2016 Tour de France, Stage 3: Granville → Angers (224km)

[gunara]

So the reason of Cav's failure three years ago is the same with Kittel's now?

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

Quintana was glued to froome for that last 1k

I don't blame him, he desperately doesn't want to lose time in this first week.

 

[Lexman]

Re:

Quintana was glued to froome for that last 1k

that's the way to do...

 

[Zoophonic]

Re:

Kittel just shows why he's getting way too much attention.

Poor cyclist.

Oh come off it. Is this the guy who finished 2nd on Stage 1. Yeah. Poor.

 

[vedrafjord]

Re:

The route is fine. We need long stages to wear down cyclists. And also sprinters need their stages.

Just turn on the TV with 12km to go!

Sitting in a bunch doing 36 km/h for 6 hours on a pan flat stage won't even remotely wear down a professional cyclist unless they're carrying a serious injury. And it's possible to put climbs, cobbles, dirt roads, exposed sections that might have crosswinds etc. on a stage and still favour the sprinters. Sprint stage != completely featureless.

 

[TMP402]

Man, I forgot my daily Dan McLay tip. Another top 10.

 

[Pharazon]

Re:

So the reason of Cav's failure three years ago is the same with Kittel's now?

makes sense really...

Froome really is very good at no losing time in stupid situations..

think the only time i can recall it happening was a crosswind stage in 2013 when he lost perhaps a minute

 

[portugal11]

Re:

Quintana was glued to froome for that last 1k

Wow!! He is tooking "the art of wheelsucking" to another level

 

[TMP402]

Did Cavendish in the post-race interview say the camera gave him a Tour of Qatar stage last year he didn't actually win, or that he wasn't awarded one he actually did win? I didn't get that.

 

[This Charming Man]

Re: Re:

The route is fine. We need long stages to wear down cyclists. And also sprinters need their stages.

Just turn on the TV with 12km to go!

Sitting in a bunch doing 36 km/h for 6 hours on a pan flat stage won't even remotely wear down a professional cyclist unless they're carrying a serious injury. And it's possible to put climbs, cobbles, dirt roads, exposed sections that might have crosswinds etc. on a stage and still favour the sprinters. Sprint stage != completely featureless.

I thought the Tour was about making places for all riders to exell, even pure sprinters. For GC contenders, these types of stages are challenging.

 

[winkybiker]

Re: Re:

Dumoulin has a lot of critique on today's course on Dutch television.

He says a course like today's, over 200km long with no incentives to attack, has no place in a GT and especially the TdF.

He's absolutely right ofcourse. A torture to the mind and eyes.

Nah, it's just another style of stage. I don't have a problem with it. It's all part of the variety that is possible in a GT.

 

[Pharazon]

Re:

Did Cavendish in the post-race interview say the camera gave him a Tour of Qatar stage last year he didn't actually win, or that he wasn't awarded one he actually did win? I didn't get that.

the 2nd...

he said that he won one that he wasn't awarded because of the angle of the camera

 

[winkybiker]

Re: Re:

Quintana was glued to froome for that last 1k

Wow!! He is tooking "the art of wheelsucking" to another level

Just bike racing. You want Quintana to lead-out a sprinter?

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

Did Cavendish in the post-race interview say the camera gave him a Tour of Qatar stage last year he didn't actually win, or that he wasn't awarded one he actually did win? I didn't get that.

He said Kristoff was given a stage win because of the camera angle but it was actually his tyre that was slightly in front.

 

[Anderis]

Rolland 11th overall and we didn't even have one proper climb in the race so far. Better watch out for him!

 

[Geraint Too Fast]

Finish had a 2% gradient, meaning, Kittel was nowhere

How did he win these stages then?

 

[ExNorseCyc]

Re:

Man, I forgot my daily Dan McLay tip. Another top 10.

What about Sondre Holst Enger 6th place!? 22 Year old! Tours YOungest sprinter (well youngest of all)... Breakthrough!

And beated Kittel, a sign for the future

 

[Red Rick]

Good things about this stage.

No significant crashes.
Finish just in time for me to watch Murray-Kyrgios.

Nothing more to say really

 

[gunara]

Re: Re:

Man, I forgot my daily Dan McLay tip. Another top 10.

What about Sondre Holst Enger 6th place!? 22 Year old! Tours YOungest sprinter (well youngest of all)... Breakthrough!

And beated Kittel, a sign for the future

Beating Kristoff is more important

 

[ExNorseCyc]

Re: Re:

Man, I forgot my daily Dan McLay tip. Another top 10.

What about Sondre Holst Enger 6th place!? 22 Year old! Tours YOungest sprinter (well youngest of all)... Breakthrough!

And beated Kittel, a sign for the future

Beating Kristoff is more important

For Sondre it is yes. Not for me, Kristoff is better .. Katusha just keeps on <edited> the train up, maybe its because of Mørkøv i dont know. THen again, Kristoff never does well in the start of any tours.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Re: Re:

Man, I forgot my daily Dan McLay tip. Another top 10.

What about Sondre Holst Enger 6th place!? 22 Year old! Tours YOungest sprinter (well youngest of all)... Breakthrough!

And beated Kittel, a sign for the future

Best dancer too

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Tom Dumoulin said 200km FLAT stages are no longer for this era. He says it bores everyone, spectators and riders alike. And the best thing to do is just to have shorter flat stages if you plan them

Might have a point

 

[ExNorseCyc]

Re:

Did Cavendish in the post-race interview say the camera gave him a Tour of Qatar stage last year he didn't actually win, or that he wasn't awarded one he actually did win? I didn't get that.

I tried to post reply with a link to the stage he was talking about, was reported as spam. Anyway, its stage 5 in Tour of Quatar 2016 when he and Kristoff went mano vs man0 for 100 meters and nobody saw who won until finish photo..

 

[TMP402]

Thanks to repliers.

On a different note, Eisel finished 4 minutes down. Why? He also was dropped out the back early on Stage 1.

 

[portugal11]

Lefevre is writing a letter to kittel.