2014 Paris Nice, Stage 8: Nice - Nice 129km

[BigMac]

2014 Paris - Nice, Stage 8: Nice - Nice 129km

The grand finale is upon us. GC win is still not decided, place your bets.

 

[BigMac]

Costa will be all in on Èze and get his gap on the descent. Bye Bye Carlos Alberto.

 

[Jspear]

I would like Costa to take the win, as well as the overall. It would be nice to see the Road champ with some early success.

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

La Machine.

 

[IlCobraFan]

Spilak could do something.

 

[will10]

Chavanel for the stage, group of 20 behind with Betancur celebrating at 50m to go.

Nice to see the Eze back in it's other traditional slot.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Would be nicer to see it back in the double directly off the back of La Turbie, but this'll do I guess. There is still a good chance that with enough recuperation time between Peille and Èze, José Joaquín Rojas can defend a top 5 GC placement, which for a sprinter at P-N is pretty hilarious.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Costa will be all in on Èze and get his gap on the descent. Bye Bye Carlos Alberto.

costa dropping betancurt in a descend

 

[The Blues]

Personally, I'll cheer for Fuglsang to drop at least Rojas and Stybar, so that he can get on the podium. Whether it's realistic I am not quite sure, but he has had the legs to attack in almost every finale so far (hilly stages, obviously).

Oh, and I hope we'll see something from one of the Schlecks tomorrow. Fränk is no GC-threat now (if he ever was), so they'll probably let him go in a break.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Chava has attacked lots, but he appears weaker than before. Can't see him getting a win.

ag2r will control this tight, perhaps with the help of other French friends.

Still hoping Stybar can get a win here.

 

[rghysens]

Still hoping Stybar can get a win here.

Probably too difficult for Stybar.

 

[trevim]

costa dropping betancurt in a descend

At this point seems more likely than in the ascents even with Betancourt overweight

 

[Afrank]

A number of guys I could see winning here. The one I keep coming back to though is Stybar. Betancur to defend his overall I think. Wouldn't mind seeing a Jungels, Gallopin, or Costa win either.

 

[qwerty16]

Would be nicer to see it back in the double directly off the back of La Turbie, but this'll do I guess. There is still a good chance that with enough recuperation time between Peille and Èze, José Joaquín Rojas can defend a top 5 GC placement, which for a sprinter at P-N is pretty hilarious.

It's not hilarious, Rojas can hold himself well in week-long races, even if they feature real mountains (Tirreno, Switzerland, P-N) when he's not on domestique duty. He has finished in the top 20 of Paris-Nice twice already, despite losing a considerable amount of time in the one (2011) or two (2012) time trials.

 

[Christian]

AG2R winning this would be the equivalent to Wigan winning the Champion's League, so I am really hoping they get it!!

 

[Dazed and Confused]

AG2R winning this would be the equivalent to Wigan winning the Champion's League, so I am really hoping they get it!!

Without Bardet's incident on stage 1 and Vuillermoz's crash on stage 6, they would likely have placed 3 riders in top 10.

By far the strongest team here.

Also very strong in T-A.

Many team will be below ag2r this year imo.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Slagter and Kelderman to drop everyone and make a 1-2

 

[podunavac]

Nibali on the descent to Nica is sure bet. Maybe he'll manage to stay away.
Betancur should be able to keep the jersey.

 

[maltiv]

Rojas for the win.

And by win I mean fourth place.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Rojas for the win.

And by win I mean fourth place.

Question for you.
This parcours (overall) seems pretty good for EBH. Whats happening?

 

[jaylew]

Slagter and Kelderman to drop everyone and make a 1-2

Never change, Ruben.

 

[hfer07]

costa dropping betancurt in a descend

pfff- The extra kilos will come handy on the descent

 

[manafana]

stybar will go well as will rojas or gallopin or vichot who was very visible today.

 

[The Barb]

Voeckler had a bit of a try yesterday and when he was pulled back just soft-pedaled to the line, dropping another five minutes.

His day today?

 

[William H]

AG2R winning this would be the equivalent to Wigan winning the Champion's League, so I am really hoping they get it!!

I thought Garmin were Wigan