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I somewhat agree and yes, it was pretty foreseeable altho I must admit I thought he wouldn't let anyone ride away from him on Galibier since he had a decent amount in the wheels by then. It would have interesting to see how it panned out with Mollema, but ultimately, for the spectacle and everything, I can't blame Trek and Contador at all. They at least tried something - more than you can say about just about any team.DFA123 said:
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This is true, their intention at least was good in terms of trying to create something out of nothing. I just think they got their strategy badly wrong today. In one move they compromised two promising options in the break, while at the same time their 'star' rider was going above threshold for a long period to close a gap, with 100km of riding still left in the day. They were hoping for a miracle to win from that scenario.Valv.Piti said:
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De Gendt surely. Barguil has probably been the most aggressive, but he'll have the polka dots, a top 10 and stage win already. It seems a bit greedy to give him that as well. However Contador has a great chance as a sort of 'good effort, thank you for everything' award.LaFlorecita said:
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As much as I love Alberto, he has attacked twice in this entire race. He wouldn't be the most deserving winner of that award. And I don't think it'd give him any satisfaction either, so give it to De Gendt, he'd be happy with it.Brullnux said:
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He's got the award twice this Tour so they might just give it to him anyway.LaFlorecita said:
I really enjoyed the ride of Alberto. He was cooked after his big efforts at the Croix-de-Fer but he had given everything beforehand. It also was the right tactic. This stage was meant to be last big stage of Alberto's career. Mollemas has won a stage already so there was no point to give him the chance for a second victory. This stage was for Alberto and for the myriad fans of Alberto. They should get a last big fight and we have finally got one. An attack at the Télégraphe would have been to late. Neither would he have caught the break nor would he have been able to hold off Froome at the rest of Galibier if he had attacked only at the Télégraphe. Alberto gave us a good show and I am thankful for that.
Alberto did a decent ride today but he obviously isn't as good as Froome anymore on such a hard stage. He is somewhere between 5-10th climber of the race and if you want to win a stage in this occasion you have to be inventive.
Alberto did a decent ride today but he obviously isn't as good as Froome anymore on such a hard stage. He is somewhere between 5-10th climber of the race and if you want to win a stage in this occasion you have to be inventive.
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As far as I'm aware, for each week the most combative rider is selected on social media based on no. of Retweets (week 1: Calmejane; week 2: Barguil) and out of those the "super combative" rider will be chosen.bob.a.feet said:
You also have to consider how marketing works. You always will associate Jan Ullrich with Bianchi due to his great ride in 2003. That year still influences sales figures nowadays that's for sure. Alberto rode with Liberty Seguros, Discovery Channel, Astana, Saxo Bank, Tinkoff and Trek. As you can see, Trek is the only bike brand. Fans always will associate Contador with Trek if he produces some memorable rides in this shirt. As he is no longer able to compete on the highest level with Froome, his only chance to get attention and get into people's mind is to try memorable long range attacks. He already has produced two of it. This is way more worth for sales figures than a possible second stage win of a more or less colorless Bauke Mollema who has a really tiny fan base compared to Alberto.
I'd like to see Alberto take up Sagan's mantra - "I may not be able to win the race, but I can decide who doesn't win" - and have a little chat with Rigo Uran and try to take him up the road at an opportune time tomorrow.
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This social media stuff must be new. It used to be voted on by a bunch of cycling journalists.
LaFlorecita said:
This social media stuff must be new. It used to be voted on by a bunch of cycling journalists.
Dammit. On the one hand, setting a climbing record is nothing sneeze at, and I'm not sure GC contenders would have held onto Roglic after that effort either. On the other hand, that was depressing watching Roglic ride away from him and the GC guys catch him right at the top and drop him on the descent. But back on the first hand, despite his lack of legs, crashes, and psychological blows and reduced incentive to bury himself, he finished one of the hardest stages within 30 seconds of CF and with Aru.But...
Also, remember when everyone was bashing AC in 2015 for merely winning the Giro over Aru and Landa, who have proven to be pretty damn good, and getting 5th in the Tour? Quintana has put that into context a little bit.
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Why not? Garmin were the team that offered him a ride back in the day when he was desperate. He owes nothing to Sky and Froome except maybe some pain. And finally, for the same reason Sagan does what he does sometimes.
LaFlorecita said:
Why not? Garmin were the team that offered him a ride back in the day when he was desperate. He owes nothing to Sky and Froome except maybe some pain. And finally, for the same reason Sagan does what he does sometimes.
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Nice pic. Such a shame they never got to race with each other at Discovery, although we some nice moments in 2015. Two of my favourite riders of all time.LaFlorecita said:
What happened to Contador, why is he no longer able to win TDF? Is he lacking recovery in his old racing age?
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I've been thinking about that too. Quintana's double attempt has certainly put Contador's in perspective.
VayaVayaVaya said:
I've been thinking about that too. Quintana's double attempt has certainly put Contador's in perspective.
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Absolutely, while Contador is for sure already declining, this Giro was great, considering Quintanas attempt this year and Aru and Landa probably being one of the best GC riders of this generation (besides Froome, Bardet and Dumoulin and Quintana).
VayaVayaVaya said:
Absolutely, while Contador is for sure already declining, this Giro was great, considering Quintanas attempt this year and Aru and Landa probably being one of the best GC riders of this generation (besides Froome, Bardet and Dumoulin and Quintana).
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It seems like he is lacking resistance and endurance this days. Recovery looks still fine.
cipurian said:
It seems like he is lacking resistance and endurance this days. Recovery looks still fine.
I actually think it's recovery. He's getting more and more inconsistent, and on lower recovery you can't train as much either.
I think he tried to do the same thing in 2016 as he did in 2014, and he ended up burning himself out a little.
I think he tried to do the same thing in 2016 as he did in 2014, and he ended up burning himself out a little.
This was just what he needed to do, unfortunately it played out like it did, but if you don't try, you'll never achieve anything.
Putting it all together, the outcome is no embarrassment at all, because he and he alone in this stage, in this Tour, has done what he did. Crashing multiple times, but attacking even often and in the meantime always trying to keep up with the other GC contenders. Even yesterday he went flat out to limit the losses.
And then today, smashing all of his cards on the table with three hellish climbs to go, setting a record on CdF. All the guys he'd eventually finish behind, were relatively way fresher than he was. Roglic in both ways, because the stage costed him less effort and this Tour he only went full gass on a couple of occasions, and the GC men just because they were waiting for the final 5K of the Galibier.
So yeah, maybe Trek could have won with Mollema or Pantano, but also if they had probably more chance than Berto winning this way, this was the right thing to do. For us, for Berto, for the Tour, and certainly for themselves.
It's just a bloody bloody shame that racing like this doesn't seem to pay out anymore. So have fun with your PCM style of cycling, bunch of robots...
Putting it all together, the outcome is no embarrassment at all, because he and he alone in this stage, in this Tour, has done what he did. Crashing multiple times, but attacking even often and in the meantime always trying to keep up with the other GC contenders. Even yesterday he went flat out to limit the losses.
And then today, smashing all of his cards on the table with three hellish climbs to go, setting a record on CdF. All the guys he'd eventually finish behind, were relatively way fresher than he was. Roglic in both ways, because the stage costed him less effort and this Tour he only went full gass on a couple of occasions, and the GC men just because they were waiting for the final 5K of the Galibier.
So yeah, maybe Trek could have won with Mollema or Pantano, but also if they had probably more chance than Berto winning this way, this was the right thing to do. For us, for Berto, for the Tour, and certainly for themselves.
It's just a bloody bloody shame that racing like this doesn't seem to pay out anymore. So have fun with your PCM style of cycling, bunch of robots...
I was cheering for Alberto today. Like him or not, the dude has a big heart. Hats off Champ.
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