2016 Paris - Nice, March 6th - 13th, WT

[togo95]

Chemin de Tourteline

Chemin du Tertre de la Motte (beginning)

Chemin du Tertre de la Motte (end)

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

How hard is 'Cote Chem. Tertre Morte'? Could an attack go from there?

Côte du chemin du Tertre de la Motte 1 kilometre-long climb at 3.7%.

Oh.

Kittel, and a few crashes too if the raods are that narrow, that fast and so close to the end.

 

[Samamba]

The sprint towards those roads is gonna cause crashes. Boonen already whining.

 

[May0maniac]

Maybe the finish with the sterrato sections and narrow roads is a little bit too hectic and complicated for Kittel, Greipel FTW.

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

So first PN mass start stage coming up tomorrow:

Don't think anybody can beat Kittel here.....

Not so sure Kittel will be there at the end. Kristoff or Greipel for my money

 

[Samamba]

Re:

greipel will take this!

Don't think he has te form yet. He broke a rib in Algarva and missed some training days. And he hasn't his sprint train. Henderson & Sieberg are out. Debusschere rides Tirreno.

 

[Gigs_98]

I really don't expect Kittel to win tomorrow. He is a horrible climber and although this ascent near the end is only 3.7% steep, the gravel should make it harder, and I also expect some attacks there.

 

[Samamba]

What about the weather?

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

What about the weather?

Sunny and no rain

 

[Samamba]

Re: Re:

What about the weather?

Sunny and no rain

I see, a bit windy though.

 

[Brullnux]

I really don't expect Kittel to win tomorrow. He is a horrible climber and although this ascent near the end is only 3.7% steep, the gravel should make it harder, and I also expect some attacks there.

Did you miss Algarve? The first stage wasn't exactly flat yet he won it from Greipel quite comfortably. And dubai? He was 6th on the Hatta Dam, which was a much harder climb than tomorrow, which also has 4km of flat after it. Kittel is getting better and better up hills.

What about the weather?

Hopefully no rain. I'm kind of scared for the riders to be honest. And that doesn't happen very often. Gravel at 40km/h in rain on very narrow roads will result in so many crashes and injuries, and I'd rather see all the big names at RVV and Paris-Roubaix than rain and a mildly exciting last 10km on stage 1 of Paris-Nice.

 

[Orbit501]

If there is an attack near the end, I can see Gallopin being up for that.
Stage looks interesting from what everyone is saying here. I had assumed it was just a simple flat sprint with no road complications.

 

[Gigs_98]

I really don't expect Kittel to win tomorrow. He is a horrible climber and although this ascent near the end is only 3.7% steep, the gravel should make it harder, and I also expect some attacks there.

Did you miss Algarve? The first stage wasn't exactly flat yet he won it from Greipel quite comfortably. And dubai? He was 6th on the Hatta Dam, which was a much harder climb than tomorrow, which also has 4km of flat after it. Kittel is getting better and better up hills.

Imo there is a big difference between making a good uphill sprint and climbing. On an uphill finish like Hatta Dam Kittel can put everything he has into a few hundred meters, just like in a normal sprint. Ofc these kinds of finishes don't really suit him as well, but its still better than a climb a few kilometers before the finish which gets raced very hard, where he just has to ride a fast pace without spending too much energy. Moreover the discussion was about if he will win, and although he was good in Hatta Dam he still only got 7th place.
And about Algarve, the big difference there is that there weren't attacks on the climbs near the finish (I didnt see the race but I don't think these bumps near the finish were difficult enough for that). However tomorrow I'm expecting some riders to attack because a dirt road climb only 5 km's before the finish seems to be a pretty good opportunity for an attack.

 

[jens_attacks]

Bling again.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

minus the S and a little change in the order of the letters at the end

 

[burning]

173KRUIJSWIJK Steven
TEAM LOTTONL - JUMBO1:12

I really love this guy, he can only perform in the 3rd week

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

173KRUIJSWIJK Steven
TEAM LOTTONL - JUMBO1:12

I really love this guy, he can only perform in the 3rd week

He'll have have some trouble winning one week races then.

 

[BigMac]

Re:

minus the S and a little change in the order of the letters at the end

Id est, you tried too hard.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

minus the S and a little change in the order of the letters at the end

kittsle?

 

[staubsauger]

Re: Re:

173KRUIJSWIJK Steven
TEAM LOTTONL - JUMBO1:12

I really love this guy, he can only perform in the 3rd week

He'll have have some trouble winning one week races then.

He should just become the Dutch Moncoutie in the Giro and everything's gonna be alright.

 

[carolina]

Re: Re:

greipel will take this!

Don't think he has te form yet. He broke a rib in Algarva and missed some training days. And he hasn't his sprint train. Henderson & Sieberg are out. Debusschere rides Tirreno.

damn. I completely forgot about the crash :S

 

[Samamba]

Re: Re:

greipel will take this!

Don't think he has te form yet. He broke a rib in Algarva and missed some training days. And he hasn't his sprint train. Henderson & Sieberg are out. Debusschere rides Tirreno.

damn. I completely forgot about the crash :S

He said after his time trial that he's still in pain so don't think he has a chance. Not even sure he is gonna try to sprint tomorrow.

 

[del1962]

Re: Re:

greipel will take this!

Don't think he has te form yet. He broke a rib in Algarva and missed some training days. And he hasn't his sprint train. Henderson & Sieberg are out. Debusschere rides Tirreno.

damn. I completely forgot about the crash :S

He said after his time trial that he's still in pain so don't think he has a chance. Not even sure he is gonna try to sprint tomorrow.

You have to wonder why he started if he is still in pain from Algarve crash

 

[burning]

https://twitter.com/MathieuRepiquet/status/706517638734811136

Apparently, he had a mech in the first 50m and they didn't have a spare TT bike for him

 

[Samamba]

Just saw a video of those 2 gravel sectors. Very narrow, open and really hard if it rains, especially the second one. It's not gonna rain though so it will be not be that hard but hard enough to attack. Expect an attack from guys like Boom, Vanmarcke, Gallopin maybe. The wind can play a role also.