2012 Tour de France: Stage 17, Bagnères-de-Luchon - Peyragudes 143.5KM

[will10]

Nibali was Wiggins' biggest, bar Froome, opponent in this Tour. The same Nibali lost 7 minutes to Alberto in last years Giro... Andy is pretty much on level as Alberto climbing wise. They would both absoutely s'hit all over Wiggins.

You've got to question where Schleck would've got his 4-5 minute ITT deficit back on this shoddy parcours

Tbh the sooner we forget this tour the better

 

[Arnout]

From a Wiggins perspective, this behavior is perfectly explainable. He's gonna win the Tour because of it, congrats to him for managing that.

However, I cannot take Froome seriously anymore. I would've stabbed my leader in the back long before this.

 

[SuperH-]

If Froome puts half a minute into Wiggins in the TT on Saturday I would accede that he's been the stronger rider.

lol? u still cant agree he is better? we clearly saw it many times.

 

[SuperH-]

That Froome was motivating him was excactly what Froome said himself, so maybe there's actually something too it?

i dont think my friend, i think its just a PR thing to say to not start a scandal

 

[patrick767]

Exactly, I guess that's the way he races, burts here and there, it even seems he has problems with a steady pace, as we saw in La Toussuire, yesterday a today at times, pure climber...

It was a bit odd, but honestly I'm surprised Sky didn't give the Froome the go ahead near the end to try to catch Valverde. Wiggins was fine. Froome would have gained a little time on him but not enough to challenge the race leader. No one else was going to be passing Wiggins. I think they could have cut Froome loose in the last couple kms to have a go at it.

 

[JimPanzen]

Froome is a coward he should have either gone full out for the stage or just stay with wiggins not behave like a **** like he did.

I and @Vaughters cosign

Jonathan Vaughters ‏

@Vaughters:

"Whoa. Yikes. Either work for wiggins or attack him. Two feet in or two feet out.
Would have been better for Froome to just drop Wiggo by 20 seconds or whatever and settle it in the time trial. That was just humiliation."

I also think it was a *****move by Froome. 1st he struggled himself when Pinot attacked and Wiggins closed the gap, than he acted like an idiot.

 

[kjetilraknerud]

i dont think my friend, i think its just a PR thing to say to not start a scandal

You think they planned this before the stage? "Hey, Brad. If I yell at you because you won't let me go for the stage win, we'll say I was encouraging you. Ok?"

 

[T-Nielsen]

CAS may be out. He needs surgery on two fingers.

 

[mscaviy2601]

Sky is the equivalent of a horrible disease with their tactics today. Seriously.

LOL

If getting a 1-2 in the TDF, dominating your rivals, winning 3 stages and blowing apart everyone else in a TT is the equivalent of a bad disease, I'll look forward to a quarantined hospital visit.

The frequent Sky based meltdowns in these forums are hilarious. Sky portrayed as the bad guys? Why? They've just been the best. If this tour hasn't been up to scratch, it's not Sky's fault but that of the rest of the contending teams.

 

[patrick767]

However, I cannot take Froome seriously anymore. I would've stabbed my leader in the back long before this.

Then your team would dump you. Other teams might wonder about a guy who refused to follow team orders. On top of all that, you still could very well lose the Tour by not gaining enough time in the mountains to offset the time trials. Froome is being smart. He wouldn't have gained much time on Wiggins today. Of course that's why I said Sky should have let him go for it in the last couple kilometers. Wiggins was doing fine and wasn't going to be passed by anyone else. Let Froome go for the stage win.

 

[DominicDecoco]

You've got to question where Schleck would've got his 4-5 minute ITT deficit back on this shoddy parcours

Tbh the sooner we forget this tour the better

I never said Andy would win the Tour. But he would do something. And we've just seen that when the slightest action acutally happens Wiggins showed his limits.. Today was the first time Wiggins' pulse was above 75 for the entire Tour.

 

[The Barb]

I've just been back over Pricey_Sky's posts and I have no idea what s/he has done wrong.

Really, people can't get excited about the team they support doing well?

Particularly when his posts came in such close proximity to another about Wiggins being "evil", which apparently is just fine.

 

[webvan]

It was a bit odd, but honestly I'm surprised Sky didn't give the Froome the go ahead near the end to try to catch Valverde. Wiggins was fine. Froome would have gained a little time on him but not enough to challenge the race leader. No one else was going to be passing Wiggins. I think they could have cut Froome loose in the last couple kms to have a go at it.

Can't agree more, but what happens if he puts 30 seconds into Wiggin and 1'45" in the ITT ? Now he just needs to take 2'06" in the ITT and that will shut everyone up.

 

[Pricey_sky]

lol? u still cant agree he is better? we clearly saw it many times.

We've actually seen Froome better than Wiggins in 2 mountain stages but Wiggo better in the TT and prologue and will be better in the final TT on Saturday aswel.

 

[patrick767]

I and @Vaughters cosign

Jonathan Vaughters ‏

@Vaughters:

"Whoa. Yikes. Either work for wiggins or attack him. Two feet in or two feet out.
Would have been better for Froome to just drop Wiggo by 20 seconds or whatever and settle it in the time trial. That was just humiliation."

I also think it was a *****move by Froome. 1st he struggled himself when Pinot attacked and Wiggins closed the gap, than he acted like an idiot.

hmm... I may have to agree with Vaughters. I'm not sure what Froome was doing there. Go for it or don't.

 

[SuperH-]

You think they planned this before the stage? "Hey, Brad. If I yell at you because you won't let me go for the stage win, we'll say I was encouraging you. Ok?"

no but they got told to say so after the stage,

 

[burning]

We've actually seen Froome better than Wiggins in 2 mountain stages but Wiggo better in the TT and prologue and will be better in the final TT on Saturday aswel.

Please stop.
Froome would have likely won this Tour if he was on another team, especially he'd have gained big time on La Toussuire, he's the better rider for sure

 

[patrick767]

Can't agree more, but what happens if he puts 30 seconds into Wiggin and 1'45" in the ITT ? Now he just needs to take 2'06" in the ITT and that will shut everyone up.

Then he wins the TdF, but you and I both know that Froome gaining 1'45" (or 2'06") on Wiggins in the ITT is very, very unlikely. If he does, I say fair game. Everyone should ride as hard as they can in the ITT.

 

[SuperH-]

We've actually seen Froome better than Wiggins in 2 mountain stages but Wiggo better in the TT and prologue and will be better in the final TT on Saturday aswel.

2 mountain stages? yes, but im sure there were many other times where froome couldnt show he was clearly better.

 

[webvan]

I and @Vaughters cosign

Jonathan Vaughters ‏

@Vaughters:

"Whoa. Yikes. Either work for wiggins or attack him. Two feet in or two feet out.
Would have been better for Froome to just drop Wiggo by 20 seconds or whatever and settle it in the time trial. That was just humiliation."

I also think it was a *****move by Froome. 1st he struggled himself when Pinot attacked and Wiggins closed the gap, than he acted like an idiot.

Yep, Froome didn't make it easy for the team, there's going to be a lot riding on that ITT...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

LOL

If getting a 1-2 in the TDF, dominating your rivals, winning 3 stages and blowing apart everyone else in a TT is the equivalent of a bad disease, I'll look forward to a quarantined hospital visit.

The frequent Sky based meltdowns in these forums are hilarious. Sky portrayed as the bad guys? Why? They've just been the best. If this tour hasn't been up to scratch, it's not Sky's fault but that of the rest of the contending teams.

Hello Sky-fan and july watcher. If you don't get it don't reply.

I'm obviously talking about the whole Froome-debacle. A guy like that should have always have his own chances in a final like this.

 

[Morbius]

Froome would have likely won this Tour if he was on another team

and if he hadn't punctured.

 

[burning]

By the way, no one has abandoned in this stage, pretty weird I'd say

 

[Gloin22]

Please stop.
Froome would have likely won this Tour if he was on another team, especially he'd have gained big time on La Toussuire, he's the better rider for sure

BUT HE ISN'T.

Face the facts

Sky pays Froome ****loads to do his job - protect Wiggins at Tour 2012. He did this.

 

[Danilot]

Please stop.
Froome would have likely won this Tour if he was on another team, especially he'd have gained big time on La Toussuire, he's the better rider for sure

How do you know? All you saw is a fleeting attack. For all we know, Froome might have fizzled out later and gained only 20 seconds.