So what do Evans and Nibs have to do to win this?

[Alex76]

Or can they not, is this 2012 edition all wrapped up after the 1st TT?

I guess Thursday's stage just took on a 'massive' importance....

 

[Fetisoff]

Hire a good swimming coach for the rest day

 

[Marcus135]

All it takes is one bad day from ANYONE and the tour is over for them.

 

[maxmartin]

nothing game over

 

[Gloin22]

They have to beat him uphill. Simply

The advantage on descents will be minimal and not enough.

 

[Marco Pantani]

Nothing different from what they knew months ago.

 

[marioni]

To beat both Wiggo and Froome? They need to pray for miracle now.

 

[PosterBill]

They have to pound him in the mnts if possible, wiggins has had some meltdowns in the past...

 

[maxmartin]

in the wet mountain if weather helps, make downhill dangerous, but they have to take huge risk too. Uphill no way they can beat SKY robots right now.

 

[rghysens]

They have to pound him in the mnts if possible, wiggins has had some meltdowns in the past...

In the past Wiggins wasn't the brilliant tt'er he is now either (how many long tt's in GT's or WC has he won?), and he totally lacked explosiveness (he performed very well on two quite short and steep climbs this tour).
Let's face it: this tour is a Wiggins-Froome 1-2. And I don't like the way they did it.

 

[The Joker]

Pray.

And then hope the Pope answers their prayers - by falling over going uphill on the next stage and, whilst miraculously being unhurt himself, causing Wiggo and Froome to crash heavily and both suffer matching broken collarbones...

 

[Dr.Sahl]

hire new medical staff and trainers..

 

[cineteq]

To beat both Wiggo and Froome? They need to pray for miracle now.

Froome won't podium. Somehow, someway Froome will lose time. Or perhaps, Wiggo we'll have a providential flat in some MTF, and Froome will have to give him his wheel. They must not makes the same mistakes from 2011 Vuelta.

 

[Clemson Cycling]

Hope that Froome get irritated about dragging Wiggins up mountains and blows him to bits one day takes Yellow and then pulls a Vuelta 2.0

 

[MonteZoncolan]

I think they'd need to form an alliance in the alps first and see how that works. it maybe that they can pinch some time as i think there are a couple more downhill finishes that are suitable for a break over the last crest. Problem being the final TT. might be back to square one. I'd like to see Evans/Nibali counter punching up the mountains as I think they can wear those Brits out.

 

[icefire]

Call the Gendarmerie

 

[auscyclefan94]

Or can they not, is this 2012 edition all wrapped up after the 1st TT?

I guess Thursday's stage just took on a 'massive' importance....

Yes it is over imo but Evans will not give up. I will have to stay loyal all the way to Paris.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

I think Evans needs a little more poise through the next two weeks. Mercilessly attacking for a few seconds (if it worked) on a number of occasions will only strain his own psyche. He has the strength to get away and stay away (With nibali) if he calms down and puts it into two or three decisive moves between here and Paris.

On the other hand, I hope the top four look at each other while the 5-15 go crazy to bring back time, making it closer by the finish.

Either way, it will have to be UK vs. the world for two weeks.

 

[hfer07]

The only way Evans, Nibbs or the Pope can ever win this tour is IF Wiggo & Froome both crash & get injured.

We are simply witnessing 99 all over again

 

[roundabout]

Pray that they OD on the cocktail of awesomeness.

 

[Thee_chisa]

long attacks to isolate wiggins. like schleck tried last year.

 

[auscyclefan94]

The only way Evans, Nibbs or the Pope can ever win this tour is IF Wiggo & Froome both crash & get injured.

We are simply witnessing 99 all over again

I guess Zuelle could be a guy like Schleck or VDB or someone else who has crashed.

 

[Armanius]

Evans and Ninabli have to pray that Wiggins has a horrible day like Evans had back in 2010 after putting on the yellow. Bad day for Wiggins is not enough, it has to be a horrible day. On the other hand, maybe Wiggins will be tired by the third week, and he won't be able to crush the opposition in the last ITT.

BTW, where did Froome come from? I only started watching pro cycling in 2009, and didn't hear much about him until the Vuelta last year. The way he's riding, it sure seems like he should be leading another team as a GC contender instead of pulling Wiggins.

 

[H2OUUP2]

This is why I can't stand having over 100km of ITT's in a race. And yes, with the prologue it's over 100km. It's over after the first bloody week. 35-40km of ITT's in one race is good enough to show us that aspect of cycling. Why they need over 100km of it is just crazy!

Anyway, there's my rant. It's Wiggins to lose now, not Evans or Nibalis to win. For a competitive finish, all we can hope for is Wiggins cracks, crashes, or just plain has a bad last ITT. If he doesn't do any of those, it's done.

I agree with other people that Evans and Nibali better start forming an alliance here. I also think VDB is going to come out hard as well. It would be good to align with him.

 

[perico]

Or can they not, is this 2012 edition all wrapped up after the 1st TT?

I guess Thursday's stage just took on a 'massive' importance....

1. Tacks on the road.
2. Slip some Ex-Lax into Wiggy's water bottle
3. Believe in miracles
4. Photoshop Brad and the head of a podium girl onto a compromising picture and threaten to expose them to the world, Ross Perot style.
5. Meet with a spirtual medium with the hopes of resurrecting Pantani so that he could blow the field wide open in the last mountain stages.

Other than those, I am afraid that there isn't much hope, unless a pure climbing talent steps out of the shadows and blows the race to pieces.

Of course, anybody like that has probably already lost 20 minutes because of the crashes, or are just happy to be there like Frankie Schleck.