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2016 Tour de France, Stage 5: Limoges → Le Lioran (216km)

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Re: Re:

Lance Armstrong said:
ILovecycling said:
Lance Armstrong said:
ILovecycling said:
**** Majka , you piece of ****
Lol, how would Majka help Contador in the last km? 3 seconds saved? 5 maybe? Alberto may lose minutes during the weekend.
Why was he in the break? :eek:
I don't know. Maybe he was told to, so that rest of the team doesn't have to pull.
Uhh, pointless conversation...

Why was he in the break with 20k to go?(I know why was he originally there ffs :p )
 
Re: Re:

HelloDolly said:
DFA123 said:
staubsauger said:
Majka lost his pole position to secure the polka dot jersey after his Pyrenees stage win last year, because he was forced to help Contador not even ending up on the podium! It's a bit unfair to blame him now, when obviously he got the green light to ride for himself and Contador ain't even in contention for the top 5 with his current shape! As ugly as his racing style has been at the Giro, way too easy to blame him here. I prefer Majka going for his yearly mountain stage win on Saturday instead of him shipping around a bad shape Contador to be honest. If Rafal ain't got the legs to take his honor on Saturday as well, then it's fair to openly criticize him imho.
Agreed, although I'd go further and say he doesn't deserve any criticism really whatever happens. He came in on the back of a brutal Giro as a domestique for Contador. Now Contador's proven to be so far off the pace, he basically has a free role - he's off the leash.

It's a rare chance for a pro cyclist to have some fun, go for the odd stage and perhaps the polka dots and enjoy himself. He's not my favourite rider, but good luck to him - hope he enjoys himself and entertains us a bit over the next couple of weeks.

Disagree with this...Contador is not out of it yet (and certainly was not till end today) and even at his worst Contador can win more than Majka

It looks like Tinkoff is every man for himself
Contador absolutely is out of it. He has no chance of winning, barring a huge amount of crashes, and has shown in the past that he has little interest in trying to place well.

If you flog domestiques into the ground for lost causes like that - it isn't good for team morale. Contador may still need some of these riders for the Vuelta or potentially on a new team next year. Better to let them off the leash and have some fun pursuing their own goals when the leader can't deliver.
 
Contador is some time down on GC but still within the realm of a possible comeback. To strip him of all useful domestiques just because he is a minute behind starts a vicious circle where he continues to lose batches of seconds until he is out for good.
 
Re: 2016 Tour de France, Stage 5: Limoges → Le Lioran (216km

TMP402 said:
Lance Armstrong said:
thehog said:
Gigs_98 said:
Contador lost time but on another note, froome also didnt look very strong

I would agree, when Bardet attacked froome just didn't have it... however, lets see.
He checked his stem and just didn't want to go into red, to gain nothing.

Yet he's already coughing in interviews.

Not uncommon for him to be coughing after a stage though, after the finish of PSM last year he coughed a lot, same at the Dauphine last year on the final stage.

Froome usually just rides his own tempo to respond to attacks, rather than go into the red following. It usually works for him and he caught up quickly
 
Re: 2016 Tour de France, Stage 5: Limoges → Le Lioran (216km

Lance Armstrong said:
thehog said:
Gigs_98 said:
Contador lost time but on another note, froome also didnt look very strong

I would agree, when Bardet attacked froome just didn't have it... however, lets see.
He checked his stem and just didn't want to go into red, to gain nothing.
Look at the pictures again. When bardet went he immediately reacted but just couldn't hold his wheel.
 
Re: 2016 Tour de France, Stage 5: Limoges → Le Lioran (216km

DFA123 said:
StuyvenFan said:
He picked up a total of two points today.
2 more than if he would have waited for Contador.

It's 25 points for a HC climb, 10 for a cat 1 and double points for a MTF, so the last climbs of stages 9, 12, and 19 are worth 50 points each. Today isn't even a rounding error in the polka dot jersey contest.
 
Re: 2016 Tour de France, Stage 5: Limoges → Le Lioran (216km

Jelantik said:
DFA123 said:
StuyvenFan said:
DFA123 said:
StuyvenFan said:
Majka doing what he does best: nothing
He got what he wanted from today - a load of mountain classification points. That's his goal now for the Tour.

He picked up a total of two points today.
2 more than if he would have waited for Contador. And you could see how much he was struggling by the end anyway - the peloton were eating up ground on him. How exactly could he have helped Contador?

His team have clearly made the right call. Contador is done for the GC. He should stage hunt and save energy for the Vuelta from here on in.

I'm scratching my head. Why are people immediately just dismiss Contador as done? The tour is a long and this is the hard tour with tough mountain. He fell. Twice. Only alien can still perform well with that conditions. He is human. So he is suffering. To say that his team is abandoned him? That's rubbish. He is a multiple GT winner. If he doesn't win this tour, at least he is alive. He doesn't have any luck so far. But the same thing can be said to other contenders. They might fall off out of contention in any days. Today he lost time. So be it. At least he didn't get drop in some 20km.

Because he's done. He was a long shot before the Tour started. He's already lost well over a minute and his form is significantly below that of not only the big two favourites, but also of a host of other contenders.

He lost time today in a stage that was easy for any serious GC hopeful - and he's got proper mountains coming in a couple of days. No chance he will regain enough form by then to compete.
 
Re:

BigMac said:
Contador is some time down on GC but still within the realm of a possible comeback. To strip him of all useful domestiques just because he is a minute behind starts a vicious circle where he continues to lose batches of seconds until he is out for good.


Contador has already said in post stage interviews his focus will change, he’s not in physical shape to win the Tour anymore.
 
Re: Re:

LaFlorecita said:
Zinoviev Letter said:
I'm not an admirer of Majka, but the snarling about him is ridiculous. Contador crashed twice. He doesn't have it. It's not Majka's fault he doesn't have it. It's not Tinkov's fault he doesn't have it either.
Sorry but why the **** does he think finishing 3rd or 4th or 5th is more important than helping his leader? I mean even if Tinkoff have written Contador off Kreuziger was in that group too. This is just the same **** as last year when he finished 13th and Alberto crashed on the descent. I've defended him many times but I now see that I was wrong and he really just only cares about himself.

Well that's just it - if Majka had been in the running for the stage, it would make sense to accuse him of selfishness. But he wasn't in the running for anything of significance. There is zero chance that the DS told him to stop and wait and he didn't because he values a stage third too highly. That wouldn't be selfish, it would be damaging his own prospects in the team for nothing.

It's up to the DS to decide that a rider ahead needs to wait. Majka doesn't have psychic powers and won't know exactly what the situation is behind except perhaps that there are two Tinkov men in the group and Contador isn't feeling great. He's not going to randomly stop without orders to do so - that's not what riders in his situation are supposed to do. If the DS tells him to stop, he stops. If the DS doesn't, he doesn't. If the DS got that call wrong, blame the DS.
 
Re: 2016 Tour de France, Stage 5: Limoges → Le Lioran (216km

vedrafjord said:
DFA123 said:
StuyvenFan said:
He picked up a total of two points today.
2 more than if he would have waited for Contador.

It's 25 points for a HC climb, 10 for a cat 1 and double points for a MTF, so the last climbs of stages 9, 12, and 19 are worth 50 points each. Today isn't even a rounding error in the polka dot jersey contest.
So he should have just thrown away 2 points for what? He's obviously got a free role now and is chasing stages and the polka dots. No-one in that position would turn down 2 points for nothing.

As you said, it will probably be incidental. But it might not be.
 
Re: Re:

Zinoviev Letter said:
Well that's just it - if Majka had been in the running for the stage, it would make sense to accuse him of selfishness. But he wasn't in the running for anything of significance. There is zero chance that the DS told him to stop and wait and he didn't because he values a stage third too highly. That wouldn't be selfish, it would be damaging his own prospects in the team for nothing.

It's up to the DS to decide that a rider ahead needs to wait. Majka doesn't have psychic powers and won't know exactly what the situation is behind except perhaps that there are two Tinkov men in the group and Contador isn't feeling great. He's not going to randomly stop without orders to do so - that's not what riders in his situation are supposed to do. If the DS tells him to stop, he stops. If the DS doesn't, he doesn't. If the DS got that call wrong, blame the DS.
Last year, the DS told him on the radio to stop and wait for Alberto, but his radio was "broken".
 
Re: Re:

DFA123 said:
HelloDolly said:
DFA123 said:
staubsauger said:
Majka lost his pole position to secure the polka dot jersey after his Pyrenees stage win last year, because he was forced to help Contador not even ending up on the podium! It's a bit unfair to blame him now, when obviously he got the green light to ride for himself and Contador ain't even in contention for the top 5 with his current shape! As ugly as his racing style has been at the Giro, way too easy to blame him here. I prefer Majka going for his yearly mountain stage win on Saturday instead of him shipping around a bad shape Contador to be honest. If Rafal ain't got the legs to take his honor on Saturday as well, then it's fair to openly criticize him imho.
Agreed, although I'd go further and say he doesn't deserve any criticism really whatever happens. He came in on the back of a brutal Giro as a domestique for Contador. Now Contador's proven to be so far off the pace, he basically has a free role - he's off the leash.


1.Contador is not out of it...he can finsih podium or top 5 ...way more than Majka can even hope to do esp with a Giro in his legs

2. There is no Tinkoff team next week

You points make no sense

To discard a rider who could do very well in favour of a rider that could possible get a top 15 if even that
As for KOM ....who really cares when you have Contador in a team



It's a rare chance for a pro cyclist to have some fun, go for the odd stage and perhaps the polka dots and enjoy himself. He's not my favourite rider, but good luck to him - hope he enjoys himself and entertains us a bit over the next couple of weeks.

Disagree with this...Contador is not out of it yet (and certainly was not till end today) and even at his worst Contador can win more than Majka

It looks like Tinkoff is every man for himself
Contador absolutely is out of it. He has no chance of winning, barring a huge amount of crashes, and has shown in the past that he has little interest in trying to place well.

If you flog domestiques into the ground for lost causes like that - it isn't good for team morale. Contador may still need some of these riders for the Vuelta or potentially on a new team next year. Better to let them off the leash and have some fun pursuing their own goals when the leader can't deliver.
 
Re: Re:

DFA123 said:
HelloDolly said:
DFA123 said:
staubsauger said:
Majka lost his pole position to secure the polka dot jersey after his Pyrenees stage win last year, because he was forced to help Contador not even ending up on the podium! It's a bit unfair to blame him now, when obviously he got the green light to ride for himself and Contador ain't even in contention for the top 5 with his current shape! As ugly as his racing style has been at the Giro, way too easy to blame him here. I prefer Majka going for his yearly mountain stage win on Saturday instead of him shipping around a bad shape Contador to be honest. If Rafal ain't got the legs to take his honor on Saturday as well, then it's fair to openly criticize him imho.
Agreed, although I'd go further and say he doesn't deserve any criticism really whatever happens. He came in on the back of a brutal Giro as a domestique for Contador. Now Contador's proven to be so far off the pace, he basically has a free role - he's off the leash.

It's a rare chance for a pro cyclist to have some fun, go for the odd stage and perhaps the polka dots and enjoy himself. He's not my favourite rider, but good luck to him - hope he enjoys himself and entertains us a bit over the next couple of weeks.

Disagree with this...Contador is not out of it yet (and certainly was not till end today) and even at his worst Contador can win more than Majka

It looks like Tinkoff is every man for himself
Contador absolutely is out of it. He has no chance of winning, barring a huge amount of crashes, and has shown in the past that he has little interest in trying to place well.

If you flog domestiques into the ground for lost causes like that - it isn't good for team morale. Contador may still need some of these riders for the Vuelta or potentially on a new team next year. Better to let them off the leash and have some fun pursuing their own goals when the leader can't deliver.

Majka is a lost cause himself. He was a complete braindead tool today. He rode for absolute nothing, it's not like he'll win or lose the polka jersey with those 2 points from today. Contador may heal, Majka's stupidity can't.
 
Aug 16, 2013
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PURITO!!!! Best performance i saw of him this year. He had something left in the final, for the first time this year!!!

Contador is done. He should abandon and focus on la Vuelta.

Hard stage in general. Some pre-favorites or dark horses did lose big time. But concerning Froome vs Quintana vs Aru vs French guys, no clear answers.
 
Re:

Andro said:
Sky had 4 riders left when Movistar were down to just Quintana and Bala. They're gonna be fine.

Well I think this comes down to setting a high pace on 3% cat 3 climb. I think that Movistar has a stronger team and we don't know how much effort Movistar riders put into making pace today.
 
Re:

Andro said:
Sky had 4 riders left when Movistar were down to just Quintana and Bala. They're gonna be fine.

That is cos Movistar put everyone to the sword and drilled it...dropping Nibali, Dumoulin, Landa, Navarro, Poels, and a host of riders

When SKY took over they slowed it down

My point is not that SKY are nto strong but that Movistar are possibly stronger
 
Re:

BigMac said:
Contador is some time down on GC but still within the realm of a possible comeback. To strip him of all useful domestiques just because he is a minute behind starts a vicious circle where he continues to lose batches of seconds until he is out for good.

Totally disagree, they should go full 2014 to pick up possibly 3+ stages, kom and green. Contador has virtually no chance to win the tour and nobody would care about podium if Tinkoff goes mad like they did in 2014.
 
Re: 2016 Tour de France, Stage 5: Limoges → Le Lioran (216km

Pricey_sky said:
TMP402 said:
Lance Armstrong said:
thehog said:
Gigs_98 said:
Contador lost time but on another note, froome also didnt look very strong

I would agree, when Bardet attacked froome just didn't have it... however, lets see.
He checked his stem and just didn't want to go into red, to gain nothing.

Yet he's already coughing in interviews.

Not uncommon for him to be coughing after a stage though, after the finish of PSM last year he coughed a lot, same at the Dauphine last year on the final stage.

Froome usually just rides his own tempo to respond to attacks, rather than go into the red following. It usually works for him and he caught up quickly

After a big effort, sure, perfectly normal to be coughing. But he didn't look all that strong out on the roads today, and it certainly wasn't a 'big effort' for someone like Froome. A 'big effort' would be full gas up a Cat 1 at least
 
Re: Re:

Melo said:
Majka is a lost cause himself. He was a complete braindead tool today. He rode for absolute nothing, it's not like he'll win or lose the polka jersey with those 2 points from today. Contador may heal, Majka's stupidity can't.

It seems there's no discussing issues with Contador fanboys without the insults flying. Reminds me of the Gallopin situation :rolleyes: Majka was just riding his own race, which he clearly has the team's blessing to do - same with Kreuziger. He's chasing the polka dots and 2 points is clearly better than 0 points, lower morale and resentment within the team..
 

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