Porte is done in this tour I think. If he can't go up today, it's only going to get worse
Porte dropped with still 12km to go. Not looking good.
Porte just doesn't have it.
And if he beat Froome up the Col de Madone then maybe Froome didn't have it either and was glad to have an excuse to climb off.
Nibali wins it. Race for 2nd place...
Here he goes!
valverde attacks! Nibbles follows
So what has happened with sky this year? They all look less fit than most of the other big teams. I know the main contender is out but it just looks like the was never any support available.
Just heard about Porte and seen comments here. I agree with @atlas - Porte looks toast for the Tour now, he's not going to make the podium
EDIT 2 mins down on Nibali - I stick my finger in the air and say he's going to lose 4 mins today. SO much for making an impression
And I have to say it, Wiggins was deemed to be in worse form than Porte ?
Anus horibilius for team Sky. Something is up. They don't seem to have the strength when it matters and their superstars have pulled out of a lot of races.
Ironically Wiggins is their only rider who set out his objectives at the start of the season and has actually achived them so far. (Compete at P-R and win the TOC, still has the worlds TT to go)
I'm not saying Wiggo should be at the tour, he handn't trained for it, but maybe it's telling that he has done his own thing this year rather than being with the "climbing group".
Nibbles goes on the offensive!
shark attack!
Valverde and Pinot look focused on each other, shame!
edit: although the gap's shrinking...
edit2: and Nibali accelerates.
EDIT 2 mins down on Nibali - I stick my finger in the air and say he's going to lose 4 mins today. SO much for making an impression
What do I know, 5:20 down already, revise to 7 ?
surely another stage for Nibali!
Chapeau to Nibali, he could so easily just play it safe. Would have loved to have seen him battle it out with Contador and Froome.
Nibali looking more that human! *cough in tinfoil hat*
Come on Nibbles
How old is Thibaut, I don't believe they've mentioned it (enough times)
"Ee by gum" written on the road... 🙂
Richie Porte hanging off the back @6mins+ maybe Sky will release Mr G for a stage win 🙂
So where has Nibbles suddenly got this form from? It wasn't long ago people were writing his chances off...
POP. What a day for Porte to have Un Sans Jour. Every 3 week tour he seems to have one. The question is whether he's able to have a good day before the end of the Tour.
Re Sky having a bad time:
I just have a horrible feeling this is like the post Festina era all over again. I sincerely hope not but looking at the new lease of life several riders seem to be having lately, its a worry.
maybe Sky will release Mr G for a stage win
No point in not doing so. He was no help at all today on the final climb. Maybe Stage 5 might have been his opertunity though. Nothing from now on really suits him.
Nibali form is making the absence of Froome & Contador an even bigger loss, what a spectacle it could have been.
Now at 7 with still more than 2km to go. 10?revise to 7
Nibali form
He wet up PdBF slower than Froome did
I just have a horrible feeling this is like the post Festina era all over again. I sincerely hope not but looking at the new lease of life several riders seem to be having lately, its a worry.
Maybe but look at another way. Maybe the JTL incident, the Lienders incident, the Henao issue and the apparent stepping up of Sky's internal testing regime have meant Sky haven't been able to keep doing what they were doing to win previously.
I don't actually belive this but it just highlights why relative perfromance is a really crap indicator of doping and how you are looking at it with very blinkered Sky are like saints attitude.
And I have to say it, Wiggins was deemed to be in worse form than Porte ?
Partly but also if you listen to pre tour interviews a lot of it was to do with team morale and cohesion. You've got 9 guys racing together for 3 weeks. Any friction is amplified and the team needs to work together to win. Wiggo/Froome not getting on was going to be detrimental.
Also you don't go to the Tour with a backup plan if you intend to win. You take a risk and put all your eggs in one basket. To put wiggins in as a backup at the expense of team performance is a bit like asking a sprinter to hold back and cover the brakes in case there is a crash - they'd just lose.
You also need to consider that Sky are now down to 7. The loss of the team leader will have knocked them and Porte wasn't protected for the first 4.5 stages. Different job being a domestique compared to responding to attacks. I imagine he has trained to diesel engine his way up hills rather than follow attacks.
So where has Nibbles suddenly got this form from? It wasn't long ago people were writing his chances off...
Where has the multiple grand tour winner and current national champion suddenly got his form from?
Seems like he has not raced much this year for a reason as he looks the strongest and freshest
😥Nothing from now on really suits him.
I imagine he has trained to diesel engine his way up hills rather than follow attacks.
Couldn't even do that though could he!
[i]he has trained to diesel engine his way up hills rather than follow attacks. [/i]
not sure on that - his role was to keep Froome in the main group on climbs, he couldn't have done that today.
portlyone - MemberNibali looking more that human! *cough in tinfoil hat*
Not even some back of a fag packet kg/watts calculations? Poor.
Gaps today are huge.
Lets hope Nibali can do it as Valverde would not be a popular winner.
Can't see how bad he looks, only the text tells me he's not going well. but it is a fair comment - he wouldn't have been much use.
I know the latest thinking is that unless you are a natural climber you do what wiggins does and limit your losses. Overall if you TT your way up you will lose less than if you try and follow natural climbers. But I though Porte was a natural climber...
I hope nibbles is clean. He's looking impressive but then no more so that seeing Wiggins/Martin in a TT stage demolish everyone else.
That was impressive from Nibali.
I can't wait until Wiggins retires. The only thing more boring than watching him on a bike is people talking about him in regards to a race he isn't even riding.
Porte is naturally a Wiggins style climber but without the mechanical advantage of having very long legs!
Porte naturally a good No2 as he can do that job of pacing up a climb but this year he has been a shit no2 and a shit no1. Just hasn't got it.
Blooming hell is Greg LeMond still on his racing diet, calorie wise
General classification after stage 13
1 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 56:44:03
2 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team 0:03:37
3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:24
4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:04:40
5 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:05:19
6 Jean-Christophe Péraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:06:06
7 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling 0:06:17
8 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto-Belisol 0:06:27
9 Leopold Konig (Cze) Team Netapp-Endura 0:08:36
10 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling 0:09:18
I totally appreciate the Sky issues but at least with JTL and Henao they were pro-active. Compare that with the way Saxo treated the Kiserlovski issue. You have assumed I think Sky are totally clean because they have fallen back this year. That may be the case or it may be that the issues you highlight have led them to refrain from any regimes they were using before one their big boys gets popped.
Or it could be that everyone has just followed what Sky started 3-4 years ago in terms of marginal gains etc.
You can only speculate as much as I can but there's been a pretty large shift in the balance of power this year. Valverde for example is quoted as saying he's climbing quicker than he did when he was doping. Does that not worry you a bit?
8:50 🙁 I wonder what the story/spin will be
Porte loses 8.48 and G even caught him up on the final climb. Nieve might be able to win a stage and salvage things for Sky. Otherwise I can see them going home empty handed.
And just for Lifer... Maybe the should have bought Wiggins, not for the win but to give them a chance of a consolation prize in the TT (although Martin looks awesome for that)
Was definitely asking for that 🙂
But yeah Das Tony is much more fun.
I totally appreciate the Sky issues but at least with JTL and Henao they were pro-active
Ehh? JTL was shit for a year so they didn't pick him and then he got banned.
You can only speculate as much as I can but there's been a pretty large shift in the balance of power this year. Valverde for example is quoted as saying he's climbing quicker than he did when he was doping. Does that not worry you a bit?
I don't really like Valverde and I don't trust unrepentant dopers, but Movistar have famously taken a lot of the marginal gains philosphy from Sky and applied it in a more budget friendly way. And to accuse him of doping because he is fast would be hypocritical since I and many others last year were saying that Froome being fast and showing huge improvement since his first days at Sky wasn't eveidence of doping.
And the shift in power hasn't been from Sky to a single other team, it's been from Sky to everyone else. Sky have dropped further than others have climbed.
