2015 Paris Nice Stage 2 Saint-Agnan to Saint-Amand-Montrond 172km

[infeXio]

Puncture for Breschel it seems

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Breschel fakes a flat tyre

 

[CyclingEnthusiast]

Very unfortunate for Breschel, would have fancied him in the sprint of the 4

Don't think the small group will make it all the way though, they'll start looking at eachother..

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Super strong sprint by Greipel! Thought for sure he opened up too early.

 

[Captain Serious]

I'm gunna vent again: it's a farkin joke that Spinacci Bars were banned, yet they allow riders to steer with their elbows at the front of a 150-man bunch, while doing 55km/h.

At least in the "old days" (before DA 7900), riders with Shimano could kinda hang on to the clothes line gear cables

Oh yeah, well done, Andre

 

[SafeBet]

So basically when the race is too easy Kristoff doesn't win.

 

[Captain Serious]

Breschel fakes a flat tyre

Ha.
Loser's "limp" (faking an injury).

I race on a long-ish crit course (about 3km), and I see heaps of guys walking a very long way back to the pits with their "mechanicals" or "punctures". I find it hard to believe that so many blokes get flats on a clean car racing track it isn't open to public traffic

 

[Netserk]

So basically when the race is too easy Kristoff doesn't win.

It was easy yesterday as well. He was badly positioned today and was ~20th with 1km to go if I spotted him correctly.

 

[SafeBet]

It was easy yesterday as well. He was badly positioned today and was ~20th with 1km to go if I spotted him correctly.

I think he was 4th or 5th when the sprint was launched. He was outsprinted by everybody around him.

 

[Netserk]

I think he was 4th or 5th when the sprint was launched. He was outsprinted by everybody around him.

I will watch again when possible, but if he had to get from 20th to 5th in ~500m, it's no surprised he was empty for the sprint.

Edit: Saw it again. My bad. He wasn't as far back as I first thought.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Kristoff, Bouhanni and Hofland all went backwards from decent positions.

 

[Kwibus]

Nice work from Lotto today though. They stayed at the front for quite a long time so good effort from them and greipel managed to finish it off.

 

[Kwibus]

Tomorrow 3 cat 3 climbs halfway the stage so I guess another bunch sprint. What an lack of creativity.

 

[gerundium]

Tomorrow 3 cat 3 climbs halfway the stage so I guess another bunch sprint. What an lack of creativity.

I think they were hoping for some crosswind on this stage and stage 1. it would have been total carnage looking at the terrain. sadly no crosswinds means boring racing in the end.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

ASO relying too much on crosswind.

We could be looking at three dull stages ending in a bunch sprint (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday).

Just not good enough for a top televised 1 week stage race.

Anyway, nice win by the Gorilla.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Well we can't always have puncher/attacker or climber stages.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

It's a question of geography that a race starting in Paris and ending in Nice has relatively few mountains in the beginning...

So all this whining here is completely pointless.

 

[Netserk]

In both '10 and '12 there was only one normal bunch sprint stage in the beginning. Of course it's possible to mix it up.

 

[roundabout]

Yeah, 3 flat stages in a row are rather rare.

 

[Bushman]

Well we can't always have puncher/attacker or climber stages.

Yes but three consecutive pancake flat stages is rather dull. They could at least try and mix it a little bit up on one of the stages.

I know it's hard with geography and so on.

 

[PeterB]

Breschel fakes a flat tyre

Probably a real mechanical; he finished 3'39'' down

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Well we can't always have puncher/attacker or climber stages.

why not?



.............

 

[manafana]

Well stage 3 is much harder so a change in the outcome likely.

 

[Kwibus]

It's a question of geography that a race starting in Paris and ending in Nice has relatively few mountains in the beginning...

So all this whining here is completely pointless.

Oh come on. As if it's not possible to bring a bit more then flat stages with a predictable outcome? France has plenty to offer.

The fact that there is barely any wind doesn't help. It's always an uncertain factor.

Sometimes I just wonder why you would want 3 stages in a row where it's certain there will be bunch sprint. a strong break could survive tomorrow, but I doubt they let a strong break go.

 

[Kwibus]

Well stage 3 is much harder so a change in the outcome likely.

Tbh it doesn't look that hard. I predict a bunch sprint, unless there is a lot of wind.