Jump to content

2015 Tour de France


Frosty

Recommended Posts

Posted

http://images.cyclingtips.com.au/content/uploads/2015/07/CORVOS_00025366-006.jpg

 

Great ride by a cool guy - he just timed his top end so well 

  • Replies 4.2k
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Posted

That Richmond course suits Sagaaan well, even have some pave segments and definitely for the punchy rider: Would also suit Gilbert; Valverde and Greg vA and Kwia

As well as Spartacus if he can recover in time. Zbar should be in contention as well if you take his PR results into account.
Posted

It sure was chilly out there on the Champs Élysées - not quite the summer's day.

 

What a Tour.

 

One could sense the race was neutralized as the bunch rolled by.

Still awesome to see them with my own eyes hey.

 

Greipel, I wouldn't have guessed he would take 4 stage wins.

His best Tour by far.

At what point did you know/find out that the stage was neutralised?

Did they announce something at the finish?

For us at home, watching, we heard it from one of Matt, Phil or Paul - can't remember which one.

Posted

Another edition in the books, and as we collectively wind down from three straight weeks of drama it is time to look back at the race that was.

In general I think the racing was fantastic. It felt like there was action every day and hardly a dull stage. For me this is easily the best Tour de France since the 2008 edition (that race had a better GC battle).

There was drama and there were crashes, as there always are, but there were no huge scandals or really horrific accidents and although the big favourites didn't stay off the tarmac entirely none of them took any serious damage. Two yellow jerseys did crash out in the first week but in my eyes the only really tragic abandonment was that of Tejay van Garderen, who was having an unspectacular but nonetheless excellent race.

 

Good Tours

Andre Greipel still has what it takes to win when it matters most. With Degenkolb and Kristoff having fantastic seasons, and Cavendish and Sagan hungrier for stage wins than ever, few would have predicted that the Gorilla would dominate the flat finishes in the manner that he did.

MTN Q, Put the first 'real' African rider in to a Grand Tour jersey, made a good showing of themselves in the breakaways and managed to bag a gutsy, emotional stage win on Mandela day. Their sprint train may still be an absolute farce but they were the only wild card team to get a stage win at this year's Tour and they should expect to be back next year.

 

Nairo Quintana is the real deal. If any doubts remained after he took the 2014 Giro ahead of a less than star-studded field of contenders, they were put to rest by his performance this year. He was consistent and aggressive for the entire race, did not have a single bad day in the mountains, and got stronger as the race went on. He will learn from the first week time losses that proved fatal to his chances at yellow, and the next time the Tour de France is contested on a route without much time trial distance I expect Nairo Quintana to win it.

Bad Tours

The KOM classification, ASO has messed with the Polka Dot rules too much and this year it finally broke the competition entirely. Froome led the standings for half of the race and the way the course was laid out he never really looked like losing it. I take nothing away from his accomplishment, he certainly earned the jersey, but the comparisons to when Merckx achieved the same feat are wildly off-base given how differently the points are allocated today.

Andrew Talanksy's GC challenge completely failed to materialize, and for all their grimacing and attacking Ryder Hesjedal and Dan Martin failed to produce a stage win. Their team selection for the race seemed poor, apart from the three I just mentioned and Ramunas Navardauskas I don't think I saw or heard mention of a Cannondale-Garmin rider for this entire tour. I didn't even realize they had brought Sebastian Langeveld to the race until I looked at the start list just now. Their tactics were also lacking, they failed to put men in the right moves far too frequently and had to work incredibly hard for the breakaways they did manage to take part in. For a team that used to be a powerhouse in the discipline I think that 12th place in the Team Time Trial sums up where Cannondale-Garmin is at right now.

Posted

IMO, Froome will feel like Contador did this Tour if he decides to do the Vuelta. (moeg)

I personally hope Van Garderen or Porte gets the leadway they deserve at the Vuelta.

Posted

http://images.cyclingtips.com.au/content/uploads/2015/07/CORVOS_00025366-006.jpg

 

Great ride by a cool guy - he just timed his top end so well 

Just think how cool it would have been if Edvald Bosson Hagen's timing and legs were good.

For a moment while watching it yesterday I wondered if Farrar finally decided to mingle with the sprinters, since he is a sprinter himself

Posted

Big up to MTN. Can anyone explain to me WTF Tyler Farrar was paid to do? Freaking girl....

 

Calls himself a sprinter, acts like a sprinter, talks like a sprinter, climbs like a sprinter,,,

 

Sprints like a,,,, uhmm wait, that's all i've got.

Posted

Hope Bernard Hinault was in one of the cars in the convoy. If so you know he got moerred hard.

He doesn't take any *** from idiots.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Settings My Forum Content My Followed Content Forum Settings Ad Messages My Ads My Favourites My Saved Alerts My Pay Deals Help Logout