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Maybe not Kittel, but he should be able to beat Greipel.Pantani_lives said:I don't think he can beat Kittel and Greipel in the first week, but if he holds on he might win when the others get tired or leave the race. Perhaps a French victory on the Champs-Élysées?
Alexandre B. said:2-1
(Pictures removed, see original post.)
Yep...and Demare's celebration after the line was very telling, turning to his right fist pumping in Nacer's face. No love between the two, and the problem for Bouhani is that Demare consistently beats him head to head, It may have been 50-50 a couple of years ago, not anymore.swissfr said:Bouhanni and Démare hate each other
That'll happen, it always does. He's normally most concentrated at the beginning of the Tour, but by stage 6 or 7 he begins to make mistakes and loses positions very easily.Alexandre B. said:I'm afraid that in order to win a stage, Kittel has to mess up the sprint prep.
Anyway, it was his best display in the Tour.
I agree. I think the only year where the dominant sprinter never messed up his lead-out was 2009. However, there is some serious competition for who steps up when Kittel/QS make a mistake.Brullnux said:That'll happen, it always does. He's normally most concentrated at the beginning of the Tour, but by stage 6 or 7 he begin some to make mistakes and loses positions very easily.Alexandre B. said:I'm afraid that in order to win a stage, Kittel has to mess up the sprint prep.
Anyway, it was his best display in the Tour.
I'm not convinced of any of that, really. He certainly can't be put in any tier above 2 or 3 with no GT wins. Kittel, Greipel, Cav, Ewan, Bouhanni, Gaviria, Kristoff, Sagan and Degenkolb all have multiple GT stage wins and even Coquard had as good a GT record as Démare before today.Tonton said:It's becoming increasingly clear that Demare has stepped up a notch. When he won MSR, there was the Demare-Bouhani-Coquard debate...no more debate. It was Cavendish-Kittel-Greipel, then a second tier with Kristoff and DEgenkolb, maybe Sagan...Demare was on the next lower tier. Not anymore IMO.
:lol:portugal11 said:There are (at least) 5 sprintera better than him. He won't win a single stage in tour
Close.portugal11 said:There are (at least) 5 sprintera better than him. He won't win a single stage in tour
Great sprint by Arnaud! He will win 2 stages more this Tour.Valv.Piti said:Would be disappointing at this point if he doesn't win 2 stages in TdF considering the route and Cavendishs health