that he had a problem earlier and switched to Nico's bike. Then when Nico was changing bikes to get off of Contador's bike back onto his spare, the team car somehow ran over Contadors. There are some photos that seem to support this.
Incredible that he rode on for 15k uphill though, passing other riders, with those injuries 😯
I think Nibali has made Contador irrelevant.
At least Nibali is making it look like he deserves to win the tour. Though I'm sure it'd be a better race having him battle Contador and Froome for the win. Now looks to be a scramble for second place.
that pic of the blue and yellow spesh isn't the bike he was riding at the time of the crash. he was on a black and orange spesh. so that ^^^ is either photoshopped, or an old pic, or as mrblobby says was run over by the team car, which is what spesh are saying.
Just been having a squint at the itv highlights and I don't have a high def telly but the bike in front of contador as he was being patched up was definitely that colour and looked to have a top tube that didn't meet the seat stays very similar to that bike.
Does look like he was on this one...
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... which isn't the broken bike. Or was that the one he got back on after the crash? I think I've got the live eurosport coverage recorded. I'll have to check it out later.
Based on the fact that bike has bottles still in place and the chain on I dont think its the one he crashed.
Just been having a squint at the itv highlights and I don't have a high def telly but the bike in front of contador as he was being patched up was definitely that colour and looked to have a top tube that didn't meet the seat stays very similar to that bike.
no yellow on top tube...
Based on the fact that bike has bottles still in place and the chain on I dont think its the one he crashed.
who's is it then? no one stopped with him, and it's got a number and transponder on it, and thats the one the mechanic picked up when he gave bertie the new bike. There's no broken bike scandal here 🙂
Oooft! What a stage, can't believe Contador is out, madness. Absolute madness!
I was so turned on by Tony Martin's performance today. He hit the wall so hard I can't believe he finished the stage!
What happened to Talansky? Didn't seem to get a mention on ITV highlights when he got dropped.
Karma for Specialized, brand new frame tries to kill Contador 😛
Just watched highlights. Deffinately no broken bike controvacy.
You can see contador on his own with bike lying on the bank, grey with orange highlights. Then after being patched up his mechanic runs up the road holding the bike that was on the verge and it's fully intact.
No team mates anywhere near so it's not someone elses bike.
The "on Roache's bike" link stacks up afterall. Maybe the unfamiliar set up made Contador crash but the bike didn't break.
Seems like these guys need stabilisers. What is it this year with all the favourites falling off left, right and centre.
Tony Martin after hitting the wall did a good impression of me riding fresh up that sort of climb
I believe it's called rain .
Seems like these guys need stabilisers. What is it this year with all the favourites falling off left, right and centre.
There has only been two more abandons so far this year than to this point last, which given the weather is pretty remarkable.
Yep, Nibali isn't the best TTer, but neither is Porte.
I think Porte would have to go into the TT with a slight lead to have a chance.
2010, Porte came 4th in the World Time Trial Championships, and won the TT stage of the Tour de Romandie
2011, Porte came 1st Stage 4 (ITT) Vuelta a Castilla y León, 1st Stage 5 (ITT) Post Danmark Rundt, and 6th World Time Trial Championships
2013, Porte came 1st in stage 7 (ITT) of Paris-Nice, and 1st stage 2 (ITT) Criterium International
So yeah, I'd disagree with you on that one...
Porte looks like a number 2, a "true" gc contender doesn't look round for someone else to take it up when your main contender goes up the road.....
What??
So day off tomorrow, and then service will resume as normal on Wednesday. Hopefully all questions (apart from who's going to win) will be answered by then...
Neither Porte nor Niballi are slouches in the ITT, Porte certainly isn't 2.30 faster. He needs to get some time back before stage 20 if he is to have any chance. I can't see it personally but you neve know.
As for the crashes I don't think the number is that remarkable. What is more unusual is that the two favourites have both gone out.
Porte looks like a number 2, a "true" gc contender doesn't look round for someone else to take it up when your main contender goes up the road.....What??
I can see the reasoning behind that comment. You can't see Froome or Contador being too worried who they were dragging to the line. They would be focused on catching the leader. Porte said in his post race interview that he didn't want to be left to close the gap on his own, but as virtual second place on GC that his job unless he is riding for second.
[url= http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/07/news/timeline-details-alberto-contadors-tour-ending-crash_336328 ]Maybe just a bit...[/url]Just watched highlights. Deffinately no broken bike controvacy.
I can see the reasoning behind that comment. You can't see Froome or Contador being too worried who they were dragging to the line. They would be focused on catching the leader. Porte said in his post race interview that he didn't want to be left to close the gap on his own, but as virtual second place on GC that his job unless he is riding for second.
But you would always still try and get someone to help you - why wouldn't you? Porte's 100% on it, he knows exactly what he's doing.
Some quite scathing comments from other members of the peleton about Contador and Saxo's tactics on the descent
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-crashed-twice-on-one-descent
Oh and BTW I've just caught up with this thread having avoided it all day, but have been on the forum - well done to everybody for not posting spoiler thread titles.
2 1/2 minute at this stage are a lot but now with the number of teams at that point. Astana will have to defend everything from Pinot, Valverde and Porte along with Gallopin and Bardet for the next few days as any one of them could put the time into Nibali on the right stage.
Sky look short on fire power and unable to hit the front like the last few year, unsurprising really with 2 men down, if Froome had stayed (unbroken) but been out of contention there would have been some more on fight I think)
As with the week so far anything can happen, we will see who has left too much on the road so far.
Some quite scathing comments from other members of the peleton about Contador and Saxo's tactics on the descent
TBH, if what they say is true, he brought it on himself. It's a shame he got the fractures but I guess there's a lesson in there for him and Saxo
So the claim is the broken bike is Contadors spare and got hit against the bikes on the Belkin car as they passed them to get to Contadors (this is v4 of the story but the one theyre sticking to at the moment).
Still paints the Bianchi in a better light than the Specialized given there aren't any pictures of a ruined Belkin bike.
So the claim is the broken bike is Contadors spare and got hit against the bikes on the Belkin car as they passed them to get to Contadors (this is v4 of the story but the one theyre sticking to at the moment).
A photographer confirmed he saw the bike broken on the roof before the crash so I think it's probably right. It's a sign of the times that companies feel they have to issue statements about how the bike got broken even before the stage finishes and they can talk to everyone.
So the bike he actually crashed on was fine.
And in all the rush of getting a new bike off the roof, it got tangled up in the passing Belkin car.
Or so Specialized want you to believe 🙂
Nah, just kidding. I think that the explanation above makes more sense.
It's a sign of the times that companies feel they have to issue statements about how the bike got broken even before the stage finishes and they can talk to everyone.
I think Spesh have shot themselves in the foot here, they rushed out a completely fabricated story that the bike had been run over to try and cover their arses and turned a little non-story into a potentially damaging scandal!
crazy legs apparently Im not authorised to view that link?
I think Spesh have shot themselves in the foot here, they rushed out a completely fabricated story that the bike had been run over to try and cover their arses and turned a little non-story into a potentially damaging scandal!
They had to say something. Phil "the voice of cycling" Ligget had just announced to every English speaking tour viewer that Contador was our of the tour because his bike broke.
But you would always still try and get someone to help you - why wouldn't you? Porte's 100% on it, he knows exactly what he's doing.
Nobody is going to help Porte in that scenario. He needs to get his head down and chase. If he doesn't want to pull everyone to the line then drop them like Nibali did or Pinot did. I think in the end he just didn't have it and he wanted someone else to stop him losing time but why would anyone do that?
the passing Belkin car.
Isn't that one of Specialized's model names? Or sounds slightly similar 😉
Apparently it snapped at all the hidden Zertz inserts 😉
They had to say something. Phil "the voice of cycling" Ligget had just announced to every English speaking tour viewer that Contador was our of the tour because his bike broke.
Twitter age and all that, rumours and photos all over the internet, they had to issue some sort of statement quickly. They probably just got word that it'd been hit by a car and assumed it was run over.
Nobody is going to help Porte in that scenario.
Probably more important for Porte is marking his second place rivals, only abut 100 seconds covering the next 5 riders. He could easily have tried to go with Nibali only to blow and be mugged at the line for a few seconds. Podium at the tour is still a massive result and I can't see him doing much to put that at risk now.
edit...
Great quote from Tony Martin...
"My goal was to lead him till the bottom of the second last climb. I gave 100% for that. Once there I was left with no more energy. Fortunately, I had a small gear that I could use, otherwise I would have been forced to stop."
... the panzerwagen properly emptied the tank!
They had to say something. Phil "the voice of cycling" Ligget had just announced to every English speaking tour viewer that Contador was our of the tour because his bike broke.
Not really, he said that he'd heard on race radio that Contador's bike had broken and perhaps that's why he'd crashed, then they had the photos as the end of the programme with the broken frame. They made no bones of the fact that they didn't really know what had happened. Bit daft of Spesh though, who created a bit of a story out of nothing!
Much better to have a look around and see what's occurring than
blow and be mugged at the line for a few seconds
TBH, if what they say is true, he brought it on himself. It's a shame he got the fractures but I guess there's a lesson in there for him and Saxo
Seems a bit weird that someone with Contador's experience would be taking stupid risks, though. I do wonder how strong he actually was this year - perhaps he felt he had to make up time wherever he could...
That's the thing with Porte, second at the Tour would be his best result ever, he's not going to risk that in an all or nothing attack. Same goes for most of the top 10 now.
Seems a bit weird that someone with Contador's experience would be taking stupid risks
I guess he has supreme confidence in his own abilities, which you probably need to get to the levels he's reached. Same goes for being a bit of a risk taker. Guess it's something he does all the time.
eems a bit weird that someone with Contador's experience would be taking stupid risks, though.
Was it a stupid risk though? It's probably something he'd done thousands of time before with no problem. Sometimes shit happens.
I'm not sure that eating on a descent (after big climbs) is taking stupid risks. The reality that people don't like to accept is that to race something like the TdF, you're constantly taking calculated risks. They all eat in similar circumstances and typically the roads at the TdF are well surfaced. Hitting a pothole just at the wrong moment is just bad luck really.
Same a CF's first crash FWIW.
Not really, he said that he'd heard on race radio that Contador's bike had broken and perhaps that's why he'd crashed
Not really, phil said "theyre saying contadors bike broke!", Sherwen immediately responded with "that will explain why he went down so hard". They may have become more speculative after a call from Mike Sinyard's lawyers but they were pretty unequivocal when they initially reported it, no "perhaps" about it.
I agree Spec would have done better to get all the facts first before rushing out what might have been an honestly held belief based on partial information.
does rather explain why he couldn't clip in afterwards;
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going back to Porte and GC potential, it will be good to see how he goes relative to Nibbles in those long alpine climbs, which he reckons suit him better than the steep sharp stuff like yesterday, which he only lost 20-odd seconds on.
could he get time off Nibs on those big mountain stages to set up a grandstand duel on the final TT? I know we generally moan about tours being won on the TTs but if its close enough by then it could be a real thriller! come on Richie!
interesting quote from a David Walsh Times article here:
Back at the team hotel, Froome put on a mask and performed for the team. He went round and thanked both the staff and his teammates. He told them Richie Porte would take on the leadership of the team and would not let them down. With Porte, he spoke about this being his opportunity and how he was ready to take it.He knew, Porte knew, what happened when they did their last timed climb of the Col de la Madone before leaving for Yorkshire. This has become their ritual last full-on training spin before the Tour and Porte beat the team leader. Froome went to Rozman to say goodbye, but also to tell the carer how he must now dedicate himself to Porte.
whatnobeer - Member"eems a bit weird that someone with Contador's experience would be taking stupid risks, though."
Was it a stupid risk though? It's probably something he'd done thousands of time before with no problem. Sometimes shit happens.
There are comments from other riders saying it was a stupid risk
nemesis - MemberI'm not sure that eating on a descent (after big climbs) is taking stupid risks
Not mentioned by the riders he was overtaking.
Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang said: “Contador took a big risk. On a descent with bad asphalt, he passed us, went 10-15 km/h faster. 1k later he fell on his ass."
Jurgen Van den Broeck had told Sporza: "It was Contador's own fault. He stepped on the pedals to overtake and rode in a hole."
Porte looks relatively chunky* for a GC contender, maybe that's why he prefers less steep stuff.
* healthy
[quote=mrblobby ]Probably more important for Porte is marking his second place rivals, only abut 100 seconds covering the next 5 riders. He could easily have tried to go with Nibali only to blow and be mugged at the line for a few seconds. Podium at the tour is still a massive result and I can't see him doing much to put that at risk now.
Which is why
[quote=mikewsmith ]2 1/2 minute at this stage are a lot but now with the number of teams at that point. Astana will have to defend everything from Pinot, Valverde and Porte along with Gallopin and Bardet for the next few days as any one of them could put the time into Nibali on the right stage.
isn't actually going to happen. There's a rest day for the teams to digest things and decide that actually it's not worth risking a 50%+ chance of being on the podium for a <5% chance of winning. That's certainly the way it's panned out in the past when the gap between 1st and 2nd has been larger than the gap between 2nd and 10th. Astana doesn't have to mark Valverde because Sky will be marking Valverde.
Was it a stupid risk though? It's probably something he'd done thousands of time before with no problem. Sometimes shit happens.
Dunno, according to the link aracer posted earlier the other riders were saying it was a stupid risk, and I suppose they ought to know. Bad luck obviously played a part, though.
Yeah, hadn't seen those comments - maybe he was taking risks (though I'm not really sure why he would - he was with the main group when he crashed AFAIK and I can't imagine that he'd be trying to attack on the DH relatively early on the stage when he was likely to be strongest on the upcoming climbs.
Easy to say it was a stupid risk after he crashed. If he hadn't it probably would have been a superb display of daring and skill.
I'm no pro rider 😉 but I don't think you will win the Tour by taking it safe, especially not if you are a few minutes behind already. Same on the cobbles, I imagine it is not that hard to just ride them, even in those conditions - racing to win is a different matter.
I'm no pro rider 😉 but I don't think you will win the Tour by taking it safe, especially not if you are a few minutes behind already. Same on the cobbles, I imagine it is not that hard to just ride them, even in those conditions - racing to win is a different matter.
The suggestion was that he wasn't attempting to get any time on the pack, just that for some reason he decided that he and Saxo should move up. They could have done that in the first few hundred metres of the next climb if they'd wanted but perhaps they decided that if they could be at the front when they hit the climb it'd be easier and worth the risk. Turned out, it wasn't.
Dunno, according to the link aracer posted earlier the other riders were saying it was a stupid risk, and I suppose they ought to know. Bad luck obviously played a part, though.
Easy to say with hindsight. It's not like he over ran a corner and crashed, he hit a pot hole and went down. Probably would of been serious even if he'd been doing the same speed as everyone else.