The Aviva Tour of Britain 2015 2.HC 6/9/15-13/9/15

[DBotero]

Re:

Fenn, Poels, Viviani, Kennaugh, Stannard & Swift for Sky. Guess would be Viviani for the sprints and Kennaugh for tghe GC.

Everybody riding for Swift more likely.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re: Re:

Fenn, Poels, Viviani, Kennaugh, Stannard & Swift for Sky. Guess would be Viviani for the sprints and Kennaugh for tghe GC.

Everybody riding for Swift more likely.

Wouldn't rule Poels out either. He could do something on Hartside.

 

[Bushman]

Re:

Fenn, Poels, Viviani, Kennaugh, Stannard & Swift for Sky. Guess would be Viviani for the sprints and Kennaugh for tghe GC.

Poels should be the better pick for gc, but they will probably stick with Krnnaugh

 

[Pricey_sky]

Quite impressed with the start list so far with some teams still to confirm.

Battle for the GC will be interesting with quite a few names in contention and we have Greipel, Cav and Viviani for the sprints.

 

[TMP402]

Re:

Quite impressed with the start list so far with some teams still to confirm.

Battle for the GC will be interesting with quite a few names in contention and we have Greipel, Cav and Viviani for the sprints.

I bet those three end up with one stage win between them, and I bet the overall winner is a 6th tier rider. I'll go for Roger Kluge, Martin Mortensen, Antwan Tolhoek or Aaron Gate.

 

[Campervan man]

Re: Re:

Damn, somewhat disappointing route this year, with the Peak District stage having all the climbs so far from the finish. Small team size should compensate but with all the best stages in the first half of the race it could be a less interesting edition after a couple of pretty good ones. The East Anglian stage has the possibility for the wind to play a part, as they'll be travelling in a direction side on to the usual prevailing wind in the area, but the weather hasn't played ball when they've been in the area in the past (crashes have, though). The recent short-to-mid-length MTFs have been decent in the ToB, will be interesting to see what a slightly longer but more consistent one will mean for who contends.

The Peak District stage is a massive let down as there are lots of nice steep hills around. But to finish in Nottingham leads to a flat finish they should try to finish in a smaller town but then I guess money talks. Anyone able to provide a detailed map for the PD stage as I'm going to ride over to watch it.

http://www.strava.com/routes/1587053

Can't get away from work early enough to get up to the hills so will head for Carsington Water. Natural ampitheatre with views of the riders for about half a mile.

Where are you riding from?

Agree about the stage, very disappointing. They're going DOWN Winnats! And Beeley Moor near the end, zzzz. Nearly every other climb up that dale has 20%+ sections, and they choose the unchanging 7-8 percenter.

I know there are loads of decent hills in the Peak District NW of Ashbourne is beautiful with some punishing hills, oh well. Carsington is part of my local ride then I head over to Alton towers and back. I live in Derby so will have a good look at the profile before I make my mind up.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Strong Movistar line up that includes Gorka Izagirre, Intxausti and Anton while Hofland lines up for Jumbo.

 

[ciranda]

Re: Re:

Quite impressed with the start list so far with some teams still to confirm.

Battle for the GC will be interesting with quite a few names in contention and we have Greipel, Cav and Viviani for the sprints.

I bet those three end up with one stage win between them, and I bet the overall winner is a 6th tier rider. I'll go for Roger Kluge, Martin Mortensen, Antwan Tolhoek or Aaron Gate.

Harsh on Mortensen who is at least a 5th or 4th tier cyclist.

Question: how could that guy Tolhoek ever get a stagiarie deal with a good team like Tinkoff? The same goes for others like for instance Boivenhuis with Trek and the ones Giant have. Do these deals happen because specific agents are well connected and can convince teams to take even their least talented riders?

 

[Pricey_sky]

Starlist now confirmed, pretty decent line-up again this year. I have no idea who will win GC. it should come down to who is strongest on Hartside, but with 6 man teams a rider could get lucky in a break and take the time he needs.

 

[TMP402]

Intxausti and Izagirre should be good shouts, especially since the lack of an ITT means Dowsett can't be the leader.

 

[HarryTheHedgehog]

Get hype -

Yesterday spotted on M56 going to Wales a MTN Qhubeka liveried bus followed by a Vittoria liveried coach and numerous Vittoria liveried cars.

I gave them a wave but they ignored me - tossers

 

[fungusbear]

Is tomorrow a day for the pure sprinters? Or for a rider like Ben Swift?

 

[TMP402]

Re:

Is tomorrow a day for the pure sprinters? Or for a rider like Ben Swift?

The profiles make it hard to tell but the fact the final climb is 23km from the finish means more Greipel/Cavendish territory. Of course it also depends how it's raced, but 6 man teams can't make as much difference.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Cav predicts plenty of successes for breakaways at this race:

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/cycling-weekly/mark-cavendish-predicts-breakaway-successes-at-the-tour-of-britain-190111

While Kennaugh says he will wait and see if he has the legs to go for GC, also confirms he won't ride the Worlds as his partner is due to give birth:

http://po.st/KennaughToB

 

[Brullnux]

Re:

Shame about the route, last year's was better
Greipel to beat Cab in all but 1 sprint. Pirrazi to win the overall after getting into a break on the peak district stage.

Ah, so Bardiani aren't part of this race

Switch Pirrazi for Gorka Izagirre and that is my prediction.

 

[wirral]

I notice Etixx only show a team of 5 on their website. (Gaviria is missing) Are they only sending 5 riders?

 

[LosBrolin]

It's just a bug on their website.

Cavendish added: “We’ve got a strong team here. Obviously I’d sprint normally, but Fernando is here. He beat me twice at the beginning of the year. He’s pretty’s handy, he’s going well, and he can climb good as well, so maybe we’ll go for him for a couple of days.”

 

[manafana]

Cavendish looking very chav like there. Open race this Skys to win

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Here is a stream for those who like me couldn't get the usual ones to work
http://www.myiplayer.com/home.php
Click on itv at the bottom.

 

[BigMac]

Thanks ToS.

 

[BigMac]

Crazy twisty narrow roads. Am loving it already. Can't wait for the peloton to get there.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Why is Wiggins wearing an Estonian national champ's jersey?

And has anyone ever pronounced Conor Dunne's name as 'Dooon' before?

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Re:

Why is Wiggins wearing an Estonian national champ's jersey?

 

[jsem94]

I don't know why, but Wiggins always looks fat AF when riding like that. Even when he raced and won the Tour he looked damn near pregnant.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

Why is Wiggins wearing an Estonian national champ's jersey?

And has anyone ever pronounced Conor Dunne's name as 'Dooon' before?

It's a mark of respect to Tom Simpson.