2016 Tour de France, Stage 4: Saumur → Limoges (238km)

[ILovecycling]

Yellow((Green)(Rainbow)) beast to strike again

 

[Vesica]

Praying Mantis, very nice opening posts for every stage, thanks for that! One little thing, the red arrow (nice invention) is one stage ahead of the actual stage..yesterdag at stage 3 is was pointing at 4, now at stage 4 it is pointing at 5.

 

[Samamba]

So I looked at the last 8km in Veloviewer. The little climb starting at 8k from the finish is 900m at 7% and the uphill finish is 675m at 6.3% (so no 5%). It looks like the first 300m are the steeper ones. The downhill before the last k will make the uphill finish less hard though.

Kittel definitely won't make it and I don't think that Cav & Greipel will win here. Not because they can't handle a finish like this but cause the stage in general is harder than some of you think. The stage is almost 240k and apparently the 30km between kilometer 180 and kilometer 210 are pretty hard.

 

[hfer07]

Sagan's name written all over this stage.

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

Sagan should be odds on here.

 

[Samamba]

btw, I hope no one crashes in the downhill before the last 700m cause the speed is gonna be very high.

 

[tobsie]

What do you think odds are Gallopin will make a run for it?

 

[Praying Mantis]

Praying Mantis, very nice opening posts for every stage, thanks for that! One little thing, the red arrow (nice invention) is one stage ahead of the actual stage..yesterdag at stage 3 is was pointing at 4, now at stage 4 it is pointing at 5.

Hi, thanks! The arrow, well it looks right on my end (Windows, Firefox, forum at full width). If you're using a different setup, it might very well look off. The only sure way of making it look right for everyone would be to make 21 different images with the arrow included, and I just didn't have the energy... Ahh, I'll look into it, guess it wouldn't take long.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

The threads have been great, but the little "we're on this stage" image of the dotted line and red arrow have been off.

There is/was a rider on Etixx who always seemed to win on days in stage races where it wasn't quite clear if the finish was a hill or false flat. Had 2 or 3 wins on days when the thread argued about 3% for 500m or 5% for 300m and the like. Can anyone remember the same thing? What is his name?

Edit: didn't see your reply above on the arrow thing.

 

[MacBAir]

Who is this Praying Mantis guy? Shouldn't we be making sacrifices to the Gods for having him doing these opening posts? Well, I guess Alberto was the first sacrifice, but totally worth it!

Sagan to boss it if it comes a drag to the line. Bryan to pip Sagan if it comes to an explosive finish after a corner. Cancellara to own the finale as teams look at each other.

 

[PremierAndrew]

Who do Dimension Data go for? If I were EBH, I'd be disappointed not to be team leader tomorrow, but then Cav is seemingly in great form

 

[SlickMongoose]

It looks too tough for Cav IMO.

 

[PolkaKylling]

Re:

So I looked at the last 8km in Veloviewer. The little climb starting at 8k from the finish is 900m at 7% and the uphill finish is 675m at 6.3% (so no 5%). It looks like the first 300m are the steeper ones. The downhill before the last k will make the uphill finish less hard though.

Kittel definitely won't make it and I don't think that Cav & Greipel will win here. Not because they can't handle a finish like this but cause the stage in general is harder than some of you think. The stage is almost 240k and apparently the 30km between kilometer 180 and kilometer 210 are pretty hard.

Very interesting stuff. According to those profiles it seems it will be to steep for the big guys. Interesting to see, if the sprint teams will still work for their big sprinters. It seems better suited for Ala than Kittel for sure though.

 

[TMP402]

The real question of the day: can Daniel McLay improve on 9th?

 

[manafana]

interesting stage might well see richeze get chance over kittel

 

[Bakkie]

Trentin missed by Etixx. WHY he is not in the tour?

 

[portugal11]

Contador will loose time tomorrow

 

[Beobachter]

Re:

Trentin missed by Etixx. WHY he is not in the tour?

It may be Trentin's choice. Or it may be Lefevere's decision; this option is more likely, especially since Trentin is not under contract for next year and has been rumoured to join Bahrein team if I'm correct...

 

[Sasquatch]

Stage is perfectly suited to Kristoff

 

[Jungle Cycle]

Wishing for Cancelara from 8-10km, but realistically hard to see anybody but Sagan ftw...
note: sooner or later Etixx will realized that Richeze is the best option to at least lead-out...

 

[Firzon]

What has Coquard shown in big races compared to Matthews? Matthews showed he can handle long distances by finishing 2nd in Richmond, and he has won stages before with only puncheurs/climbers left in the peloton, like these ones:
http://www.procyclingstats.com/race.php?id=149880
http://www.procyclingstats.com/race.php?id=139132

I just looked at Coquards palmares and he hasn't won anything else but 2.1 or 1.1 stages inside France. He will eventually get a big win soon but imo guys like Matthews should be stronger than him.
Only question mark is Matthews form, only 2 sprint wins this year, but he finished 5th on stage 2 so I suppose he shouldnt be struggling on this one. Also Kristoff because yes, he likes long stages, but I'm not so sure about his form. He did very well in GP Montreal last year but Matthews finished one place ahead on the podium, a race won by Uran x2. Stage is also perfect for Edvald so I hope Cavendish is gone before the finish because he won't win this one

Matthews for the win, he can beat Sagan https://youtu.be/GaKfugpyp6E?t=417

 

[BigMac]

Praying Mantis, very nice opening posts for every stage, thanks for that! One little thing, the red arrow (nice invention) is one stage ahead of the actual stage..yesterdag at stage 3 is was pointing at 4, now at stage 4 it is pointing at 5.

Hi, thanks! The arrow, well it looks right on my end (Windows, Firefox, forum at full width). If you're using a different setup, it might very well look off. The only sure way of making it look right for everyone would be to make 21 different images with the arrow included, and I just didn't have the energy... Ahh, I'll look into it, guess it wouldn't take long.

Brilliant improvement now.

 

[rick james]

Re:

Contador will loose time tomorrow

I can't see that happening

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Contador will loose time tomorrow

I can't see that happening

I can't see him already recovered either. I would not be surprised to see him maybe lose a small amount of time but tomorrow will test him for sure. Contador is tough but it all depends on how his body has responded.

 

[Praying Mantis]

Re:

Who is this Praying Mantis guy? Shouldn't we be making sacrifices to the Gods for having him doing these opening posts? Well, I guess Alberto was the first sacrifice, but totally worth it!