2014 Tour de France July 23, Stage 17: Saint-Gaudens - Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet 1

[damian13ster]

Judging from his performance on stage 13, 14 and today, I think he's one of the top 3-5 climbers, but also partly because the Tour has become a race for the 2nd tier GC riders with the absence of AC and Froome

Yeah, in this Tour? Definetely. i would rate Nibali, Pinot and Peraud in front of him. Outside of this race there is maybe 3-4 more that would be ahead of him so top 10 in the world. Not the worst TT rider either. I am kind of curious how he will do in stage 20 after having stage 19 to recover and no need to further save energy

 

[Escarabajo]

whittashau, the fight for first was over since Contador withdrew.

Start looking at the fight for second and third, white and polka dots jerseys.

 

[GroupDK]

Lucky fingers..

 

[GuyIncognito]

Same here. I can't tell Contador fanboys and fangirls from Froome fanboys since the Tour started.

The Contador fanboys I can live with, they're harmless other than Publicus.

The Nibali and Froome fanboys on the other hand, have crossed the threshold where they're indistinguishable from parodies. If I wanted to parody you guys I'd act exactly as you're acting.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

everybody complains about valverde but it was pretty impressive to survive that french attacks like that...

with help of teammates all the time. The guy can do nothing alone

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Great stage.

Short multi mountain stage in the 3rd week is the way to go imo. Very explosive action pretty much from km zero. Ok, perhaps a team should have tried a bit harder on the 2nd climb when Astana was down to very few resources. But perhaps nobody was strong enough.

Congrats to Majka with another fine win. Happy he kept the Polka dot too.

Nibali still bossing everybody while being on a Sunday ride.

The Frenchies battle is one of the better I've seen.

Please find a way to drop Valverde before the ITT.

 

[GuyIncognito]

with help of teammates all the time. The guy can do nothing alone

He can have Valverde fan conventions all by himself, I'm sure

 

[jaylew]

We surely hope so, don´t we?

Not me. I've been a Valverde fan for over a decade. That overrides GGT Game interests. Still, I guess it's a win-win for me to a certain extent.

I do think he'll wind up third after Peraud.

 

[ILovecycling]

Same here. I can't tell Contador fanboys and fangirls from Froome fanboys since the Tour started.

I can asure you all Contador fans really love Froome

 

[maxmartin]

Not me. I've been a Valverde fan for over a decade. That overrides GGT Game interests. Still, I guess it's a win-win for me to a certain extent.

I do think he'll wind up third after Peraud.

I don't think AV is that bad compared with Peraud in ITT. He could still hang on his second place. And there is one more MTF stage tomorrow.

 

[ggusta]

Same here. I can't tell Contador fanboys and fangirls from Froome fanboys since the Tour started.

they are pretty easy to tell apart, Contador fans stayed around 3 more days.

 

[willbick]

I think ITT peeformance has as much to do with the riders physical shape after 3 weeks hard riding than past TT form

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

Not me. I've been a Valverde fan for over a decade. That overrides GGT Game interests. Still, I guess it's a win-win for me to a certain extent.

I do think he'll wind up third after Peraud.

OK. I did never like him, especially how he reacted after/to his ban.

I may ask ya @ all again; is Peraud a (far) better TTler than Valv?
Thx in advance...

 

[phanatic]

No, not even close. He just looks good because he's more fresh than the GC men. Overall he isn't the best climber.

He's not more fresh. He was in the break all day (again) and rode the Giro. But we'll see how he does tomorrow. Today was a real short, if difficult, stage.

 

[Rollthedice]

The Contador fanboys I can live with, they're harmless other than Publicus.

The Nibali and Froome fanboys on the other hand, have crossed the threshold where they're indistinguishable from parodies. If I wanted to parody you guys I'd act exactly as you're acting.

You jumped from your seat when I responded to somebody who claimed Nibali couldn't drop Peraud with a joke. From here to your response it's a long way. I won't continue this argument. Peace brother.

 

[jaylew]

I don't think AV is that bad compared with Peraud in ITT. He could still hang on his second place. And there is one more MTF stage tomorrow.

He could but I think he's going to lose more time tomorrow and his form is going down while Peraud's is going up which will influence the TT.

He can have Valverde fan conventions all by himself, I'm sure

Valverde has a huge fanbase. Actually, I think he's received the 2nd most fan letters at this year's tour as well as in 2013.

 

[Tashkent Terror]

It's fun watching Hinault passing the CL cuddly Lion to the Podium Girl, I always get the impression it's a slight on his inner macho.

 

[ggusta]

It's fun watching Hinault passing the CL cuddly Lion to the Podium Girl, I always get the impression it's a slight on his inner macho.

dos equis missed the boat when they didn't hire him as the most interesting man in the world spokesman - Take that Michelob Ultra !

 

[Netserk]

I'm impressed that Majka needed Riis to tell him that.

Yeah he doesn't seem to be particularity bright. Good thing he has a radio in the ear.

 

[Kokoso]

Hope "the great" Bauke Mollema ends behind König. Not deserved.

 

[jaylew]

OK. I did never like him, especially how he reacted after/to his ban.

I may ask ya @ all again; is Peraud a (far) better TTler than Valv?
Thx in advance...

I'd say they are close when on equal form. Not much head-to-head to go on:

 

[GroupDK]

Majka barely even tried for that. Best climber in the race by a mile.

No doubt that Majka and Saxo Tinkoff deserves the polka dots.. by fare better climber then Rodriguez, so the "Polka-jersey" is where it needs to be..

But Majka vs. Nibali straight out, I consider Nibali would come out on top if you try to speculate amongst these two...

 

[Netserk]

OK. I did never like him, especially how he reacted after/to his ban.

I may ask ya @ all again; is Peraud a (far) better TTler than Valv?
Thx in advance...

Yes. He is also on an upward trajectory, opposite Valverde. I think he will take more than a minute on Valverde in the ITT.

 

[Netserk]

Lucky fingers..

So old. So thin.

 

[FoxxyBrown1111]

I'd say they are close when on equal form. Not much head-to-head to go on:

thx... how to do the direct comparisons on cq? great tool it seems...