Wez-O

Good point although surely on a super flat stage like this, there is no chance that Lotto, Quickstep, Argos Shimano & Cannondale would let any breakaway go far? Sky should be vary wary of Movistar come the Alps and and save energy accordingly... Yes?

Yeah surely he has no chance in the white jersey category now. This is surprising as in the Tour of California he looked strong climbing, time trailing and at everything in between. Yes Le Tour is another level to that race but still, he has been awful the last few days. Perhaps he can regain some honour in the TTs.

I can't get over how poor a form Tejay is on this tour.

I was also trying to figure out the rational behind that? Every rider in the breakaway is over an hour behind Froome and it's a super flat stage.

So this is a pretty close Tour thus far, although the flat TT will widen the gaps one would think.

I recon Sagan could definitely become a GC contender in the future. Maybe a heavier hill climbing Armstrong style rider (minus the drugs of course).

I recon Sagan could definitely become a GC contender in the future. Maybe a hevier hill climbing Armstrong style rider (minus the drugs of course).

The term "value for money" is the kicker here... I've worn a R900 pair of Craft that were pretty comfortable but by no means R2,500 Assos Mille. Does that mean they are still value for money though?

I'm positively sure about that since we haven't had an individual time trail yet To win a Grand Tour you have to be able to climb mountains and time trial. Fact! Contador is a lightweight rider who can do both, let's see if Quintana is worth the hype come Paris. Excuse me if I sound scheptical, it's just that everyone is going on as though this guy is the best cycling prospect to emerge in 40 years after an impressive showing on one stage and a decent showing on another. Any seasoned TDF fan will know that he most certainly isn't the first and won't be the last Columbian mountain goat to dominate a French mountain. However, generally they are only good at that. Hence the fact I rate Kwiatkowski as a better long term prospect.

Of course he can climb, the guy weighs 58kg. Watch him get eaten alive in the TT.

Hectic! Apparently the 94.7 would have no categorised climbs with the only categorised climb in the Argus being Suikerbossie at a cat 4. I'd be interested to know what the climbs of the Panorama/Jock would be? Long Tom Pass perhaps a Cat 2 or 3 max? I guess the only cat 1 and HC this side of the continent would be in Lesotho.

Sounds good, thanks.

Sky used the same strategy on stage 8 that they used in last years tour for Wiggans, whereby they grind out a strong pace over the hills and burn out the contenders. However unlike last year it seems as though they burned out themselves for the following day as the Garmin and Movistar attacks on stage 9 absolutely hammered them. I was particularly surprised to see Porte disappear but that was probably due to the early effort he put in to bring Froome back into the initial group as well as his extreme efforts to not only assist Froome in stage 8 but also to drop the group on the climb and take second. Sky are also missing a fully fit Geraint Thomas who looked super strong in the Criterium du Delphine climbs but is clearly still struggling with injuries in this years tour after his stage 1 crash.

I recon Michal Kwiatkowski might take the white jersey back in the time trail. I see Kwiatkowski as a future GC superstar, the youngster has shown he can climb and sprint AND apparently he is a pretty good time trailist as well. For me, Quintana is a little too one dimensional to be a current or future GC threat (unless they place a cat 1 mountain in a TT).

Nice will give that a bash. What is the longest loop you can do from there?

DAMN!!! That is nuts!

Hot bike! Maybe R30k and sell the wheels separately?

I'm due another bike fit and was thinking either Cycle Fit or Active Worx Retul fit. Retul is nearly double the price of Cycle fit so I'm thinking of going with the former. I've used Concept Cyclery's BG Fit before and I wasn't overly impressed at all.

My favourate bike shop in Cape Town!

I actually felt sorry for Porte yesterday. He literally rode over 100km of the race without a great or doing all the pulling with his 4 man finishing group. The guy is not scared to work and gave his all yesterday trying to get back to Froome and all he got for it was being dumped in the middle of no mans land for the day.

Neither Valverde nor Quintana are time trailists though... Valverde might still sneak a podium along with Contador though.

It's around about now I'm glad I chose Valverde and Movistar in my fantasy league teams

I'm thinking many hours of my day are about to be lost. Thanks!

I'll give the guys a shout this weekend and get back to you as soon as I have something

And my team is making a recovery thanks Greipel the Gorilla. I'm not particularly a fan of the guy, but for the sake of my fantasy league teams I hope he takes many more victories