Tour de France 2017 Stage 14 : Blagnac > Rodez 181.5 km

[Gloin22]

Pretty important I think for Froome to get yellow here, yellow should reinforce leading the race and Landa should go back to teammate role, or at least more so than last few stages :lol:

 

[Frankschleck]

i think edvald could have come close, had he not started in a bad posistion

 

[Gigs_98]

Yay so sky can now finally control the race again

 

[rick james]

Aru was already isolated far from the finish. He had to do everything alone. So he had no chance here.

I think he was at the back of the peloton with about 5k to go, poor from him

 

[Pharazon]

Re:

i think edvald could have come close, had he not started in a bad posistion

story of his career

 

[GuyIncognito]

For what it's worth, on french TV Jalabert was saying well before the finish that Aru's having a bad day

 

[Sestriere]

You don't win the Tour when you lose 25 seconds on a day like this. Aru looked a bit like on the Giro stage Gilbert won in 2015, where he decided to drop some 10 seconds.

 

[France_En_Marche]

Matthews, easy win - no hands.

Over the top of GVA like Sagan couldn't do in 2015 on the same finish.

 

[Bye Bye Bicycle]

Re:

Sunweb having quite the Grand Tour season.

This. They are really punching above their weight. Great, great year for the team.

 

[Irondan]

Re: Re:

A guy who self titles "Bling", arrogance?
What a shock

Ya, maybe it's the stupid nickname....

Well, I remember a common dislike of Ricco even before he started winning was that he had given himself a nickname which people believed shows arrogance. Not even going into what the nickname is.

:lol:
Ricco
:lol:

Just saying, Matthews giving himself a nickname and insisting on it may be rubbing people the same way as it did when Ricco did it.

Yeah, I get it.

I just can't stop laughing anytime I think about Ricco, it's even funnier thinking about his nickname.

Makes Matthews look palatable.... but not really.

 

[Dukerojo]

Re:

Uran another step closer to the podium!

Really smart by him to follow Froome

 

[jsem94]

I can't believe Aru gave away 25 seconds on a stage like this. Those seconds will be so hard to come by from here on in.

 

[Inquitus]

Aru was already isolated far from the finish. He had to do everything alone. So he had no chance here.

Dan Martin had no help from his Quickstep team in todays final and he didn't drop any time, I think Aru has to take a lot of blame for this, yes having no team to help isn't great, but he could have made a better first of things a la Dan Martin.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re: Re:

Sunweb having quite the Grand Tour season.

This. They are really punching above their weight. Great, great year for the team.

They aren't punching above their weight. They are just executing their long term plan.

Began as the laughing stock in the TDF with Van Hummel. Then they came with Kittel and Degenkolb in GT stage wins. Then Degenkolb with classic wins (MSR, PR), then Dumoulin and Barguil in time trials, climbs and stage races. And now in GT's with those guys. Matthews being the replacement of Degenkolb obviously.
They've become better each season. I rate them just below Sky/Quick Step/Movistar/BMC now (or the 'big budget' teams)

 

[Irondan]

Re: Re:

Matthews oozes arrogance...

I don't know why I dislike this guy so much, but I do.

A guy who self titles "Bling", arrogance?
What a shock

The nickname was invented by someone else...

https://cyclingtips.com/2012/02/a-chat-with-michael-matthews/

Which he perpetuated, obviously.

Doesn't matter that someone else gave it to him, he ran with it.

 

[jsem94]

Froome gained time on most his rivals today.

Froome +1
Martin +1
Uran +1

Landa +15

Quintana +22
Contador +22

Aru +25

 

[silvergrenade]

Aru was already isolated far from the finish. He had to do everything alone. So he had no chance here.

Do you really believe an isloated Froome/Contador would lose 25 secs on such a finish?
Any GC rider with enough experience would've known that.
He didn't have the legs today

 

[42x16ss]

Re: Re:

Matthews oozes arrogance...

I don't know why I dislike this guy so much, but I do.

A guy who self titles "Bling", arrogance?
What a shock

The nickname was invented by someone else...

https://cyclingtips.com/2012/02/a-chat-with-michael-matthews/

Which he perpetuated, obviously.

Doesn't matter that someone else gave it to him, he ran with it.

Actually, his team at the 2010 L'Avenir ran with the nickname to the point where Matthews just gave up and went with it. He's very indifferent to it, but it has well and truly stuck.

 

[Moviefan1203]

Froome being Froome. Knew to be in the front in a finish like this.

 

[Irondan]

Aru was already isolated far from the finish. He had to do everything alone. So he had no chance here.

Do you really believe an isloated Froome/Contador would lose 25 secs on such a finish?
Any GC rider with enough experience would've known that.
He didn't have the legs today

Yeah, Aru really screwed the pooch on today's stage. It may have cost him a shot at winning the Tour.

 

[deValtos]

Aru was already isolated far from the finish. He had to do everything alone. So he had no chance here.

Do you really believe an isloated Froome/Contador would lose 25 secs on such a finish?
Any GC rider with enough experience would've known that.
He didn't have the legs today

To be fair I did spot a split in the group at about 1.8km to go and Aru was in the 2nd group.

 

[Robert5091]

No team and big problems for Aru - Uran there again with Dan Martin.

Sky to try to control tomorrow's lumpy stage - but another long friggin descent to the finish.

 

[Rollthedice]

I don't think it was positioning with Aru rather no legs.

 

[Sestriere]

Astana should send Aru to some classics!

 

[roundabout]

Aru was already isolated far from the finish. He had to do everything alone. So he had no chance here.

Do you really believe an isloated Froome/Contador would lose 25 secs on such a finish?
Any GC rider with enough experience would've known that.
He didn't have the legs today

An isolated Contador lost just 4 seconds less today