2014 Tour de France, Stage 5: Ypres – Arenberg Porte du Hainaut: 156km

[Rollthedice]

That's actually pretty cool. After a stage like this, glad to see them so relaxed. I don't think AC and his boys are going to be posting a pic like that

Why should he be worried? Froome is out of the picture so he is set for third place, his goal.

 

[Parrulo]

LOL!

But in all seriousness, ASO needs to think twice before including stages like this in the Tour. Sure we all love the drama created by a roundabout stage, but look at all the crashes those roundabouts caused. At least a dozen riders down on roundabouts ... Do we want a race or a lottery? Hopefully this little experiment has run its course and next year all stages will be roundabout-free.

Imo they should just race it on the rolles, no crashes and the strongest would win.

Bike racing is not about bike handling and racing smarts

 

[veji11]

LOL!

But in all seriousness, ASO needs to think twice before including stages like this in the Tour. Sure we all love the drama created by a roundabout stage, but look at all the crashes those roundabouts caused. At least a dozen riders down on roundabouts ... Do we want a race or a lottery? Hopefully this little experiment has run its course and next year all stages will be roundabout-free.

It wasn't the stage design per se, it was the rain... you have roundabouts everywhere now in France.

 

[The Hitch]

According to Riis, Contador had problems with his gear.

Contador relies on excuses more than Evans.

 

[DominicDecoco]

Contador relies on excuses more than Evans.

Is the correct answer. Always something wrong isn't there.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Contador relies on excuses more than Evans.

Well, in his defense, he is riding Sram, so mechanicals are expected.

But yeah, the ol' "my brakes were rubbing" type of excuse is getting old. The only mechanical problem Contador had was trying to remove Nibali's Sidis from his rear end.

 

[Walkman]

They're riding cobbles. You think he should be standing?

No, but you can't produce the same about of output while sitting down, hence it was remarkably that Nibali could drop the heavier, stronger, more experienced riders who are used to make those kinds of attacks. Never before has Nibali shown the raw power he demonstrated today.

 

[willbick]

i think Froomes gonna have a nightmare. surely riding the cobbles with an at best sore wrist will be grim. wouldn't be shocked if he DNF to be honest. could even result in a surprise winner of the tour if its real carnage

Hey, i got something right for once!!

 

[theyoungest]

In the mood with a short stage, Boom is the best.

Nibali is strong and he has a big gap. He is now the big favourite to win.

The distance isn't Boom's problem. He's had some bad luck in recent editions of Paris-Roubaix, but he could have already won it... certainly in the way Terpstra did.

 

[Walkman]

Contador relies on excuses more than Evans.

You still think that Evans was faking the mechanical in the -11 Tour?

 

[go crazy]

No, but you can't produce the same about of output while sitting down, hence it was remarkably that Nibali could drop the heavier, stronger, more experienced riders who are used to make those kinds of attacks. Never before has Nibali shown the raw power he demonstrated today.

LIES! Froome confirmed IN THE WIND TUNNEL that seated accelerations are by far more aero. Come on man!

 

[trevim]

Contador relies on excuses more than Evans.

“Well, we lost about 2 and a half minutes to a very strong riding Nibali but we’re still confident. Alberto lost touch with the back wheel of Vincenzo and we simply couldn’t close the gap even with the help from other teams. Fortunately, he didn’t crash at any point and he didn’t have any punctures and not having any crashes is very important concerning the rest of the race. We’re five days into the race. Alberto is in peak shape and better than he was in Dauphine and we’re going to do some hard mountain stages. So, we’re still absolutely confident but aware that there’s some hard work to be done in order to make it back to the top of the rankings,” says DS, Steven De Jongh.

Riis is full of cr***

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

No, but you can't produce the same about of output while sitting down, hence it was remarkably that Nibali could drop the heavier, stronger, more experienced riders who are used to make those kinds of attacks. Never before has Nibali shown the raw power he demonstrated today.

Well, to be fair, I was also quite surprised to see the degree to which Nibali dominated this. Frankly, I didn't expect Thomas and Porte to ride away from the Contador/Valverde/Van Garderen group either. Or to see Talansky finish in front of Contador, etc.

 

[go crazy]

Contador relies on excuses more than Evans.

Well did he, or did he not have a mechanical? If he's full of it, ok, but if he actually did have a mechanical, what else can he say?

 

[go crazy]

Hey, i got something right for once!!

'cept poor ol Froome boy crashed on that pesky smooth tarmac stuff, not the cobbles.

 

[MBotero]

**** this so Froome is done,somehow after yesterday crash i was kinda expecting this,still i'm so angry about it.Now let's see if Little Richie have what it takes to challenge the big guys.Anyway Nibali was the alien today,sensational riding,congrats to him,he got a decent gap maybe is enough to get him the TDF win.

 

[Jagartrott]

First of all, the best thing about this stage was that the GC riders were separated by their ability to ride on the cobbles and not because of a stupid crash like in 2010.

Biggest winners:
+ Nibali and his entire Astana team who did an amazing job. Hats off.
+ Porte getting leadership status and starting it by gaining time in everybody except Nibali; good job from Thomas there.
+ Belkin/Boom: I'm glad they trade the opportunity to give Mollema a minute or so in GC for a stage win. Right choice in my book.

Biggest losers:
- Every GC contender not named Nibali. Specially Contador because he's the only one who will not be satisfied with a podium finish. That's a good result for every other GC rider there.
- Cancellara/Sagan: it's amazing how they prefer to lose the race for anyone else as long as they don't work with each other. So much love between those two.
- Vanmarcke: Simply because it will be a few years until he gets an opportunity to get a Tour stage win.
- Froome.

Your assessment of the GC riders is a bit harsh and selective I think. For me, apart from Nibali, Kwiatkowski, JVDB and Talansky would be winners, as were Pinot and Bardet (as everyone expected those to do worse).

Contador is the only major loser, together with top-10 contenders like Schleck, Horner etc. And Froome, obviously.

 

[The Hitch]

Lemond asked about who will win tomorrow. Begins by declaring he won't predict the stage because he doesn't want to. Talks vaguely for the next 5 minutes about how riders who haven't yet won a stage might have something to prove and how riders get better or worse as days go on. Concludes that a sprinter might win tomorrow.

 

[inri2000]

Well did he, or did he not have a mechanical? If he's full of it, ok, but if he actually did have a mechanical, what else can he say?

Don't bother arguing, Hitch epitomizes the expression, fairweather fan

 

[dduff442]

No, but you can't produce the same about of output while sitting down, hence it was remarkably that Nibali could drop the heavier, stronger, more experienced riders who are used to make those kinds of attacks. Never before has Nibali shown the raw power he demonstrated today.

Nibali likes to mix it up, though, especially in the wet. St 6 of the Tirreno last year for example.

 

[DenisMenchov]

So which stage are Astana going to give the jersey away? Stage 8 would be my guess.

 

[Climbing]

Any stage replay somewhere?!?!

 

[trevim]

So which stage are Astana going to give the jersey away? Stage 8 would be my guess.

Saxo, Movistar and maybe Sky will make sure they have it

 

[UpTheRoad]

Why is anyone complaining about the crashes? It's still the first week of the TdF. It's always a crashfest during the first week.

Only this time we get the crashfest on a highly anticipated stage.

 

[deValtos]

I think Contador was the only GC favourite not to crash ?

Froome/Nibali/VDB/Porte/Talansky/Valverde/Tejay all went down.

Ah nvm think Costa/Mollema stayed upright, oddly enough them and Contador lost the most time.