Le Tour 2018 stage 10: Annecy > Le Grand-Bornand 158,5 km

[Moviefan1203]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 10: Annecy > Le Grand-Bornand 158,5 k

I still don't think Sky are the favourites to win this tour.
I think it's still more likely that one of Landa or Quintana will win for Movistar.

I expect Sky & Mov to be very strong with many riders in the mountains.

But the hard thing for Sky & Mov is that they have to not just beat each other but also Nibali, Dumoulin, Martin, Yates, Bardet, Roglic & Flugsang.

Yeah, the rest need to be patient and let Sky and Movistar beat the crap out of one another.

 

[Red Rick]

Gaps are disappointingly small for carnage. Only if Froome feels like it the race will be ripped to shreds

 

[dacooley]

Re:

Gaps are disappointingly small for carnage. Only if Froome feels like it the race will be ripped to shreds

I think upcoming finishes on Rosiere and Duez will heavily holding back all the contenders. Combo Romme-Colombier itself looks very promising, but counting on 2 big mtfs may destroy all the action.

 

[May0maniac]

Re: Re:

Gaps are disappointingly small for carnage. Only if Froome feels like it the race will be ripped to shreds

I think upcoming finishes on Rosiere and Duez will heavily holding back all the contenders. Combo Romme-Colombier itself looks very promising, but counting on 2 big mtfs may destroy all the action.

At least the next stage is rather short and not a super hard MTF, I think the big Alpe d'Huez stage will be a bit of a problem when it comes to action on the Rosiere stage, we'll see rather conservative racing

 

[Finn84]

I feel that we get some outsider to take yellow jersey.

 

[Salvarani]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 10: Annecy > Le Grand-Bornand 158,5 k

Expecting a hard stage. Someone to drop and loose a few minutes. A couple loosing 20-30 seconds. Most of them arriving together at the finish.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re:

I feel that we get some outsider to take yellow jersey.

Probably not. But a girl can dream.

 

[Salvarani]

Re:

I feel that we get some outsider to take yellow jersey.

Could very well see Rolland or Chavanel going in the break and be given some minutes. Both +4 minutes behind. Nieve and Pozzo also maybe, but dont know if they gonna be given much time though if they would try and go in the break...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

LOL

 

[skippo12]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 10: Annecy > Le Grand-Bornand 158,5 k

Descent from the Colombier isn´t the easiest one. Narrow roads and some tricky corners but in the end I don`t think any of the big contenders is willing to risk everything one the first day in the mountains.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Breakaway to take it with Kloden coming out of retirement to win for revenge on these climbs.

Movistar to attack but all GC contenders to stay together.

 

[MatParker117]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 10: Annecy > Le Grand-Bornand 158,5 k

I still don't think Sky are the favourites to win this tour.
I think it's still more likely that one of Landa or Quintana will win for Movistar.

I expect Sky & Mov to be very strong with many riders in the mountains.

But the hard thing for Sky & Mov is that they have to not just beat each other but also Nibali, Dumoulin, Martin, Yates, Bardet, Roglic & Flugsang.

With the TT at the end?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Biggest problem is the pacing. With two more mountain stages after this, the fact it's a descent finish and those two are mountaintop finishes will discourage the kind of exciting racing we got from this combo in 2009, the only good thing about that God-forsaken Tour other than Kenny van Hummel.

Seeing as it's a Le Grand Bornand finish, I hope for some kind of biathlon connection since the finishing line is the same as the one from the Stade de Biathlon Sylvie Becaert, a unique "permanent temporary facility" where the range and loop and everything are permanent but the finishing line is across a road with temporary stands - the same road as used when the Tour finishes in town. Unfortunately, former biathlete Benjamí Prades is still over in Japan and isn't ever likely to reach WT level, so no direct connections, but we could get either a connection to other wintersport:

Or we could have to settle for the next best thing, which is a biathlon connection. Romain Bardet is a known biathlon fan, who rocked up to the World Cup last year to cheer on his compatriots and indeed accepted an invitation from the Fourcade brothers to have a go at the sport:

Certainly a breakaway attack from Florian Vachon is a bit less likely, but you know, he has been 2nd in the Tour de l'Ain before...

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 10: Annecy > Le Grand-Bornand 158,5 k

Movistar brought a team with the one objective of causing carnage in the mountains and with one of their leaders already pretty far behind the best placed gc men I don't think they should wait for doing so any longer. That said, it's the first mountain stage, it's the tour, it's a downhill finish and therefore it's probably a 20 men group with all gc guys finishing together

 

[Forever The Best]

Brilliant stage in isolation. Terrible positioning before 2 MTFs.

 

[RedheadDane]

Ehm... LS, let me see if I got this right.
You'd like a biathlon connection, but if not a biathlon connection is the next best thing?

 

[bob.a.feet]

I see this as a stage where Movistar can do some serious damage if they get their tactics right. They should drive a hard pace throughout the stage hoping to drop some Sky riders. If Landa puts in a strong attack on the Col de Romme he could put the Sky riders in big trouble, leaving Quintana and Valverde with opportunities on Colombiere to really test Froome early in the race. Froome's form will likely vary as the Tour goes on so it's important for Movistar to test him throughout.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 10: Annecy > Le Grand-Bornand 158,5 k

Movistar brought a team with the one objective of causing carnage in the mountains and with one of their leaders already pretty far behind the best placed gc men I don't think they should wait for doing so any longer. That said, it's the first mountain stage, it's the tour, it's a downhill finish and therefore it's probably a 20 men group with all gc guys finishing together

It's not gonna be 20 guys.

It's very similar to the Bagnere du Luchon stage of 2016 in it's place and timing. It was a 14 man group over the Peyresourde, and that climb is nothing compared to Romme-Colombiere.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Incredible, but Majka is right now top ranked pure climber. Maybe at podium after Tuesday.

 

[dacooley]

yes, this stage is condiderably harder than a traditional opening mountain stage with a finish after downhill. froome and thomas are hardly keen to attack by themselves, movistar doesn't have a proper team resource to do a massive drilling work since valverde is not a guy, who's willing to completety sacrifice his chances for the team. hopefully pelizzo alonside with izaguirre bros are going come to the fore and catapult Nibs at Col du Romme and bardet / yates join him.

 

[Põhja Konn]

I believe this stage is more likely to deliver good racing than the Rosiere one. Nobody wants to go all in the day before Alpe d'Huez. That climb has become such a landmark, that everyone wants to be at their absolute best for that stage. Usually also there are some riders and teams who want to stomp their authority on the race at the first chance they get. Add to that the general toughness of Romme-Colombier combo, which basically forces the selection by itself, unless completely softpedalled. As such I'm reasonably optimistic of getting decent racing on tuesday.

One if not all of the Movistar trio will try something, though almost certainly not before Colombier. They are all decent enough (and in Valverde's case, really good) descenders to hold on, should they get a significant gap on the Colombier, Sky I don't know - could be a demolition derby, but also could be a damage limitation excercise. I'm more or less certain that Froome badly wants to win on Alpe. Its one marquee climb he has constantly failed on, despite dominating the Tours in those years it was included.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

Ehm... LS, let me see if I got this right.
You'd like a biathlon connection, but if not a biathlon connection is the next best thing?

A direct one would be nice, but seemingly impossible, therefore an indirect one will suffice.

 

[Blanco]

I don't expect Landa to attack after his crash today, bit I certainly expect Quintana to try on Colmbiere, and Valverde eventually if Nairo fails.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Froome? - well, so easy, there is no need to do anything.

 

[bajbar]

Re: Re:

Ehm... LS, let me see if I got this right.
You'd like a biathlon connection, but if not a biathlon connection is the next best thing?

A direct one would be nice, but seemingly impossible, therefore an indirect one will suffice.