Huge leads in GCs

[kcbworth]

What is with one rider being head and shoulders ahead of any rivals on GCs lately (Wiggins last year, Froome this year, Nibali in Giro)... thing in these guys are not just dominating one discipline (e.g. climbing) or not-the-best-at-any-but-ok-at-all-of-them (e.g. Cadel Evans), but they are dominating the TTs, Climbs, etc.

The lack of competitive races is a strange phenomenon (but chapeau to, particularly Froome here... deserves his domination)

 

[Afrank]

Maybe this thread should be in the clinic...

I think you'll get those types of answers.

 

[brilleaben]

Hint:http://forum.cyclingnews.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20

 

[kcbworth]

Ok... should have said "keeping it out of the clinic"

Maybe it's because 2 of the top riders are on the same team, and others are picking and choosing their GCs (e.g. Nibali may be closest to Froome if he was here)

Bit of a shame really.

 

[King Boonen]

Perhaps it's that the closest contenders are either looking over the hill (Contador) hamstrung by supporting a team-mate (Quintana) or never really should be a contender for the win (Valverde).

 

[kcbworth]

Perhaps it's that the closest contenders are either looking over the hill (Contador) hamstrung by supporting a team-mate (Quintana) or never really should be a contender for the win (Valverde).

But why are there no other close contenders? Don't remember this before really, even in the Armstrong years. Contador, who many on here view as unbeatable, was never as dominant as Froome this tour (so far i'll hasten to add).

 

[Bumeington]

TT: All Froome's main competitors are in the low 60s kg, so he has higher watts. His position looks amazing compared to the past, he's not moving much his upper body.

Ax-3: The Paliheres/Ax-3 combo was clearly done at exactly the pace from Sky that Froome would be comfortable - particularly Ax-3 until 5k to go paced by Porte. Everyone else had no choice but to follow (at least on Paliheres they had no choice if they wanted to descend in a group) so they blew up by going into the red part way up the climb. This part is actually serious but I think therefore the gaps are exaggerated over what they could have been.

Imo both this points are valid but you can make up your mind about how he "prepares" himself to get into the best shape of anyone in the tour.

 

[whittashau]

I think Nibbles won the Giro by a large margin thanks to many of the other riders having bad luck. As for Sky...they're just from another planet. Swimming coaches or something

 

[LaFlorecita]

There is enough competition, Froome is just in a league of his own.

2nd to 10th are just over 2 minutes apart.

 

[DirtyWorks]

But why are there no other close contenders? Don't remember this before really, even in the Armstrong years. Contador, who many on here view as unbeatable, was never as dominant as Froome this tour (so far i'll hasten to add).

Your recollections are failing you. The situations around each former winner were different, but each were clearly dominant in their own ways. Without discussing other aspects as posted in The Clinic, there is not much else to be said.

 

[maxmartin]

What is with one rider being head and shoulders ahead of any rivals on GCs lately (Wiggins last year, Froome this year, Nibali in Giro)... thing in these guys are not just dominating one discipline (e.g. climbing) or not-the-best-at-any-but-ok-at-all-of-them (e.g. Cadel Evans), but they are dominating the TTs, Climbs, etc.

The lack of competitive races is a strange phenomenon (but chapeau to, particularly Froome here... deserves his domination)

I don't know Giro really counts, bad weather, weak GC field. Nibali is on Tour podium, it only makes sense he dominated Giro.

 

[Christian]

What was Contador's lead again in the 2011 Giro? It doesn't say on cqranking anymore because he was later disqualified, but I remember it was quite big, no? (serious question)

 

[Afrank]

What was Contador's lead again in the 2011 Giro? It doesn't say on cqranking anymore because he was later disqualified, but I remember it was quite big, no? (serious question)

Like 6 minutes or so.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

What was Contador's lead again in the 2011 Giro? It doesn't say on cqranking anymore because he was later disqualified, but I remember it was quite big, no? (serious question)

1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard 84:05:14
2 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD + 6:10
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale + 6:56
4 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale + 10:04
5 Joaquím Rodríguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team + 11:05
6 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Pro Team Astana + 11:28
7 José Rujano Guillen (Ven) Androni Giocattoli + 12:12
8 Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC + 12:18
9 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team + 13:51
10 Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr) HTC-Highroad + 14:10

 

[Escarabajo]

Ok... should have said "keeping it out of the clinic"

Maybe it's because 2 of the top riders are on the same team, and others are picking and choosing their GCs (e.g. Nibali may be closest to Froome if he was here)

Bit of a shame really.

Impossible.

Sorry!

 

[TANK91]

I think Nibbles won the Giro by a large margin thanks to many of the other riders having bad luck. As for Sky...they're just from another planet. Swimming coaches or something

You amaze me lol, so Nibali an Astana rider was not as dominant, OK.

 

[burning]

You amaze me lol, so Nibali an Astana rider was not as dominant, OK.

The podium of Giro consists of some sir's former slave and one guy who was losing time quite rapidly and saved his podium spot thanks to snow

Yeah the level of fields are really comparable

 

[IndianCyclist]

The TDF is exactly being like the Giro. One top dog and then the rest fighting for minor placings. Nibali takes pink early so does Froome take the yellow. Only difference is Nibali won a stage at the end whereas Froome won the first Mountain top finish. The white jersey fight between Quintana and Kwiatkowski is similar to that between Betancur and Majka. The only thing remaining is to find the Santa in the pack.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

The TDF is exactly being like the Giro. One top dog and then the rest fighting for minor placings. Nibali takes pink early so does Froome take the yellow. Only difference is Nibali won a stage at the end whereas Froome won the first Mountain top finish. The white jersey fight between Quintana and Kwiatkowski is similar to that between Betancur and Majka. The only thing remaining is to find the Santa in the pack.

lol, very true.

 

[Eshnar]

The podium of Giro consists of some sir's former slave and one guy who was losing time quite rapidly and saved his podium spot thanks to snow

While the podium of the Tour is looking really better A lot of titles in there.

 

[burning]

While the podium of the Tour is looking really better A lot of titles in there.

Valverde always manages to win quite a lot of stuff during all year and I dont think that Mollema will manage to finish on podium

But to be honest, Valverde lost his winning streak this year

 

[Eshnar]

Valverde always manages to win quite a lot of stuff during all year and I dont think that Mollema will manage to finish on podium

But to be honest, Valverde lost his winning streak this year

Same goes for Evans

 

[TheBean]

But why are there no other close contenders? Don't remember this before really, even in the Armstrong years. Contador, who many on here view as unbeatable, was never as dominant as Froome this tour (so far i'll hasten to add).

Five out of Armstrong's seven wins were by 6 minutes or more. In one of those years, he actually caught Ullrich (considered as a top contender that year) and passed him during a short,flat prologue.

Many think Armstrong could have opened the gap on his rivals by much more, but rode with the leaders through the mountains rather than attacking and opening up gaps. He played it cautiously once the victory seemed assured.

Froome will likely do the same in the Alps. His win is secured if he only stays with the guys who are in the top ten. He doesn't need to attack or open gaps, much like the champion in boxing doesn't need to score a knockout to ratain his belt - just avoid being knocked out.

Froome's major rivals now are a crash, an illness, or a positive doping test. So, I would imagine he is going to take every precaution to avoid those three while sticking close to his rivals for the sake of time.

If that happens and he puts another minute or two into everyone in the next time trial, his winning margin will be comparable to the average winning margin from Armstrong during his seven.

When a rider climbs better than anyone else and places second only to the TT world champion in the TT (by just a few seconds), he can pretty much decide his winning margin on GC.

Opening the gap beyond what it currently is would only serve to raise more suspicious eyebrows on Froome's performance. If you'd like to read up on that in The Clinic, the posts are coming in fast and furious.

 

[JetSet]

When I first started following The Tour in the 60's the time differences were huge compared to today, a 20 minute winning margin wan't unusual with a 10 minute gap between 2nd and third. Even in the 80's, a 10 minute difference was the norm, Hinault won 2 of his tours with 15 minutes, another with 9. I think we're very lucky these days to have so many of the top G.C guys at a similar level.


Pete

 

[Eshnar]

When I first started following The Tour in the 60's the time differences were huge compared to today, a 20 minute winning margin wan't unusual with a 10 minute gap between 2nd and third. Even in the 80's, a 10 minute difference was the norm, Hinault won 2 of his tours with 15 minutes, another with 9. I think we're very lucky these days to have so many of the top G.C guys at a similar level.


Pete

it's not the similar level, it's the way of racing that totally changed. And the routes too.