Paris-Nice 2017, 5th-12th March

[frisenfruitig]

Re:

Alaphilippe = the new Valverde?

He is more than just a puncheur. Could be a great GC rider.

Eh, I hope he sticks to one day races and short stage races.

 

[Mr.White]

Contador will attack, that's a sure thing, and I think it will happen already on penultimate climb in stage 6. He knows Alaphilippe is not a hors category climber, and he'll try to crack him. The thing is, that somebody else could easily profit from that. Zakarin, Henao, Gallopin or Izagirre, one of them could sneak away, and then I don't think Contador will take responsibility to chase... Bottom line is, Alaphilippe is in a great position, but it's going to be bloody hard to keep it.

 

[Flamin]

Alaphilippe is amazing. Hopefully he wins P-N.

 

[Der Effe]

Re: Re:

Lefevre and the entitlement he showcases. A few of his riders, with Terpstra being the most annoying one by far, show the same behaviour, unfortunately.

Oh, yeah I agree that Lefevre is an arrogant **** and I'm not a fan of Terpstra either. I can't really think of any other riders I dislike except for Terpstra though. They have a lot of cool guys too like Boonen, Keisse, Trentin, Alaphilippe, Martin etc.

Yeah sure, it's not something you can hold against all their riders. And the riders you mentioned all seem genuinely nice people. It's just that I dislike Lefevre so much I kinda hope they lose all the time. Kinda childish, I know

 

[yaco]

Posted before that Alaphalippe is a supremely talented rider - Suspect he'll end up a classics rider and one week stage racer - I doubt he has the mentality to be a GC contender at GT's - Of course riding for a non-French team means less pressure on the rider.

 

[carton]

Re: Re:

Surely Henao and especially Contador will have to start creating havoc on the penultimate climb on Saturday.

No. That really isn't sensible. Better to save what they have for the final climb and then go kamikaze on Sunday.

Is that stage hard enough to crack Alaphilippe though? I can see him gain some more time in the Fayence stage.

With this shape Alaphilippe is going to trash the others in Fayence

Yep, if they get to Fayence together Ala is just going to take more time up that kicker. If they're in it to win it, IMHO Lotto, Movi, Katusha, Sky and Trek will have to punch it before then. And both Sky and Movi in particular have enough of a roster to assemble a full mountain train, so I'm guessing the brunt of any such action will fall on them. It's obviously a bit of a pipe dream to think they would actually go through with it. But with Martin in a free role, Ala can be stripped of all but DLC and maybe PhilGil for company very early. And neither Sky nor Movi would be taxing their key Tour guys if they went for it. So it's not impossible that we might actually see some early fireworks come Friday.

 

[Mr.White]

I wouldn't count on Movistar or Sky. Only Contador can rip this race apart!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

GG Alaphilippe. So what's the next interesting race?

 

[WheelofGear]

Gallopin and Henao are bigger rivals for Alaphilippe than Contador.

1:30 is a huyyyge gap.

 

[DFA123]

Think Quick Step have got this sewn up now. Even if Alaphilippe does crack big time, then Martin is very well placed. He's probably the second best stage race climber in contention and will easily outsprint the likes of Contador & Zakarin for bonus seconds if they drag him to the line.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Surely Henao and especially Contador will have to start creating havoc on the penultimate climb on Saturday.

No. That really isn't sensible. Better to save what they have for the final climb and then go kamikaze on Sunday.

Sunday's stage suits Alaphilippe much better. They won't drop him.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Alaphilippe can become the first Frenchman to win P-N in twenty years! The last French winner was Laurent Jalabert in 1997.

 

[Netserk]

I think the stage to Fayence will go to the break with so many so far down in GC.

 

[Netserk]

Re: Re:

Surely Henao and especially Contador will have to start creating havoc on the penultimate climb on Saturday.

No. That really isn't sensible. Better to save what they have for the final climb and then go kamikaze on Sunday.

Sunday's stage suits Alaphilippe much better. They won't drop him.

More likely to than to start Couillole with a gap.

 

[Velolover2]

Contador needs a rider in the break if he wants to do some fireworks on stage 6.

Pantano, ideally.

 

[masking_agent]

anyone have any idea what wattage they were putting out in the last km ? Looking at Allanphillipe's face with drool, he may have near 700-1000watts ?

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

anyone have any idea what wattage they were putting out in the last km ? Looking at Allanphillipe's face with drool, he may have near 700-1000watts ?

700W would be about 10W/kg, nobody holds that for more than a minute, let alone at the end of a 21 minute time trial.

 

[rick james]

Re:

I wouldn't count on Movistar or Sky. Only Contador can rip this race apart!

lol

 

[rick james]

loving Gilbert's socks

 

[johnymax]

I don't know what is more impressive . Colbrelli's win, Bennett yesterday or Alaphilippe. Wait...I made up my mind. It's Julian easily. Amazing performance

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

I don't know what is more impressive . Colbrelli's win, Bennett yesterday or Alaphilippe. Wait...I made up my mind. It's Julian easily. Amazing performance

Better racing than these terrible TTT's in T-A.

 

[ferryman]

Re:

loving Gilbert's socks

What you really really wanted to post was 'hating Contador's socks'.

 

[Escarabajo]

I saw the stage again and I saw a very fit skinny Alaphilippe. The pure climbers will have a hard time taking time off from this guy.

 

[sir fly]

My impression is that Alaphilippe has potential (and aims) to become a GT contender.
He'll probably need some time to adapt his climbing style to GT demands (make it more efficient and enduring), but he has enough seasons in front of him... doesn't need to hurry.

Today's ride was remarkable.

 

[Velolover2]

Re:

My impression is that Alaphilippe has potential (and aims) to become a GT contender.
He'll probably need some time to adapt his climbing style to GT demands (make it more efficient and enduring), but he has enough seasons in front of him... doesn't need to hurry.

Today's ride was remarkable.

He should try the Vuelta. The climbs there suit him the best.