judging by the way the Giro unfolded due to the mayhem in Holland i definitely hope so!hughmoore said:will we see similar chaos[?]
I don't think so, and here's why:hughmoore said:Not long to go now, are the Belgium Cobble stages and roads narrow with lots of road furniture similar to the Giro routes, will we see similar chaos.
I agree. It won't be carnage but 1 or 2 contenders could fall behind and lose big time.Libertine Seguros said:I don't think so, and here's why:
1) The Giro included one stage which was literally all along the coast, which split things apart very early.
2) The Tour de France péloton tends to go quicker than a Giro or Vuelta péloton because more is riding on the race, therefore the need to control the race is stronger.
3) The Giro and Vuelta invited a bunch of local ProConti teams when they started in the Low Countries. Teams like Colnago-CSF, Contentpolis-Ampo, Andalucía-Caja Sur and Androni Giocattoli are filled with featherweight climbers from Spain, Italy and Latin America, none of whom are used to riding in those conditions, and many of whom have some suspect bike handling skills, which made the péloton on edge. With the six wildcard teams at the Tour being Radioshack, Sky, Garmin, Katyusha, BMC and Cervélo, that factor is removed, because all of those teams feature all-rounders, and include experienced hands used to racing in all conditions.
not all of themBuffalo Soldier said:The cobbles are in france.
Erm , most people here would include Sky in the "suspect bike handling skills" catagory based on the first week of the giro.Libertine Seguros said:3) The Giro and Vuelta invited a bunch of local ProConti teams when they started in the Low Countries. Teams like Colnago-CSF, Contentpolis-Ampo, Andalucía-Caja Sur and Androni Giocattoli are filled with featherweight climbers from Spain, Italy and Latin America, none of whom are used to riding in those conditions, and many of whom have some suspect bike handling skills, which made the péloton on edge. With the six wildcard teams at the Tour being Radioshack, Sky, Garmin, Katyusha, BMC and Cervélo, that factor is removed, because all of those teams feature all-rounders, and include experienced hands used to racing in all conditions.
Wiggo got a top-25 in Paris-Roubaix a year or two ago, which is I am fairly certain the best P-R finish for any of the GC contenders at this year's TdF. Doubt it will be a factor, but still.TeamSkyFans said:Erm , most people here would include Sky in the "suspect bike handling skills" catagory based on the first week of the giro.
The Tour squad will be better marshalled (Arvesen), and have the likes of Flecha to guide them. I suspect they'll be better in the Tour than they were in the Giro, no worries about that.TeamSkyFans said:Erm , most people here would include Sky in the "suspect bike handling skills" catagory based on the first week of the giro.
Like I said, they're riding the exact same roads in the first stage of the Tour.Libertine Seguros said:I don't think so, and here's why:
1) The Giro included one stage which was literally all along the coast, which split things apart very early.
2) The Tour de France péloton tends to go quicker than a Giro or Vuelta péloton because more is riding on the race, therefore the need to control the race is stronger.
3) The Giro and Vuelta invited a bunch of local ProConti teams when they started in the Low Countries. Teams like Colnago-CSF, Contentpolis-Ampo, Andalucía-Caja Sur and Androni Giocattoli are filled with featherweight climbers from Spain, Italy and Latin America, none of whom are used to riding in those conditions, and many of whom have some suspect bike handling skills, which made the péloton on edge. With the six wildcard teams at the Tour being Radioshack, Sky, Garmin, Katyusha, BMC and Cervélo, that factor is removed, because all of those teams feature all-rounders, and include experienced hands used to racing in all conditions.
I don't want to think about Soler will be like on the cobbles.Libertine Seguros said:The Tour squad will be better marshalled (Arvesen), and have the likes of Flecha to guide them. I suspect they'll be better in the Tour than they were in the Giro, no worries about that.
And even so, they were hardly Juan Mauricio Soler out there.
I think the only way we see a big impact from the cobbled stages are:euanli said:See I wondered if Saxo Bank would try and rip it apart on the cobbles given that their team will have Breschel, Cancellara and O'Grady. But why would they if it causes as much damage to the Schlecks as it would to other GC contenders.
Ok it might keep Cancellara in the GC for a good bit longer, but Contador and co would know they just need to wait until the mountains. I honestly can't work out who will do what.
But the difference is, it will all be in the first 70km that they're on those roads. After that they turn inland. It will still be windy, but it won't be the absolute battering they got in the Giro. The Giro stage was ALL along the coast, and finished in Middelburg. It will be very difficult for those first 70km to do anything like as much as they did in the Giro as there will be so much time to bring it back together in the unlikely case that one of the big contenders gets distanced. The teams will all know what's likely because they'll have watched the Giro, they'll all get right up near the front, and Soler will crash. Also, the main people who lost time in the Giro were people like Cunego (Lampre team) and Pozzovivo (a team consisting almost solely of Italian climbers). People like Moncoutié and Urán lost time, but the only contenders were lightweight climbers few people thought would win anyway.theyoungest said:Like I said, they're riding the exact same roads in the first stage of the Tour.
Yeah, but the giro had ACTUAL MOUNTAINS, something the Tour de France organisers seem to be afraid of.Polish said:Didn't the guy who had problems on the dirt road end up winning the Giro?
Didn't the guys who did well on the dirt roads end up doing not so good in the end?
Just watching the Giro this year made me gasp for air.Jamsque said:Yeah, but the giro had ACTUAL MOUNTAINS, something the Tour de France organisers seem to be afraid of.