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

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

Not if you consider his terrible form in Oman.

But it looks like he's doing a thumbs up to Contador, that would be weird to do if he's just happy to be on the podium. Unless he is glad Contador helped him onto the podium but that would be weird too.

Looking at the CN.com pictures of the race I think just a moment before that thumbs up Contador turned around and probably said thanks or anything like that.
Not sure though! I didn't see the race, but I believe they worked together didn't they?

edit: I'm a bit behind. Answer allready given.

 

[carolina]

Re: Re:

and gallopin actually won the sprint and was 4th on the stage...

even if they caught contador, porte and wellens, lotto-soudal would probabily win anyway.

you guys are really overreacting.

Yes, probably. There were other fast guys in that group, like Yates, Costa and Bardet. It was just a very risky move, especially cause Wellens was guaranteed to win against Contador and Porte.

gallopin won the sprint which shows he made the right decision.

and how do you know that the group wouldn't catch contador's group anyway? so much hate... the team changed its name for this race, so there are even more reasons for him to try and get the best possible result.

 

[Kwibus]

Re: Re:

and gallopin actually won the sprint and was 4th on the stage...

even if they caught contador, porte and wellens, lotto-soudal would probabily win anyway.

you guys are really overreacting.

Yes, probably. There were other fast guys in that group, like Yates, Costa and Bardet. It was just a very risky move, especially cause Wellens was guaranteed to win against Contador and Porte.

Since I didn't see it I really need to know something.

I know Gallopin was working with Thomas when there was another group inbetween them and the Contador group. It makes perfect sense if he worked at that moment since he closes the gap to the 2nd group. If that 2nd group makes it back to the group of Contador then Gallopin is there to sprint for the win.

Did Gallopin still work hard when they reached that 2nd group? If he did then that's strange for sure, but working with Thomas to reconnect to the first chasing group makes a lot of sense.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

gallopin won the sprint which shows he made the right decision.

and how do you know that the group wouldn't catch contador's group anyway? so much hate... the team changed its name for this race, so there are even more reasons for him to try and get the best possible result.

Hindsight is 20/20. At that point, Wellens was in pole position to win the stage. He was ahead with Contador and Porte, both are notoriously bad sprinters. Gallopin must have known that by bringing back Thomas and Henao to the chase group, Wellens' chances of making it all the way to the finish would go down. Gallopin had a good chance to win the sprint, yes, but it was no sure thing whatsoever, there were other fast guys and Wellens' chance to win from that front group was surely much larger.

 

[Pantani_lives]

In a situation like this there's always someone who has some reason to ride. I've never known differently.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Since I didn't see it I really need to know something.

I know Gallopin was working with Thomas when there was another group inbetween them and the Contador group. It makes perfect sense if he worked at that moment since he closes the gap to the 2nd group. If that 2nd group makes it back to the group of Contador then Gallopin is there to sprint for the win.

Did Gallopin still work hard when they reached that 2nd group? If he did then that's strange for sure, but working with Thomas to reconnect to the first chasing group makes a lot of sense.

No, he didn't work when they reached the 2nd group - thank *** for that, because that would have been inexcusable.
The point is, as others have tried to clarify as well, that by bringing Thomas and Henao back to the chasing group, he decreased Wellens chances to win because, obviously, Thomas and Henao (with their 54 chain rings ) obviously went to the front right away and pushed really hard to close the gap.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Thomas did well today to come back and just about hang on to yellow, but a guy looking to become a serious GT contender shouldn't be getting dropped in a stage like this. Think Sky have backed the wrong horse here if they want him to be anything more than a super-domestique,

Yes, the Thomas GT project does give me some slight Hincapie 2006 vibes, although G is obviously a better climber than Big G. I have a feeling this Paris - Nice will stand at the top of Thomas' stage race palmares when he retires, together with possibly some similar additions, like a Romandie or Suisse.

Yep, and to be fair, its a decent achievement - far more than most pro rides would win in their career. But there is nothing there to suggest he has more GT potential than Landa or even Kwiatkowski (possibly even Henao based on this week!).

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

Such a shame to see so much negativity in here. Personally I had a wonderful couple of hours enjoying the racing. Alberto attacking with panache and his never say die attitude. Henao being the ultimate teammate and helping to save the day for Thomas who showed a lot of guts to get up the final climb and gain back so much time on the descent.

I agree!! It was Grande Cycling, edge of the seat stuff until the very end. The kind of racing that raises the heartbeat and keeps one coming back for more, decade after decade.

I'm terribly sorry I couldn't see this, but I had to work (still am). Only reading this thread was entertaining enough though. Shame I had to miss such an epic stage.

Hopefully you'll be able to catch a replay. It was pretty much non stop action for the last 50km .

 

[peloton]

Spectacular stage, congrats to Thomas for the fine win & Wellens for the stage.
But who made this stage so great, was again, Contador.
Epic battle, and so close.

One more reason not to like Gallopin if he joins Sky nest year, what a d!ck move today

 

[Orbit501]

Re: Re:

and gallopin actually won the sprint and was 4th on the stage...

even if they caught contador, porte and wellens, lotto-soudal would probabily win anyway.

you guys are really overreacting.

Yes, probably. There were other fast guys in that group, like Yates, Costa and Bardet. It was just a very risky move, especially cause Wellens was guaranteed to win against Contador and Porte.

Since I didn't see it I really need to know something.

I know Gallopin was working with Thomas when there was another group inbetween them and the Contador group. It makes perfect sense if he worked at that moment since he closes the gap to the 2nd group. If that 2nd group makes it back to the group of Contador then Gallopin is there to sprint for the win.

Did Gallopin still work hard when they reached that 2nd group? If he did then that's strange for sure, but working with Thomas to reconnect to the first chasing group makes a lot of sense.

No, he didn't work once they bridged to the first chase group.

There is no story here, except what Contador fans are trying desperately to make of it.

Gallopin did exactly what he had to do for himself and his team. Simple as that.

 

[Orbit501]

Re:

Spectacular stage, congrats to Thomas for the fine win & Wellens for the stage.
But who made this stage so great, was again, Contador.
Epic battle, and so close.

One more reason not to like Gallopin if he joins Sky nest year, what a **** move today

Agreed, Contador made the stage great.

Disagree with you slating Gallopin. You're just being a fan boy. The move was sound on every level.

Agree that it would be a real shame if Gallopin joined Sky. IMHO they would ruin him like they ruined EBH. I'd rather Gallopin stay where he is or go to a team where he can continue to be the exciting riding that he is.

 

[Metabolol]

Sky robots and cancelled stages. Thank you Alberto for making this race at least somewhat viewable.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

Annoying or not ...that is how you are presenting yourself ...
Since this stage today you have called Thomas rotten names, attacked Gallopin for racing HIS race, etc
and when asked to control yourself you said you can't

See who else has cited riders like you do on this post
Noting to do with ripping anything out of context,,,,Its seems you want to give it out but not take it

Oh I can take the crap for what I said earlier (and I still stand by the majority of it). But. I post a picture that's doing the rounds on twitter, with people wondering what it was about. And you immediately rip it out of context and make it seem like I was suggesting Richie was being disrespectful to Contador or whatever. That is just rude.

I was talking about everything you have said ...not about a picture of Richie
So you can say what you like and I pull you up then I am rude ...c

 

[hrotha]

Gallopin working with Thomas was stupid and something he did pretty much just because they're friends. He said as much himself.

<- Definitely not a Contador fan

 

[HelloDolly]

If we have SKY bots as term for SKY fans on here I think a good term for Contador fans on here is Bertie Looneys

Great ride by Contador today but the Bertie Looneys need to reel it in their wailing that he was defeated and have a bit of dignity in defeat
I includesSean Yates in that as well

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I was talking about everything you have said ...not about a picture of Richie
So you can say what you like and I pull you up then I am rude ...c

Geez now you have to analyse to death every little gesture every other rider does or says and take it in relation to Contador , either so you can insult them (esp if SKY) or use it as some indication of everyone bowing down at the Contador alter. (Contador does not need these desperate attempts at validation)

Insane emotional diarrhea

You mean this wasn't about me posting the picture of Richie's gesture?

 

[jsem94]

Gotta say this: cracking race. Cycling will miss Contador when he retires.

 

[jaylew]

I managed to avoid hearing anything about the stage beforehand and just watched the final 41k which I guess was the entire broadcast.

What a ride by Henao! Congrats to him. He seems to be fully back on the trajectory he was on before his injury. You gotta wonder at what point he's going to get a chance to lead some of the bigger races. I'm thinking he might need to go to another team to truly see his full potential. Smart move for Thomas to put on the bigger chainring. Those guys rode a helluva descent.

Absolutely stellar racing from AC. He did everything he could possibly do to win given the circumstances. I haven't seen him make that many attacks in a while. It bodes well for the rest of the year.

I have mixed feelings on Gallopin. And what happened to Dumo?

I still can't believe some people thought Bling had a chance to win this.

 

[jaylew]

Re:

If we have SKY bots as term for SKY fans on here I think a good term for Contador fans on here is Bertie Looneys

It isn't a term for Sky fans, it's a term for their riders when in "that mode"

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Too bad I missed the entire race. Sounds like the last 2 days were exciting.

Great race by Contador, too bad he didn't win it. I read that he went ballistic again last day.

Really let down by Dumoulin and especially Kelderman. With Dumoulin you know there is a chance he doesn't do well uphill. But Kelderman...2nd year in a row now. He might consider going on a different path then GC if he keeps climbing so badly.

 

[peloton]

Re:

Gallopin working with Thomas was stupid and something he did pretty much just because they're friends. He said as much himself.

<- Definitely not a Contador fan

Which is fair, but looked very bad as he was also hunting his own team mate

 

[pastronef]

Re: Re:

Gallopin working with Thomas was stupid and something he did pretty much just because they're friends. He said as much himself.

<- Definitely not a Contador fan

Which is fair, but looked very bad as he was also hunting his own team mate

he was hunting the chasers of his own team mate

 

[jaylew]

Re: Re:

Gallopin working with Thomas was stupid and something he did pretty much just because they're friends. He said as much himself.

<- Definitely not a Contador fan

Which is fair, but looked very bad as he was also hunting his own team mate

he was hunting the chasers of his own team mate

Well, knowing that by doing that he's in essence hunting down his own teammate as obviously Sky is going to continue to push the pace to catch the front 3 once the catch is made to the intermediate group, thus increasing the chance that his teammate gets caught.

 

[peloton]

Re: Re:

Gallopin working with Thomas was stupid and something he did pretty much just because they're friends. He said as much himself.

<- Definitely not a Contador fan

Which is fair, but looked very bad as he was also hunting his own team mate

he was hunting the chasers of his own team mate

He didn't have to, he had a team mate in front.
Cycling ABC, never chase your team mate.
Disrupt the chase, yes, but Tony was taking long pulls. Sky and Thomas own him a little money

 

[Jspear]

Re:

I managed to avoid hearing anything about the stage beforehand and just watched the final 41k which I guess was the entire broadcast.

What a ride by Henao! Congrats to him. He seems to be fully back on the trajectory he was on before his injury. You gotta wonder at what point he's going to get a chance to lead some of the bigger races. I'm thinking he might need to go to another team to truly see his full potential. Smart move for Thomas to put on the bigger chainring. Those guys rode a helluva descent.

Absolutely stellar racing from AC. He did everything he could possibly do to win given the circumstances. I haven't seen him make that many attacks in a while. It bodes well for the rest of the year.

I have mixed feelings on Gallopin. And what happened to Dumo?

I still can't believe some people thought Bling had a chance to win this.

Did you watch the last 41 K online? If so, do you have a link?