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Analyzing the first week of the tour de france 2015

Page 2 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
rghysens said:
Miburo said:
...it’ll take you a while to find a harder beginning in the tour than this one (tour 2010 i’d say, but i think this one will create bigger differences, i’ll explain why later on)...

2014? OK, it took 5 stages before the cobbles last year, but still...
The first half of the 2014 TDF was about the best designed first half of any GT since... well, ever.

Yet it resulted in Nibali in yellow for 19 days...
 
Apr 29, 2015
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What does everyone think of stage 2?

Has potential for an interesting stage despite being a short stage of 166km. Does anyone know this part of the Netherlands? Are echelons guaranteed??
 
Jun 30, 2014
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jens_attacks said:
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I never expected to see the From Beyond cover here.
 
Sep 19, 2013
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rghysens said:
Netserk said:
Of the sprinters, Bouhanni would be the most likely winner.

Bouhanni apparently won't participate due to a heavy fall in the french nationals and I thought Matthews won't participate either.

I was under the impression that Matthews was a nailed on very ant for this race? Shame about Nacer as this year may have been a step forward for him. Orica are a team with many options on many stages! I used to not enjoy watching them but slowly I'm becoming a bigger fan of their roster. The Yates' brothers and Chaves along with Matthews make exciting racing.

Milburo good work! Hopefully I can watch some stages in full if I can wangle work commitments in the first week. I'm actually looking forward to stage 9 the TTT! I know shoot me.
 
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Tryphon said:
What does everyone think of stage 2?

Has potential for an interesting stage despite being a short stage of 166km. Does anyone know this part of the Netherlands? Are echelons guaranteed??

Pancake flat and echelons are only guaranteed if there are hard enough crosswinds. Weather predictions for next weekend are: dry, very hot (for the Netherlands) and no wind to speak of.
 
Apr 29, 2015
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rghysens said:
Tryphon said:
What does everyone think of stage 2?

Has potential for an interesting stage despite being a short stage of 166km. Does anyone know this part of the Netherlands? Are echelons guaranteed??

Pancake flat and echelons are only guaranteed if there are hard enough crosswinds. Weather predictions for next weekend are: dry, very hot (for the Netherlands) and no wind to speak of.

Aaah,that's disappointing.Bunch sprint then if no wind.
 
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Miburo said:
After 3 days a gap of a minute between some of the relevant GC riders isn’t a fantasy, it’s reality.

Definitely one of the most challenging 4 days the tour has presented in a long time. Before you know it you can already be a few min behind.

which means that who's left behind will be forced to show his cards as soon as the race hits the mountain stages..can't wait :cool:
 
TMP402 said:
rghysens said:
Miburo said:
...it’ll take you a while to find a harder beginning in the tour than this one (tour 2010 i’d say, but i think this one will create bigger differences, i’ll explain why later on)...

2014? OK, it took 5 stages before the cobbles last year, but still...
The first half of the 2014 TDF was about the best designed first half of any GT since... well, ever.

Yet it resulted in Nibali in yellow for 19 days...

That wasnt really the stage designs fault.
 
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46&twoWheels said:
Miburo said:
After 3 days a gap of a minute between some of the relevant GC riders isn’t a fantasy, it’s reality.

Definitely one of the most challenging 4 days the tour has presented in a long time. Before you know it you can already be a few min behind.

which means that who's left behind will be forced to show his cards as soon as the race hits the mountain stages..can't wait :cool:

Exactly. This means that even on the first mtf we could expect proper attacks.
 
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Dekker_Tifosi said:
I disagree. Even when there is no wind predicted it's always windy in Zeeland at Sea.. Especially on the bridges they cross. I'm almost 90% certain there will be echelons

I'm not as confident as you are. Allthough the last 40km are always in the open and normally with wind from the west it should be good. When it's SW then it will be more a headwind though.
Still the forecast for this entire week. Ridiculously good for NL and it's likely to be an eastern wind and then I really doubt we will get echelons.

Edit: forecast for Neeltje Jans is 22celsius with a westernwind which speeds drop to 11-15km/h between 15:00 and 17:00.

Still a week away. I noticed rain predicted on saturday though. Hope the prologue is dry though.
 
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Kwibus said:
Dekker_Tifosi said:
I disagree. Even when there is no wind predicted it's always windy in Zeeland at Sea.. Especially on the bridges they cross. I'm almost 90% certain there will be echelons

I'm not as confident as you are. Allthough the last 40km are always in the open and normally with wind from the west it should be good. When it's SW then it will be more a headwind though.
Still the forecast for this entire week. Ridiculously good for NL and it's likely to be an eastern wind and then I really doubt we will get echelons.
Here they say a 4 Beaufort wind at sea from W-SW on Sunday (and much cooler than on Saturday):
http://www.weer.nl/nederland/actueel-en-verwacht-weer.html

That would be good.
Some chance of thunderstorms, but that's very uncertain still.
 
46&twoWheels said:
only 20 *C in the Netherlands right now? I really envy you


any chance for a rainy cobbles stage? (we are all a bit naughty come on :D )

Lars Bak would not be happy about it though :D

Today 22 celsius which is perfect, but wednesday it will be over 30 celsius which I like when I'm on holiday, but not when I have to work :)
 
Kwibus said:
46&twoWheels said:
only 20 *C in the Netherlands right now? I really envy you


any chance for a rainy cobbles stage? (we are all a bit naughty come on :D )

Lars Bak would not be happy about it though :D

Today 22 celsius which is perfect, but wednesday it will be over 30 celsius which I like when I'm on holiday, but not when I have to work :)

same thing myself ;)
Plus,I usually don't like being in lowland areas during summer but I guess the Netherlands are very exposed and windy!
I don't know whether and how the lateral wind will affect the race
 
Jun 30, 2014
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Gigs_98 said:
The weather forecasts I saw all said that there will be NW wind which would be much better than SW. The wind isn't very strong but I am still almost sure we will see echelons
Very nice, now we just have to perfect our rain dance for stage 4.
 
Take away the TTT and it's one of the best first weeks I've ever seen in a Tour. But that TTT ruins everything. Riders will lose the chance to fight for the final win only because they have a weak team. There's already a huge disparity between rich and poor teams at WT level, but this TTT takes it to a whole different level. It's preposterous.
 
Jul 29, 2012
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SafeBet said:
Take away the TTT and it's one of the best first weeks I've ever seen in a Tour. But that TTT ruins everything. Riders will lose the chance to fight for the final win only because they have a weak team. There's already a huge disparity between rich and poor teams at WT level, but this TTT takes it to a whole different level. It's preposterous.

Should have made it a ITT. Would have been perfect
 
46&twoWheels said:
Kwibus said:
46&twoWheels said:
only 20 *C in the Netherlands right now? I really envy you


any chance for a rainy cobbles stage? (we are all a bit naughty come on :D )

Lars Bak would not be happy about it though :D

Today 22 celsius which is perfect, but wednesday it will be over 30 celsius which I like when I'm on holiday, but not when I have to work :)

same thing myself ;)
Plus,I usually don't like being in lowland areas during summer but I guess the Netherlands are very exposed and windy!
I don't know whether and how the lateral wind will affect the race

When it's hot in the Netherlands then there is no wind either. Also it's very humid so not pleasant at all.
 

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