2012 Tour de France; Stage 1: Liège → Seraing (198km)

[williamp78]

But they wont respond because to do so would give Wiggins the advantage as they will be pulling Wiggins up with them.. that is why having Froome atack is a possibility as it forces the other teams to work and if they dont want to then it allows Froome to go away.
He is too good to be allowed big gaps but the GC teams may have to gamble with him or they would be giving Wiggins a free ride.

But what if someone goes with him who is a danger to wiggo on the GC? Wiggo just sits in and let the other teams work and follows their wheels?

I just don't see Brailsord and Yates taking that gamble. A few too many unknowns compared to having a dominant train ahead of wiggo

 

[Bavarianrider]

what a shame for velits with mechanical,now he will have to work for levi

Don't think so. Levi doesn't seem to be in shape at all.

 

[Froome19]

In practice I don't see why they would incite attacks. Expect a Vuelta repeat, but in theory they have a bit more firepower to set the pace earlier.

I agree, but on stages 11 and 17 where there are multiple mountains and the stage finishes on a climb it may be too strenuous to pull the pace over all the climbs..

As you say I doubt Sky would do so but it is something I hope they would consider..

 

[andrew_s]

news about froome's time?will it be corrected?

If the puncture was in the last 3km it should be. Some rather worrying rumours it occured earlier however.

The 3km rule only applies to crashes, so no correction regardless of distance from finish.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

what a shame for velits with mechanical,now he will have to work for levi

Levi also lost time..though not much it is like he is the ideal position either.

Waste of effort for Velits to work for Levi

 

[velosiped]

All people accusing Sagan of bad sportmanship are socialists.

Something is fishy about this guy. A 22-year rookie cruises to victory while the veterans have lactate dripping through their ears and hardly can raise from their seats.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I thought Johan was not at this Tour due to the USADA investigations. No?

Indeed. Furthermore, i fail to see how Horner sucking *** has anything to do with Bruyneel's tactical skills. Unless he means Bruyneel should have selected Fuglsang instead of Horner. That way Fuglsang could have sucked *** instead of Horner?

 

[williamp78]

The 3km rule only applies to crashes, so no correction regardless of distance from finish.

I'm pretty sure its mechanicals as well. In fact i'm pretty sure someone quoted the rulebook earlier in this thread or the chris froome thread

Found it:
"In the event that a rider or riders suffer a fall,
puncture or mechanical incident in the last
3 kilometres and such an incident is duly
recognised, the rider or riders involved are
credited with the same finishing time of the
rider or riders they were with at the time of
the incident."

 

[Cimber]

To speak of something else:

I liked the way Mørkøv all day behaved like a little child, playful with the cameras when getting point and his little happy-go-lucky jump onto the podium when he received the polkadot jersey.

That's one happy tour debutant!

What amazes me about that guy is how many breakaways he has been in this year. The new Jacky Durand?

 

[ggusta]

Something is fishy about this guy. A 22-year rookie cruises to victory while the veterans have lactate dripping through their ears and hardly can raise from their seats.

They're all dirty except Lance. Ask anyone.

 

[MonteZoncolan]

He makes it slightly boring with him winning so much thats all.

Seriously?!
Come on he brings character to the sport
He wins with very raw talent at the moment
His riding style is hardly boring.
Winning so much...this is sport! Generally sprinters don't race for second but for stages.

 

[Waterloo Sunrise]

The 3km rule only applies to crashes, so no correction regardless of distance from finish.

No, it applies to punctures too, read the rules.

 

[Angliru]

No, it's really not about nationalities. Had it been another rider in front of Sagan, I'd say the same. I can't stand wheelsuckers, in particular if they are clearly the faster rider... But that's just my view. I don't say I'm right. Everybody has his view and the right to have his view. I just want to share my one, which obviously many might not like... But I still like you all and also cycling

While I see your point, I wouldn't call Sagan a wheelsucker in this scenario considering the effort it took to be in the position that the 3 of them were in.
Sagan was the first to chase down Chavanel with Cancellara smartly attacking shorting after that catch was made. Unfortunately for him, Sagan still had something in the tank to answer with. Cancellara seemed frustrated that Sagan was able to respond and all his weaving about the road to shake Sagan likely only made it easier for EBH to catch them. You said that Cancellara wants to win big and be remembered but that hasn't happened that often recently and just maybe he needs to alter his tactics. These young guns like Sagan and EBH and eventually Moser will likely frustrate his efforts at the grande victories that he covets.

By the way we all still like you and cycling too.

 

[El Pistolero]

Seriously?!
Come on he brings character to the sport
He wins with very raw talent at the moment
His riding style is hardly boring.
Winning so much...this is sport! Generally sprinters don't race for second but for stages.

Most of his victories this year have all come from sprints. I think there are much more interesting riders out there based on riding style.

 

[FellOff]

Something is fishy about this guy. A 22-year rookie cruises to victory while the veterans have lactate dripping through their ears and hardly can raise from their seats.

Are you implying he's been ingesting fish fingers? That's disgusting.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Bauke Mollema in Vive Le Vélo in 10 minutes on Flemish TV.

 

[Arnout]

Something is fishy about this guy. A 22-year rookie cruises to victory while the veterans have lactate dripping through their ears and hardly can raise from their seats.

Does it say clinic here?

 

[Cimber]

172 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:41

 

[Gloin22]

Originally Posted by dlwssonic
He makes it slightly boring with him winning so much thats all.

And the sad truth is - if he was at BMC - you would be going over the top, ballistic and naming him as the king of the cycling

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Vino flatted

Anyway
http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/HIQP4EPYXBNI67ZPMWBCCZOPHU
Brajkovic data of the finale.

I find the interval max most interesting, it shows how much he put out in the final.
500w for 2 minutes (that's basically the climb)
542w for 1 minute
569w for 30 seconds (probably on the steepest part)
etc
He reached a max of 752w for 2 seconds on the climb

Yikes.

 

[HoinkDoink]

172 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:41

He had a puncture quite late into the stage, no chance of catching the peleton after that

 

[Cimber]

Vino flatted

Good to know. Was fearing he was out of shape for his last Tour. Want to see some Vino-firework in this Tour.

 

[DominicDecoco]

Horner proving his spot yet again...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Lieuwe Westra said he was going well uphill but he began the climb way too far back. He is disappointed in himself for not positioning properly

 

[Cimber]

Horner proving his spot yet again...

He is not there to win anything, he is there to talk positively about Lance.