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

[arvc40]

I don't know what was more fun. Thomas beating Bertie to win Paris-Nice or reading back through the last 30 pages of this thread. Keep it up guys!

Surely the stage should have been most fun but I can imagine that wasn't the case for a mindless Contador hater like you. Not even a word of praise, keep it up

I must say Geraint has fulfilled his duty wonderfully. First Algarve and now Paris-Nice. It must really hurt Contador's pride to be beaten twice in a row by Froome's domestique.

If I was Thomas I would be dissapointed to win races and know that I wasn't the strongest. Now that for me is the worse thing of all. Add in cancelled stages that favour the opposition would add to that. Add in only 4 seconds advantage and cracking badly would add further. Knowing that the effort required to follow the best one day would cause exhaustion the next....... Contador leaves this race disappointed because he knows he's the best !

 

[JRanton]

Re: Re:

Ehm what? I believe there was one big group between his teammate and him.

Yes, and anyone with more than 3 brain cells could have put 2 and 2 together and realized that with Thomas and Henao back in the group, that group would have a larger chance of coming back to the front group.

In which case, Gallopin would have won the stage.

They would have finished 1-2! Where on earth was the risk for Lotto even if Wellens had been brought back? They'd still have had the 2 fastest guys in the group sprinting for the win or one could have led the other out to make it even more certain. Also Gallopin taking the 10 seconds win bonus would have moved him up to 6th on GC.

 

[LaFlorecita]

I must say Geraint has fulfilled his duty wonderfully. First Algarve and now Paris-Nice. It must really hurt Contador's pride to be beaten twice in a row by Froome's domestique.

Sky should be worried. A dangerous animal, when wounded, becomes deadly.

 

[JRanton]

I don't know what was more fun. Thomas beating Bertie to win Paris-Nice or reading back through the last 30 pages of this thread. Keep it up guys!

Surely the stage should have been most fun but I can imagine that wasn't the case for a mindless Contador hater like you. Not even a word of praise, keep it up

I must say Geraint has fulfilled his duty wonderfully. First Algarve and now Paris-Nice. It must really hurt Contador's pride to be beaten twice in a row by Froome's domestique.

If I was Thomas I would be dissapointed to win races and know that I wasn't the strongest. Now that for me is the worse thing of all. Add in cancelled stages that favour the opposition would add to that. Add in only 4 seconds advantage and cracking badly would add further. Knowing that the effort required to follow the best one day would cause exhaustion the next....... Contador leaves this race disappointed because he knows he's the best !

Except that Thomas was the strongest rider across the whole race. Just like in Algarve.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Thomas is great in bad weather and has beaten Contador on 2 summit finishes this season. What makes you assume that Contador would have beaten him on that finish (Thomas was already great on that same climb in 2014 Paris-Nice btw)?

It's almost as if Saturday's stage didn't happen. Thomas responded to two Contador attacks and then counter attacked and dropped him with 300m to go. And of course he comfortably beat him in the prologue too. I'd say he absolutely deserves his Paris-Nice win!

Thomas beat him on two summit finishes with an average gradient of under 6%. That's false flat for Contador and perfect for Thomas. Whenever the gradient got above 8%, Contador gapped him. Are you forgetting he got 28s on Malhão, and yesterday, 30s in 1km?

 

[JRanton]

I must say Geraint has fulfilled his duty wonderfully. First Algarve and now Paris-Nice. It must really hurt Contador's pride to be beaten twice in a row by Froome's domestique.

Sky should be worried. A dangerous animal, when wounded, becomes deadly.

I'm hoping a significantly improved Froome turns up to Catalunya compared to his previous two performances there, otherwise I have to admit revenge will come quickly for your guy.

 

[LaFlorecita]

i'm wondering how you define yourself in relation to sky if jranton turns out to be a mindless hater? why the hell you demand respect for contador from everyone and at the same time badmouth sky for years? where is logic?

I really don't care.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re: Re:

You're normally one of the realistic, rational ones and I really appreciate that . But you did say the bolded agreeing with the bolded in the previous comment.

There are Many Berto fans that made absolutely no derogatory comments about anything even in the heat of the close finish. Just sayin!

Yeah I can understand that, I was only referring to the point that I completely get why some fans were very annoyed. I probably should have worded differently, It's a passionate sport after all! It's obviously known I like a lot (not all) of the Sky riders however I did find myself secretly having a little cheer for Alberto near the end. I admit he deserved the win but I have to credit Thomas for fighting, at one point with a couple of K's to go he even rode away from the chase group on the flat, was very impressive from all involved.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

You're normally one of the realistic, rational ones and I really appreciate that . But you did say the bolded agreeing with the bolded in the previous comment.

There are Many Berto fans that made absolutely no derogatory comments about anything even in the heat of the close finish. Just sayin!

Yeah I can understand that, I was only referring to the point that I completely get why some fans were very annoyed. I probably should have worded differently, It's a passionate sport after all! It's obviously known I like a lot (not all) of the Sky riders however I did find myself secretly having a little cheer for Alberto at the end. I admit he deserved the win but I have to credit Thomas for fighting, at one point with a couple of K's to go he even rode away from the chase group on the flat, was very impressive from all involved.

The thing is if posters are worried about generalizations then they should not have stood idly by or tacitly encouraged (by non confrontation) posters on here to call SKY fans names. IT has been going on for an age

I have already in 2 days been called
a SKY bot
Unable to be fair becasue I come from Birmingham
Ignorant of cycling because I am British


This is indefensible but I do not see Carols or Red Rick attacking such generalizations

As i said people can dish it out but cannot take it....I will continue to us the term Berie Looneys as long as or until I see some curtailing of the atrocious anti SKY and anti British posts...

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Sky should be worried. A dangerous animal, when wounded, becomes deadly.

Face it, son. Bertie just doesn't have it anymore.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Sky should be worried. A dangerous animal, when wounded, becomes deadly.

Face it, son. Bertie just doesn't have it anymore.

He's as strong as in his best years. This season will be glorious

 

[wrinklyvet]

Re: Re:

You're normally one of the realistic, rational ones and I really appreciate that . But you did say the bolded agreeing with the bolded in the previous comment.

There are Many Berto fans that made absolutely no derogatory comments about anything even in the heat of the close finish. Just sayin!

Yeah I can understand that, I was only referring to the point that I completely get why some fans were very annoyed. I probably should have worded differently, It's a passionate sport after all! It's obviously known I like a lot (not all) of the Sky riders however I did find myself secretly having a little cheer for Alberto at the end. I admit he deserved the win but I have to credit Thomas for fighting, at one point with a couple of K's to go he even rode away from the chase group on the flat, was very impressive from all involved.

The thing is if posters are worried about generalizations then they should not have stood idly by or tacitly encouraged (by non confrontation) posters on here to call SKY fans names. IT has been going on for an age

I have already in 2 days been called
a SKY bot
Unable to be fair becasue I come from Birmingham
Ignorant of cycling because I am British


This is indefensible but I do not see Carols or Red Rick attacking such generalizations

As i said people can dish it out but cannot take it....I will continue to us the term Berie Looneys as long as or until I see some curtailing of the atrocious anti SKY and anti British posts...

I admire your willingness to stand against this, even though your style is different from mine. Often I don't bother to log in because I am not looking for confrontation with the people who would not say the same thing to your face.

The comments in this section tend to be relatively kind most of the time but I don't think some people consider the hurt the give to others who have tried to add balance and to support their own favourites.

Congratulations to G for his win and thanks to those who helped him. I watched with some excitement the chase to get back on. Nobody seems to have praised his choice of 54-tooth chainring in case of just such an evntuality! He or his team should be praised for this foresight. He and Henao with the other guy who has been getting the flak were tenacious and fast.

I am also very happy to agree that Contador enlivened this stage, as he had to if he hoped to win. He's always good to watch. There's no need to run down one rider to praise another.

 

[hrotha]

Re: Re:

Buy big team, control everything, chase everything down because you have better teammates. No action, you know what I mean

Surely, Contador's move was only possible in the first place because Tinkoff also bought a strong team.

And I find the idea that Sky is so good because they throw money at the best severely lacking - if I don't accept it for pro-Sky Clinicky arguments, I can't accept it here either. Thomas was a nobody when they signed him, Henao hadn't ever raced for a European team, and if signing Roche as a domestique shows you're a bullying billionaire, surely it'd be hypocritical of anyone to complain on behalf of Tinkoff.

 

[gregrowlerson]

[/quote]If I was Thomas I would be dissapointed to win races and know that I wasn't the strongest. Now that for me is the worse thing of all. Add in cancelled stages that favour the opposition would add to that. Add in only 4 seconds advantage and cracking badly would add further. Knowing that the effort required to follow the best one day would cause exhaustion the next....... Contador leaves this race disappointed because he knows he's the best ![/quote]

What a ridiculous comment. Aren't riders to be admired more when they battle against adversity - when they are not the strongest rider - and still prevail? Isn't that what many of us most like about Contador, that he succeeded in the 2012 Vuelta when he "wasn't the strongest?"

And isn't this one of the major reasons for why so many dislike Froome; that he is often the strongest and thus just waits for the final climb on a mountain top finish and drills it whilst keeping tabs on his wattage?

Did Contador not deserve to win last years Giro because he "cracked badly"? I'd say that he deserved to win it even more, because he cracked, but showed resilience in that aftermath, much like Thomas did yesterday.

Yes, there was a cancelled stage, but that wasn't exactly a category 1 climb. And Thomas beat Contador in the prologue, and on a mountain top finish. That one wasn't greatly suited to Contador's strength's, but still.

Anyway, this Paris-Nice was great. So let's get this thread up to the 2,000 plus posts that it deserves

 

[Ruudz0r]

Re: Re:

Thomas is great in bad weather and has beaten Contador on 2 summit finishes this season. What makes you assume that Contador would have beaten him on that finish (Thomas was already great on that same climb in 2014 Paris-Nice btw)?

It's almost as if Saturday's stage didn't happen. Thomas responded to two Contador attacks and then counter attacked and dropped him with 300m to go. And of course he comfortably beat him in the prologue too. I'd say he absolutely deserves his Paris-Nice win!

Thomas beat him on two summit finishes with an average gradient of under 6%. That's false flat for Contador and perfect for Thomas. Whenever the gradient got above 8%, Contador gapped him. Are you forgetting he got 28s on Malhão, and yesterday, 30s in 1km?

To be fair Thomas is not as punchy and likes riding 1 tempo instead of doing a lot of accelerations. He did get back to Contador quick enough (even though Henao helped him). In Algarve he didnt need to follow Contador as he riding for the overall there not for the stage win (not that I think he could have followed Contador on that stage, but I think he could have been closer then the 30s he lost).

 

[Metabolol]

The result is disappointing for Contador but his shape is very good, he has won many races in this type of shape. Had this race been harder he would have comfortably beaten Thomas. Zakarin and Porte looked good too.

I'm a little bit worried about his flat TTing though, I haven't looked at his exact numbers but it certainly feels like it has faded a bit. At the same time, today's cycling is very competitive so that is one factor to consider too.

 

[Metabolol]

It's true that Thomas is a diesel but from what I have seen, Contador should be able to handle him on multiple hard mountain stages. Of course, getting by Thomas isn't enough, he has to be able to beat Froome. I think Contador preparation looks good so far, but his team has to bring their A game to the Tour. Kreuziger needs to be able to follow Thomas.

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

You're normally one of the realistic, rational ones and I really appreciate that . But you did say the bolded agreeing with the bolded in the previous comment.

There are Many Berto fans that made absolutely no derogatory comments about anything even in the heat of the close finish. Just sayin!

Yeah I can understand that, I was only referring to the point that I completely get why some fans were very annoyed. I probably should have worded differently, It's a passionate sport after all! It's obviously known I like a lot (not all) of the Sky riders however I did find myself secretly having a little cheer for Alberto near the end. I admit he deserved the win but I have to credit Thomas for fighting, at one point with a couple of K's to go he even rode away from the chase group on the flat, was very impressive from all involved.

Thanks .

All I ever said was Grande Race and that it was an example of why I still adore bike racing after 50+ years of watching. That is still how I feel about it today, it was a great race!

 

[HelloDolly]

Re:

It's true that Thomas is a diesel but from what I have seen, Contador should be able to handle him on multiple hard mountain stages. Of course, getting by Thomas isn't enough, he has to be able to beat Froome. I think Contador preparation looks good so far, but his team has to bring their A game to the Tour. Kreuziger needs to be able to follow Thomas.

I actually think Tinkoff had a very good team for the Tour..Kreuziger looks to getting back to his previous form and is more explosive than Thomas. Majka is a top climber and Trofimov is very good on long climbs.. And then there is Valgren & Sagan .This Tours parcours will benefit a team with strong roulers

Alot will depend on SKYs form. With Landa & INxtausti recovering from glandular fever that must effect teams seelction/performance at Giro and have a knock on effect for the Tour . SKY should ride Henao at the Tour and along with Poles and Thomas will give alot of help to Froome in final week but I don't see them being stronger than Tinkoff as riders necessarily ...maybe as domestiques ? But who knows

I would say the teams will be closer than they were last year
Its the form of the leaders that will be key. Contador needs to keep something in the tank for the final week

 

[Angliru]

Did I miss the telecast of this final stage or did NBCSports just decide to not televise it at all after showing all the preceding stages? I searched but couldn't find it.

 

[Carols]

Re:

Did I miss the telecast of this final stage or did NBCSports just decide to not televise it at all after showing all the preceding stages? I searched but couldn't find it.

They showed it Live!!!! I only knew because it was posted on FB. Now I have an awesome stage on DVR, good for winters on the trainer . You need to check the TV in USA thread, the info was posted there!

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Did I miss the telecast of this final stage or did NBCSports just decide to not televise it at all after showing all the preceding stages? I searched but couldn't find it.

They showed it Live!!!! I only knew because it was posted on FB. Now I have an awesome stage on DVR, good for winters on the trainer . You need to check the TV in USA thread, the info was posted there!

Each day this past week I did a search on DirecTV but it only showed up to stage 6! I'll have to find the highlights on steephill. Sorry I missed it!

 

[Carols]

Re: Re:

Did I miss the telecast of this final stage or did NBCSports just decide to not televise it at all after showing all the preceding stages? I searched but couldn't find it.

They showed it Live!!!! I only knew because it was posted on FB. Now I have an awesome stage on DVR, good for winters on the trainer . You need to check the TV in USA thread, the info was posted there!

Each day this past week I did a search on DirecTV but it only showed up to stage 6! I'll have to find the highlights on steephill. Sorry I missed it!

It never showed on my Dish programming either, but I knew it was on so set a manual timer!

 

[rick james]

I don't know what was more fun. Thomas beating Bertie to win Paris-Nice or reading back through the last 30 pages of this thread. Keep it up guys!

Surely the stage should have been most fun but I can imagine that wasn't the case for a mindless Contador hater like you. Not even a word of praise, keep it up

I must say Geraint has fulfilled his duty wonderfully. First Algarve and now Paris-Nice. It must really hurt Contador's pride to be beaten twice in a row by Froome's domestique.

If I was Thomas I would be dissapointed to win races and know that I wasn't the strongest. Now that for me is the worse thing of all. Add in cancelled stages that favour the opposition would add to that. Add in only 4 seconds advantage and cracking badly would add further. Knowing that the effort required to follow the best one day would cause exhaustion the next....... Contador leaves this race disappointed because he knows he's the best !

Aye i'm sure he is hating the fact that he won Paris-Nice

 

[rick james]

Re: Re:

Thomas is great in bad weather and has beaten Contador on 2 summit finishes this season. What makes you assume that Contador would have beaten him on that finish (Thomas was already great on that same climb in 2014 Paris-Nice btw)?

It's almost as if Saturday's stage didn't happen. Thomas responded to two Contador attacks and then counter attacked and dropped him with 300m to go. And of course he comfortably beat him in the prologue too. I'd say he absolutely deserves his Paris-Nice win!

Thomas beat him on two summit finishes with an average gradient of under 6%. That's false flat for Contador and perfect for Thomas. Whenever the gradient got above 8%, Contador gapped him. Are you forgetting he got 28s on Malhão, and yesterday, 30s in 1km?

All that attacking and he gets nothing for it...That must hurt, grandstanding for his fans, that's what he is reduced to