2012 Tour de France: Stage 5: Rouen → Saint-Quentin (196.5km)

[dabaideschbi]

hopefully sagan will take it

 

[ferryman]

I predict a long (jail) break going to San Quentin, maybe won by a boy named Sui (oops not on, crashed oot), how about then a man in black (eek, my mistake, Chicken is not riding), next guess, and I walk the line here but I reckon a win on the big ring of Freire.

Sorry in advance folks it has been a slow night

 

[DenisMenchov]

What's the weather gonna be like?

 

[markov111]

Lets get down to business....What will be the top 10 tomorrow (assuming no major crashes)

My guess

Cav
Sagen
Goss
Greipel
Renshaw
Pettachi
EBH
Veelers
Ferrar
Oscar

 

[cineteq]

Greipel for the win again with Cav a distant 2nd.

 

[Froome19]

Greipel for the win again with Cav a distant 2nd.

That will only occur if Cav messes up his positioning which is a possibility. But otherwise it is obvious that they are at relatively similar speeds atm, possibly Cav is a bit faster yet we have not seen enough head to head to determined that.

 

[Fight.The.Power]

Lotto

Greipel for the win again with Cav a distant 2nd.

Surely those two sharp bendS in the last 2 and 1 km will disrupt the Lotto Train ?

 

[Chap01]

Lets get down to business....What will be the top 10 tomorrow (assuming no major crashes)

My guess

Cav
Sagen
Goss
Greipel
Renshaw
Pettachi
EBH
Veelers
Ferrar
Oscar

My only doubt is Farrar, he has been a bit lost!!! Isn't it?

My guess:

Cav
Greipel
Goss
Sagan
Pettachi
EBH
Veelers
Renshaw
Freire
Ferrar

 

[markov111]

Help....who will finish higher EBH or Veelers?

 

[royalpig180]

Help....who will finish higher EBH or Veelers?

Veelers, simply because he'll be going for the win while EBH will be leading out Cav or staying well clear. Unless we see a repeat of today (Cav crash) I'm confident that Veelers is the better pick.

 

[Arnout]

Help....who will finish higher EBH or Veelers?

Suspect Veelers. But it depends on how well Kittel is rolling. If he's fine, he's gonna sprint and Veelers will be further back.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Surely those two sharp bendS in the last 2 and 1 km will disrupt the Lotto Train ?

Not sure about Lotto, but approaching the finish line in stage 2 Sagan essentially said he gave up because of the nervous riding and all the bumping going on. That plus that nasty left-hander just outside 1 km to go in stage 5 may be a sign of what could happen tomorrow with Sagan. Will he give up then too?

I don't think Alejet has a chance after not being able to get around Greipel today.

 

[Steady]

Top 10 will IMHO be :

1.Greipel
2.Goss
3.Cav
4.Sagan
5.Petacchi
6.Veelers
7.Hutarovich
8.Cancellara
9.Renshaw
10.Freire

 

[TRDean]

I'm gonna put van Hummel in the top 5 in this stage. Heck, the way things are going...maybe Veelers will pull off a huge win...that would be great..and something that would be great to see...a dream I know!

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Might give this one a skip also

 

[karlboss]

Is it just me or does Greipel work better with the Lotto train than he did with the HTC train. He seemed to lose the HTC train far too regularly, but he's glued to Henderson's wheel through out.
This is Greipel vs Cav and Cav to win in almost a carbon copy of stage 2. I'd only give someone else a chance if there was something more technical inside the last kilometre.

 

[will10]

Is it just me or does Greipel work better with the Lotto train than he did with the HTC train. He seemed to lose the HTC train far too regularly, but he's glued to Henderson's wheel through out.
This is Greipel vs Cav and Cav to win in almost a carbon copy of stage 2. I'd only give someone else a chance if there was something more technical inside the last kilometre.

Bak, Hansen, Henderson, Greipel - this IS his HTC train

But I'll agree he doesn't seem to get lost as often now.

 

[movingtarget]

Is it just me or does Greipel work better with the Lotto train than he did with the HTC train. He seemed to lose the HTC train far too regularly, but he's glued to Henderson's wheel through out.
This is Greipel vs Cav and Cav to win in almost a carbon copy of stage 2. I'd only give someone else a chance if there was something more technical inside the last kilometre.

Agree. The usual suspects to fight this one out. Can might strugle with soreness from crash. I will say Greipel or Goss for the win.

 

[Random Direction]

There's a >90 degree (going into a roundabout?) turn just before the flamme rouge though. Everyone will lose speed there, some more than others. My prediction: Fabu to attack out of the corner and win in the maillout jaune in front of Cav.

Here is the final corner - quite wide, but could be flammable anyways:

I'd be a little more worried about the second last corner (sorry, no streetview):

Weather - 20% chance of rain.

 

[thehog]

Here is the final corner - quite wide, but could be flammable anyways:

I'd be a little more worried about the second last corner (sorry, no streetview):

Weather - 20% chance of rain.

I'm more worried about the blue truck!

 

[auscyclefan94]

Same finish as 2006 when McEwen won?

 

[hughmoore]

I'm more worried about the blue truck!

Great post, love it!




Hugh

 

[Random Direction]

hey - they come from where the blue truck is, turn hard left down the road to the photo horizon. As for the Belgian blue truck - is it gas, or milk?

 

[greenedge]

Goss, Petacchi, Veelers, Sagan, Greipel.

I predict an unorganised sprint with Goss winning and Cav too sore to compete to his full extent.

I think Cantwell if given the opportunity could also go well here.

 

[royalpig180]

Cav for the win, but Sagan will be very close.

This is probably the best bet...