2014 Tour De France stage Stage 2: York – Sheffield: 201km

[veji11]

Be prepared for the imminent dynamic duo attack:


Anyway I hope at least 60 riders will lose 10+ minutes on his stage.

I expect more than that to be honest. for me we will have a gruppetto like for mountain stages, I think it will get formed on Holmes Moss and I wouldn't be surprised to have almost 90/100 guys beyond the 10 minutes mark.

 

[The Hitch]

What time is expected finish? I need to leave at 2.15 latest

 

[MBotero]

Froome must show some signs of life after Dauphine failure,i believe he will give it a go but Valverde should normally win this.

 

[jaylew]

Gerro was really targeting this one. Shame about his crash today as it's likely to have an effect.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

What time is expected finish? I need to leave at 2.15 latest

It depends on Froome. If he goes 200 RPMs on Holme Moss you may see the finish before 2.15

 

[Eclipse]

Gerro was really targeting this one. Shame about his crash today as it's likely to have an effect.

Yeah, they said his bid for yellow was over so I'm presuming he's too banged up to contest.

Guess they could be playing it cool though.

 

[murali]

I think this will go for the OGE guys. dont know which one is going to take this, but they have a really good run of early stage wins in this season.


Sagan is a no brainer.

Others could be Terpstra/Bakalents, Spartacus,....
Voeckler was taking it pretty cool today. he will attack tomorrow for sure.

Having said that, i hope for a jensie win.

 

[VeloHuman]

Michael Albasini will be a nice alternative for OGE if Gerrans is feeling rough. He's been great this year.

 

[classicomano]

Looks like a nice course for Slagter, if he hit some better form since Suisse.

 

[Anderis]

Well, this is certainly kind of stage that can provide much action. I'm not sure if serious GC contenders will want to race, though. They all know they're rather better suitted to high mountains and putting too much effort into this stage can turn against them eventually. Although Valverde is a rider who should be favoured by this kind of course. I would worry about Talansky. He seems to have little acceleration and usually comes into the race slowly.
If GC favourites will not race hard, we will definetely see some attacks for yellow jersey and Canondale, maybe Orica and Giant will try to have a bunch sprint. Though I'm not sure about Orica, who don't have Matthews and who may be not sure about Gerrans.

I hope Movistar, maybe Saxo, Astana, Belkin, or even Sky or Garmin if the situation on the road favours them, will try to make the race hard and we are going to see some good racing tomorrow.

But one thing I bet is that we are definetely going to see a new race leader after stage 2.

 

[Rollthedice]

i expect many great things from this. probably i will end up disappointed

i think froome will attack,alberto will follow. maybe valverde can hang in there too. wish the same for nibali. i also want the schlecks to attacks here

What if it will be like TA 2013 Porto Sant'Elpidio, rain included?

 

[Pulpstar]

I'm going to cycle in - noting this piece of advice:

"Cyclists and pedestrians will be able to use the route up until 30 minutes before the caravan arrives."

Will cycle into Sheffield Centre earli-ish, might even have a crack at Jenkin Road

My employer's offices where I work are near the finish so I will park my bike up there, then try and get a spot on Jenkin Road

Anyone else going to be near the finish (Or Jenkin Road) ?

I'll be wearing a Pink Floyd cycling top btw !

I assume I should cycle in early as hell - Jenkin Road is going to be rammed isn't it

Stage looks to be a corker.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Gerro was really targeting this one. Shame about his crash today as it's likely to have an effect.

While it's a shame he crashed, it isn't a shame if he is removed from the list of contenders for the stage. Somebody who races like he has for the last four years should never have been allowed to amass his palmarès, so if he's on the list of potential winners for a stage with a lot of potential it usually means the racing has been disappointing and allowed him to suck the wheels of the timid contenders.

 

[Arnout]

While it's a shame he crashed, it isn't a shame if he is removed from the list of contenders for the stage. Somebody who races like he has for the last four years should never have been allowed to amass his palmarès, so if he's on the list of potential winners for a stage with a lot of potential it usually means the racing has been disappointing and allowed him to suck the wheels of the timid contenders.

Well... Gerrans has amassed an amazing palmares for a guy with his capabilities. I don't like riders who underperform relative to their ability because they're scared to take risks, but I can't dislike riders who make the most of what they have to the point where I hope they don't participate, even though I probably won't support them.

 

[Pulpstar]

I had down as the potential winners of this stage:

Costa, Sagan, Gerrans

Gerrans I think can be ruled out now.

Degenkolb a possibility or too tough ?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Well... Gerrans has amassed an amazing palmares for a guy with his capabilities. I don't like riders who underperform relative to their ability because they're scared to take risks, but I can't dislike riders who make the most of what they have to the point where I hope they don't participate, even though I probably won't support them.

I just think he's a very dull person on a very characterless team who races in a very dull and unlikable manner, hasn't made a race interesting in five years yet is trumped up for the win in everything he enters because he can possibly win the sprint when everybody else suffers a tactical lobotomy (which is depressingly frequent), and can't imagine why anybody would ever want to root for him.

So I don't want him hurt, but I can't see why anybody would mourn the loss of the opportunity to see him in yellow.

 

[Cycle Chic]

I just think he's a very dull person on a very characterless team who races in a very dull and unlikable manner, hasn't made a race interesting in five years yet is trumped up for the win in everything he enters because he can possibly win the sprint when everybody else suffers a tactical lobotomy (which is depressingly frequent), and can't imagine why anybody would ever want to root for him.

So I don't want him hurt, but I can't see why anybody would mourn the loss of the opportunity to see him in yellow.

Well said...dull dull dull

 

[Liquigas]

Valverde should win this one, if he bothered...

 

[kingjr]

and can't imagine why anybody would ever want to root for him.

I'm no fan of Gerrans, but I can give you a good reason to root for him, because every win of his seems to be a solid punch in the face of the romantics, which is always a great thing to see.

 

[Red Rick]

There are two sorts of riders tomorrow, those who can follow Sagan, and those who don't

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

There are two sorts of riders tomorrow, those who can follow Sagan, and those who don't

to fight for 2nd place, as Nibali will show all the doubters that he is the strongest rider in this race.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

I'm no fan of Gerrans, but I can give you a good reason to root for him, because every win of his seems to be a solid punch in the face of the romantics, which is always a great thing to see.

"Yes! It's fabulous to see a boring race won by a boring rider, because it annoys those who like to hope that the race will be fun!"

 

[Bushman]

There are two sorts of riders tomorrow, those who can't follow Sagan, and those who don't

Fixed it for you

 

[dduff442]

I just think he's a very dull person on a very characterless team who races in a very dull and unlikable manner, hasn't made a race interesting in five years yet is trumped up for the win in everything he enters because he can possibly win the sprint when everybody else suffers a tactical lobotomy (which is depressingly frequent), and can't imagine why anybody would ever want to root for him.

So I don't want him hurt, but I can't see why anybody would mourn the loss of the opportunity to see him in yellow.

Well anybody who hopes to see some of the wind sucked out of the giant Sky machine of total doom had better hope both Gerrans and his team are 100% tomorrow.

 

[Jagartrott]

Sagan, Albasini, Valverde, Van Avermaet - those you'd expect to be up there. Perhaps Kwiatkowski.