Le Tour 2018 stage 17: BDL to Saint-Lary-Soulan 65k

[loge1884]

Re:

Sagan just in.
Looked bad!

big ***, I was hoping Peter could finally get that Champs Sprint this year .... he is the one who would deserve it ...

 

[clydesdale]

Re:

Rogla super strong today, hope he makes podium

He is good on the TT and looks stronger than Froome. Unless Froome attacks like he did in the Giro it’s almost a certainty.

 

[Arked]

Re: Re:

Imagine trying to explain this Tour top 4 to someone in 2012.

There’s a second rate cobbled classics hopeful poised to win the Tour de France. An up and coming TT specialist is his main competition. One of the least talented domestiques in the whole WT is in third. And a professional ski jumper is in fourth.

You’d have ended up subjected to a well meaning psychiatric intervention.

I remember how this forum, me included, laughed at SKY when they formed the team and stated that the goal was to win the Tour within 5 years. Boy, were we wrong.

And they got two no hope lads from Barloworld to add up to the number since they were Brits!

Two overweight lads but with sky ('cough) high VO2max. Seems like good material to work for me.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

Imagine trying to explain this Tour top 4 to someone in 2012.

There’s a second rate cobbled classics hopeful poised to win the Tour de France. An up and coming TT specialist is his main competition. One of the least talented domestiques in the whole WT is in third. And a professional ski jumper is in fourth.

You’d have ended up subjected to a well meaning psychiatric intervention.

I remember how this forum, me included, laughed at SKY when they formed the team and stated that the goal was to win the Tour within 5 years. Boy, were we wrong.

And they got two no hope lads from Barloworld to add up to the number since they were Brits!

This forum is basically a collection of incorrect cycling predictions and fanfiction.

It could hardly be otherwise given that you could not reasonably have predicted the current dominant GT riders from their earlier careers. At this point, there seems to be little more reason to expect a David Gaudu to contend for a GT in the future than an Ian Stannard.

 

[Frosty]

Re:

Sagan just in.
Looked bad!

Going to undergo a medical exam apparently

https://twitter.com/BORAhansgrohe/status/1022150681342500864

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

Imagine trying to explain this Tour top 4 to someone in 2012.

There’s a second rate cobbled classics hopeful poised to win the Tour de France. An up and coming TT specialist is his main competition. One of the least talented domestiques in the whole WT is in third. And a professional ski jumper is in fourth.

You’d have ended up subjected to a well meaning psychiatric intervention.

In 2012? Where Froome was the best climber :lol:

You are right. I should have said 2011. It was up until the latter part of that season, mid career, that Froome was a nobody and generally considered, to the limited extent that he was considered at all, to be lucky to have a pro contract. Thomas was a young cobbles contender, not in the same league as the best, but considered a possibility to maybe one day win a Monument. Dumoulin was a Rabobank U23 rider, considered a possible future ITT champ. Roglic was a ski jumper.

This goes to show that perceived wisdom and historical assumptions about what kind of rider can do what were wide of the mark. That particular rule book has been torn up and re-written.

It was rewritten circa 1990.

 

[Oude Geuze]

Re: Re:

Apparently Dan Martin has asked the UCI to forbid the super tuck position on descents

What a whiny brat

No, I completely agree, it's a terrible example for amateur riders.
I would have totally tried imitating that when I was younger.

I do it all the time, my brother and most of my friends as well, both in local races and training just for fun and speed. Banning it would be ***, these are grown men, should we have speed limits as well? Speed is really the problem if you're afraid of accidents.

 

[staubsauger]

Maybe we should ban everything from soft ice till sex, only because some idiots can't take proper caution of themselves!

 

[saganftw]

its not speed that kills you anyway

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Rogla super strong today, hope he makes podium

He has a chance but Froome will still be hard to overtake.

 

[GraftPunk]

In all fairness, they did ban the 'superman' position IIRC

ETA: as well as GO's previous 'praying mantis' position.

 

[bigcog]

What a call to bring Bernal to the Tour. Future winner in waiting.

Now that was a smart move!

Yep pure class

 

[Gigs_98]

If Sagan can't continue this would be the most ridiculous green jersey competition ever

 

[King Boonen]

Re:

In all fairness, they did ban the 'superman' position IIRC

ETA: as well as GO's previous 'praying mantis' position.

Dis they ban the position or the bike though? I think in reality it was the bike.

 

[SHAD0W93]

If Sagan can't continue this would be the most ridiculous green jersey competition ever

Even more if Kristoff abandons leaving 5 people who could win.

 

[HelloDolly]

Fuglsang & Landa on the speed today

https://twitter.com/mrconde/status/1022152434049863681

 

[Brullnux]

Crap stage. Really crap. The whole point of it being 65k, few teammates and lots of action, didn't happen.

 

[SKSemtex]

Lets hope Quintana has his superlegs again. He has nothing to lose. He has a strong team and he has nothing to lose. 5 th place means nothing.

Last mountain stage can be a fun if Movistar will start the strong attack on the bottom of Tourmalet.

 

[shalgo]

Has anyone heard anything about the circumstances of Sagan's crash? Was he pushing it too hard on the descent in an effort to catch the yellow jersey group? If so, that would be a very stupid way to cost himself the green jersey as well as a couple of potential stage wins.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

3 things

1) Quintana is back. But too late.
2) Thomas wins the Tour..
3) Dumoulin best of the rest. Again. Still could have had a chance without Bretagne. But that's cycling.

 

[Walkman]

Re:

Fuglsang & Landa on the speed today

https://twitter.com/mrconde/status/1022152434049863681

This is so crazy. So many riders that talk about how fast the pace is and SKY is rolling around with 4-6 guys when it is 20 riders left..

 

[DNP-Old]

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

Fuglsang & Landa on the speed today

https://twitter.com/mrconde/status/1022152434049863681

Of course Landa did less watts, it was a shorter route!

But I understand what you are saying.

If we believe this what do we say about 21 year old Bernal?

 

[GraftPunk]

Re: Re:

In all fairness, they did ban the 'superman' position IIRC

ETA: as well as GO's previous 'praying mantis' position.

Dis they ban the position or the bike though? I think in reality it was the bike.

Technically the bikes and the positions. It was a multi-faceted decision by UCI. From GO's wiki:

The world governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale, grew concerned that changes to bicycles were making a disproportionate improvement to track records. Among other measures, it banned his riding position: he did not find out until one hour before he began the world championship pursuit in Italy.[17] Judges disqualified him when he refused to comply.[18] The magazine Cycling Weekly blamed "petty-minded officialdom."[19]

 

[Poursuivant]

Re: Re:

Fuglsang & Landa on the speed today

https://twitter.com/mrconde/status/1022152434049863681

This is so crazy. So many riders that talk about how fast the pace is and SKY is rolling around with 4-6 guys when it is 20 riders left..

Apparently Quintana rode the last climb at 5.88 w/kg. That’s nothing abnormal. And he rode it faster than everyone.