JA-Q001 Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 To me, I see the SKY duo as maybe their plan from the start. Ok, so SKY has Froome, best tour rider they have, now in his 4th tour for a win. New territory for them, so they say, "Froome, you have 3 in the bag, we don't know how its going to go in the TdF". Seeing as GT is already their best second prospect, they come up with a plan to have GT as main man for the TdF, but keep Froome going for it as well. Everybody will be looking at Froome (I mean, NQ still sucked his wheel, with GT up the road. Froome, having come out of being a super domestique, knows what its like not to be given a chance. One of his best friends is sitting and waiting. SKY needs another new plan to win this thing, because although the SKY train is a given, they have every year gained time with a new method. So maybe, with Froome still getting all the attention, GT has less pressure, gets up the road, gets time on everyone and all the other teams only notice they have been hoodwinked after its too late. I don't see that Froome would be too selfish to give GT a chance and at this moment, everybody is racing against one man, with 3 Grand Tours in his legs.
Plentipotential Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 I'm disappointed with the competition for the yellow jersey , take nothing away from Sky they have the best assembled team and they are a well oiled machine technically and physically, I like excitement don't we all,I don't like a 1 Team domination.I'm very disappointed especially with Team Moviestar.They have there tactics all wrong and they proofed it with stage 11.It's like the top contenders all concede to team Sky from start.I was very excited for the possible challenge's from Richie Porte but only for bad luck to rob us. Sky are just too good, when are the other teams going to learn how to win a GT. Movistar persist with taking too many top guns to a race and insisting that NC is the leader, sadly he is not the guy for the job imo. Valverde is a top cyclist, one of the best, however he is not a team player and I don't think he is helping anyone at Movistar by doing what he did yesterday. He seems to do it every year. The fact that Sky never bothered to chase him shows that they also do not consider him a threat. Landa learnt that a good team makes a good cyclist in grand tours, it would seem that we now know why Sky let him go. Very sorry to see Porte go out, again, and that's 2 years in a row, perhaps he must learn to not ride like a bull in a china shop first. Perhaps his team should have been around him instead of protecting the yellow jersey, another team with too many objectives? What I have learnt from TDF winners of years past is that the lead is built every day, firstly by staying upright and by taking advantage of the other guys misfortune, secondly by keeping everyone under pressure all the time and the team having one race goal. Yesterday I half expected one of the DS of Bardet/Nibali/Quintana to get out of the car and give his rider a p's klap because the way they marked each other while the win rode up the road was a disgrace. What were they thinking? Hats off to Tom for having a go, hats off to Dan Martin who continues to impress everyone with his raw courage. If only he had chosen his parents more carefully and had a half decent team!
Plentipotential Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 To me, I see the SKY duo as maybe their plan from the start. Ok, so SKY has Froome, best tour rider they have, now in his 4th tour for a win. New territory for them, so they say, "Froome, you have 3 in the bag, we don't know how its going to go in the TdF". 5th.
Hacc Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 Well holy hellballs - lacets du montevernier (the shoelaces) was built by hand by 36 men in 11 months! https://alpinecols.com/climbing-the-lacets-de-montvernier/Can we get them to finish the N14 roadworks? I was pleasantly surprised by Sky's strategy yesterday. I didn't expect that at all. Thomas gunning for the win and Froome fending off the attacks. GT deserves the yellow jersey, felt bad for Nieve not winning the stage. Dumoulin and D Martin impressed me yesterday. Landa and Quintana not so much. Looking forward to today's stage! Today I will be on a go-slow at work...
Eldron Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 I don't see that Froome would be too selfish to give GT a chance and at this moment, everybody is racing against one man, with 3 Grand Tours in his legs. Agreed. Froome went straight into cover mode when Thomas attacked (and the DS said it was unplanned). That said - I still don't think Thomas is on Froome's level yet. Not good considering Thomas is only juuust younger than Froome.
Eldron Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 5th. 5th Tour de France but 4th straight Grand Tour - if memory serves...
Gen Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 The sport needs a re think in general. The sponsorship disparity is killing it a little. A Domestique at Sky is paid more than a team leader at other teams. I wont even start with the team with a decent budget but brings a soggy trident attack to the tour. The organisers make mountains of cash from the television rights for the tours and one day events, the teams see none of this. The TV rights should go to funding the teams that bring you the magic on TV!! Then you would not have one team being able to buy 6 GC team leaders as super domestiques. Just look at ex Sky riders that are now team leaders on smaller teams, Landa, Uran, Porte and Nieve. There were also the like of Viviani, Cav etc for sprint stages. It just boggles the mind that in a sport which has so much $$ the players get so little.Yep... as I have said before their business model is a joke.. riders too grateful to ride a big event that they don't demand change regarding TV rights etc.... decades behind other pro sport. Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
Bonus Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 To me, I see the SKY duo as maybe their plan from the start. Ok, so SKY has Froome, best tour rider they have, now in his 4th tour for a win. New territory for them, so they say, "Froome, you have 3 in the bag, we don't know how its going to go in the TdF". Seeing as GT is already their best second prospect, they come up with a plan to have GT as main man for the TdF, but keep Froome going for it as well. Everybody will be looking at Froome (I mean, NQ still sucked his wheel, with GT up the road. Froome, having come out of being a super domestique, knows what its like not to be given a chance. One of his best friends is sitting and waiting. SKY needs another new plan to win this thing, because although the SKY train is a given, they have every year gained time with a new method. So maybe, with Froome still getting all the attention, GT has less pressure, gets up the road, gets time on everyone and all the other teams only notice they have been hoodwinked after its too late. I don't see that Froome would be too selfish to give GT a chance and at this moment, everybody is racing against one man, with 3 Grand Tours in his legs. Over the last six months, were they even sure Froome would be allowed to attend the race? I know they SAY it was never in doubt, but a team that well organised doesn't take chances. G was in the picture from the day Froome and SKY received the phone call from "the authorities".
Mntboy Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 Sky are just too good, when are the other teams going to learn how to win a GT. Movistar persist with taking too many top guns to a race and insisting that NC is the leader, sadly he is not the guy for the job imo. Valverde is a top cyclist, one of the best, however he is not a team player and I don't think he is helping anyone at Movistar by doing what he did yesterday. He seems to do it every year. The fact that Sky never bothered to chase him shows that they also do not consider him a threat. Landa learnt that a good team makes a good cyclist in grand tours, it would seem that we now know why Sky let him go. Very sorry to see Porte go out, again, and that's 2 years in a row, perhaps he must learn to not ride like a bull in a china shop first. Perhaps his team should have been around him instead of protecting the yellow jersey, another team with too many objectives? What I have learnt from TDF winners of years past is that the lead is built every day, firstly by staying upright and by taking advantage of the other guys misfortune, secondly by keeping everyone under pressure all the time and the team having one race goal. Yesterday I half expected one of the DS of Bardet/Nibali/Quintana to get out of the car and give his rider a p's klap because the way they marked each other while the win rode up the road was a disgrace. What were they thinking? Hats off to Tom for having a go, hats off to Dan Martin who continues to impress everyone with his raw courage. If only he had chosen his parents more carefully and had a half decent team!NQ has lost this race. As has most of the other main contenders. The GC is a 4 or may be 5 horse race between the Skyborg duo of CF and GT against TD, DM and maybe RB - if he can find the same level of fight from sunday and keep his focus on a podium in Paris. The rest are making up numbers. Sent from my SM-J200H using Tapatalk
Eldron Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 Can we get them to finish the N14 roadworks? I was pleasantly surprised by Sky's strategy yesterday. I didn't expect that at all. Thomas gunning for the win and Froome fending off the attacks. GT deserves the yellow jersey, felt bad for Nieve not winning the stage. Dumoulin and D Martin impressed me yesterday. Landa and Quintana not so much. Looking forward to today's stage! Today I will be on a go-slow at work... Agreed! The Sky strategy was perfect yesterday - TommyD and DannyM made if fun - Valverde/Soler to a smaller extent. Awesome stage! Roglic is my dark horse - he is supposed to be supporting Kruijswijk but I reckon he is the better rider...maybe they'll only give him some rope next year...
JA-Q001 Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 5th Tour de France but 4th straight Grand Tour - if memory serves... Yes, what I meant.
Gen Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 Remember stage starts a bit earlier today Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
JA-Q001 Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 Also on Cav. The man isn't totally over the wall and still has speed. Not top speed to win outright sprints, but maybe he should rather refocus. He isn't actually built like a true sprinter and he did actually handle himself good in the Roubaix stage. If I was him, I would refocus. Get my overall strength up, drop some muscle weight and try to become a better classics rider. He would be able to contest with many in a sprint, he just has to work on getting there and most classics favour guys that can deliver good power over short distances.
dsw Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 Lets hope there is no heavy handed spectator interference along the Alpe D' Huez today.....
Gen Posted July 19, 2018 Posted July 19, 2018 Where is Contador when you really need him?Really enjoying retirement. Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
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