2013 Tour de France, Stage 2: Bastia - Ajaccio 156Km

[Carlo Algatrensig]

So how come at the top of the GC the standings are being determined by aggregate positions over the two stages, when times are the same. But at the bottom end of the GC not - the last 50 and lantern rouge are solely as they finished today?

If you are looking at cyclingnews they currently have the bottom part of the GC wrong by the looks of it. The tour website has it correct with Geraint Thomas in last place

 

[Aditya]

It was Stannnard at the bottom along with Thomas. Not Sivtsov like someone suggested :/

 

[Dutchsmurf]

He hoped to be in yellow.

He can help Cavendish when it makes sense?

But on this stage? What does it help Cavendish if he has 3 or 4 guys riding with him in the Gruppetto. That doen't affect Cavendish or help him at all. Totally pointless. It's a bike race. You simply don't waste your riders chances for absolutely no gain.

After yesterday he wasn't going to get yellow anyway, no matter in which group he finished today. Kwiatkowski for one would always be ahead of him.

 

[manafana]

hope tony is ok now and can ride good tt,

froome is way more exciting than wiggins.

Does anyone know if backlants confirmed he had switched bike

 

[Cookster15]

Just catchin up on the stage results and comments. So somebody earlier in this thread suggested Froome attacked on the 1k climb to get a buffer for the descent? I didn't know Froome was suspect at descending?

Nice to see Martin got through the stage and congrats Bakelants.

 

[Cookster15]

Looks like I was right about the pure sprinters getting dropped on the Cat 2/3 climbs mid stage. Cavendish finished 17 minutes down. Lots of people were assuming today would be a Cavendish win but a quick look at the stage profile suggested otherwise.

 

[Armchair cyclist]

Just catchin up on the stage results and comments. So somebody earlier in this thread suggested Froome attacked on the 1k climb to get a buffer for the descent?

That's what Froome said himself on his ITV interview.

ITV interview of Bakelants was a classic:
Boulding:"What would you have said if someone told you at breakfast this morning that you would win the stage and wear yellow?"
Bakelants: "I would have said, 'You are mad, you are crazy!' I would have smashed him in the mouth! And now I have this lovely jersey: I will sleep in it tonight."

And in defence of P&P (and that of ASO), they did change their identification of the leader, and eventual winner, from Irizar to Bakelants with about 1 km left.

 

[del1962]

Great stage and great for Bakelants to win and take yellow (though I would not have minded Millar in yellow)

Froome's attack was obviously so that he could descend on his own terms and I doubt took much out of him.

Interesting tough no top sprinter other than Sagan (not even Kristoff) mase front group.

The standings may even allow for a succesful break tomorrow though I fear Eurocar will spoil that,

 

[manafana]

Great stage and great for Bakelants to win and take yellow (though I would not have minded Millar in yellow)

Froome's attack was obviously so that he could descend on his own terms and I doubt took much out of him.

Interesting tough no top sprinter other than Sagan (not even Kristoff) mase front group.

The standings may even allow for a succesful break tomorrow though I fear Eurocar will spoil that,

well going over top firt is no harm if hes feeling within himself nice safe downhill then. interesting to see roche as domestique suits him much more.

 

[Dutchsmurf]

Looks like I was right about the pure sprinters getting dropped on the Cat 2/3 climbs mid stage. Cavendish finished 17 minutes down. Lots of people were assuming today would be a Cavendish win but a quick look at the stage profile suggested otherwise.

If FDJ hadn't put that much effort in it, the sprinters would have gotten over it just fine maybe. I really wonder why they did that.

 

[Bala Verde]

Very exciting finish. Awesome result for Bakelants.

 

[The Principal Sheep]

If FDJ hadn't put that much effort in it, the sprinters would have gotten over it just fine maybe. I really wonder why they did that.

My guess would be as spoilers to Tommy Voeckler's attack and Kadri already being up the road, perhaps missed the break and wanted some TV time on first weekend of tour.

 

[gustienordic]

I'm curious why Coppel & Taarmae both lost a big chunk of time today. Taarmae has been having a bad year so far, so maybe a lack of form? His climbing has seemed to go downhill, and Coppel should have been able to handle the climbs quite a bit better...

 

[Roderick]

If FDJ hadn't put that much effort in it, the sprinters would have gotten over it just fine maybe. I really wonder why they did that.

They wanted to challenge RaboBlancoBelkin for the 'worst tactic-award'

 

[Koba80]

Just watched the stage, was that actually an enjoyable stage in week 1 of the tour?

Thoughts:
1. Damn, the dog and its owner. Both with the same size brains, evidently
2. Non-Kazakh 'Stan Top Ten GC, yes! Davai Serozh!
3. Froome attack: can't believe no one has mentioned what actually happened yet - it is obvious, he had the legs, but Wiggins called him back...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Gesink, with his bruised rib, is still in it. Although he seemed to be suffering like hell. And (apparently) he was a water carrier for Mollema.


? Costa made the front group today.

gesink isnt going for the gc anyway, so who really gives a flying ****

 

[Racelap]

I may have just felt the tiniest, faintest bit of schadenfreude over seeing Cav getting blown up on the climbs after his Twitter whinging yesterday.

Just a tiny bit, mind you.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Mollema quite cool in front of the tv camera: "when Froome went, I could have gone with him, but I thought: what the hell is he doing? So I didn't bother."

Yeah, everyone just let Froome go away on the climb. It was a silly attack.

 

[Carols]

OK, make your mind up! One post you're saying it wasn't a poor choice to attack, the next you're saying he should be more cautious...

I really wouldn't equate what Froome did today with, say, Ryder's early charges in the Giro which fizzled out pretty quickly. I'll go back to what I said originally. He could get to the front of the descent without much bother at all and chose to do so to minimise risks. Sound play.

OK, so today it all amounted to nothing, but it was a tricky descent. Had there been a crash, he would have been universally acclaimed as 'shrewd'.

IMO Froome suffers from a belief he has unlimited energy to spend. Witness his pulling for Swift in the Vuelta last year as if he wasn't in a GC hunt.

Today he used little energy but it was an indication that mindset still exists. I don't think today was stupid, but I suspect he will do it again and again, eventually paying for it in week 3. But that is just my opinion

 

[wwabbit]

Probably a calculated move as a result of what happened to Wiggins in the Giro. Expend a little more energy at the end of the climb to get a gap, then take the descent at a slower safer pace

 

[gunara]

.... he has unlimited energy to spend.

at one point of the attack I feared he's right, I was almost led to believe that he was Pantani, Kelly, Jalabert and Indurain merged into one and we just hadn't seen the real him yet, Sagan had nothing on him anytime he cared I'm serious, seriously scared by this guy

 

[SKSemtex]

Excelent stage even with those last 12 km.

Nice and well deserved win by Bakelants, that´s the way I like it. He did not give up like the others and found the extra energy - win or die - magic.

I am quite surprised that Sagan was not watching the Chavanel wheeel in the end, relying on peloton without any sprinters and they leadouts in it. Anyway I am very very happy that he is OK after that terrible crash in Bastia. He was hurt quite badly.

OFQS are idiots, why did even Velits have to help Cav. What a waste of people. There was no chance he would have missed the limit even with only one, two guys helping him. I hope he will have at least some free ticket for break today.

 

[personal]

Yeah, everyone just let Froome go away on the climb. It was a silly attack.

Reminded me of what Hesjedal did in Giro.

 

[pastronef]

Johan Bruyneel @JohanBruyneel 18h
So happy 2 c @Jan_Bakelants in yellow. After all the bad luck, the hard work and the sacrifices, he deserves this like no other.

 

[Cimber]

Probably a calculated move as a result of what happened to Wiggins in the Giro. Expend a little more energy at the end of the climb to get a gap, then take the descent at a slower safer pace

Ye I think thats the plan. But in that case it does show that he is afraid of the descents.