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

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Sciatic said:
Oh good, I'll make sure to watch with the French announcers to see if they mockingly laugh and say (when he briefly puts his **** on the saddle), "Oh, look, he's sitting down." :D

"oulalala il est a l'aise le petit americain...sur le pedales pendant trente minutes. voila,c'est christopher horner qui gagne l'etape de chamrousse avec 3 minutes d'avance sur valverde. quelle performance,chapeau monsieur horner!"

with thierry adams voice of course


i would love it if papy goes in the attack today.
 
Jun 4, 2014
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I still hope Richie will attack on this stage,but from what i read yesterday it doesn't look like it,maybe he''ll try tomorrow since he knows Risoul climb.So i put all my hopes for a great race in the hands of Valverde, ,this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for him to win Le Tour,i hope he doesn't blow it.El Bala for the win in Chamrousse.
 
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Dazed and Confused said:
Again, its the same model. Just a strong train from one of the teams on the last climb and the watt guys sprints in the end. I think its pretty boring. You can't convince me otherwise. I understand you think its interesting however. There are things I find interesting, that you might go to sleep over.

The stage I found most compelling GC wise at CdD was the last one where Contador lost as a result of a weak team and aggressive racing from some riders at the start of the stage. That whole stage was exciting. More than 1 hour of proper race action.

Today's stage could deliver, but it requires ag2r and Sky drops the train and wheelsucking concept and gets to work early on the stage. Movistar too, but I doubt they will be in business before the 2nd rest day.

So my expectations are always low on MTFs regardless of who participates.

But I can always be surprised to the upside.
And you think there wouldnt be any of these stages if there were Froome,Contador,Nibali together?
 
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MBotero said:
I still hope Richie will attack on this stage,but from what i read yesterday it doesn't look like it,maybe he''ll try tomorrow since he knows Risoul climb.So i put all my hopes for a great race in the hands of Valverde, ,this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for him to win Le Tour,i hope he doesn't blow it.El Bala for the win in Chamrousse.
You mean this?:cool:
3626001.jpg
 
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Dazed and Confused said:
There would be even less.
Three strong teams means even bigger chance of trains on the last climb (MTF).
Its obvious to me.
Not that strong in comparison with their leader power imo.Those trains wouldnt have last long I think.BMC had strong team in 2011,Katusha had strong team in 2012,nothing helped,if leaders are in such an epic form and create chaos.There is not a team who can handle this imho.
 
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jens_attacks said:
the word is that valverde prepares to peak like an angel. might be the alpes,might be the pyrenees. but he will get better and now the weather is perfect for him. i think in this stage he will follow nibali and sprint for the win.
it will be very interesting how hard will they ride over palaquit. i also expect papy and purito to be up there

Wheres 'Berto when we need him, the notion of following Nibali and sprinting for the win may well happen, but the newly crowned Italian Champ is unlikely to be concerned. He can afford a handful of seconds every day. What we need is more of Contador`s gung ho insanitry. He may have been tacticaly nieve last year, but sheesh, he was fun to watch.
So Valverde, Porte, Tejay et al. Attack.
 
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Break FTW, probably one of Tinkoff guys. I'd bet Rogers/Majka.

Nibali, Porte, JvDB, Valverde and Bardet for GC battle. Gallopin, Rolland, Costa & Kwiatkowski losing some time.
 
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HappyLoser said:
Break FTW, probably one of Tinkoff guys. I'd bet Rogers/Majka.

Nibali, Porte, JvDB, Valverde and Bardet for GC battle. Gallopin, Rolland, Costa & Kwiatkowski losing some time.
Do you think Rafal is in this kind of form?
 
Chamrousse is the kind of climb that should really suit Nibali (like there's something in this Tour that doesn't suit him...).
And I'm not convinced at all that the day's break will make it to the end, having in mind the length of Chamrousse and the overall profile.
So, I'm expecting a display of power from Astana and Nibali.
Anything else will be a huge pleasant surprise for me.
 
Escarabajo said:
Yes. On paper you are correct.

But ever since I have been watching the Tour people always make those suggestions, but the Tour is so big that everyone has their own agenda. Everyone is watching for their own interest to keep their high position in GC, so nobody wants to be the sacrificial lamb. So that situation has always played into the hands of the big favorite, whoever that person is. Even if we don't like it. That's the way that has always been. :)

That's why you always see the Vino option in every poll, because he was an anomaly. He was always attacking even if he didn't have to power. Everybody liked that.

Yes. Only rider I've seen doing anything like this this year (or in the last 3 really) is Rolland this Giro. I'm a fan as a result, at the same time I realize he doesn't have the same charisma as Vino. Still, let's hope he continues to do some nice early moves.
 

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