2014 Tour de France, Stage 8: Tomblaine – Gerardmer/La Mauselaine: 161km

[GroupDK]

He's going to get jumped by a few others and will be alone without any helpers. He'll be alone and will be fine, but it would be much better if they backed off. Their mountain train is not Sky quality, yet they seem to think it is.

On the flat Saxo-bank //2013 let the hole Sky-team look like amateurs in last years tour..

everybody knew what was the Saxo-teams-agenda that day was, but close to the hole Saxoteam left the sky-train in the Wind, and humiliated the big-man-on-campas / Froome in the yellow jersey and made him and the sky-team look like rookies, and took +1min.

his biggest timeloss that year, and still a grudge Froome carries to this day, against Riis and Saxo and his weakest moment in his Grand tour Victory...

and todays stage didnt give any hopes that the Sky-train got anything othet then cap-Froome when it comes to uphill (also why its a joke, thay the dont got Wiggins on the team) ridicalus that the teammanagers there and the imployer and that pay there wages ' cant get there team as strong as it could been..

a shame, but it still early and this was the first of many, and quite a scene for the days to come...

but all in all, Saxotrain played it beautiful today' took the stagefront and carryed it to the end.

result nr. 1 (3 sec) and 2 (+1.42) in the GC popped + peloton and Saxo took a big Peace out of there biggest competitors and how Astana was placed,
tough it would have been great to see Jakob Birdsong in yellow, but with +1.42 and his role in mind, that will not be the case..

only mistake Saxo made today, was not to keep outbreak in a line, but fair enough a stagewin is not the main agenda..

 

[alspacka]

Has Porte ever had a bad day except for that one stage last year? I think Nibali is more favoured by small climbs than Porte. Porte is a diesel climber who tends to get better the longer the climb. Nibali is punchier but I dont think he excells on the bigger climbs

Agree with this, that was a good showing from Porte. Pinot also.

Don't get the fuss about Astana though. I think Kangert was in the crash with Talansky? Not a great day for Fulgsang but he'll be up there for sure.

 

[LaFlorecita]

How can you go from pessimistic to optimistic so fast?

I am not even sure myself

 

[Arredondo]

I actually think Porte has a decent 1 km uphill kick as seen in Paris-Nice last year when he took massive time out of everybody, so I wouldn't really say that this climb was that bad for him.

That was a one k attack after a already pretty long climb. He's not a real specialist, if you compare him to the likes of Contador and Valverde. Decent till good he is.

 

[ILovecycling]

I forgot.
Chapeau to Kadri!!!

 

[trevim]

I am not even sure myself

That's OK, me neither

 

[The Hitch]

What was Contador doing? Either he was at his limit or he's trying to tire Nibali out a bit early.

But I don't get why he pulled on the front the whole last k without attacking while Nibs sat in his slipstream. Should have at least had 1 dig.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Agree with this, that was a good showing from Porte. Pinot also.

Don't get the fuss about Astana though. I think Kangert was in the crash with Talansky? Not a great day for Fulgsang but he'll be up there for sure.

FDJ will look back at the 60s time loss for Pinot the other day with great regret at the end of this tour methinks.

Anyway France did have a good day with Kadri, JCP, Pinot, Bardet and even a Chavanel showing.

Rolland continues to suffer however.

Do they have any bullets left for tomorrow?

 

[UpTheRoad]

Good riding from Nibali. He can hang tough for the most part.

I think the biggest thing to come from all of this is that AC should now know that he won't be attacked to the point where he can't follow (except perhaps from Porte).

He can go a little harder because even if he can't shake the others, they won't come around him.

I think this race is coming down to the wire.

 

[roundabout]

That was a one k attack after a already pretty long climb. He's not a real specialist, if you compare him to the likes of Contador and Valverde. Decent till good he is.

Yeah, but he took like 30 seconds out of everyone even though the chase wasn't great

 

[LaFlorecita]

What was Contador doing? Either he was at his limit or he's trying to tire Nibali out a bit early.

But I don't get why he pulled on the front the whole last k without attacking while Nibs sat in his slipstream. Should have at least had 1 dig.

He was testing he looked relatively fresh when he crossed the line

 

[meat puppet]

judging by this climb, under-dawg (porte) will be a tough nut to crack come real mountains.

one way to look at the in-betweennes in contador's tactics is that he was gauging what kind of an attack will do the trick. but it is of course speculative at this point. all other ways to look at it are just as valid.

and imho nibali was not in that much of trouble before the last 100m. he might as well win. and hopefully does.

 

[Better Call Saul]

The next 2 weeks are a fans' wet dream!
2 very aggressive riders in comparable form and a 3rd wild card.
I give a slight edge to contador going uphill, but nothing like what we expected pre-race. Nibali has clearly timed his form beautifully and one could expect him to gain some time downhill or on a hilly stage from here.

Contador has his work cut out and who knows what Porte will do. Should have an edge in the iTT too?

 

[ILovecycling]

Biggest Fail of the day? Valverde.
This wasnt a climb for Porte,Nibali nor Contador,but for him it was perfect.He is in worse form than last year.He will probably lose time on pdbf.

Good rides by Bardet,Pinot,Costa,Feillu,Gadret,Kwia and Peraud (I dont think he will be up there in 3rd week tho)

 

[JimPanzen]

Nice pokerface by Nibali. Looked at ease, but was clearly hurting. Still nicely done.

I think that's always the case with Nibali. Hard to see when he's on the limit.

 

[maxmartin]

Biggest Fail of the day? Valverde.
This wasnt a climb for Porte,Nibali nor Contador,but for him it was perfect.He is in worse form than last year.He will probably lose time on pdbf.

Good rides by Bardet,Pinot,Costa,Feillu,Gadret,Kwia and Peraud (I dont think he will be up there in 3rd week tho)

age do catch up, it is almost certain AV will do Giro and Vueta next year

 

[Richeypen]

The next 2 weeks are a fans' wet dream!
2 very aggressive riders in comparable form and a 3rd wild card.
I give a slight edge to contador going uphill, but nothing like what we expected pre-race. Nibali has clearly timed his form beautifully and one could expect him to gain some time downhill or on a hilly stage from here.

Contador has his work cut out and who knows what Porte will do. Should have an edge in the iTT too?

Tinged with the disappointment of what could have been if Froome was there.

 

[brilleaben]

Nibali didn't look troubled at all and followed Contador easily. The last 100 meters he just eased up a bit because he knew Contador wasn't taking any serious time on him.

I don't know what people are drawing the inclusion he was cooked or went all out from.

How can an admin be this delusional? Embarrasing.

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

How can an admin be this delusional? Embarrasing.

Seem perfectly same to me

 

[Afrank]

How can an admin be this delusional? Embarrasing.

I'm delusional because I don't agree with you? Learn to accept there are other points of views in this world.

 

[maxmartin]

How can an admin be this delusional? Embarrasing.

vice versa could be said

 

[etymology]

Strange... I saw most of the AC fanboys saying at least 20 sec for Berto over Nibali today before the race. I think the reality was 3? You should actually be disappointed, right and not make huge statement over sprint win? Why would Berto hold back when there was a chance to drop the rest even way more? I thought I saw him asking Nibs to make a stab 500 m to go and help to get more, but Nibali would not even bother. The race is on - 3 seconds in sprint (which Nibali doesn't master anyway) means nothing.

while i admit i am a big contador fan, i fall far short fanboy status. that said:

other than expecting contador to not lose time today, i had no idea what to expect. i never know what to expect - too many variables in every stage and every race: mechanichals at the most inopportune times, crashes, upset stomachs, rain, cold, snow, wind, bad night's sleep, still pee-o'd at something some competitor did the day before...the list goes on and on and on and on.

one thing i do know about contador: he is pretty good at reading a race and has the heart and mind of a champion. what *i* saw on today's final climb - or rather, what i did NOT see - was anything resembling an attack from contador. i did see a lifting of pace. i did see unending fluidity in his pedaling. i did not see a sprint - i saw another lifting of pace.

in my *opinion*, there was good reason for berto to hold back: the race is but one week old. there are two weeks (and far more favorable terrain for contador) remaining. above all, all grand tours are races of recovery and moreso, attrition.

i have much less interest in how nibali is doing than what alberto is doing. i like nibs a LOT_i'd prefer contador in yellow at the end, though if it is nibs, i will also be happy.

just not as happy as with alberto in yellow.

i am greatly anticipating monday's stage, where i *hope* contador to gain jusssssssssssst a few more than 3 seconds.

 

[retzko]

But with a damn good poker face. It was interesting that he followed Contador's accelerations instead of going in his own pace, his usual style.

Against other riders that s maybe a good idea . But he knows that contador when he see s your in trouble he goes full gas , so now Contadors slows down an takes less time. Of course you take the risk to blow up.

Nibali in the vuelta last year was really weak on short steep climbs.
Much stronger on longer climbs. I

It doesn t get much steeper then today in this TDF.

Big Question also is who is at his zenith now? Contador has been good al year

 

[GroupDK]

Sure, many users & cyclingfans on this site, seems very colored in there view and from time to time, its actually a farce to see how some can see one race
completely different then whats actually happens..

For me ' its all the same - at the end of the day i root for the ones who give me a show. //plain and simple, I couldnt care less about them on fanboy level, its all about there performance and what experiecne they give me..

today it was Saxo-team ' who played it just like Bjarne Riis have decribed before the race .. and was a joy to Watch ' when it was carryed out..

The other day it was Astana I was cheering for, they give me one hell of a ride on the coobles with Fuglsang and Nibali, that almost ride from front and left the others in the dirt.

so it all comes Down to WHO give me as a spectator the best show.. !

 

[pigoonse]

Chris Horner talking - post race interview

http://www.nbcsports.com/cycling/tour-de-france/rain-makes-things-tougher-tour