Tour de France 2017 Stage 17: La Mure > Serre-Chevalier 183k

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

It's quite a weak Tour in terms of calibre. Probably weakest since 2008? Or 2012 actually, outside of the top three

It's not weak, this is modern cycling, get used to it.

It is weak, Froome isn't what he was and Quintana has gone; Contador is too old, Nibali is going down and the new generation haven't their stride yet at all.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re: Re:

I dont think Bardet will be on the podium in Paris

On which basis?

Dropped by a handful of seconds tomorrow, loosing a lot more in the ITT? It's a possibility, no?

I don't see Aru improving, and Landa is on duties (and not that marvelous).

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Bardet - vive La France - 4theWin now!

 

[cipurian]

Re: Tour de France 2017 Stage 17: La Mure > Serre-Chevalier

I wonder how would Kwiatko do being in another team. He is so amazing this tour.

Froome, Landa, Thomas, Kiatkowski? Sky should of just duked it out between themselves.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

Bardet has won a stage
Aru has won a stage
But Froome has not won any but he is going to win the GC. Very clear Objective from the start

Obviously it wasn't planned that way. To lose the yellow jersey to Aru on an uphill finish and then not have more of a gap than he has at the moment. Hard to believe he hasn't won a race all year.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Re:

Stage

Justice is served. Look who just missed out on their cherished EIGHTH place behind a certain someone

There is a God

 

[TomLPC]

Re: Re:

It's quite a weak Tour in terms of calibre. Probably weakest since 2008? Or 2012 actually, outside of the top three

It's not weak, this is modern cycling, get used to it.

It is weak, Froome isn't what he was and Quintana has gone; Contador is too old, Nibali is going down and the new generation haven't their stride yet at all.

Dumoulin seemed pretty strong at the giro to be fair

 

[masking_agent]

Re:

So tomorrow Aru has to attack, it's now or never and the profile suits better to him...

But I have a strange feeling about Uran's shape, he can have something left in the tank for tomorrow.

it won't be anything but another snorefest until the last 2-3 kilometres.. I'd be really surprised if an Uran attack mounted to anything ? He had chances in the giro in years past and couldn't pull it off.. let's see

 

[loge1884]

Re:

What a disastrous race this is. Kittel, Valverde, Sagan, Demare, Majka, Gilbert, Cavendish, Izagirre, Porte, Gesink, Pinot and Thomas all crashing out or DQs. Contador, Quintana and Chaves all physically in pieces.

So we're left with a bunch of crap sprinters and a load of 2nd tier GC riders who seem content to battle amongst themselves for 2nd place. All of this taking place on a terrible route.

This is right down there with the 2012 edition.

I guess you excepted Froome from your load of 2nd tier GC riders .... at least Fabio Aru has won a GT, so perhaps not 2nd tier ... also it's not Bardets or Jaggers fault, that Contador and especially Quintana (who both are clearly 1st tier, at least historically) can't live up to expectations ...
André Greipel might not be in his heydays anymore, but he is certainly not a crap sprinter

 

[huangho]

Re:

Bardet has won a stage
Aru has won a stage
But Froome has not won any but he is going to win the GC. Very clear Objective from the start

Uran has won also...

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

It's quite a weak Tour in terms of calibre. Probably weakest since 2008? Or 2012 actually, outside of the top three

It's not weak, this is modern cycling, get used to it.

It is weak, Froome isn't what he was and Quintana has gone; Contador is too old, Nibali is going down and the new generation haven't their stride yet at all.

Dumoulin seemed pretty strong at the giro to be fair

I sort of meant the new generation at the Tour, but the inclusion of Nibali was a bit off granted. Landa is probably the most talented of the new generation (other than Tom and Quintana) but is held back by his team and has also just done the Giro. So all this has led to a Tour so weak that strongest guy is a domestique (Kwiat), and Sky in mountain stages have 1/4 of the riders towards the end of stages.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

What a disastrous race this is. Kittel, Valverde, Sagan, Demare, Majka, Gilbert, Cavendish, Izagirre, Porte, Gesink, Pinot and Thomas all crashing out or DQs. Contador, Quintana and Chaves all physically in pieces.

So we're left with a bunch of crap sprinters and a load of 2nd tier GC riders who seem content to battle amongst themselves for 2nd place. All of this taking place on a terrible route.

This is right down there with the 2012 edition.

I guess you excepted Froome from your load of 2nd tier GC riders .... at least Fabio Aru has won a GT, so perhaps not 2nd tier ... also it's not Bardets or Jaggers fault, that Contador and especially Quintana (who both are clearly 1st tier, at least historically) can't live up to expectations ...
André Greipel might not be in his heydays anymore, but he is certainly not a crap sprinter

if Greipel can't win a stage now he will be very disappointed.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

What a disastrous race this is. Kittel, Valverde, Sagan, Demare, Majka, Gilbert, Cavendish, Izagirre, Porte, Gesink, Pinot and Thomas all crashing out or DQs. Contador, Quintana and Chaves all physically in pieces.

So we're left with a bunch of crap sprinters and a load of 2nd tier GC riders who seem content to battle amongst themselves for 2nd place. All of this taking place on a terrible route.

This is right down there with the 2012 edition.

I guess you excepted Froome from your load of 2nd tier GC riders .... at least Fabio Aru has won a GT, so perhaps not 2nd tier ... also it's not Bardets or Jaggers fault, that Contador and especially Quintana (who both are clearly 1st tier, at least historically) can't live up to expectations ...
André Greipel might not be in his heydays anymore, but he is certainly not a crap sprinter

if Greipel can't win a stage now he will be very disappointed.

Based on the Tour so far you'd have to back EBH and Degenkolb to win ahead of Greipel.

Which says it all about how far Greipel has fallen this season.

 

[woodburn]

Re:

It's quite a weak Tour in terms of calibre. Probably weakest since 2008? Or 2012 actually, outside of the top three

2012 and also 2014 where the top favorites crashed out. Coincidentally, those are the two years that Tejay finished fifth overall.

 

[loge1884]

Re: Re:

What a disastrous race this is. Kittel, Valverde, Sagan, Demare, Majka, Gilbert, Cavendish, Izagirre, Porte, Gesink, Pinot and Thomas all crashing out or DQs. Contador, Quintana and Chaves all physically in pieces.

So we're left with a bunch of crap sprinters and a load of 2nd tier GC riders who seem content to battle amongst themselves for 2nd place. All of this taking place on a terrible route.

This is right down there with the 2012 edition.

I guess you excepted Froome from your load of 2nd tier GC riders .... at least Fabio Aru has won a GT, so perhaps not 2nd tier ... also it's not Bardets or Jaggers fault, that Contador and especially Quintana (who both are clearly 1st tier, at least historically) can't live up to expectations ...
André Greipel might not be in his heydays anymore, but he is certainly not a crap sprinter

if Greipel can't win a stage now he will be very disappointed.

is there anyone who could beat him on the Champs?

(apart Vinokourov Mk II of course)

 

[Brullnux]

Re: Re:

It's quite a weak Tour in terms of calibre. Probably weakest since 2008? Or 2012 actually, outside of the top three

2012 and also 2014 where the top favorites crashed out. Coincidentally, those are the two years that Tejay finished fifth overall.

Yeah 2014 is a good contender. Although at least in 2012 and 2014 the top rider was actually going well. This time it seems much less so.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Suspect no breakaway win hereafter as all the other sprinters are desperate for a win

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Tour de France 2017 Stage 17: La Mure > Serre-Chevalier

One really has to wonder how strong this years Froome is compared with 2015 Quintana, 2014 Nibali, 2014 Contador or also 2013-2015 Froome. Yeah Froome seems to be completely in control but I have the feeling Froome is actually heavily declining but still wins because the current gc rider generation is just really not strong. We had a few years in which a few riders (basically the big 4) were clearly stronger than everyone else but now that they are past their prime, or in horrible shape (I refuse to believe that Quintana's prime was when he was 25) there is nobody left who can replace them so the one who has declined the least is still strong enough to win the tour.

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

Being away from Gerrans makes wonders.

I was pretty obvious at the time, and it's even more glaring now, that Orica backed the wrong horse in that little dispute.

What ! Matthews got an offer too good to refuse and one which Orica couldn't match - Bear in mind I posted around April last year that Matthews was leaving, a month before it was publically announced - Matthews was hardly left out in the cold - Was one of Orica's two leaders at the 2016 TDF and was an important part of the bronze medal TT squad at the Olympics.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

A conceit by Contador today ....Molloma could have won that stage ...but I guess we have to have a 'great' show

yeah, I think he'll be quite annoyed. But it was good to see him work so hard for Contador, I didn't expect it.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Tour de France 2017 Stage 17: La Mure > Serre-Chevalier

One really has to wonder how strong this years Froome is compared with 2015 Quintana, 2014 Nibali, 2014 Contador or also 2013-2015 Froome. Yeah Froome seems to be completely in control but I have the feeling Froome is actually heavily declining but still wins because the current gc rider generation is just really not strong. We had a few years in which a few riders (basically the big 4) were clearly stronger than everyone else but now that they are past their prime, or in horrible shape (I refuse to believe that Quintana's prime was when he was 25) there is nobody left who can replace them so the one who has declined the least is still strong enough to win the tour.

Yay.

A weak era debate.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

What a disastrous race this is. Kittel, Valverde, Sagan, Demare, Majka, Gilbert, Cavendish, Izagirre, Porte, Gesink, Pinot and Thomas all crashing out or DQs. Contador, Quintana and Chaves all physically in pieces.

So we're left with a bunch of crap sprinters and a load of 2nd tier GC riders who seem content to battle amongst themselves for 2nd place. All of this taking place on a terrible route.

This is right down there with the 2012 edition.

Hmm. I think this a a little bit, tiny bit better than 2009, 2012 and 2016. Just due to the fact its still relatively close, but its not good, its not good at all.

 

[cipurian]

Re: Re:

What a disastrous race this is. Kittel, Valverde, Sagan, Demare, Majka, Gilbert, Cavendish, Izagirre, Porte, Gesink, Pinot and Thomas all crashing out or DQs. Contador, Quintana and Chaves all physically in pieces.

So we're left with a bunch of crap sprinters and a load of 2nd tier GC riders who seem content to battle amongst themselves for 2nd place. All of this taking place on a terrible route.

This is right down there with the 2012 edition.

I guess you excepted Froome from your load of 2nd tier GC riders .... at least Fabio Aru has won a GT, so perhaps not 2nd tier ... also it's not Bardets or Jaggers fault, that Contador and especially Quintana (who both are clearly 1st tier, at least historically) can't live up to expectations ...
André Greipel might not be in his heydays anymore, but he is certainly not a crap sprinter

if Greipel can't win a stage now he will be very disappointed.

The way this tour is going I wouldn't be surprised to see him crash out.

 

[yaco]

What I've learnt from this tour is no rider will attempt GC at the Giro and TDF in the foreseeable future.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

What a disastrous race this is. Kittel, Valverde, Sagan, Demare, Majka, Gilbert, Cavendish, Izagirre, Porte, Gesink, Pinot and Thomas all crashing out or DQs. Contador, Quintana and Chaves all physically in pieces.

So we're left with a bunch of crap sprinters and a load of 2nd tier GC riders who seem content to battle amongst themselves for 2nd place. All of this taking place on a terrible route.

This is right down there with the 2012 edition.

As far as the GC riders go Porte was probably the only one in that group that might still be competitive and he has never podiumed but was looking as good as anyone else on the climbs. I think the change over to the next generation of GC riders is already happening. Froome possibly only has two more good years. Nibali, Contador are past their best as well as Valverde who can still do well in the classics and one week races. Quintana will be ruing the fact that he chose to do the Giro this year as up until now he may not have had a better opportunity to beat Froome. His TT has improved and the TTs were short and there were enough climbs to make a difference for him.