Paris-Nice 2017, 5th-12th March

[b.broadhurst]

Henao is in some great form early on this season.

Not going Giro so Pais Vasco and Fleche/Liege must be his big early season targets.

Definitely the strongest here but is 46 seconds too much over the next 2 days?

 

[Valv.Piti]

Henao absolutely flying on the Mur, the hype was justified.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Solid defending by Alaphilippe and congrats to Yates with a fine stage win.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Re: Re:

Contador looks old

Yup, Froome is going to beat the stink out of him.

Have to agree, don't want to make is sound like Contador bashing but I think Froome is gonna bring forward his retirement at the tour.

Great win by Yates, I think Henao may have this race now.

 

[AlexNYC]

I love Henao, but he keeps missing the winning moves. He shouldn't have let Yates go (or should have chased earlier). This stage was tailored made for him.

 

[Netserk]

The Pocket Monster is flying. It'd be great if he takes the overall.

 

[hfer07]

kudos to S.Yates - well timed attack, very courageous, so he gets the rewards. Henao should have gone with him or tried an attack earlier on the first Col to force a split in that group, so then he would have popped Alephilippe in last K........

and Contador got lucky, because of Henao's hesitation - Alberto was cooked in the last 1 of that climb :surprised:

 

[carton]

Great win by Yates. Inauspicious by Alaphillipe; Sky's pace really sapped his legs. This probably means that the death star is going full power tomorrow. As in, over 6W/kg on Saint Martin and little chance of anything resembling a race breaking through before the 10km marker.

 

[HelloDolly]

Tomorrow stage will eb different ....Heano will not be so imperious nor SKY so strong

Night and day

 

[DBotero]

BMC and Sky have some climbers ready for tomorrow.It should be a very interesting stage.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

I love Henao, but he keeps missing the winning moves. He shouldn't have let Yates go (or should have chased earlier). This stage was tailored made for him.

Yup, pretty much, but its always easy to say afterwards tbh. Nieve rode his heart out, but unfortunately wasn't enough. New day tomorrow, but I doubt he will be this strong compared to the others (well, 99% he won't).

 

[dacooley]

Re:

Tomorrow stage will eb different ....Heano will not be so imperious nor SKY so strong

Night and day

hm, who's gonna to completely overtake initiative from your perspective?

 

[carton]

Re: Re:

Yup, pretty much, but its always easy to say afterwards tbh. Nieve rode his heart out, but unfortunately wasn't enough. New day tomorrow, but I doubt he will be this strong compared to the others (well, 99% he won't).

That's too easy to say, IMHO. Maybe Dan Martin would've chased him down, like when he went after Fuglsang. You can't follow every move unless you're head and shoulders above the rest.

In any case he doesn't need to be much stronger than the others. If he can hurt Ala we"ll get a really fun race for the overall on Sunday on a route that suits all of the current podium places quite well.I don't see anyone else in with a shout unless they're stronger than they've shown so far. Maybe if Zakarin goes with Porte from deep or something else crazy happens.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

Tomorrow stage will eb different ....Heano will not be so imperious nor SKY so strong

Night and day

hm, who's gonna to completely overtake initiative from your perspective?

I am not saying Henao won't be there abouts but not the winner

The climb tomorrow will suit Porte, Contador & Zakrin more imo
Really suits Dan Martin but he may have to sheperd Allaphillipe

 

[Felice Gimondi]

Assessments of Contador based on these sorts of climbs are most likely premature. Although he's been more competitive than today on these steep power climbs before, he's never been really good at it.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Assessments of Contador based on these sorts of climbs are most likely premature. Although he's been more competitive than today on these steep power climbs before, he's never been really good at it.

Yep, and usually riders lose some of their explosiveness as they get older. I say we wait until tomorrow to see what his shape is like, and if his performance is disappointing tomorrow, at least give him a chance to redeem himself at Pais Vasco, he might have suffered a slight illness or something like that.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Contador looks old

Yup, Froome is going to beat the stink out of him.

Of course you had to draw Froome into it

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re:

When did Contador ever carve up Murs?

Uhm.. all the time? Maybe not so much in classics but in basically every tour he rode he always did well on steep walls. Even the ultra-steep ridicolous Pais Vasco ones.
Contador used to dig these things. The fact that he doesn't now, means he must be getting old..

Appearently only Valverde gets better with age (and Horner).

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

Contador looks old

Oleg said it last year.

Bring on Huynao.

I'd say he is doing great for a 34-year old, 10 years after winning his first Grand Tour.
He's far from a "limping duck" which must bother Oleg greatly. And Trek probably pay him half of what Oleg spent on him yearly!

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

When did Contador ever carve up Murs?

Uhm.. all the time? Maybe not so much in classics but in basically every tour he rode he always did well on steep walls. Even the ultra-steep ridicolous Pais Vasco ones.
Contador used to dig these things. The fact that he doesn't now, means he must be getting old..

Appearently only Valverde gets better with age (and Horner).

Yes, when he was in super shape he always did well on these finishes. He wasn't too bad today either, finishing with most of the favorites. He's always done better on longer climbs, he's never been very explosive and as we know explosiveness declines with age. Doesn't matter if he can blow everyone off his wheel on the longer climbs.

 

[yaco]

Gotta congratulate Orica - They have been aggressive far from the finish of mountainous stages in the last 2 years - They liven up races.

 

[DNP-Old]

Vamos Checho! I really feel he could pull this off tomorrow.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

Henao is the favourite from here.

Lol at Dan Martin hollering and waving at Alaphillipe to get his finger out. Unfortunately he's likely to be in baby sitting mode until after Henao buries Alaphillipe entirely. It's still possible that Ala shows improvement in the mountains, but it's not looking hugely likely.

Smart move by Yates.

 

[carton]

Re: Re:

he's never been very explosive

Really, Contador? I mean, not having the best sprint or being a killer on muritos is one thing, but few riders have ever been as adept at cambios de ritmo (rhythm changes) as Alberto Contador. He even said as much recently when talking about his chances at the Tour. I consider him almost the very definition of an explosive stage racer.

 

[Mr.White]

Re:

I love Henao, but he keeps missing the winning moves. He shouldn't have let Yates go (or should have chased earlier). This stage was tailored made for him.

He did everything he could. His man chased Yates but couldn't bring him back. He could've respond himself, but Alaphilippe and others would follow, he would lost Nieve and someone else would attack and sneak away just like Yates did. On top of that he would have been more tired on the final Mur, and maybe he wouldn't be able to rode away from Alaphilippe. So I think he rode good, the main goal was to distance Alaphilippe and gain some time, and he did just that. He made a *** in his armour, and tomorrow he might crack him big time