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Is this the biggest team in Tour de France history?

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The Hitch said:
Cant blame Samu for working with Contador. Same reason no Lotto Belisol rider made my list. Beisdes its one thing for a leader to ride for a podium in a break, another for the leader to get domestiques to defend his 14th place.

Tiralongo was different though, same as Monfort with Schleck.

I think you mean Devenyns ;)

EDIT: Too slow...
 
Apr 20, 2012
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Good topic Hitch.

I was fulminating when I saw BMC and Katusha at the front pulling. My wife asked me why, I said ''they are fecking morons, doing the work for others''. then the shot shows Kanneaugh at the back, the white Russion not able to follow the pack. And then? Yes, a few phonecalls were placed.
 
Jan 23, 2013
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There wre a few great things that happened today:

1. We fans were treated to a full stage of balls-out racing instead of a status-quo break-catch-sprint day.

2. We got to see Sky completely fail to rise to a serious challenge. So all of those Sky-bot and Sky-parade posts should slow down a bit.

3. Anyone who thought the race was over after the time trial learned a bit. Hopefully, they are all pleasantly surprised.

Unfortunately, instead of a Sky-doping-dominance consipracy theory we now have the rise of a Sky-buying-work-from-other-teams conspiracy theory. If Froome ends up failing in the mountains, I can only imagine the conpiracy theories that will spring forth.
 
I think this stage showed a thing we already should know by now: only Contador will go balls to the wall against Sky/Froome and ride for the win. All the others will be happy with minor placings and perhaps some gifts from Sky down the road.
BMC was a really stupid move they don't have any excuse for that: they don't even have a rider in the top10 and it's not likely Evans can beat Velasco, Mollema, Ten Dam or Kreuz. Maybe for TvG :D
 
The Hitch said:
move their leaders up against who? Bmc didnt pull when Valverde was chasing back on. They only started when he was 10 minutes down and Saxo and Belkin attack.

That wasn't trying to gain a place, it was defending it.

:rolleyes:

You limit your losses on this stage so that you can potentially move up GC later in the race.

Christ, this isn't rocket science...
 
JRanton said:
Nicely put. Why the hell wouldn't Rodriguez for instance want to pull back the guys in front?
.

We have been over this, Im not saying Rodriguez wouldnt want to pull back the guys, im saying why waste your own guys to do it when there are people who have far more on the line here to do it for you. Katusha have a good team, under the radar, which they could use to try various things for Rodriguez. And instead, after a week and a half of absolutely nothing from them, they decide to spend that force on chasing a break which others cna do for them.

In BMC's case even worse because they have a former tdf winner who's fighting for some low top 10 spot


And its not a case of cheering for a rider but for a race. I resent your implication. If the shoe was on the other foot and Sky were tryiing to gain time on the flat and Saxo got BMC, Katusha and AG2R to do all their work instead i would be saying the exact same thing.

A race where a guy takes minutes on every mtf and tt is boring. 1 where his opponents take time back on lesser stages is an interesting one.

Christ its not rocket science.:rolleyes:
 
Jan 23, 2013
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It's so cool that a stage that is supposed to be boring and transitional turns out to stir the whole Tour up a bit!

Almost everyone had to ride hard and poke their nose into the wind a bit. No hiding out during a parade today!
 
The Hitch said:
We have been over this, Im not saying Rodriguez wouldnt want to pull back the guys, im saying why waste your own guys to do it when there are people who have far more on the line here to do it for you. Katusha have a good team, under the radar, which they could use to try various things for Rodriguez. And instead, after a week and a half of absolutely nothing from them, they decide to spend that force on chasing a break which others cna do for them.

In BMC's case even worse because they have a former tdf winner who's fighting for some low top 10 spot


And its not a case of cheering for a rider but for a race. I resent your implication. If the shoe was on the other foot and Sky were tryiing to gain time on the flat and Saxo got BMC, Katusha and AG2R to do all their work instead i would be saying the exact same thing.

A race where a guy takes minutes on every mtf and tt is boring. 1 where his opponents take time back on lesser stages is an interesting one.

Christ its not rocket science.:rolleyes:

Who were the others in the second group that could have pulled it back instead of them? Do you mean the Sky riders who were constantly getting shelled from the group as the gap to Contador et al kept increasing?

:rolleyes:
 
JRanton said:
Who were the others in the second group that could have pulled it back instead of them? Do you mean the Sky riders who were constantly getting shelled from the group as the gap to Contador et al kept increasing?

:rolleyes:

The sky riders only got shelled out near the end. They were up near the front between the bmcs and katushas for a long time, taking pulls now and agaoin.

Also there was 1 sky rider i saw comfortably looking around, taking an armchair ride, never bothering to get near the front. You know which one im talking about. Tall fella, wearing yellow.

And before you say team leaders dont take pulls, yes they do. If they dont have teammates its their responsibility especially if they are the yellow jersey, at least to contribute. ESPECIALLY when the other team leaders - Valverde, Contador, Mollema, were doing work for their causes.

Did anyone help Purito in fuente de after his teammates went out the back for example? No.

Help him fine. But that time gap goes down a lot more if the yellow jersey does some work too. To give the rider who has most to lose or gain, an armchair ride from your own domestiques on your own team is stupid.
 
Mar 9, 2013
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Lol at Hitch moaning as usual, why should they all not work to bring them back?:rolleyes:. Should Movistar say hey stuff white let them get more minutes, you probably just mad because you wanted even more buffer for your fellow Pole.
 
Mar 9, 2013
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Yeh just like Alberto getting help from other teams in the Vuelta. Lol it was funny though seeing Alberto relaying for dear life who would of thought ay, relaying on the FLAT as he is gone on sunday. It is obvious Froome will go all out its not a multi mountain stage either so Sky should be fine then the ITT after. As long as Froome gets to Ventoux with the same lead he will win the TDF. No way an alliance from Belkin and Saxo, Belkin wont go for the win they will go for the podium imo. I hope they fail so hard after today I hope Mollema and Ten Dam completely bonk after celebrating today about distancing Valverde.:D
 
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The Hitch said:
We have been over this, Im not saying Rodriguez wouldnt want to pull back the guys, im saying why waste your own guys to do it when there are people who have far more on the line here to do it for you. Katusha have a good team, under the radar, which they could use to try various things for Rodriguez. And instead, after a week and a half of absolutely nothing from them, they decide to spend that force on chasing a break which others cna do for them.

In BMC's case even worse because they have a former tdf winner who's fighting for some low top 10 spot


And its not a case of cheering for a rider but for a race. I resent your implication. If the shoe was on the other foot and Sky were tryiing to gain time on the flat and Saxo got BMC, Katusha and AG2R to do all their work instead i would be saying the exact same thing.

A race where a guy takes minutes on every mtf and tt is boring. 1 where his opponents take time back on lesser stages is an interesting one.

Christ its not rocket science.:rolleyes:


Yet again completely miss the point on Katusha, this is a 3 week race not a 13 day race, Purito was 2 minutes off a podium just because they have been anonymous so far does not mean they should not ride, or are you saying they should have said stuff a chance at the podium with the Alps looming:rolleyes:.
You say they have nothing to gain well they have a lot to lose, no?
 
The Hitch said:
The sky riders only got shelled out near the end. They were up near the front between the bmcs and katushas for a long time, taking pulls now and agaoin.

Also there was 1 sky rider i saw comfortably looking around, taking an armchair ride, never bothering to get near the front. You know which one im talking about. Tall fella, wearing yellow.

And before you say team leaders dont take pulls, yes they do. If they dont have teammates its their responsibility especially if they are the yellow jersey, at least to contribute. ESPECIALLY when the other team leaders - Valverde, Contador, Mollema, were doing work for their causes.

Did anyone help Purito in fuente de after his teammates went out the back for example? No.

Help him fine. But that time gap goes down a lot more if the yellow jersey does some work too. To give the rider who has most to lose or gain, an armchair ride from your own domestiques on your own team is stupid.

Now and again? All of Froome's Sky teammates were working until they were dropped from the effort. You're being ridiculous if you think other teams shouldn't work at all (for their own interests) until the yellow jersey starts working himself.
 

airstream

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Miburo, feel sorry for you. I'm afraid after the Tour you'll need an urgent car that will bring you to a special health facility. I hope you'll be brave enough to accuse weak Contador (not strong Froome) of it. If you think all should help Contador and no one should help Froome, you are just a fanatic.
 

airstream

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burning said:
Valverde is not in that team but Quintana is??
I dont really understand, Valverde worked quite hard for Froome in stage 9

Not to work for Contador is not to work for Froome. Do you realize riders can have their own goals that doesn't coincide with goals of Contador?
 
airstream said:
Not to work for Contador is not to work for Froome. Do you realize riders can have their own goals that doesn't coincide with goals of Contador?

Riding for second is not a goal for me to be honest
I'm glad that he's completely out of GC though, he can ride for 12th place from now on, which would be a great achievement for him
 

airstream

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burning said:
Riding for second is not a goal for me to be honest
I'm glad that he's completely out of GC though, he can ride for 12th place from now on, which would be a great achievement for him

What did Valverde have to do at stage 9 if he's weaker than Froome? To attack, bonk and destroy all the chances for the podium back then yet?
 
airstream said:
What did Valverde have to do at stage 9 if he's weaker than Froome? To attack, bonk and destroy all the chances for the podium back then yet?

Letting Froome do the work could be a good way to increase your chances when you have teammates ahead :rolleyes:
Well, why the f*ck i'm arguing with you, you are the most decorated troll in this forum, have fun with your trolling
 

airstream

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burning said:
Letting Froome do the work could be a good way to increase your chances when you have teammates ahead
What teammates? Costa and Plaza? Froome would have let them go even it could have entailed change of MJ. Back then only 4-5 guys interested him. In addition, Froome wasn't the only interested person. Both Belkin and Saxo would have had to defend their positions. Sorry but you contemplate with some idealized categories. If all had GT palmares like Contador you could have easily accused them of not wanting to ride only for the 1st place... But we have a different situation.
 
Oct 16, 2009
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The Hitch said:
move their leaders up against who? Bmc didnt pull when Valverde was chasing back on. They only started when he was 10 minutes down and Saxo and Belkin attack.

That wasn't trying to gain a place, it was defending it.
Fuglsang, Rogers, Kreuziger, Ten Dam, Mollema, Contador.

Why BMC didn't pull when Valverde was chasing back? Evans: "But the big thing was that Valverde had a really unfortunate puncture. I'm sorry for him."

They weren't giving Sky a free ride either, they didn't have a single domestique in the group at the finish. Again, them riding was completely sensible, the reaction from this forum not so much.
 

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