2015 Tour De France Stage 4: Seraing - Cambrai, 223.5 km

[Matteo.]

Really interested to see how a motivated Tony Martin, with the possibility of yellow, goes on the cobbles. I've always thought he could be a great Paris Roubaix rider if he ever decided to tackle it.

THIS!!

I want Etixx to step up and give Tony some support here. Then Tony to drop the hammer and solo to victory!

Whatever he does it's destiny he ends up 1 second off yellow.

---

I think Froome may surprise some people, he was talking up this stage on UK radio pre-tour. Said that he was actually looking forward to the cobbles, just wanted to actually reach them this year lol.

I agree. I will not surprise if he gains seconds to others

 

[Cimber]

Re:

if it rains, astana and tinkoff will tear the field to pieces. If not, than it will be a larger group sprint. Either way, degenkolb for the win.

Tinkov-Saxo are "relieved that it seems there will be no rain". I think they are afraid after what happened last year and a lot more defensive.

If Tosatto and Bena can take care of Berto I wouldnt be rule out tghat Sagan will be given a semi free role towards the end (he can always fall back if needed). If so he could take yellow.

 

[meat puppet]

with froome in insane form I believe he will actually gain time today. maybe not from nibali but from others.

hope the stage action is good!

 

[Cimber]

Showers wont happen untill the very end So I reckon they wont have an impact. But lets see.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re: Re:

Tinkov-Saxo are "relieved that it seems there will be no rain". I think they are afraid after what happened last year and a lot more defensive.

If Tosatto and Bena can take care of Berto I wouldnt be rule out tghat Sagan will be given a semi free role towards the end (he can always fall back if needed). If so he could take yellow.

Either they are geographically challenged or they've not looked at the radar.
Light rain at the moment in N-France:
http://europa.buienradar.be/

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Alien to go thermonuclear 50 km from the finish and the race is over after 4 stages .

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Re: Re:

Uff, I didnt remenber is was so long stage, very bad for Rigo injured

Has Uran been injuried?

pretty bad unfortunately

 

[Ruby United]

The big loser today could be Quintana as he will probably be weakest on the cobbles and has the weakest team on the cobbles.Truth is anything could happen today, and the pressure is on Nibali, especially after last year.
Froome should be fine and well protected and will be happy to relinquish his jersey today.
Wonder if Sagan will be given an opportunity today by Tinkoff, or just protect Conta

 

[burning]

Looks like headwind will be dominant in whole stage, I don't expect much from today.

 

[Miburo]

Museeuw "Nibai is good on the cobbles but in the tour it's different, look at valverde in the tour. On the mur he didn't do anything. Nibali will just follow"

LOL Museeuw is a joke, great rider but he doesn't know anything about cycling. When did nibali show he's good on the cobbles?

IN THE *** TOUR!!

 

[sultanofhyd]

Re:

Museeuw "Nibai is good on the cobbles but in the tour it's different, look at valverde in the tour. On the mur he didn't do anything. Nibali will just follow"

LOL Museeuw is a joke, great rider but he doesn't know anything about cycling. When did nibali show he's good on the cobbles?

IN THE **** TOUR!!

Just the one time.

 

[Punkan]

This stage should suit Kristoff quiet well. He can handle the cobbles and is usually a very strong sprinter in long stages. But, will Paolini be there for him, or will Katusha asign Paolini to protect Purito? Believe Purito could struggle badly on the cobbles, so someone like Paolini could be crucial for him. Since Katusha got the stage win yesterday, I think Kristoff might be on his own today and that will reduce his chance of winning.

 

[Gigs_98]

So, when paris roubaix, which goes from south to north we get north wind (head wind) and when the tour de france takes place with a cobbles stage which goes from NE to SW we get SW wind (head wind)
wtf is wrong with the wind in this area

 

[Andro]

If it's dry and headwind I really don't see any big gaps coming. At least not like last year. A 30 man sprint is beginning to seem likely.

 

[Punkan]

Important not to panic today for Froome and Sky. If Nibali and Astana go crazy on the cobbles, maybe Froome should take his own tempo: nice and steady over the cobbles and then push hard between the cobble section. After all, he has a decent lead and even if its reduced a bit he will still be in a good position.

One worrying sign for Sky is Stannard. Doesn't seem to be in super form. So there could be a risk that Froome only has G and maybe Rowe with him over the later cobble sections. G will probably be phenomenal as always.

 

[JimPanzen]

I'm curious to see if Nibali can prevail today like in 2014. Since then and prior to today, a lot of people where talking like he is owning the cobbles. I think 2014 was 'random'...in terms of being well guided by Boom and also having the luck of no mechanical failures.

That being said, today will be a lottery and I wouldn't rate Nibali higher than the other GC contenders...apart from Quintana maybe.

 

[Cimber]

Daniel Lloyd
@daniellloyd1
For me, most dangerous moment is just after Sector 4, 34.5km to go, left turn into crosswind, open road. #TDF2015

 

[Miburo]

Re: Re:

Museeuw "Nibai is good on the cobbles but in the tour it's different, look at valverde in the tour. On the mur he didn't do anything. Nibali will just follow"

LOL Museeuw is a joke, great rider but he doesn't know anything about cycling. When did nibali show he's good on the cobbles?

IN THE **** TOUR!!

Just the one time.

His whole argument makes no sense. He says nibali won't be as good on the cobbles in the tour when the only time he proved it was in the tour lol

 

[Ruby United]

Re:

One worrying sign for Sky is Stannard. Doesn't seem to be in super form. So there could be a risk that Froome only has G and maybe Rowe with him over the later cobble sections. G will probably be phenomenal as always.

Really? The winner of Omloop 2014 and 2015, one of the most powerful men in the peleton, stamina comparable with Cancellara and he won't be there?
Also, did you see him on stage 1 when he dragged the front group for 10+k?
Stannard will be priceless for Sky today, and would have been one of my top 5 favorites for the stage if not for his domestique role for Froome.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

One worrying sign for Sky is Stannard. Doesn't seem to be in super form. So there could be a risk that Froome only has G and maybe Rowe with him over the later cobble sections. G will probably be phenomenal as always.

Really? The winner of Omloop 2014 and 2015, one of the most powerful men in the peleton, stamina comparable with Cancellara and he won't be there?
Also, did you see him on stage 1 when he dragged the front group for 10+k?
Stannard will be priceless for Sky today, and would have been one of my top 5 favorites for the stage if not for his domestique role for Froome.

Omloop was was 4-5 months ago. He said Stannard isn't in good form, not Stannard isn't a good rider.

I personally think Stannard is in decent form, but I could name at least 5 riders more likely to win than him on a stage like today if nobody had domestique duties

 

[DFA123]

Re:

This stage should suit Kristoff quiet well. He can handle the cobbles and is usually a very strong sprinter in long stages. But, will Paolini be there for him, or will Katusha asign Paolini to protect Purito? Believe Purito could struggle badly on the cobbles, so someone like Paolini could be crucial for him. Since Katusha got the stage win yesterday, I think Kristoff might be on his own today and that will reduce his chance of winning.

I don't think Purito is seriously going for the GC, and I don't think his team would sacrifice a great chance for Kristoff either just to support him. If Rodriguez was serious about the GC, he wouldn't have sat up and given 3 second away yesterday.

 

[mrhender]

Rolf Sørensen and Dennis Ritter rode the last 50km of todays stage inlcluding 6 sectors..

You can see a summary here:

http://sporten.tv2.dk/cykling/tour/2015-07-07-rolf-og-ritter-paa-tour-i-dag-bliver-et-mareridt

They speak danish, but for non-danes it also gives an impression of the route/sectors...

 

[Ruby United]

Re: Re:

One worrying sign for Sky is Stannard. Doesn't seem to be in super form. So there could be a risk that Froome only has G and maybe Rowe with him over the later cobble sections. G will probably be phenomenal as always.

Really? The winner of Omloop 2014 and 2015, one of the most powerful men in the peleton, stamina comparable with Cancellara and he won't be there?
Also, did you see him on stage 1 when he dragged the front group for 10+k?
Stannard will be priceless for Sky today, and would have been one of my top 5 favorites for the stage if not for his domestique role for Froome.

Omloop was was 4-5 months ago. He said Stannard isn't in good form, not Stannard isn't a good rider.

I personally think Stannard is in decent form, but I could name at least 5 riders more likely to win than him on a stage like today if nobody had domestique duties

He said he didn't think Stannard was going to be so helpful, I was telling him he is wrong.
Also I was trying to show that Stannard is in good form.
Top 5 favorites for a stage is based on opinion.

 

[Inquitus]

Stannards form is fine, he punctured at a poor moment the other day which was the only reason he was not there for the Zeeland finale.

 

[Punkan]

Re: Re:

This stage should suit Kristoff quiet well. He can handle the cobbles and is usually a very strong sprinter in long stages. But, will Paolini be there for him, or will Katusha asign Paolini to protect Purito? Believe Purito could struggle badly on the cobbles, so someone like Paolini could be crucial for him. Since Katusha got the stage win yesterday, I think Kristoff might be on his own today and that will reduce his chance of winning.

I don't think Purito is seriously going for the GC, and I don't think his team would sacrifice a great chance for Kristoff either just to support him. If Rodriguez was serious about the GC, he wouldn't have sat up and given 3 second away yesterday.

Purito is going for the GC. He has said that this years course is the ideal course for him.