Criterium du Dauphine 2014: Stage 2, Tarare - Col du Beal

[SeriousSam]

those multiple 20+s full on uphill sprints must take so much out of you. the dawg gonna go absolutely ballistic in the tour.

contador is much stronger this year, though, and will be there to capitalise if froome slips. but on pure strength, there is no antidote to the alien. he's the god of cycling.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Quite a strange finale. Lots of intervals and anaerobic efforts. Perhaps the climb was neither steep nor long enough to make bigger differences. Froome's accelerations were brutal but Contador managed to hold his wheel. At times Froome was sprinting up the mountain! Such efforts are very costly - Froome's fatigue was clearly seen after the stage. I also have impression that Froome wasted too much energy on this climb - in this way he could even kill his TdF form. Contador also looked really good. At the TdF it could really be the big battle between Alien and Predator. But maybe they peaked too soon?

 

[Butterhead]

And Froome, how much time he didn't race?
Genuine question, thanks.

He rode Romandie. Live with it.

Next!!

 

[markene2]

2007 flashbacks to the max! And VDB is alive again, fun to see!

 

[Kwibus]

Not much can be said really. Afterall the gaps really ain't that big so it's not really full *** yet.

Contador never at his best during the Dauphine so it's allready fine he followed Froomes wheel.

Kelderman high on Giro form doing great. Very nice!

VDB2 probably feels great that he was up there. We will see him this TdF.

 

[Butterhead]

those multiple 20+s full on uphill sprints must take so much out of you. the dawg gonna go absolutely ballistic in the tour.

contador is much stronger this year, though, and will be there to capitalise if froome slips. but on pure strength, there is no antidote to the alien. he's the god of cycling.

You fanboys are so funny. loool the god of cycling looool you mean the freak of cycling right?

Go read some history, you might learn something.

 

[hfer07]

He held him off

Contador was able to hold the Dawg's wheel!!


Alberto's coffee seemed good this morning


...but seriously, Contador did go hard to keep it up with the Alien- which in itself is an important battle won, as far as confidence, as well as a physical measure of his form-but most of all is the tactical aspect of it- yes- Froome won the stage, but he literally burnt his team & himself in the process, which seems a bit precipitated considering all the racing left to do.....

Its more like the Alien is a bit "insecure" this time around & needs to prove to the world so desperately he's the best, that -in the process- is only helping Alberto to draft behind him while saving energy.....

SKY better get savvy this time around, because the Tour is up for grasp-not a given at all

PS: Nibbs looked good-not terrific but did his thing. BTW - What the fvck happened to PORTE?

 

[whittashau]

Who would have predicted that George Bennett would be Cannondale's best climber this season. That team is going to struggle without Sagan if the rumours are true.

 

[Arredondo]

Froome just really strong. Did some huge attacks and even managed to win the sprint. Very impressive.

It's important to take in mind that Contador will lose 1 till 2 minutes in the TT to Froome. So he has to get a serious amount of time in the mountains. To follow like he did today is not enough. However, Contador shows he's way better than last year, and 2nd place in the Tour will be no problem.

Nibali good, but not good enough. We know he isn't from the level of the big two, but i can see him get some difficulty to beat Valverde and co for 3th place.

VBD really good! I hope he can ride a good Tour again without bad luck. And Kelderman, he shows what kind of talent he is. The other more experienced Giro-guys (Moreno, Hesjedal) didn't deliver, while he did.

 

[Kwibus]

He rode Romandie. Live with it.

Next!!

He said "genuine question". Why the offensive stance?

You really need to work on that temper of yours.

 

[christopherrowe]

Excellent race! And I'm with those who believe that both Contador and Froome have reasons to be happy with the stage. Froome has to worry about Porte, though.

Speaking of which, my top ten prediction suffered badly from believing his form and health had recovered as reported. Here's what I said they would do, and what they really did.

(1) Daniel Moreno | Team Katusha | 22nd at +1'51"
(2) Christopher Froome | Team Sky | 1st in 04:24:41
(3) Alberto Contador | Tinkoff - Saxo | 2nd in S.T.
(4) Vincenzo Nibali | Astana Pro Team | 6th at +27"
(5) Andrew Talansky | Garmin Sharp | 5th at +12"
(6) Tejay van Garderen | BMC Racing Team | 33rd at +2'38"
(7) Adam Yates | Orica GreenEdge | 8th at +42"
(8) Richie Porte | Team Sky | 69th at +10'27"
(9) Romain Bardet | AG2R La Mondiale | 19th at + 1'33"
(10) Jakob Fuglsang | Astana Pro Team | 13th at +53"

I predicted there would be a larger group at the finish and that Moreno would still be around. Half my proposed top ten actually top tenned, so I did about as well as I did yesterday. Happiest with Adam Yates (and very impressed with him), most disappointed with Tejay.

On to tomorrow! Not many sprinters I know here, but I'm not entirely convinced that it'll be a full on bunch sprint anyway (which is what cycling.tv's Marty McDonald was calling for).

Meanwhile, has anybody heard anything about David Boucher today? Did he start? He's the only guy from yesterday who isn't included in the stage results I've seen posted.

 

[kingjr]

While this was good stuff from Contador, I don't think it's a mental victory for him. He'll need to drop Froome come the Tour, hanging on to the wheel won't be good enough. He looked on his limit the last 500m despite not being in the wind once. He has to hope for Froome to fade a bit like last year in the 3rd week, then he has a great chance to win, because this is the best Contador since the Giro 2011.

Froome can be happy with this @spalco, he did shake off Kelderman and VDB, but he didn't want to continue when he realized that Contador wasn't going to take over, if it wasn't for Contador I think he could've solo'ed to the win.

He'll be happy with this one way or the other, after all he did all the attacking, held the group together on his own, and still managed to win the stage convincingly.

Good to see that the Sky-train isn't capable atm to destroy everything before the fun begins, this will be good for the race.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Quite a strange finale. Lots of intervals and anaerobic efforts. Perhaps the climb was neither steep nor long enough to make bigger differences. Froome's accelerations were brutal but Contador managed to hold his wheel. At times Froome was sprinting up the mountain! Such efforts are very costly - Froome's fatigue was clearly seen after the stage. I also have impression that Froome wasted too much energy on this climb - in this way he could even kill his TdF form. Contador also looked really good. At the TdF it could really be the big battle between Alien and Predator. But maybe they peaked too soon?

What i saw i could not believe. You hit the nail on the head. This is what it is going to be "Alien vs Predator"

 

[Fight.The.Power]

Quite a strange finale. Lots of intervals and anaerobic efforts. Perhaps the climb was neither steep nor long enough to make bigger differences. Froome's accelerations were brutal but Contador managed to hold his wheel. At times Froome was sprinting up the mountain! Such efforts are very costly - Froome's fatigue was clearly seen after the stage. I also have impression that Froome wasted too much energy on this climb - in this way he could even kill his TdF form. Contador also looked really good. At the TdF it could really be the big battle between Alien and Predator. But maybe they peaked too soon?

'Alien v Predator' -- HA HA HA love it !

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Nibali silently laughing at the opposition while he quietly gets in to the peak of the century. Froome and AC riding well though

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

This is a kind of subjective and speculative business of course, but I felt Contador responded to Froome's attacks relatively easy and it looked like he didn't even bother to sprint.

Of course his facial expression showed some suffering, but the way he was on the wheel immediately and didn't give an inch when Froome accelerated made it seem like he was in control all the time in my perception. Maybe his face was telling the truth and he was just unable to sprint in the end, but it seemed to me like he was perfectly in control.

Time will tell I guess............

 

[Mellow Velo]

Really enjoyed that.
Much more action than I expected.
I thought it would be the train all the way to the final km.
Certainly it's game on for Le Tour between the big two..
Nibali continues to struggle.
BMC swap an old failure for a young one.
VDB always goes well here.
Kelderman's fine form continues.


For Sky Porte remains a big concern.
Still well off the pace.


A pity that the stupid, immature stage comments here, won't dry up any time soon, though.

 

[Arredondo]

This is a kind of subjective and speculative business of course, but I felt Contador responded to Froome's attacks relatively easy and it looked like he didn't even bother to sprint.

Of course his facial expression showed some suffering, but the way he was on the wheel immediately and didn't give an inch when Froome accelerated made it seem like he was in control all the time in my perception. Maybe his face was telling the truth and he was just unable to sprint in the end, but it seemed to me like he was perfectly in control.

Time will tell I guess............

Why would he not bother the sprint? Froome is the big GC guy at the moment. Contador did not beat Froome in a mountain stage since Froome arrived as a top rider. Contador is the guy who needs confidence, not Froome.

Faking the sprint would be quite stupid i guess.

 

[indianfanboy]

Froome's attitude was clearly on display today he was obviously feeling good and thought he was way better than everyone,burnt off his team and attacked crazy but failed as he did not expect Contador to hang on.He is gonna lose the tour with these tactics

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Who would have predicted that George Bennett would be Cannondale's best climber this season. That team is going to struggle without Sagan if the rumours are true.

not if his Nibs returns to home territory.

 

[Fight.The.Power]

Nibali silently laughing at the opposition while he quietly gets in to the peak of the century. Froome and AC riding well though

There is no way Nibali will be smiling tonight. At this rate he will struggle to podium at TDF.

 

[wirral]

Have a look again at Froome's first attack. Look at the cadence and his position on the bike. I know we've all seen him do it before but I have never seen any other rider adopt such a high cadence whilst attacking all whilst seated and with his signature crab pose. It is unique and extraordinary.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Why would he not bother the sprint? Froome is the big GC guy at the moment. Contador did not beat Froome in a mountain stage since Froome arrived as a top rider. Contador is the guy who needs confidence, not Froome.

Faking the sprint would be quite stupid i guess.

Well, he didn't win the stages, but in the only serious clash they had this year Contador was climbing better and took a few secs out of Froome in the MTF's (Catalunya).

Again, it just seemed like he barely tried to sprint in my perception; maybe he was just empty and I'm being biased. But he seemed to respond to all Froome's attacks relatively easily as well.

 

[PirazziAttacksVino]

There is no way Nibali will be smiling tonight. At this rate he will struggle to podium at TDF.

Remember Dauphine 2012?

Anyways, I'm really impressed with AC. He's never been close to his best in Dauphine, so he stands a chance to win the Tour this year.

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

There is no way Nibali will be smiling tonight. At this rate he will struggle to podium at TDF.

It's still more than a month till the first tdf mountain stage...