2015 tour de france stage 3, Antwerpen-Hoei 159.5km

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

In the first hill you could see that the Dawg is in really good form, I could see Contador struggling a bit with Majka pace. He needs more race to get into form, cuz I dont want to live 2013 all over again

Yup. I posted yesterday that Froome was first up Jenkin Road in Sheffield last year, and thought he was gonna win once Majka lifted the pace today. I wasn't surprised to see Bert (and Nairito) drop back, though I thought Nibali could hang on better than he did.

Jenkin road climb is comparable, but the situation was completely different.
After jenkin it was still over 10km if im not mistaken? Now it was an uphill sprint. Froome has never really shone in that department, but he was very strong.

Man to beat so far, but its still early.

Contador doesnt look great, but I was afraid this would happen tbh. Still early... Still early...

 

[DBotero]

Re: Re:

Very disappointing performance by Valverde too.

Valverde seems to use the Tour nowadays as a warm up race so he can peak for the Vuelta, Worlds and Lombardia. A bit disrespectful maybe, but I guess he may as well plan a schedule to his strengths.

I didn't expected something like this.This Tour was perfect for him,so many opportunities But if he's gonna win La Vuelta all will be forgiven.

 

[classicomano]

Andy Schleck was second in the flèche wallone 2009, and I think quintana is a very similar rider. So I think its possible that nairo wont even do as bad as everyone expects.

quintana and andy are COMPLETELY different type of riders. still as long as quintana is placed well he won't lose much time. froome will have a harder time on mur

Hahaha, keep eating *** Ryo.

 

[AlexNYC]

Re:

Short, punchy climbs =/= high mountains. Froome certainly looked strong today, but I wouldn't give him the win until at least stage 12.

Depending on the gap to #2, there's a chance the Tour won't be decided until the penultimate stage.

 

[BigMac]

Oh well. Sad things aside, well done by Galloping Foxley there with a 5th place. Hope he wins a stage.

 

[AICA ribonucleotide]

Was Alabasini in the crash? He finished 3rd in the Fleche but for 6 minutes back today.

 

[Ataraxus]

Re: Re:

Contador looks the weakest of the four though (blame the Giro)

meh, except for TT he looked weak in Giro as well. The jury is still out but as I said in other thread. By stage 11 we will know a lot more

I hope his plans are as spoken around. Peak fully for week three and make crazy attacks to make up for the (possibly) lost time

 

[BigMac]

Re:

Was Alabasini in the crash? He finished 3rd in the Fleche but for 6 minutes back today.

I think he was, but I'm not sure.

If he was, then Orica must have been the day's unluckiest.

 

[The Hitch]

Re:

Froome 'looks' unbeatable at the moment; but how close to peak form is he? Can he sustain this form through three weeks? And what about the other 3 contenders, are they going to be flying higher than Froome by the time we get to the mountain stages?

How anyone can believe the GC race is over is a mystery to me.

Its not over but Froome's chances of winning this are like 80% now.

In the 2013 edition there was a lot of racing left after Ax3 as well. But ultimately when you are by far the strongest in the race, the others quickly give up.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Valverde seems to use the Tour nowadays as a warm up race so he can peak for the Vuelta, Worlds and Lombardia. A bit disrespectful maybe, but I guess he may as well plan a schedule to his strengths.

Of course he can. But with such a parcours, he could win 3-4 stages.

I guess so. Perhaps he's not so bothered about winning more tour stages though. He's already won four and a Worlds or Lombardia would add a lot more to his Palmares. Also, it's probably too soon after the Ardennes to reach another peak at his age. A two month peak in Spring, followed by a rest and building up to another two month peak in August/September is a lot easier than trying to force a quick second peak in early July.

 

[AlexNYC]

Re: Re:

Froome 'looks' unbeatable at the moment; but how close to peak form is he? Can he sustain this form through three weeks? And what about the other 3 contenders, are they going to be flying higher than Froome by the time we get to the mountain stages?

How anyone can believe the GC race is over is a mystery to me.

well he is talking about peaking for the 3rd week

Maybe, but unless Sky has made hitherto unknown scientific advances, I think he's very close to peak form right now. Let's not forget he was already very good at the Dauphine.

 

[The Blues]

Impressive by Vuillermoz (3rd) and Nauleau (23rd after being a part of the breakaway).

 

[arvc40]

Hey. Froome in Yellow so if he crashes tmoz race will be neutralised

 

[Fight.The.Power]

Same BS from Froome

"can't believe it"

"Didn't expect it"

blah blah blah

 

[BigMac]

Re:

Hey. Froome in Yellow so if he crashes tmoz race will be neutralised

It has been explained today's stage wasn't neutralised because of Cance being in yellow.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re:

at one point froome was riding zig-zag almost causing havoc in the entire peleton with his *** style I almost fell on the floor for laughing so hard haha

I doubt you were laughing. More likely salty than anything

 

[arvc40]

Re: Re:

Hey. Froome in Yellow so if he crashes tmoz race will be neutralised

It has been explained today's stage wasn't neutralised because of Cance being in yellow.

I know

 

[Warhawk]

Glancing at the betting odds, looks like Froome is now evens to win, Quintina in the ballpark of 2:1 or a bit higher, Nibali and Contador at about 6-7:1, Van Garderen around 20-25:1, Purito around 30-40:1, Pinot at 50-60:1, and everyone else over 100.

 

[Vino's Mum]

Re: Re:

In the first hill you could see that the Dawg is in really good form, I could see Contador struggling a bit with Majka pace. He needs more race to get into form, cuz I dont want to live 2013 all over again

Yup. I posted yesterday that Froome was first up Jenkin Road in Sheffield last year, and thought he was gonna win once Majka lifted the pace today. I wasn't surprised to see Bert (and Nairito) drop back, though I thought Nibali could hang on better than he did.

Jenkin road climb is comparable, but the situation was completely different.
After jenkin it was still over 10km if im not mistaken? Now it was an uphill sprint. Froome has never really shone in that department, but he was very strong.

Man to beat so far, but its still early.

Contador doesnt look great, but I was afraid this would happen tbh. Still early... Still early...

Yeah, I agree. Sure, a different climb/finish (maybe 5-10k to go last year after Jenkin Road) but on both stages he's found himself at the front almost by accident, just by riding at his own pace - like Nico Roche said this week, just doing his own thing, not worrying about the rest. Today, he almost rode everyone off his wheel without any obvious big acceleration. Crazy strong.

Still plenty of opportunities for Bert (and others) to come back though.

 

[Gigs_98]

I fear this will be a very boring tour. Froome is in top shape, he already has a serious advantage on the other members of the big 4 and AC who was the favorite for many guys on this forum isn't in good shape. I am not someone who says this tour is already over, but if nothing bad happens to froome and he will keep this shape he will be extremely hard to beat. btw I know that there is a difference between the mur de huy and really high mountains but froome normally is stronger on long climbs so I don't see why he should have problems there (the only possible reason I see is a quintana in super shape).

 

[Krzysztof_O]

In this short burst of power Froome showed his level - he was almost as good as Rodriguez, who is a master of such climbs. Obviously Froome is known for his powerful accelerations but 11 seconds over Nibali and Quintana is something and 18 seconds over Contador is quite a lot. We'll see what he can do against his rivals on longer climbs in the Pyrenees (which is completely different terrain to short Muur) but his ride today was definitely a very good omen for him (and opposite to his rivals).

 

[DFA123]

Re:

Glancing at the betting odds, looks like Froome is now evens to win, Quintina in the ballpark of 2:1 or a bit higher, Nibali and Contador at about 6-7:1, Van Garderen around 20-25:1, Purito around 30-40:1, Pinot at 50-60:1, and everyone else over 100.

Looks decent value on Nibali and Contador. Not sure why they have drifted so much, but Quintana has stayed fairly steady. Froome is obviously favourite, but I would probably only make him evens to finish the race. Stupidly short odds with so much racing to go.

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

at one point froome was riding zig-zag almost causing havoc in the entire peleton with his *** style I almost fell on the floor for laughing so hard haha

I doubt you were laughing. More likely salty than anything

Allthough op post is lame and childish, froome really went a bit nuts there. Almost causing crashes. Pushing bakelandts away. Then he also pushed Gallopin away on Huy.
He's not making friends. That could be bad, but then again Froome being assertive is kind of good for him, but also kind of awkward.

 

[Gigs_98]

oh ryo, I heard you did it again. Do you think froome will keep yellow tomorrow?

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

Froome 'looks' unbeatable at the moment; but how close to peak form is he? Can he sustain this form through three weeks? And what about the other 3 contenders, are they going to be flying higher than Froome by the time we get to the mountain stages?

How anyone can believe the GC race is over is a mystery to me.

well he is talking about peaking for the 3rd week

Maybe, but unless Sky has made hitherto unknown scientific advances, I think he's very close to peak form right now. Let's not forget he was already very good at the Dauphine.

A 'very good' Froome does not struggle to gain 45 seconds over TvG over 2 mountain stages (no disrespect to TJ)