Paris-Nice 2017, 5th-12th March

[The Barb]

Holy hell what a fabulous stage! And a very very good race overall.

Cycling is so much more interesting with Contador around. We will miss him when he's gone.

I hope the rest of the Spring can be this exciting.

 

[deValtos]

Re: Re:

Anyone have a link to video that shows Contador attacking and bridging to the break? The vids I keep finding start much later. Language doesn't matter.

I am looking for the same videos as well. I haven't found any in English or Spanish yet.

Not much but it's something ...

https://youtu.be/WIyYBfBmFkU?t=51s

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

Anyone have a link to video that shows Contador attacking and bridging to the break? The vids I keep finding start much later. Language doesn't matter.

I am looking for the same videos as well. I haven't found any in English or Spanish yet.

Not much but it's something ...

https://youtu.be/WIyYBfBmFkU?t=51s

Thanks. Yeah, I already saw that video. It was posted above. It is supposed to show Froome at 45-46 seconds but I couldn't find him.

 

[CTQ]

Thanks. Yeah, I already saw that video. It was posted above. It is supposed to show Froome at 45-46 seconds but I couldn't find him

@Escarabajo

not a video, but a photo posted by Froome during the stage:
https://twitter.com/chrisfroome/status/840934885384699904

 

[gregrowlerson]

Re:

Good race, and a good read, the last 30 pages. It was the last day of the race, there was no need to save energy, and there was no reason for Bahrain not to try and catch the leaders, knowing that Contador would have to do all the heavy lifting after being on the attack for 50k. Sure it was a long shot, but you have to try at least, an attitude that is usually lauded in this place. All it takes is one mistake, shifting or steering, cramps, whatever, with a strong sprint against a tired rider you can make up lots of ground in the last couple of hundred meters. Again, it was a small chance, but there is no worse feeling than rolling over the line thinking 'if we had tried we might have made it'.
I've seen this all before, the Tourgott-disciples in Germany were much the same, in fact the Contador fans in here seem downright tame compared to some of them. It's always going to happen when an athlete has a cult-like following and it will never change, so if the whinging and raging and general foolishness upsets you, just don't bother reading, cause it's never going to go away.

An epic week of racing, the best that I can remember (apart from perhaps the 3rd week of the 2011 TDF). Disappointed that Contador didn't win, but he gave it his all, and that's racing. He really lost this race because of stage 1. He was dropped in the crosswinds, and not only that, he lost significant time to Porte and others on the short climb into the finish. His weak finish on that day reminds us that Bahrain's unlikely late attempt at victory wasn't as unlikely as some are making out. The finish here wasn't as severe as stage 1, but there was still a bit of a rise in the closing stages, and if Contador had cracked like on stage 1, and the other two had played cat and mouse, then another twenty seconds of bridging across could have quite easily happened.

Would have been great if Alberto had held that little gap that he made with about a km to go and won the stage (and thus the race), but he isn't superman.

Oh well, it was still all great anyway. An amazing week's racing.

Kudos to Henao too for mostly hanging onto yellow by himself. He really didn't get all that much assistance at all in the last 30 kms.

 

[JRanton]

Great race. Really pleased for Henao. How anyone can say he didn't deserve to win that is ludicrous when you consider that six out of the eight stages affected the GC.

Deja vu for Contador's fanboys (and girls).

 

[jaylew]

Re: Re:

Anyone have a link to video that shows Contador attacking and bridging to the break? The vids I keep finding start much later. Language doesn't matter.

I am looking for the same videos as well. I haven't found any in English or Spanish yet.

Couldn't find it so I just downloaded the final 55k. Definitely worth watching even if you've already seen the last 30-35k like I had.

Trek has no one to blame but themselves. How did they not manage to get 1 guy in a break of 25 when they obviously knew what AC was going to do?? That's all it likely would have taken - 1 guy in the break.

Solid MSR work from Bling and Colbrelli. They both look like they'll be ready for the Poggio.

 

[rick james]

Re: Re:

There you go:

Right after the race Alberto went to Henao and congratulated him. If only mankind as a whole had that kind of class the world would be a much kinder place.

if only some of the Bertie fans had the same sort of class a him, some of the comments on here have been out of order

 

[tretiak]

Great race. Really pleased for Henao. How anyone can say he didn't deserve to win that is ludicrous when you consider that six out of the eight stages affected the GC.

Deja vu for Contador's fanboys (and girls).

The sun obvious did not shine on you today.

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Yes, amazing week of cycling. I found myself rooting for Contador, but in the end I don't really care who wins as long as the race is entertaining. I don't understand this discussion of who's the more deserving winner. Henao was the fastest and by definition he then deserved to win. If he has been the fastest and he didn't win, well that would have been undeserved.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

I agree that Henao deserved the win because he was the fastest over the whole race. Just because a rider decided to attack 50 odd kilometres out on one stage doesn't mean he deserved to win. Some people are complaining that the chase group (with Henao) made the time up so some sprinters could fight for 8th or 12 place! If some sprinters managed to get up over umpteen categorised climbs, surely they deserve to have a shot at a sprint at the end, no matter what the placings. They probably don't care who the winner is overall.

 

[barmaher]

What a fantastic last stage of a fantastic race. Can anybody remember a better week-long stage race?

I find it amazing that people are criticising Bahrain. The front trio could have overcooked a corner, they could have started messing around. Contador had a massively hard week, he could have cracked completely. There was a slim chance of a stage win for the second group, so they went for it. Tough for Contador, but that is racing.

Contador was brilliant all week. Loved the way he digged in chasing Porte on Saturday, and actually dropped Henao. Loved the way he attacked yesterday - Sky and QS knew it was coming and couldn't do anything about it. He is a champion.

Henao and Contador can really thank teammates for getting them where they ended up, but QS must be annoyed they didn't back Dan Martin earlier. He could have been a lot closer than 30s to Henao yesterday, and the dynamics of the race would have been a lot different. If Martin had gone with Henao in Fayence, and started the last stage @ 10 seconds, it would have been spicy.

 

[RedheadDane]

I find it amazing that people are criticising Bahrain. The front trio could have overcooked a corner, they could have started messing around. Contador had a massively hard week, he could have cracked completely. There was a slim chance of a stage win for the second group, so they went for it. Tough for Contador, but that is racing.

This. They chased in the hope that they'd catch the front-trio, so Colbrelli could get to sprint for the win, in the end it didn't work out. However, if they hadn't chased he definitely wouldn't have gotten to sprint for the win. Is there some kind of rule stating that if the break has [X] (or more) seconds with less than [Y] Ks left, then the sprinter-teams must stop chasing?

 

[Breh]

Hope we can get a route without +1600m mountains next year.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

There you go:

Right after the race Alberto went to Henao and congratulated him. If only mankind as a whole had that kind of class the world would be a much kinder place.

The world would also be a much kinder place if his fans remembered that in the heat of the moment - including the moderators. Many not-so-nice posts in here.

 

[barmaher]

Yeah, I agree. It seems like the better the race, the more people over-react, say stupid things and generally act the tool.

The thing is that the three main protagonists, Martin, Albert and Seb Henao all seem like really decent skins.

 

[RedheadDane]

Surely it was Ser Henao who was one of the main protagonists. He kinda won the race.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Yes, amazing week of cycling. I found myself rooting for Contador, but in the end I don't really care who wins as long as the race is entertaining. I don't understand this discussion of who's the more deserving winner. Henao was the fastest and by definition he then deserved to win. If he has been the fastest and he didn't win, well that would have been undeserved.

IMO a case can be made that Contador would have been just as much of a deserving winner. Henao completed the course in the fastest time and that is what matters in the end so he is a deserving winner. Contador was the stronger rider but alas, no glory for him. I thought it was interesting that the Sporza commentators - José de Cauwer and Michel Wuyts (who has never had much sympathy for Contador) were hoping they'd miscalculated and Contador would be the winner, and when Henao's win was confirmed they called for a tie.
Seems quite sad to me that some Sky fans refuse to admit Contador would have been a deserving winner as well. Sad, but not surprising - I'm guessing Contador evokes some feelings of jealously because he is much more liked and popular than most Sky riders

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

Yes, amazing week of cycling. I found myself rooting for Contador, but in the end I don't really care who wins as long as the race is entertaining. I don't understand this discussion of who's the more deserving winner. Henao was the fastest and by definition he then deserved to win. If he has been the fastest and he didn't win, well that would have been undeserved.

IMO a case can be made that Contador would have been just as much of a deserving winner. Henao completed the course in the fastest time and that is what matters in the end so he is a deserving winner. Contador was the stronger rider but alas, no glory for him. I thought it was interesting that the Sporza commentators - José de Cauwer and Michel Wuyts (who has never had much sympathy for Contador) were hoping they'd miscalculated and Contador would be the winner, and when Henao's win was confirmed they called for a tie.
Seems quite sad to me that some Sky fans refuse to admit Contador would have been a deserving winner as well. Sad, but not surprising - I'm guessing Contador evokes some feelings of jealously because he is much more liked and popular than most Sky riders

I mainly think they find his fans annoying.

 

[WKA311]

Re: Re:

Yes, amazing week of cycling. I found myself rooting for Contador, but in the end I don't really care who wins as long as the race is entertaining. I don't understand this discussion of who's the more deserving winner. Henao was the fastest and by definition he then deserved to win. If he has been the fastest and he didn't win, well that would have been undeserved.

IMO a case can be made that Contador would have been just as much of a deserving winner. Henao completed the course in the fastest time and that is what matters in the end so he is a deserving winner. Contador was the stronger rider but alas, no glory for him. I thought it was interesting that the Sporza commentators - José de Cauwer and Michel Wuyts (who has never had much sympathy for Contador) were hoping they'd miscalculated and Contador would be the winner, and when Henao's win was confirmed they called for a tie.
Seems quite sad to me that some Sky fans refuse to admit Contador would have been a deserving winner as well. Sad, but not surprising - I'm guessing Contador evokes some feelings of jealously because he is much more liked and popular than most Sky riders

I think it's more the Team itself and the tactics that are disliked rather than the riders. Landa, Rosa, Kwiato, Stannard, Rowe and even Thomas and Froome are great riders who could be, in another team or different circumstances, much more entertaining. And even at Sky they show that more than just once in a while.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

Thanks. Yeah, I already saw that video. It was posted above. It is supposed to show Froome at 45-46 seconds but I couldn't find him

@Escarabajo

not a video, but a photo posted by Froome during the stage:
https://twitter.com/chrisfroome/status/840934885384699904

Yeah. I just saw it this morning on the NBCSN broadcast when they showed the twitter. I also saw him on the road on that broadcast. It was clear then

Thanks.

 

[barmaher]

Re:

Surely it was Ser Henao who was one of the main protagonists. He kinda won the race.

Indeed.

 

[carton]

Great win by Henao. So many others would've cracked under that much pressure. That was incredible nerves and just undying will that got him through that.

And a great show by Contador (and Pantano). Boy this was a great stage race start-to-finish. The crosswinds, the hills, the mountains; a very well crafted and well raced affair. And a close-run thing to boot. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Also enjoyed reading up on the comments afterwards. The static for Bahrain because Izaguirre was taking a few turns (with his sprinter, who had already won here, in tow) was particularly hillarious, as many have pointed out. I for one would think, if anything, that Copeland should have been pissed at Barguil not doing his part. But then again given the way Barguil descends in a group it was probably best not to risk it

 

[barmaher]

Re: Re:

Yes, amazing week of cycling. I found myself rooting for Contador, but in the end I don't really care who wins as long as the race is entertaining. I don't understand this discussion of who's the more deserving winner. Henao was the fastest and by definition he then deserved to win. If he has been the fastest and he didn't win, well that would have been undeserved.

IMO a case can be made that Contador would have been just as much of a deserving winner. Henao completed the course in the fastest time and that is what matters in the end so he is a deserving winner. Contador was the stronger rider but alas, no glory for him. I thought it was interesting that the Sporza commentators - José de Cauwer and Michel Wuyts (who has never had much sympathy for Contador) were hoping they'd miscalculated and Contador would be the winner, and when Henao's win was confirmed they called for a tie.
Seems quite sad to me that some Sky fans refuse to admit Contador would have been a deserving winner as well. Sad, but not surprising - I'm guessing Contador evokes some feelings of jealously because he is much more liked and popular than most Sky riders

I mainly think they find his fans annoying.

This is it for me. I don't really like Sky, never had. And the eulogising of riders like Wiggo and Geraint makes me have a taste of sick in my mouth. But nothing is worse than the reams and reams of drivel written about Contador.

He is a great rider, but I don't get why we obsess so much about him, when we have so many more riders to talk about.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I mainly think they find his fans annoying.

I've come across quite a few Sky fans that almost seem to have a personal issue with him, as though he killed their dog or slept with their wife!