TdF Stage 5 – A Stage Riddled With Dangers [Spoilers]

The title really should be a “Wednesday In Hell”. Oh well.

The time has come for the famous stage and its nine cobbled sectors, which promise, dare I say it, a “battlefield”. It all starts in Ypres, Belgium, a city notorious for the gas attacks launched in it. It would have been unacceptable for the Tour not to commemorate the Centenary of the start of World War I in its own way… However, we will focus on the race, which promises to be a spectacular showdown. I do not expect Froome to thrive on the cobblestones but, who knows, he may want to prove us wrong… For him and many others, this is a stage riddled with dangers. The cobblestones will be a hinge moment in the race.

Blah blah blah Kittel again blah blah blah. Possibly worth noting that Henderson has crashed out, and Voeckler still looks terrible on a bike.

I know you guys like these..

I have so much love for OGE.

Highlights..

Not hearing much about Nibali at the moment, but I’m sure he’s having a nice time.

Photos from stage 4[/url].

Well it’s raining heavily at the start.. A tweet from Jens says a lot

Not too sure what to think about todays stage??!! Glorius? Stupid? Insane? Cool? Spectacular? Unnecessary? Wanted? Needed? Hated? Loved?

Terpstra got the win in Roubaix, but that was from hiding in wheels, being a bit lucky, and just not being all that marked. I’d love to see him do it today, but I think he’s just going to be too watched to pull it off. Sagan is a potential, but I think Cancellara will have the best chance today, he’s been keeping his efforts low, especially compared to Sagan. I’m hoping for a minimal amount of crashes…

A few useful links

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

http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/robert-millar/tour-de-france-robert-millars-week-one-survival-guide – If you’re going to read one article today, make it Robert Millar’s (that applies every day mind). Today’s is on crashing, losing your job, and getting some lunch.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-keukeleire-mortified-by-involvement-in-froomes-crash

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/maiden-win-for-dayer-quintana-in-austria – irrelevant to the tour – just want to point out that now there’s two of them!

He’s fine.

Also while I’m including tweets, here’s one from Fabian

I wish a fast recovery to @andy_schleck! Serious complicated injury on the knee! You will be missed at #TDF.

And here’s a reply from The Bike Bandit

@f_cancellara @andy_schleck it’s a real pity. Seems he got injured back in 2011 sometime- lost his balls and never too be found again

Let’s get those Flanders Facials!

BTW: the last wet Paris-Roubaix was in 2002, 190 starters, 41 finishers.

hope this photo is accurate 😀

Getting things into perspective, it is a lot shorter than P-R, and only 15k of cobbles as opposed to 50k (is it enough to blow the stage apart?) Should still be a pretty thrilling stage though and I reckon almost certainly a change in yellow.

OPQS will be well up for this one. Cancellara and Sagan too. Be interesting to see if some of the classics guys who have a GC rider in their team will be let off the leash (Greg VA at 2 seconds down could be a contender, and will Belkin be too busy looking after Mollema?)

Good to see Froome looking ok…

Edit…

BTW: the last wet Paris-Roubaix was in 2002, 190 starters, 41 finishers.

Not really surprising in a one day race though, if it’s grim and you’ve got no chance of a decent placing, then just quit. Bit like the last worlds really. Won’t happen in a GT.

I’m wondering if this photo is going to be accurate…

Might need to fit some mudguards.

Sky win the boring kit award !

Looking forward to today, have to believe there will be some risks taken and people being tested.

forecast !!!! 😯

Apparently some cobbles have been cut? Can’t seem to find verification though.

Yes, apparently they’ve taken out sections 5 and 7.

And just tweeted by Contador..

I think I’d want a mountain bike for this stage, or at least a cross bike with mudguards..

Heavy rain forecast I see 😉

Yes, apparently they’ve taken out sections 5 and 7.

Pussies.

Peleton to neutralise it and let the classics boys fight it out for the stage?

You wouldn’t get rain/mud like that in Yorkshire!

bit daft really to turn the race into a lottery

The GQ boys may just agree to just get through it and elt others race as that makes sense for them all

Yes, apparently they’ve taken out sections 5 and 7.

Down to 7 sections and 13k of cobbles then.

Peleton to neutralise it and let the classics boys fight it out for the stage?

Be interesting to see as some of them are well up on GC. Can’t see Astana working to keep Nibali in yellow.

Need a tough bike today – so Giant are getting the Defys out, they tweeted:

The team will ride the @GiantBicycle Defy from Paris-Roubaix today, making it a total of 63 bikes taken to the #TDF!

They will probably wish they packed a couple of these:

2200 bottles and bars… That’s crazy.

and these

It will be crashtastic. At least at P-R the field has thinned a bit on the Pave, but here there will be almost a full field hitting the Pave. I’ve ridden a PR sportive in rain like that. Off the crown lurks all sorts of hidden dangers in the puddles.

Anyway for Froome, with a possible stress fractured wrist, what could possibly go wrong?

“The GQ boys may just agree to just get through it and elt others race as that makes sense for them all”

There are no time gaps at the moment.

The GC guys can’t let a break go too far, they wil have to ride at some point.

Any break will be caught before the cobbles with all the GC teams at the head of the field in a race to be first on tho the pave. As G said last night “last man standing”.

What you’ve all been waiting for…

peteimpreza – Member
There are no time gaps at the moment.

The GC guys can’t let a break go too far, they wil have to ride at some point.

Coming into the mountains, there aren’t many who will fancy this stage who will also be up there with the main contenders when things get steep. Kwiatkowski maybe…

Cobble sections being removed from race I hear?

Still think they may try and call truce and let the rider and nto luck decide

Perhaps someone decides to test Froomes wrist

Cobble sections being removed from race I hear?

Someone hasn’t read the thread. 😀

checking in, mornin’ all

(love July)

Two cobbled sectors removed from the route
Due to bad weather and road conditions, two cobbled sectors have been removed from stage 5. They are sector 7, the 1,000-metres stretch of cobbles at Mons-en-Pévèle, and sector 5, which is the 1,400-metres long portion from Orchies to Beuvry-la-Forêt. It takes the total of pavés sections down to 13 kilometres but the race will remain highly attractive!

If only we’d known that 44 minutes ago bigjim! 😉

What channel is it on? I can’t see it on ITV!

Also, using my dream team as a guide to who will crash / retire next it’s a straight fight between Cancellara going too hard or one of the three remaining team member I actually have left!

Spartacus – “I’ve already been asked if I’ll ask for the stage to be neutralised if it rains but this is different. I know that it’s not a nice stage for Froome, Contador, Nibali and even our GC [general classification] riders. But my reply is: so why not take out the climbs to make it easier for us? That never happens, so it’s only right we race on the cobbles. It’s a risk for everyone, including me, but we’ve got to live with it and calculate the risks involved.”

Quite right too. If they don’t like the cobbles they could’ve stayed at home.

What channel is it on? I can’t see it on ITV!

It doesn’t start for another hour..

It doesn’t start for another hour..

I see, got a bit ahead of myself there and couldn’t see it on the guide. Going to try and catch it on the sly at work.

The GQ boys may just agree to just get through it and elt others race as that makes sense for them all

Not really. If Froome is crocked then this may be the opertunity for Nibbles or Contador to put some time into him. Garmin might also choose to light it up as they did on Sunday. Today could give someone a lead to defend who otherwise could climb well enough to limit losses but would have no chance of gaining time in the mountains.

If Froome’s wrist is bad I bet Brailsford wishes he could sub in Wiggins. He could have put mins into Contador on a day like today.

Will the teams use a different tyre for wet or cobbled stages?

What channel is it on? I can’t see it on ITV!

2pm on ITV4.

12:45pm on Eurosport.

Being lazy as I know the stage timings are on the official site but when will they hit the cobbles ? Have a meeting 2:30 till 4 🙁