Critérium du Dauphiné 2014

[nochain]

What a race!!

This is why I love these 1 week races!Always provides some good action.

 

TDF will be interesting , seems what we need is a 3rd rider that is willing to keep Froome and Conto on their toes.

Hope Nibali get to hes best before the big stages start.I dont think he is that far of and 4 weeks is still a long time.

[TALUS]

It is all about peaking at the right time. The first week of the Tour is even too early to reach that final form. Hoping Berto gets it right. Personally I think Nibali is going to come right - not sure that his best is going to be enough unless he gets great support (and a few lucky breaks). I have one overriding wish - no dramas re. spectators! Falls and mechanicals are an integral part of Tours but drunk spectators is just AF!

[jcza]

I only watched the last 25km but can someone please explain to me how those riders were allowed to go up the road? Great to watch but tactically very poor. Well done Talansky.

[pe3nguin]

 

TDF will be interesting , seems what we need is a 3rd rider that is willing to keep Froome and Conto on their toes.

 

Frank Schleck anyone?

[pe3nguin]

I only watched the last 25km but can someone please explain to me how those riders were allowed to go up the road? Great to watch but tactically very poor. Well done Talansky.

 

Contador has been quoted as saying he wasn't racing this week for the win, he was using it as training. To my understanding he specifically let a strong group get ahead of him and he wanted to use them as a carrot and see how hard he could push.

Edited June 15, 2014 by pe3nguin

[Christie]

Fantastic race. Great win for Talansky. Strong ride by Conto. Froome blew completely. Drama!

 

Regarding the break, Conto was the race leader, it was his responsability to control the race. He made a mistake to focus too much on Froome, and did not take the threat posed by the contenders in the break seriously enough. He also had a weak team, which could not help him much at all.

[r0adrunner]

1 week punchy race - so awesome...

[Harryn]

Why is everyone so anti Froome all of a sudden?

 

What's he done to deserve this - what have I missed?

 

I'm still a fan, and am sorry for him that the crash cost him the race. Hope he recovers in time for the Tour.

['Dale]

I only watched the last 25km but can someone please explain to me how those riders were allowed to go up the road? Great to watch but tactically very poor. Well done Talansky.

 

'Berto was marking Froome

Expected Sky Train to do the chasing

Somehow it was understood that a Froome had no legs - race radio?

That led to the deliberate sinking of Contador's chances by slowing down the chase.

Plus they had Nieve in the leading bunch as a contender for stage win.

 

 

My theory based on some observations

[Butterbean]

Why is everyone so anti Froome all of a sudden?

 

What's he done to deserve this - what have I missed?

 

I'm still a fan, and am sorry for him that the crash cost him the race. Hope he recovers in time for the Tour.

 

South Africans - so used to being the underdogs, they're the only ones we know how to support...

[McD23]

Why is everyone so anti Froome all of a sudden?

 

What's he done to deserve this - what have I missed?

 

I'm still a fan, and am sorry for him that the crash cost him the race. Hope he recovers in time for the Tour.

nothing more than Lance no doubt , or all the other previous Tour winners

[GoLefty!!]

A big thanks to everyone who kept those of us unlucky to not have access to dstv and internet streaming updated with what was happening in the race. In particular thanks to ScottC-M and 'Dale for doing so. Much appreciated guys.

 

its wasn't televised on dstv..

[Christie]

I wonder what conclusions Sky will draw from the race?

 

Contador is going to be a real challenge to them at thr TDF. He will have a stronger team.

They risk a lot taking only one contender, with no plan B. The first week of the TDF sees lots of crashes, and we have some cobbles thrown in, too.

What to make of Froome's condition? How much did the crash hold him back?

Since he cannot ride away from Conti in the mountains, he will have to make time in the TTs, then look to defend on the climbs. The problem with that is that the Wig can do that, too.

 

[tombeej]

its wasn't televised on dstv..

 

Your post confused me, because I've certainly been watching it on TV.

Then after a little bit I thought maybe it was only shown on the HD channels, so people who don't have an HD PVR or Explora decoder wouldn't see it. Is that maybe what happened?

[jcza]

Fantastic race. Great win for Talansky. Strong ride by Conto. Froome blew completely. Drama!

 

Regarding the break, Conto was the race leader, it was his responsability to control the race. He made a mistake to focus too much on Froome, and did not take the threat posed by the contenders in the break seriously enough. He also had a weak team, which could not help him much at all.

 

I agree it's up to race leader to control race & with bonus seconds and small gaps the break was always dangerous. Contador didn't have any team mates so I believe he did the best he could. Chasing down every attack early on would have been tough. Strange tactics from Sky sending riders up the road only then to sit up & fall back again. However they did get the stage win so there was some success. Made for great TV.

[tombeej]

I wonder what conclusions Sky will draw from the race?

 

Contador is going to be a real challenge to them at thr TDF. He will have a stronger team.

They risk a lot taking only one contender, with no plan B. The first week of the TDF sees lots of crashes, and we have some cobbles thrown in, too.

What to make of Froome's condition? How much did the crash hold him back?

Since he cannot ride away from Conti in the mountains, he will have to make time in the TTs, then look to defend on the climbs. The problem with that is that the Wig can do that, too.

 

After the stage Froome was able to shed some light on his below-par performance and insisted the team could take plenty of positives from this year's race.

 

He said: "I've felt completely blocked up through my front of quads since the crash and I’ve not been able to engage the same types of muscles that I used in the earlier stages.

 

"That definitely affected me today, and while it's frustrating, we can take a lot of things away from this race. We’ve had three stage wins, taken the points jersey, and produced a dominant team performance."

 

 

 

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A direct hit to the hip is very often a big issue for a cyclist. Depending on how bad the bruising and the misalignments that result, it's often difficult to generate full power in the pedal stroke afterwards. I had a feeling he was going to have problems when I saw the images of his scrapes after his crash.

 

Hopefully it's not too serious for the lad, considering what others have gone through (John-Lee, Andy, etc) in the past with more serious hip injuries.

 

I've heard from other guys who've landed on their hips that it can take weeks - sometimes months - of physio, chiro and strength training to get full power back. Let's see if he can bounce back in time for the TDF.

 

For me, I wish for all the big GC guys to be in top condition going into the Tour, including Chris. There are clearly a lot of people with a pretty negative attitude towards him at the moment for whatever reason, but I wish him nothing but the best to get back to 100% fitness. It seemed to me that Chris and Alberto were both on very similar levels early in the Dauphine. It was shaping up for a seriously hot battle between two equals until this crash. I'm really hoping that will still be the case for the Tour.