'Dale Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 Cycling Direct@CyclingDirectSA1 hr#tdf @RuiCostaCyclist is out with onset of pneumonia The effect of 2 weeks of racingLet's see who else is coughing BTW Horner will probably be released to maybe freelance a stage win in the mountains
SwissVan Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 Jeeez Swiss surely you're taking the piss? In relation to previous tours? Not last year or 2012 then when Froome and Wiggo absolutely annihilated the opposition. Well at least last year there were 4 or 5 riders who had the capability to attack or worry Froome and if i recall they were all about 2 minutes or so behind Froome.....FFS Nibali is 4 and half minutes ahead of 2nd place Valverde who seems to be struggling at the moment and 5 minutes or more ahead of anyone else. I'd say Nibali is doing more annilihating than Froome did, not his fault just the circumstances of the race this year... Personaly i suspect the Sky train would not have dominated as much this year as they did on previous tours and the show would have been much closer and sold out each day as the big 3 diced it out... But thats the way it goes, good luck to Nibali and I hope Bardet and Co. can give him a skrik in the last few days...
'Dale Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 agree oom, this has been the best / most exciting tour for a while. Who wants to see the sky train dominate...not me Nibs was at the front often even ahead of his servant Fugslang over the pavè in Stage 5.Then launched to multiple stage wins, even on a flat finish doing a 550 watt TT in stage 2 What a racer No sterile racing like the Skyborgs yeah
NotSoBigBen Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 The effect of 2 weeks of racingLet's see who else is coughing BTW Horner will probably be released to maybe freelance a stage win in the mountains I've been wondering how they manage to keep healthy through all that crap weather .....
Shebeen Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 Assuming 5 astana riders are attacked by bears in the pyrenees, and nibs ends up in hospital. Then this would be an awesome race for the yellow jersey. C'MON where are the BEARS?!
Jakkals. Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 Sky didnt have the perfect year, except for Wiggo winning Tour of Cali, which was a pretty tough task as he never had any team mates with him. Kudos to the man. Sky in this tour, below average, even Nive doesnt seem to have the legs he had last year while still riding for Euskadel, pity, I reckon he is one of the "true" climbers. Froome might not have had the perfect team this year, but he can hold his own in the mountains, if he doesnt attack day after day, surely some fatigue would've caught up to him. He would've however put some time into his main rivals on the long TT. So he might have raced to only to get the yellow jersey on the TT stage, and his team would've not had to work the whole tour. Viva la Vuelta
jcza Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 Well at least last year there were 4 or 5 riders who had the capability to attack or worry Froome and if i recall they were all about 2 minutes or so behind Froome.....FFS Nibali is 4 and half minutes ahead of 2nd place Valverde who seems to be struggling at the moment and 5 minutes or more ahead of anyone else. I'd say Nibali is doing more annilihating than Froome did, not his fault just the circumstances of the race this year... Personaly i suspect the Sky train would not have dominated as much this year as they did on previous tours and the show would have been much closer and sold out each day as the big 3 diced it out... But thats the way it goes, good luck to Nibali and I hope Bardet and Co. can give him a skrik in the last few days... Pity the favourites are out but even with Nibali leading it is still going to be very exciting to watch 5 riders compete for 2 podium places. Racing has been great to watch!
hboli4 Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 It is great to watch Nibali race. He takes it to them even if he does not need to.Similar to how Conto races.
'Dale Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 I've been wondering how they manage to keep healthy through all that crap weather ..... Not just cold and wet, but real extremes of heat and coldScrewing any adaptation for the riders. What a Tour!
scotty Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 I've been wondering how they manage to keep healthy through all that crap weather .....Plenty of orange juice.
Slowbee Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 Assuming 5 astana riders are attacked by bears in the pyrenees, and nibs ends up in hospital. Then this would be an awesome race for the yellow jersey. C'MON where are the BEARS?! dont the french have boars as opposed to bears ? somehow I doubt french frogs would cause to much of a stir if one attacked Nibs
SwissVan Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 Assuming 5 astana riders are attacked by bears in the pyrenees, and nibs ends up in hospital. Then this would be an awesome race for the yellow jersey. C'MON where are the BEARS?! If you pay me a lot i might go and put a spanner in his spokes...i'll even wear a bear suit
tombeej Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 Assuming 5 astana riders are attacked by bears in the pyrenees, and nibs ends up in hospital. Then this would be an awesome race for the yellow jersey. C'MON where are the BEARS?! They are in the Pyrenees - brown bears like this one.... ... And we enter the Pyrenees today . [Edit: I've read there are only about 20 adult bears left in the French Pyrenees, so maybe you won't get your wish]
'Dale Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 Let's roll!!!! A looooong one! Five classified climbs and 237.5 kilometres lies ahead of the riders today.
'Dale Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 It's pretty cool at the start this morning, the sky is grey and the wind has picked up. We could see a few echelons at the start.
'Dale Posted July 22, 2014 Posted July 22, 2014 "The wind is very strong and the first 80 kilometers are over narrow roads in open areas, and it is rolling terrain, as well. So that means, ride attentively and pay attention, so that you don’t get dropped through an echelon before you even get to the climbs. " Degenkolb
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