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2014 Tour de France July 18, Stage 13: Saint-Étienne - Chamrousse 197.5km

Page 3 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
Escarabajo said:
Do you think Valverde will pull a Cobo?

depends on what you mean by pulling a cobo. juanjo is a talented bike rider with an unstable mind. valverde, quite the opposite.
many from movistar say that valverde did choose to start the tour without a big form that's why he skipped dauphine/suisse and peak tremendously for the third week. nairito also last year was possibly the strongest in the 3rd week.
looking at the weather, purito, papy and bala should smile.
i hope for a big show tomorrow
 
May 19, 2011
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yespatterns said:
Nibali to take it followed by Piti. cameos by Pinot, Bardet and Morrano. I would mention Porte, but this will probably be his bad day.

very likely, I also think Pinot might not be that good in this stage, in the interview, he said he does not like the heat.
 
Aug 4, 2010
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LaFlorecita said:
Pinot! I hope
I guess he has at least 2 fans here then:)
maxmartin said:
Pinot for the win LOL he most likely will be dropped
maxmartin said:
lose at least 50 seconds to Nibali. And he does not like heat, prefer wet and cold. And the best climber has not won a single uphill stage, are u high?
LOL,avatar bet?:eek:
if he loses more than 40secs to Nibali you'll win,if less I win.
Dekker_Tifosi said:
Mollema feels his legs are renewed after the rest day and feels like last year now. Epxect him to do better. But still not good enough to follow Porte, Pinot, Valverde and Bardet/Peraud
Thanks for good news dt;)
 
Nice to see Pinot getting lots of mentions here. Much as I'd like it I don't see that happening.
Break FTW, I'll go with Roche.
Richie, Piti and Nibali arrive almost together, Valverde sprinting for a much coveted 2 seconds.
 
Oct 23, 2011
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I don't think Pinot likes the weather too much. But if he isn't affected by it too much I see him doing well. This type of climb should suite him better than the Vosges I think, though the weather doesn't.
 
murali said:
Navarro might actually do it. He is pretty much out of the GC race. Also, i think he might want some UCI points as this is his second yr in Confidis.

if the rules didn't change this year, I don't think Cofidis can score points in a World Tour race. (But it does not really matter anyway, a Tour win is a Tour win)

Carols said:
I'm going with Purito. He will be off on an adventure for mountain points. I can't see Astana wanting this, Nibs can let a few go while keeping the people he needs to under control. Two races, one for the stage and further down the mountain one for the GC. Nibs will win the GC one :)

maybe, he must hope for the breakaway to be established on the 1st climb then though. Making the cut on the flat will be tough for him, he won't have Sagan around to do all the work every time...
 
I can't speak to their current form (whether getting better or worse at this point), but it certainly seems like AG2R has cards to play. Try alternating attacks (not all-out) from Peraud and Bardet, and see if eventually they're let go and maybe the riders in the lead group (Astana/BMC/Sky) start playing chicken with each other as to who will chase down Peraud/Bardet?

Or, like others are saying, AG2R is thrilled to be where they are right now and content to just follow and hold their current positions, hoping Porte or Pinot have a bad day.:rolleyes:
 
Sciatic said:
I can't speak to their current form (whether getting better or worse at this point), but it certainly seems like AG2R has cards to play. Try alternating attacks (not all-out) from Peraud and Bardet, and see if eventually they're let go and maybe the riders in the lead group (Astana/BMC/Sky) start playing chicken with each other as to who will chase down Peraud/Bardet?

Or, like others are saying, AG2R is thrilled to be where they are right now and content to just follow and hold their current positions, hoping Porte or Pinot have a bad day.:rolleyes:

Lavenu, team manager Ag2R says:

Of course, if there's a chance to attack, we'll take it. But you can not attack recklessly. Today, you don't attack like in the Merckx days . When Nibali attacked at La Planche des Belles Filles, he didn't take more than 15 seconds on Thibaut Pinot in the end. We must play it clever.

That's what they think. Play it "clever".
 
May 19, 2011
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ILovecycling said:
I guess he has at least 2 fans here then:)


LOL,avatar bet?:eek:
if he loses more than 40secs to Nibali you'll win,if less I win.

Thanks for good news dt;)

I am not a gambler, I am a logical thinker.:p
 
Mar 14, 2009
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One of the Tinkov boys will take the stage from the break.

King Leo to attack on the last climb to get back some of the 3min he lost when that "IDIOT" Talansky took him down.

Would be cool if he would get into the break but as per his own words, he is just trying to slowly climb up the ladder.
 
AG2R don't have the talent to do anything aginst Nibali.

Valverde has always failed in the Tour. If he does something tomorrow will be a surprise.

Porte is an unknown as a leader. His form before the Tour was not the best, but if he shows his form from the third week last year then we have some challenge for Nibali.

Pinot. He is a great talent. He might get agressive tomorrow. But is the other unknown. Not sure if he is shooting for something big. At least with Quintana you could see in his attitude he was aiming big from the beginning. Not sure with Pinot. Seems to have the talent. And probably the only one to have the power to defeat Nibali.

Nibali. Lack of good form pre-Tour could show in the remaining of the Tour. I doubt it. He is the one to beat.
 
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Rollthedice said:
Lavenu, team manager Ag2R says:



That's what they think. Play it "clever".

wtf...they have a once in a lifetime opportunity of two men not too far from the podium. they have to make something out of this.
 
May 19, 2011
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ILovecycling said:
You can make conditions,whatever you what,Im confident about Pinot.
Its not about gambling,its about knowledge;)

ok just for the purpose of fun. Let's do this, if TP wins, I wear AC in yellow jersey pic for three days. If VN wins, you wear VN in yellow jersey pic for three days. If neither of them wins, nothing happened. On board?
 
Escarabajo said:
AG2R don't have the talent to do anything aginst Nibali.

I agree: my point isn't that either will be stronger than Nibali, or stronger than Pinot or Porte for that matter. But if they are capable (genuine question), and they were to take turns "going up the road" (not all-out attacks) it's possible that after several tries the big guys in the group will start looking at each other and saying "you go chase them this time." And maybe either Bardet or Peraud (more likely) is finally let loose. Eventually Astana would turn the screws to bring that escapee back if they got to a virtual yellow situation. But if that forces Astana's hand, that will leave them a little more vulnerable to counter-attacks.

Or not. :p
 
At some point Rudy Molard has to be in the break of the day for Cofidis. Could tomorrow be that day? The young Frenchies are on a roll, so I hope Rudy can pull off something special. Or perhaps all hopes will be pinned on Navarro?

For a breakaway rider to survive the final climb from a high tempo GC battle behind I think he has to be a very strong rider. For that reason I think Rogers is the most likely candidate. Roche just doesn't seem to quite have what it takes to me.

Purito will probably want the big KoM points on the finish line, and of course the stage win, so could be hard to beat.
 
Aug 4, 2010
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maxmartin said:
ok just for the purpose of fun. Let's do this, if TP wins, I wear AC in yellow jersey pic for three days. If VN wins, you wear VN in yellow jersey pic for three days. If neither of them wins, nothing happened. On board?
Not really favourable,but it should be fun at least.Deal.
 

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