2013 Tour de France, Stage 13: Tours - Saint-Amand-Montrond (173 km)

[Warhawk]

Really fun stage to watch. For every rider who made a serious gaffe, there was another who helped himself with some really inspired cycling.

 

[ThirdWorld]

Somebody needs to post a stage 14 thread.

Saxo and Belkin were big winners today and the profile looks like they could do it again on such a bumpy stage tomorrow.

I can't decide if there's a team with the right riders to pressure Froome tomorrow and then keep in striking range on Ventoux the next day.

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=21131

done sir.

 

[thehog]

I believe it. He wasn't pulling to chase Saxo. Neither were the rest of Sky, for that matter. Froome wasn't even in loss limit mode, he was just letting the break go, but once again Sky is bailed out by others who did the chasing.

What rest of Sky?

Thomas was going to the front.

They were worried and Froome was emptied.

 

[theyoungest]

Lol after Saxo/Belkin rode off, Froome went up to Tankink and asked him why Belkin isnt pulling anymore.

Tankink is too honest, he should just have said 'because we're too tired'

 

[DenisMenchov]

Mollema is the STAR of the Tour.

 

[JimPanzen]

Oleg Tinkov ‏@olegtinkov 2m

****, Economic slowdown in China, but I was going to order 180m yacht and buy Froome, hmm.. probably should postpone it for now.

Oleg slightly excited after the stage...getting a bit carried away...well

 

[EnacheV]

Grats to Cav and Sagan

 

[batchuba]

What a Tour? What are you smoking? Up until today this has been one of the worst, if not the worst 2nd week of a GT in recent memory. This day only somewhat rescues it.

That negative feeling surrounding the race is entirely due to our assumptions on effortless Froome dominance in GC for the whole of the tour. It's fear of depressing things to come, based on that one ridiculous Dawgstrong display.

The actual racing so far has been great, on practically every stage.

Anyone who takes off their fanboy hat for a moment should be able to see that.

 

[Frosty]

I believe it. He wasn't pulling to chase Saxo. Neither were the rest of Sky, for that matter. Froome wasn't even in loss limit mode, he was just letting the break go, but once again Sky is bailed out by others who did the chasing.

Sky were on the front. Thomas and Stannard did some big efforts. Kennaugh and Siutsou were also in the front group and im pretty sure they went to the front too for a time. That is why there were no other Sky riders in the front group at the end other than Froome.

 

[Warhawk]

Oleg Tinkov ‏@olegtinkov 2m

****, Economic slowdown in China, but I was going to order 180m yacht and buy Froome, hmm.. probably should postpone it for now.

Oleg slightly excited after the stage...getting a bit carried away...well

Looking at his twitter account, I think you could probably replace all of his tweets with "LOOK AT HOW AWESOME I AM, AND ALSO RICH" and it wouldn't really change anything.

 

[whittashau]

George Bennett ‏@georgenbennett 1h
Did anyone else just see the @TeamBelkin boys giving each other "knucks" when they realised there boys were ripping it?. #ganstasinLycra

lol

 

[jens_attacks]

one of the greatest stages in the last 20 years i guess. chapeau to everyone who made this total war possible

definitely more to come

 

[classicomano]

George Bennett ‏@georgenbennett 1h
Did anyone else just see the @TeamBelkin boys giving each other "knucks" when they realised there boys were ripping it?. #ganstasinLycra

lol

 

[DenisMenchov]

George Bennett ‏@georgenbennett 1h
Did anyone else just see the @TeamBelkin boys giving each other "knucks" when they realised there boys were ripping it?. #ganstasinLycra

lol

That was quite cool, but they worked their A$$ of for it.

 

[Afrank]

Ha! That's awesome!

 

[Le Baroudeur]

It's been mentioned already but Sky really are missing EBH and Kiri. There engines on days like today are exactly why they are selected.

I can see Froome being isolated in the mountains however he still has nearly 2 mins 30 and I still think he is the strongest.

Don't bank on it. I think Froome got his starting weight wrong... He will be burning muscle soon...

 

[whittashau]

That negative feeling surrounding the race is entirely due to our assumptions on effortless Froome dominance in GC for the whole of the tour. It's fear of depressing things to come, based on that one ridiculous Dawgstrong display.

The actual racing so far has been great, on practically every stage.

Anyone who takes off their fanboy hat for a moment should be able to see that.

My perspective on this race is of a complete neutral other than hoping to see Sagan pulling weird celebrations as he crosses the line. The racing and the parcours have mostly been extremely tame. The Giro was more entertaining despite losing most of the good climbs

 

[Warhawk]

"Right on, brosef!"

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I can see Froome teaming up with Quintana in Ventoux MTF. Among the climbers they are possibly the strongest ATM and their common interest is to put the max time possible into any other GT contender.

quintana already said he will attack froome in the mountains. not ride with him and be gifted a stage


btw people who think froome could've closed that gap have no understanding of cycling and never been on a bike in a race. not even cancellara would eb as strong as to close a gap made in wind, even if it is 50 metres or less. you would have to go at least 5 km/h harder than first group through the wind for a sufficient amount of time. and froome didn't look good today anyway. don't be surprised to se ehim fade like all of sky. this is getting hilarious

 

[akrogirl]

I didn't see anything on TV, but de Kort is saying that Kittel had a mechanical problem just as the echelon started. Anyone hear anything about that?

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

one of the greatest stages in the last 20 years i guess. chapeau to everyone who made this total war possible

definitely more to come

this. I don't remember ever seeing a better flat stage for sure.

 

[UpTheRoad]

What rest of Sky?

Thomas was going to the front.

They were worried and Froome was emptied.

Sky were on the front. Thomas and Stannard did some big efforts. Kennaugh and Siutsou were also in the front group and im pretty sure they went to the front too for a time. That is why there were no other Sky riders in the front group at the end other than Froome.

I realize that. Sky had four with Froome at one point. They also had a ton of other help, so they weren't in panic mode. Froome was even in the back of the chasing group for a while. I don't understand how that could be. What happens if the crosswinds kicked up and another gap formed?

There was no sense of complete urgency for Sky (unlike 2011 when AC crashed on the first stage), and because they had so much help they didn't need it.

Sky's lieutenants should have been burned out and dropped much earlier. Other teams should have organized and attacked as well. But they didn't. They essentially gave Sky a pass (again).

 

[Kwibus]

QSOP and Belkin kind of agreed on hitting it hard today. Belkin explored this stage in May and noted down 4 spots where, if there was wind, they could pull hard.
QSOP wanted to get rid of sprinters and Belkin wanted to get rid of GC guys.

Well done both.

p.s. RaboBlancoBelkin have always been the nice guys in the bunch and usually let themselves get screwed over. Good they screwed someone else for once.

 

[batchuba]

My perspective on this race is of a complete neutral other than hoping to see Sagan pulling weird celebrations as he crosses the line. The racing and the parcours have mostly been extremely tame. The Giro was more entertaining despite losing most of the good climbs

Well, fair enough then. I was perhaps projecting my own perspective.

I've found it to be vastly superior to the Giro, and even more so than last years god awful Tour, so far.

But hey, different strokes...

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

btw an important thing to keep in mind for final weke will be morale. I mean contador was pulling as hard as he could with his helpers, a leader to work like that motivates his helpers, especially the helpers that would be leaders in other teams(porte, kreuziger). but froome instead rode like a coward, killing whatever little energy his helpers had left. after today who do you think has more morale? froome's helpers or contadors? exactly. this will be fun