2014 Tour de France, Stage 7: Epernay–Nancy (234.5 Km)

[dduff442]

Sagan's been looking so depressed I have to wish him all the best on this one.

 

[Frosty]

Stef Clement crashes and retires

 

[mrhender]

Not disagreeing. It came out of earlier discussion about the possibility of offloading the jersey. I think its very difficult regardless of the scenario.

http://www.bt.dk/cykling/overraskende-plan-astana-vil-have-fuglsang-i-den-gule-foerertroeje
Danish article..

Apparently they plan for Fuglsang to overtake yellow.. (fuglsangs own words)
To spare Nibali from all the extra duties that it provides..

Interesting tactic...

 

[Dazed and Confused]

http://www.bt.dk/cykling/overraskende-plan-astana-vil-have-fuglsang-i-den-gule-foerertroeje
Danish article..

Apparently they plan for Fuglsang to overtake yellow.. (fuglsangs own words)
To spare Nibali from all the extra duties that it provides..

Interesting tactic...

That would be smart and even doable.

 

[Stetoe]

Anyone think Coquard has a good chance or is it wishful thinking?

 

[murali]

http://www.bt.dk/cykling/overraskende-plan-astana-vil-have-fuglsang-i-den-gule-foerertroeje
Danish article..

Apparently they plan for Fuglsang to overtake yellow.. (fuglsangs own words)
To spare Nibali from all the extra duties that it provides..

Interesting tactic...

whts the difference? Astana will still have to work. ideal to give it to a team tht cant match them in the mountains in week 3.

 

[wirral]

Not disagreeing. It came out of earlier discussion about the possibility of offloading the jersey. I think its very difficult regardless of the scenario.

Indeed, I have looked at all scenarios. Really can't see it and don't think it is necessary as Astana will do little today. There is the yellow jersey protocol which is a pain for Nibali.

 

[jens_attacks]

this stage name, i like

cheers!

 

[mrhender]

That would be smart and even doable.

Indeed.. And I don't think Fuglsang has any objections to this strategy

 

[Cimber]

Stef Clement crashes and retires

 

[Frosty]

whts the difference? Astana will still have to work. ideal to give it to a team tht cant match them in the mountains in week 3.

I think the idea is that the yellow jersey has to do lots of interviews, etc, at the end of the stage which eats into recovery time. Nibali losing 3 seconds on a stage now could be more than compensated for him recovering better for the big stages later on.

 

[mrhender]

whts the difference? Astana will still have to work. ideal to give it to a team tht cant match them in the mountains in week 3.

The difference is the daily extra interwievs, time spent on everyday doping controls etc.. The plan is to enable Nibali to concentrate on nothing else but his racing i guess..
And keeping the jersey within the team is still good PR IMO..

 

[Cimber]

whts the difference? Astana will still have to work. ideal to give it to a team tht cant match them in the mountains in week 3.

In the article the point is that they want to relief Nibali from all the bureaucratic stuff that wearing the yellow jersey entails: a lot more interviews, more time consuming doping controls and in general just mouch more focus.

And added benefit could be it would be a nice "gift" for his most important helper.

 

[murali]

i still dont buy it.
imo, astana shud handover the jersey to a sagan or a kwiato to take care of the entire yellow jersey responsibility. let the entire squad rest.

i think tht they had expected sagan to win stage 5.

For nibali, a fully recovered fugslang is also equally important.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Now Cannondale leading the bunch. This break is doomed.

The break was doomed the moment they got away.

 

[murali]

break has less than 2.5 min. dont understand the reason why sagan wants to reel the break so early.

only thing i can tink is tht they close down the gap a bit more aand then pull back to rest.

 

[mrhender]

i still dont buy it.
imo, astana shud handover the jersey to a sagan or a kwiato to take care of the entire yellow jersey responsibility. let the entire squad rest.

i think tht they had expected sagan to win stage 5.

For nibali, a fully recovered fugslang is also equally important.

Agreed..
But yellow also provides good PR for the team..
It's hard to offload the jersey to your liking, then why not do the next best thing since Nibali certainly is more important? Also i think Vino is too proud just to let it go as long as can't control the process more..
This is an opportunity that they can control..

 

[Eyeballs Out]

If Fuglsang can attack and gain a few seconds - fine. Nibali giving up time on purpose just seems silly. What if it really came down to a matter of seconds in Paris ?

 

[Tom T.]

i still dont buy it.
imo, astana shud handover the jersey to a sagan or a kwiato to take care of the entire yellow jersey responsibility. let the entire squad rest.

i think tht they had expected sagan to win stage 5.

For nibali, a fully recovered fugslang is also equally important.

Easier said than done. Those guys are 44 and 50 seconds back, other teams might have something to say about them going up the road in a break to grab the jersey. Maybe someone further back like Cancellara, Bardet or Thomas can get in the break tomorrow where the sprinters' teams won't be chasing.

 

[Cimber]

i still dont buy it.
imo, astana shud handover the jersey to a sagan or a kwiato to take care of the entire yellow jersey responsibility. let the entire squad rest.

i think tht they had expected sagan to win stage 5.

For nibali, a fully recovered fugslang is also equally important.

So is a motivated Fuglsang. Getting him the jesey might give him more sense of loyalty and a motivation to pay back, cos so far the interviews I have read regarding Fuglsang he has focused a lot on his own chance.

 

[mrhender]

If Fuglsang can attack and gain a few seconds - fine. Nibali giving up time on purpose just seems silly. What if it really came down to a matter of seconds in Paris ?

Yes it will seem as an atrocity to drop back frome everyone to offload the jersey risking the excact thing you say..
But let's think about it..
What is the chance of another 8 second GT win? close to zero i would say..
Furthermore this plan could give Nibali the final edge he needs beeing totally fresh without a all the extra duties.. IMO it's easily more worth than a loss of 3 seconds to other contenders..

 

[el_angliru]

Easier said than done. Those guys are 44 and 50 seconds back, other teams might have something to say about them going up the road in a break to grab the jersey. Maybe someone further back like Cancellara, Bardet or Thomas can get in the break tomorrow where the sprinters' teams won't be chasing.

Agree. If Sagan or Kwia is marked by Movistar or Tinkoff-Saxo then there's no chance of Sagan or Kwia getting the yellow jersey. Astana can't let Sagan gain 44 second if he has Contador on his tail.

 

[Rollthedice]

Agreed..
But yellow also provides good PR for the team..
It's hard to offload the jersey to your liking, then why not do the next best thing since Nibali certainly is more important? Also i think Vino is too proud just to let it go as long as can't control the process more..
This is an opportunity that they can control..

Nibali is stuck with the yellow jersey. It is his cross to bear until Paris.

 

[mrhender]

Nibali is stuck with the yellow jersey. It is his cross to bear until Paris.

I sincerely hope he doesn't get crucified in Paris then

 

[MartinGT]

Anyone, who is in the break?