2014 Tour de France Stage 4: Le Touquet-Paris-Plage / Lille Métropole: 163km, flat

[classicomano]

Kittel looked weak without his lead out men luckily he had the best lead out man in the world Renshaw's wheel

I dont think Kittel can win any sprints without a proper lead out

Right ....

 

[roosters76]

What about Canc?

Was he saving himself for tmw when got dropped in that grupetto midstage or he's simply in a bad shape? I think that botched attack in the first stage finale didn't add to his confidence either. He should be up there though.

 

[Walkman]

And we saw how well that worked out for him. Yesterday we saw that it's not going to be possible to win from behind him, so what's the logic in letting Kittel in front of you with 200m to go?

Force him out early and hope he can't stand the distance. And it wasn't unreasonable. Kittel was nearly beaten today.

 

[kingjr]

I dont think Kittel can win any sprints without a proper lead out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIH3GcuWy9s

 

[willbick]

its true that kittel benefits greatly from his team keeping him in good position coz he wouldnt be the best at getting himself in good position. partly because being a very big unit he would'nt be the best at bike handling/cornering and partly because he isnt in the Cav/Bouhanni mould of nutters willing to take risks to win. obviously this doesnt always pay off (see Cav stage 1 !!)

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

Force him out early and hope he can't stand the distance. And it wasn't unreasonable. Kittel was nearly beaten today.

But not by Renshaw...

 

[roosters76]

Vanmarke, Canc, and Terpstra may disagree.

I think it'll be more about a momentum that Kristoff and Sagan carry right now.

 

[indianfanboy]

I think it'll be more about a momentum that Kristoff and Sagan carry right now.

What about Demare he did well in the Paris-Roubaix

 

[kingjr]

Has Bakelants crashed again btw? cause he's listed same time with the stage winner but arrived in a group 1.32 back.

 

[Zam_Olyas]

Not when he was in Sky,last year and even during his time in HTC

Libertine will talk to you shortly.

 

[SKSemtex]

Good job by Sagi in defending green. He almost lost it today.

Although Kittel does not care about the green, together with Degenkolb and boys like Kristoff, Gerrans, Coquard they can take it from him.

Sagan was scoring 400 + points because after first week nobodody has a chance. If Kittel wins all the flat sprints, Sagan need to work hard every single stage for every point and he cannot afford to crush.

 

[indianfanboy]

I meant that HTC have not done a proper lead out every single time though i didnot convey it properly...my bad

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Can't!?

You don't know ****, hahaha..

He let off to force Kittel. Kind of obvious.

I think you are the one who knows ****. Why would Renshaw let a gap in perfect position lol. Kind of obvious you know ****

 

[roosters76]

What about Demare he did well in the Paris-Roubaix

Good point. I'm really bad at reading this guy. He's very inconsistent.

 

[kingjr]

Tbf, it did look like Renshaw was trying to do something clever. Didn't look like he thought it through though.

 

[The Hitch]

What about Canc?

Maybe, but this isn't 260k with 100km of cobble sections.

It's like compare galibier 2013 giro as the sole raced climb on a short stage with 2011 galibier as the final of 3 hc climbs. One had half the peloton roll in with the hos group, the other had some of the biggest gaps the tour has seen in years.

Canc relies on the difficulty of Paris roubaix to succeed there. That difficulty is not here tomorrow.

 

[SKSemtex]

What a pity no real breaks are allowed so far. Kittel did not looked so dominant at all today. If they let Giant work more hard during the stage we could have some more fun.

Probably.

 

[indianfanboy]

What a pity no real breaks are allowed so far. Kittel desn´t looked so dominant at all today. If they let Giant work more hard during the stage we could have some more fun.

Probably.

Yeah Lotto should stop doinng all the work and consider letting a bigger breakwaway go

 

[gunara]

Thing about Kittel stages is you try to watch as late as possible so you can do as many other things as possible and end up miss it entirely, and you do the same for the rerun.

 

[Tonton]

Good point. I'm really bad at reading this guy. He's very inconsistent.

Inconsistent is not the right word: he hasn't raced enough. He has won quite a bit against lesser opponents i.e. at the 4 days of Dunkirk. Being a first-timer pretty much every time he lines up for a race, we can't expect him to be a front runner every single time against the big boys on the big stage. Eventually, he'll find the courses that fit him best and set his schedule accordingly. Anyways, what a sprint today: great future for Demare.

 

[Hugo87]

Why Greipel is so bad this year?

Lotto every stage is literally killing themselves at front and he doesn't even try to do something.

 

[winkybiker]

Farrar

10ch

Farrar is a sprinter?

 

[argyllflyer]

Why Greipel is so bad this year?

Lotto every stage is literally killing themselves at front and he doesn't even try to do something.

Bad accident earlier in season, not raced that much since, story is he now lacks confidence.

 

[Warhawk]

Farrar is a sprinter?

Are you kidding? Farrar is the fastest sprinter in the world! Just you wait, one day he'll get to the end of a stage without crashing, and you'll see!

 

[jaylew]

Why Greipel is so bad this year?

Lotto every stage is literally killing themselves at front and he doesn't even try to do something.

Actually he's won more races than anyone in the peloton this year despite being injured for part of the year. But yeah, he's been disappointing so far this Tour. He did try to do a little something today but he waited until way too late to move up. He was a little ahead of Sagan when he made his move forward in the final k but was too tentative. And even though he moved up to 6th at the end he never really looked like he was going for it. He barely even got out of the saddle

I don't know, he certainly doesn't seem his usual self right now.