2015 Tour of California May 10-17 2015 (2.HC)

[Arredondo]

Re:

Alaphilippe was just frightening on Baldy

Sagan great ride! Hope he wins the GC.

 

[SkyTears]

to bad there isn't another HC climb today, would have sealed Sagan's GC victory. Now he has to get on the podium to win

 

[SeriousSam]

So surely Cavendish will be employed to deny Sagan points at the intermediary sprint, right?

 

[trevim]

I didn't knew Alaphilipe could climb HC climbs. Competition was rather poor but still... Henao should be very disappointed that he barely managed to beat "fat" Sagan and was dropped by a puncheur like Alaphilipe

 

[Arredondo]

Re:

So surely Cavendish will be employed to deny Sagan points at the intermediary sprint, right?

Unless Ala thinks he can beat Sagan in the sprints. You have to think different now

 

[BigMac]

Re:

So surely Cavendish will be employed to deny Sagan points at the intermediary sprint, right?

The break should take care of that.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Alaphilippe said he knows that Sagan is a better sprinter, so OPQS will race the last stage as usual : everything for Cav'.

 

[saganftw]

Re:

I don't know why there is such a disdain towards Sagan's performance.

I mean, his best shape has always been around ATOC - Tour de Suisse. He won a prologue here in Switzerland, he won a mountain stage here in Switzerland, he won multiple flat stages here in Switzerland. And Tinkov wasn't in charge...

here is how this forum works:

you like a certain cyclist : he is not only clean,he also comes from middle class family and has never been given anything for free,he is tough,NEVER sits on anyones wheel,always in attack mode and is also a model professional,role model for kids and his hobby is fishing with dad and grandfather where they share heartwarming stories sitting around campfire

you dont like a certain cyclist: not only is he on PEDs,he is also probably a communist and homophobe,arrogant,hates american flag and apple pie,hates dallas cowboys and is a fan of patriots and real madrid...oh yeah,he is also vegan - so pretty much the most despicable human being you can imagine

just work between those two definitions,it makes things much simplier

 

[SKSemtex]

Re:

Alaphilippe said he knows that Sagan is a better sprinter, so OPQS will race the last stage as usual : everything for Cav'.

No way thay go as usual: everything for Cav.

The best option here is break. Sagan team is too week to chase all of them. I do not think any team will be willing to help.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re: Re:

I don't know why there is such a disdain towards Sagan's performance.

I mean, his best shape has always been around ATOC - Tour de Suisse. He won a prologue here in Switzerland, he won a mountain stage here in Switzerland, he won multiple flat stages here in Switzerland. And Tinkov wasn't in charge...

here is how this forum works:

you like a certain cyclist : he is not only clean,he also comes from middle class family and has never been given anything for free,he is tough,NEVER sits on anyones wheel,always in attack mode and is also a model professional,role model for kids and his hobby is fishing with dad and grandfather where they share heartwarming stories sitting around campfire

you dont like a certain cyclist: not only is he on PEDs,he is also probably a communist and homophobe,arrogant,hates american flag and apple pie,hates dallas cowboys and is a fan of patriots and real madrid...oh yeah,he is also vegan - so pretty much the most despicable human being you can imagine

just work between those two definitions,it makes things much simplier

Or, rather, this forum works on the fact that some people think that acting like a self-entitled douche makes you a self-entitled douche, and other people think that acting like a self-entitled douche makes you cool and cocky, and those two groups will never be able to reconcile, nor will they concede to the other.

Sagan acts like a douche. You think he carries it off and should be allowed to get away with it because it's entertaining. I don't find it entertaining and think when he's a douche he should be called out for being a douche. I overreact to his doucheyness by throwing a hissy fit. You throw a hissy fit at people not giving him the love you think his doucheyness merits. Everybody throws a hissy fit at one another, then calm down. Then something else happens that has him at the forefront, and the process repeats.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re: Re:

Alaphilippe said he knows that Sagan is a better sprinter, so OPQS will race the last stage as usual : everything for Cav'.

No way thay go as usual: everything for Cav.

The best option here is break. Sagan team is too week to chase all of them. I do not think any team will be willing to help.

Etixx surely won't chase a break however I can see teams like Drapac helping Tinkoff chase. If it comes down to a sprint then they must hope Sagan makes a mistake and firstly Cav and possibly Renshaw can get up in the top 3 with 1 other.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

The Hotsteppers should setup Cav for a win here while hes on form.
Alaphilippe will just have to find a way to beat Sagan somehow.

 

[Echoes]

You should really nuke time bonuses. Without this sh*t Julian would have it in the bag.

The law of the sport is that the fastest rider should win a race. It's not a track game.

 

[Pricey_sky]

You should really nuke time bonuses. Without this sh*t Julian would have it in the bag.

The law of the sport is that the fastest rider should win a race. It's not a track game.

Agree, either have them for every road stage or none at all, id pick none at all.

 

[The Hitch]

Re: Re:

I don't know why there is such a disdain towards Sagan's performance.

I mean, his best shape has always been around ATOC - Tour de Suisse. He won a prologue here in Switzerland, he won a mountain stage here in Switzerland, he won multiple flat stages here in Switzerland. And Tinkov wasn't in charge...

here is how this forum works:

you dont like a certain cyclist: not only is he on PEDs,he is also probably a communist and homophobe,arrogant,hates american flag and apple pie,hates dallas cowboys and is a fan of patriots and real madrid...oh yeah,he is also vegan - so pretty much the most despicable human being you can imagine

The ridiculous rhetoric and knee jerk reaction of some Sagan fans to any minor criticism of the rider they support for whatever reason, reminds me of the behaviour of some Sagan fans on the forum post RVV 2013 when many became sexist pigs posting arguments from the middle ages about how women are explicitly inviting sexual harassment by dressing in anything less than a ski suit.

 

[wayahead]

As to Sagan climbing performances, its easy to forget what kind of rider he used to be before his underwhelming 2014 season and this year´s spring. Just from my memory (and a bit of search):

TdS 2011 stage 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-iuQ2dfyZE
TdS 2013 stage 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo_G-j28M1E
TdS 2013 ITT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihbw6Rd9rmo
T-A 2013 stage 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuZ2im34UOk
T-A 2014 ITT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X28zRuTVEqM
Plus some solid ToC performances as well.

I admit I am biased and yesterday´s effort was extraordinary, but it´s not first time he surprises everybody in mountains.

 

[SeriousSam]

You should really nuke time bonuses. Without this sh*t Julian would have it in the bag.

The law of the sport is that the fastest rider should win a race. It's not a track game.

Agreed. More generally, they should just change the rules so as to make it more likely my preferred rider wins.

 

[Happy dude]

I think if I was the Etixx director. I'd put Trentin in the break ( he's faster than 95%of other riders)
Have Renshaw lead out Cav like usual. But leave Julian on Cavs wheel. And hope he can hold it? That might be enough for them to get first and second. Maybe tell Renshaw to go as fast As he can and then Cav shouldn't have to accelerate.
So then maybe Sagan will be stuck in 3rd?

 

[dicanio_michael]

Re:

I think if I was the Etixx director. I'd put Trentin in the break ( he's faster than 95%of other riders)
Have Renshaw lead out Cav like usual. But leave Julian on Cavs wheel. And hope he can hold it? That might be enough for them to get first and second. Maybe tell Renshaw to go as fast As he can and then Cav shouldn't have to accelerate.
So then maybe Sagan will be stuck in 3rd?

I would put two riders on the break and tell other companions they are not working for the break. Hopefully all stay away. Actually it's just 105k, and Tinkoff team is so weak. Not impossible.

 

[Tank Engine]

Re:

history repeats itself? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjbyxgIcKAQ

Exactly as I was thinking. The penultimate stage in the Tour de Pologne was a (by now) fairly traditional multi-climb circuit race around the Zakopane region in the Tatra mountains. One of the climbs, the penultimate, was very steep, but the final climb was a not particularly long power climb (around 3km at 5%), so the parcours was definitely more favourable to Sagan than the finish at Baldy. Dan Martin attacked on the penultimate climb, but no-one could stay with him and there was no way he was going to stay away until the finish, so he did not commit and waited for the final climb. Sagan cracked a bit on the final climb (well multiple climbs make their impact, even if on paper the final climb suited him) and lost the jersey by a handful of seconds to Danny Boy. He won it back on the final day thanks to a time bonus in the final sprint.

As Wayahead states, Sagan has had a number of great performances in mountain stages, but with regard to MTFs, this is definitely a step up (even considering that other results might have been against better opposition - on the other hand they weren't decisive in GC terms). I thought thought he would put up a decent, but unsuccessful challenge. But he could well win this race.

As for Alpha-philippe, judging from his physique, I thought he was a pure puncheur. Maybe he is more (time will tell).

 

[Tank Engine]

Re: Re:

I would put two riders on the break and tell other companions they are not working for the break. Hopefully all stay away. Actually it's just 105k, and Tinkoff team is so weak. Not impossible.

I guess you mean they'll work and promise not to sprint/attack.

Etixx have a strong team for this parcours and it will be interesting how they play it. They'll support any break and have some backup plan for the sprint (e.g. not set up a train and just let Trentin, Cav and Renshaw do their own sprints and hope for the best). Sagan doesn't have a great team, but it is likely that other teams will also want to chase

 

[qwer]

sagan has only 49 points?????? cav has 55???? what's happenig here? sagan has two first places, two seconds and a third place, why he isn't the leader?

 

[Eagle]

Etix with 2 riders in the break, Tinkoff chasing hard to get the intermediate sprint

 

[togo95]

Re:

sagan has only 49 points?????? cav has 55???? what's happenig here? sagan has two first places, two seconds and a third place, why he isn't the leader?

I think the stages 3, 6 and 7 had no points awarded.

 

[Eagle]

Sky and Etix seem to be working together