Le Tour '18 stage 12: Bourg-Saint-Maurice > Alpe d'Huez 175k

[happytramp]

Re: Re:

So the French how boos of Sky still rooted for Virenque after he was judged guilty two times, that's called double standard

Booing isn't exclusive to the French. The Tour has fans observing in person from all over the world. Might be some Brits in their booing too.

False. Horner had his first top 10 at age 38 and won a GT a month shy of his 42nd birthday.

Think you might be helping to prove his point there.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

So the French how boos of Sky still rooted for Virenque after he was judged guilty two times, that's called double standard

Booing isn't exclusive to the French. The Tour has fans observing in person from all over the world. Might be some Brits in there booing too.

False. Horner had his first top 10 at age 38 and won a GT a month shy of his 42nd birthday.

...that has what to do with my post??? Seriously, are you sure you're responding to the right post?

It was probably a response to my post about the uniqueness of Thomas’s late career step forward in GTs. If it was, he didn’t read my post very carefully - why anyone would think they were doing Thomas a favour with a comparison with that freak is beyond me, but in any case Horner did not have the same kind of long record of GT anonymity as he only rode his first one in 2005 (and was immediately a better GC rider than Thomas).

 

[Hayabusa]

Real shame to hear about some of the fans actions today. Spitting and punching riders just shows how classless some people are. Hope Nibali is okay, would be a real shame to lose a race due to actions outside of his control..

 

[franic]

Re: Re:

I expected ignorant small minded trollls on here to think its ok to boo

They show themselves for who they are

Why is it ignorant or small minded to peacefully express your disapproval of the character, behaviour or role of public figures?

Boo politicians if you must but not sportsmen, what crime has Geraint Thomas ever done that anyone should boo him

I think you are well aware what “crime” some of the booers believe he or his team have committed. They may well be wrong, but it’s no different in principle from Armstrong getting booed.

Armstrong has won WC at 22, therefore there could have been some (little) justification for believing him. Believing in Sky's marginal improvements' story is really a perfect substitute for an IQ test.

 

[rick james]

Bardet pretty much admitting he attacked when Nibali crashed tried to blame it on poor radio connections, I said a the time Froome, G and Tom all waited....Bardet attacked

 

[Big Doopie]

Re: Re:

So Geraint Thomas and Tom Dumoulin are the two best climbers in this Tour! What a farce

Pure climbers? Absolutely not.

Can climb the fourth col of the 11th stage of a GT better than most? Absolutely.

Those two things are very different.

Hinault was not a better (pure) climber than Herrera either. However, he almost always destroyed him in the mountains of the Tour.

Terrible example. Hinault weighed about 62kg.

LOL!!! A perfect example if you knew anything about cycling history.

Hinault was never the best climber, not ever. A power climber always on a big gear who could never handle changes of pace on a climb. and a great TTer.

He was specifically scared of Herrera and the columbians at the time who had destroyed him in the dauphine one year (only a week long race with lots of mountains).

He ordered his team to make the first flat week of the tour very hard and fast.

The columbian climbers then could no longer climb as well once they got to the mountains.

This isn't even up for debate. this is known fact.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re:

Bardet pretty much admitting he attacked when Nibali crashed tried to blame it on poor radio connections, I said a the time Froome, G and Tom all waited....Bardet attacked

Have you even watched the race?

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

So Geraint Thomas and Tom Dumoulin are the two best climbers in this Tour! What a farce

Pure climbers? Absolutely not.

Can climb the fourth col of the 11th stage of a GT better than most? Absolutely.

Those two things are very different.

Hinault was not a better (pure) climber than Herrera either. However, he almost always destroyed him in the mountains of the Tour.

Terrible example. Hinault weighed about 62kg.

LOL!!! A perfect example if you knew anything about cycling history.

Hinault was never the best climber, not ever. A power climber always on a big gear who could never handle changes of pace on a climb. and a great TTer.

He was specifically scared of Herrera and the columbians at the time who had destroyed him in the dauphine one year (only a week long race with lots of mountains).

He ordered his team to make the first flat week of the tour very hard and fast.

The columbian climbers then could no longer climb as well once they got to the mountains.

This isn't even up for debate. this is known fact.

Yeah, he was 62kg and had loads of power. Of course he could climb well.

These late-blossoming 70kg super-climbers of the late 2010s are much similar to someone like Riis.

 

[The Barb]

Re:

Bardet pretty much admitting he attacked when Nibali crashed tried to blame it on poor radio connections, I said a the time Froome, G and Tom all waited....Bardet attacked

This is just plain wrong.

Watch the footage again.

Bardet attacked and got a gap of maybe 40 metres with just over 4km to go. Nibali can clearly still be seen in the group of Thomas, Froome, Nibali, Landa and Dumoulin (in that order). Nibali crashed as Froome rode across to Bardet.

It’s so clear that you cant be mistaken about this. So why would you make things up?

 

[armchairclimber]

Well, an interesting stage. Bardet courageous as ever ... but to no avail. Froome looking weaker than Thomas ... (and those who think his "transformation is a bit outlandish have had their heads in a bucket for 20 years ... or they think that, somehow, riders who ride way above threshold on a track for several minutes at a time faster than anyone else in the world are incapable of doing the same up hills ... with practice). Having said that, I'm not convinced that Thomas will last the course. I suspect that the GT specialists like Froome, Dumo and Bardet will eventually prevail. And Roglic ... there's a man for the future.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re: Re:

Bardet pretty much admitting he attacked when Nibali crashed tried to blame it on poor radio connections, I said a the time Froome, G and Tom all waited....Bardet attacked

Have you even watched the race?

He’s just a troll.

 

[Robert5091]

Quite a sprint there from G after a long day in the saddle. Dawg must be p***ed for not getting his "iconic climb" win. Bad luck for Nibs. Can Tommy D do anything in week 3? Looks tough for anyone to beat Sky uphill.

Funny how G says one thing, then does something else on the bike. What happens if there's 1 minute between them at the ITT? G told to soft pedal?

 

[Lequack]

Even Teejay had his fans:

 

[bambino]

Re: Re:

Bardet pretty much admitting he attacked when Nibali crashed tried to blame it on poor radio connections, I said a the time Froome, G and Tom all waited....Bardet attacked

This is just plain wrong.

Watch the footage again.

Bardet attacked and got a gap of maybe 40 metres with just over 4km to go. Nibali can clearly still be seen in the group of Thomas, Froome, Nibali, Landa and Dumoulin (in that order). Nibali crashed as Froome rode across to Bardet.

It’s so clear that you cant be mistaken about this. So why would you make things up?

Hold on. I'm pretty sure Bardet is talking about the situation when him, Froome, GT and Tom were just four of them riding side by side. To me it looked clearly that just before that, when Tom pulled back Froome's attack, they had small chat and agreed to wait Nibs because of the crash. Then suddenly Bardet attacked fiersly and the rest 3 had to follow.

I am pretty sure TomD tried, and succeeded in some sense, to orchestrate Nibali back to the group. Need to wait his comments if that was the case. If it was, huge respect to the man.

 

[dfromdub]

Re: Re:

EDIT

Bardet pretty much admitting he attacked when Nibali crashed tried to blame it on poor radio connections, I said a the time Froome, G and Tom all waited....Bardet attacked

This is just plain wrong.

Watch the footage again.

Bardet attacked and got a gap of maybe 40 metres with just over 4km to go. Nibali can clearly still be seen in the group of Thomas, Froome, Nibali, Landa and Dumoulin (in that order). Nibali crashed as Froome rode across to Bardet.

It’s so clear that you cant be mistaken about this. So why would you make things up?

Hold on. I'm pretty sure Bardet is talking about the situation when him, Froome, GT and Tom were just four of them riding side by side. To me it looked clearly that just before that, when Tom pulled back Froome's attack, they had small chat and agreed to wait Nibs because of the crash. Then suddenly Bardet attacked fiersly and the rest 3 had to follow.

I am pretty sure TomD tried, and succeeded in some sense, to orchestrate Nibali back to the group. Need to wait his comments if that was the case. If it was, huge respect to the man.

yes exactly, I think the OP was referring to this. It looked for 5 seconds that they were going to slow down to allow nibali to be back (and they make sure it was obvious) but Bardet just went by surprise shortly after

 

[Mayo from Mayo]

Re: Re:

Bardet pretty much admitting he attacked when Nibali crashed tried to blame it on poor radio connections, I said a the time Froome, G and Tom all waited....Bardet attacked

This is just plain wrong.

Watch the footage again.

Bardet attacked and got a gap of maybe 40 metres with just over 4km to go. Nibali can clearly still be seen in the group of Thomas, Froome, Nibali, Landa and Dumoulin (in that order). Nibali crashed as Froome rode across to Bardet.

It’s so clear that you cant be mistaken about this. So why would you make things up?

Never thought I'd defend RJ but he's referring to the attack inside 2k when Froome, Thomas, Dumoulin and Bardet were joined by Landa. Bardet attacked followed by Froome but no way were the others waiting for Nibali.

 

[bambino]

Re: Re:

Bardet pretty much admitting he attacked when Nibali crashed tried to blame it on poor radio connections, I said a the time Froome, G and Tom all waited....Bardet attacked

This is just plain wrong.

Watch the footage again.

Bardet attacked and got a gap of maybe 40 metres with just over 4km to go. Nibali can clearly still be seen in the group of Thomas, Froome, Nibali, Landa and Dumoulin (in that order). Nibali crashed as Froome rode across to Bardet.

It’s so clear that you cant be mistaken about this. So why would you make things up?

Never thought I'd defend RJ but he's referring to the attack inside 2k when Froome, Thomas, Dumoulin and Bardet were joined by Landa. Bardet attacked followed by Froome but no way were the others waiting for Nibali.

Oh yes they clearly were. Have you ever seen before top 4 riding so slow side by side in steep mountain finish?

 

[Billie]

Re: Re:

Bardet pretty much admitting he attacked when Nibali crashed tried to blame it on poor radio connections, I said a the time Froome, G and Tom all waited....Bardet attacked

This is just plain wrong.

Watch the footage again.

Bardet attacked and got a gap of maybe 40 metres with just over 4km to go. Nibali can clearly still be seen in the group of Thomas, Froome, Nibali, Landa and Dumoulin (in that order). Nibali crashed as Froome rode across to Bardet.

It’s so clear that you cant be mistaken about this. So why would you make things up?

Never thought I'd defend RJ but he's referring to the attack inside 2k when Froome, Thomas, Dumoulin and Bardet were joined by Landa. Bardet attacked followed by Froome but no way were the others waiting for Nibali.

Oh yes they clearly were. Have you ever seen before top 4 riding so slow side by side in steep mountain finish?

You did not watch Andy vs Contador battles

 

[bambino]

Re: Re:

Bardet pretty much admitting he attacked when Nibali crashed tried to blame it on poor radio connections, I said a the time Froome, G and Tom all waited....Bardet attacked

This is just plain wrong.

Watch the footage again.

Bardet attacked and got a gap of maybe 40 metres with just over 4km to go. Nibali can clearly still be seen in the group of Thomas, Froome, Nibali, Landa and Dumoulin (in that order). Nibali crashed as Froome rode across to Bardet.

It’s so clear that you cant be mistaken about this. So why would you make things up?

Never thought I'd defend RJ but he's referring to the attack inside 2k when Froome, Thomas, Dumoulin and Bardet were joined by Landa. Bardet attacked followed by Froome but no way were the others waiting for Nibali.

Oh yes they clearly were. Have you ever seen before top 4 riding so slow side by side in steep mountain finish?

You did not watch Andy vs Contador battles

Yeah but there were 4. And they didn't even look at eachothers. Sunday ride stuff.

 

[Tank Engine]

Re: Re:

No boy. You clearly have not watched cycling in the past. How many group sprints have you seen here?

I can remember one involving your avatar. If I remember correctly, Gianni Bugno won from a sprint of 5 riders.
There were some tactical similarities to today's stage. LeMond was at the time riding for Z-Peugeot. His team mate Pensec was in the yellow jersey. LeMond was in a very strong break, but didn't push. Pensec was dragged up the Alpe by super dom Robert Millar, losing less than a minute and keeping the yellow yersey.

Pensec lost the jersey to Chiapucci in an MTT on the next day and LeMond went on to win the Tour.

Going back a long way (I guess nearly 30 years).

Would you call that one an epic stage? I would call it a boring Alpe d'Huez

Epic? Definitely not. Intruiging tactically, maybe.

The Fignon-Lemond duel up Alpe d'Huez was much better as a spectacle.

 

[Ciddaman]

Nibali left... What a Tour, boring, dirty, and unsafe!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

The only hope is Dumouin and Bardet I think.

Maybe Landa is his back gets better

 

[DBotero]

Re: Re:

Bardet pretty much admitting he attacked when Nibali crashed tried to blame it on poor radio connections, I said a the time Froome, G and Tom all waited....Bardet attacked

Have you even watched the race?

He’s just a troll.

Yep,he's just trolling
https://twitter.com/romainbardet/status/1020002708684771329

 

[GraftPunk]

As much as I enjoy I enjoy sportsmanship, it's a bike race. So race. Nibali getting mowed by a moto is a bit of an outlier, but I've never understood the rationale behind this particular unwritten rule.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re:

The only hope is Dumouin and Bardet I think.

Maybe Landa is his back gets better

You know, I really like Dumoulin, he is a character in an era of soulless PR cycling bots with a real winner mentality. But as a cyclist he is mostly still a TT guy and therefore not the guy who I expect to light up the tour. Bardet is fine on mtf's but seems to be super afraid of any attack where he has to ride more than 100 meters which aren't uphill and the whole Movistar team has been garbage so far. Landa might ride himself into shape as he often does but he and Quintana are already way too far behind. Nibali wasn't the most likely to beat sky (if Bardet wouldn't have lost in the first week I'd argue he was a lot more likely to win) but he was the one who I hoped would pressure sky wherever he can. Ofc I'm writing this from a Nibali fanboy perspective but I really think this crash hurts this tour a lot. I'm right now not excited for the Pyrenees at all.