Tour de France 2015 stage 20: Modane - Alpe d'Huez

[SergeDeM]

Re: Re:

Cool stage in the end. Froome got saved today by the strength of his team. Froome was probably the best rider, but he definitely had the best team.
Quintana will be back, and if he gets a Tour without PSM level temperatures, I'd say he's more likely to win one than not.

This tour was made for him though.

Not sure, Neeltje Jans + Cobbles were hardly ideal for him, and he ended up losing over a minute in those combined. An isolated 30k ITT would probably have similar results.

This.

He should expect to be 2-3 minutes behind every time the Tour hits the mountains in order to have a real shot at the win. Unless there are more than 70KM ITT I do think he'll manage.

 

[samhocking]

Re: Re:

Amazing it's taken 40 years for the guy who came first to also win the mountains jersey.

Also took completely overhauling the KOM points system to ensure it happened

What's changed this year? I know the green jersey has, but last time i remember mountain classification changing was in early 2000's and before that maybe 90's?

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

Regarding Quintana's superiority over Froome on the last couple of days remember that Froome is the one in yellow with all the pressure and the stress. Quintana under much less pressure, makes life much easier. Put Quintana in yellow with everything to lose going into the last mountain and see if he goes as well!

Contador usually excels when in the leader's jersey. You cannot exclude that Quintana will react that way too. The explanation for Quintana's superiority in the Alps lies not in the pressure he's receiving, but in the fact that he's recovering better than Froome, I believe.

 

[Squirbos_19]

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Anyone got info on where Sammy sanchez finished?

26th 5:01 down on Pinot

 

[Kwibus]

Froome was the strongest because he rode the TdF 1 minute and 9 seconds faster then Quintana.

 

[GuyIncognito]

Re: Re:

Amazing it's taken 40 years for the guy who came first to also win the mountains jersey.

Also took completely overhauling the KOM points system to ensure it happened

What's changed this year? I know the green jersey has, but last time i remember mountain classification changing was in early 2000's and before that maybe 90's?

For 2013 the classification was changed to double the points of the final climb. That's why Quintana won.

 

[Walkman]

Re: Re:

Cool stage in the end. Froome got saved today by the strength of his team. Froome was probably the best rider, but he definitely had the best team.
Quintana will be back, and if he gets a Tour without PSM level temperatures, I'd say he's more likely to win one than not.

This tour was made for him though.

Yes and no. Many mountain stages, but no real long with lots of at high altitude mountains. Yesterday was decent, but short and it really lacked the real high mountains and tbh all mountain stages were really poor. So yes there were many, but no real good ones.

Also the first 8 stages certainly didn't suit Quintana. Allthough many thought they didn't suit Froome as well they were proven wrong by Froome. Quintana was lucky not to lose time on the cobbles.

In the end if if Quintana didn't lose the time lost in the stage to Neeltje Jans(echelons) he would've won the TdF. So reality is that Quintana did win it in the mountains, but lost it on the flat.
A long flat ITT would've probably lost him more time, allthough this years Froomes TT wasn't that great.

Well, in all fairness, he was strong enough to handle it. That's about it.

 

[SergeDeM]

Re:

Froome was the strongest because he rode the TdF 1 minute and 9 seconds faster then Quintana.

We all agree Contador wasn't the strongest at the 2012 Vuelta and yet he still won it.
Strength is never the only factor at play.

 

[BullsFan22]

Shame for Nibali. Was really hoping to see a repeat of yesterdays stage. He and Quintana would have made one heck of a partnership. I'm just glad he didn't give up after the troubles of week 1. He could have lost all impetus and disappeared from the race and just spun his wheels. He didn't. He got better as the days wore on, got a stage win and a commendable 4th place overall. I think without the mechanical, he would have gotten 3rd. It's funny, I remember Vande Velde and Roll saying that Nibali might abandon the tour after a few stages due to his standing and his apparent lack of effort/interest. Glad he proved them wrong.

 

[Billie]

The post-charteau era in the KoM has worked.

All years but Voeckler it was one of the three strongest climbers that won the KoM

 

[yespatterns]

Another sad day for cycling. Good on Nairo for trying, and great ride by Pinot!

 

[Walkman]

He looks exhausted. Almost sick actually.

 

[sky2500]

chris froome faded because he was sick.

 

[Richeypen]

Re:

The post-charteau era in the KoM has worked.

All years but Voeckler it was one of the three strongest climbers that won the KoM

What happens tomorrow. Seems a bit harsh to let the 2nd placed rider wear it into Paris and then take it away1

 

[deValtos]

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Another sad day for cycling. Good on Nairo for trying, and great ride by Pinot!

A great day of racing is a sad day for cycling ?

The exact opposite no ?

 

[greenedge]

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Chris froome was sick and still your 2015 tour de france champion he is awesome./

Was he

Well, his nose seemed blocked to me in a couple of his interviews in the last couple of days, which could make sense given a few sky riders have been ill recently during the tour (Kennaugh, Stannard, LRP).

Oh ok, thanks for saying. He always seems to cough at the end of each stage for a long time though, so maybe it's not an indicator.

Just pondering about how much the Galibier's altitude (if it was raced today) would have impacted the race- Quintana's attack on Fer most likely would have had more of an impact with the extra 600M of height.

 

[SergeDeM]

Re: Re:

The post-charteau era in the KoM has worked.

All years but Voeckler it was one of the three strongest climbers that won the KoM

What happens tomorrow. Seems a bit harsh to let the 2nd placed rider wear it into Paris and then take it away1

Last year Quintana won White and KOM. He wore KOM and nobody wore white.

 

[Climbing]

Re:

chris froome faded because he was sick.

I highly doubt that, he usually fades third week and Nairo recovers well, so it was to be expected to some extent.
Don-t get feed on team PR.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

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chris froome faded because he was sick.

Don't make me laugh

 

[whittashau]

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chris froome faded because he was sick.

he probably has the lowest body fat percentage in the peloton. It's a miracle if he doesn't get sick. He's lucky it's been so constantly warm

 

[TourOfSardinia]

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chris froome faded because he was sick.

He was sick ?
How do you think I feel?
bleugh....

 

[TMP402]

Re: Re:

Another sad day for cycling. Good on Nairo for trying, and great ride by Pinot!

A great day of racing is a sad day for cycling ?

The exact opposite no ?

It's terrible because:
-Froome crashes all the time. Oh...
-Froome hates cobbles. Oh...
-Froome is a terrible bike handler. Oh...
-Froome can't descend. Oh...

 

[Richeypen]

Re: Re:

The post-charteau era in the KoM has worked.

All years but Voeckler it was one of the three strongest climbers that won the KoM

What happens tomorrow. Seems a bit harsh to let the 2nd placed rider wear it into Paris and then take it away1

Last year Quintana won White and KOM. He wore KOM and nobody wore white.

Ive always ranked Polka above White!

No Polka bike tomoro then. Would have been worn by Bardet who was in 3rd which would seem a bit silly

 

[damian13ster]

Phenomenal stage!

And on top of that Pinot gets a stage win and Froome yellow + Polka-Dot.
Couldn't have been better under those circumstances.

Chapeau to Froome. Held yellow for pretty much entire race, Won a stage, showed that he is great on all terrains, and won the Tour, making history in the process (KOTM). All of that while being spat,, pissed on and booed by fans, having journos, ex-dopers against him........simply amazing.
You seriously must be messed up not to be able to appreciate that.
Best rider won- it is as simple as that. Tour is not for one-trick ponies (well, the route designers tried their best).

 

[Sky'sthelimit]

Re:

Another sad day for cycling. Good on Nairo for trying, and great ride by Pinot!

What a ridiculous statement, it's a sad day. It's not, the ADH stage showed cycling at its best. Where the integrity of the sport for once did not waiver. Where the best rider won overall, Pinot providing the French with a needed win and positive headlines. Strange logic,you have there sir.