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DFA123 said:I think the best way to look at Bardet and Uran is to contrast them with Martin and Aru. The latter two lacked the strength of the former two, but stil consistently attacked when they could, rode aggressively and tried to win the race. They will look back with no regrets, knowing that they did all they could. Bardet and Uran on the other hand, just followed wheels and rode with the primary intention of making sure they didn't blow themselves up.
Ultimately, Bardet and Uran may be racking up more podiums from this Tour. But it's no coincidence that Martin and Aru are the racers with the big wins on their palmares. And will be the ones looking back on their careers with no regrets.
MikeTichondrius said:Suppose Uran somehow manages to take the time off Froome in the ITT - How much of this forum would melt down?
Dekker_Tifosi said:Small time differences, yet easiest Tour for Froome ever.
God that was awful. Thankfully we had Barguil for some awesome climbing skills. Showing the 'contenders' how to do it.
Uran is really the most boring rider of the past 100 years
Easy Tour, easy stage, easy racing situation. First time they finish on the Izoard. When Schleck went full crazy on it it was after the Agnel ffs and with a valley, the Lauteret and Galibier to go.Alexandre B. said:http://www.climbing-records.com/2017/07/barguil-sets-tremendous-record-on-izoard.htmlArredondo said:How bad will Valverde feel atm? He could have won this race. Froome is nowhere near his level of the past years.
It's just that the competition is at a low now. I have never seen such poor rivalry since .... i don't know really![]()
What a low competition!![]()
After stage 9 he became immediately relevant.cipurian said:DFA123 said:Yep, really poor GC standard this year. I think Bardet and Uran will look back at this and really regret not having at least tried to do a longer range attack or some other tactical move. This may well be their one shot at winning the biggest race in the world, and neither had the balls to really go for it.Arredondo said:How bad will Valverde feel atm? He could have won this race. Froome is nowhere near his level of the past years.
It's just that the competition is at a low now. I have never seen such poor rivalry since .... i don't know really![]()
Especially Uran when he had more leeway at the beginning of the race when he wasn't even in discussion for gc.
Oooh he won a sprint. Big deal.This Charming Man said:Dekker_Tifosi said:Small time differences, yet easiest Tour for Froome ever.
God that was awful. Thankfully we had Barguil for some awesome climbing skills. Showing the 'contenders' how to do it.
Uran is really the most boring rider of the past 100 years
Ha ha, what a boring rider Uran is....why do you watch Le Tour? https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2017/jul/09/tour-de-france-2017-stage-nine-live
Kwia is such a good teammate. He pulls until he is absolutely dead. Nieve, by contrast, frequently drops before Kwiatkowski, and yet somehow finishes ten minutes ahead of him on the stage.Brullnux said:You could see how dead Kwiat was when he took off his sunglasses and just threw them away, instead of putting them on his helmet or on his person somewhere.happytramp said:arvc40 said:Absolutely crazy to see kwiat pull off and have to stop. At that intensity nobody is doing anything flashy
There's a chance they play it up for the camera.... just to prove how much they're burying themselves.. If they didn't stop brailsford would probably give out to them for still having energy left.
Bullrun said:GraftPunk said:Alexandre B. said:http://www.climbing-records.com/2017/07/barguil-sets-tremendous-record-on-izoard.htmlArredondo said:How bad will Valverde feel atm? He could have won this race. Froome is nowhere near his level of the past years.
It's just that the competition is at a low now. I have never seen such poor rivalry since .... i don't know really![]()
What a low competition!![]()
Eek!
Isn't this the first time the Izoard is a MtF - even the last climb actually? Highly misleading take. Apples and oranges.
TourOfSardinia said:
Bye Bye Bicycle said:The facts: Bardet DID attack, and was pulled back without problems by Froome.
So my guess is: he just didn't have the legs.
But you have found out something else: he just didn't want to win and he was "too cowardly to take the risks needed to win it". Hard to argue against such a rock-solid analysis...
Frankschleck said:but heartbreaking for atapuma, the mst unlucky cyclist ever :/
And thats the reaseon Kwia is one of the best riders in the world.shalgo said:Kwia is such a good teammate. He pulls until he is absolutely dead. Nieve, by contrast, frequently drops before Kwiatkowski, and yet somehow finishes ten minutes ahead of him on the stage.Brullnux said:You could see how dead Kwiat was when he took off his sunglasses and just threw them away, instead of putting them on his helmet or on his person somewhere.happytramp said:arvc40 said:Absolutely crazy to see kwiat pull off and have to stop. At that intensity nobody is doing anything flashy
There's a chance they play it up for the camera.... just to prove how much they're burying themselves.. If they didn't stop brailsford would probably give out to them for still having energy left.
There was a massive tailwind todayppanther92 said:Brullnux said:Sorry, remind me the last time the Izoard was raced as a MTF on such a flat stage? Obviously it was going to be faster than when it is the first climb on the route of some Alpine odyssey, or as the last climb after the Agnello, or Allos and Vars before a descent into Briancon.Alexandre B. said:http://www.climbing-records.com/2017/07/barguil-sets-tremendous-record-on-izoard.htmlArredondo said:How bad will Valverde feel atm? He could have won this race. Froome is nowhere near his level of the past years.
It's just that the competition is at a low now. I have never seen such poor rivalry since .... i don't know really![]()
What a low competition!![]()
At least 2007 it was the last climb and Ricco was going full gas. So Barguil's time today is really good, as was the Tour level this year. In my opinion at least in the better half of the last 10 Tours.
KyoGrey said:Froome has earned a good portion of hate of many basque (and spanish) fans today
shalgo said:Kwia is such a good teammate. He pulls until he is absolutely dead. Nieve, by contrast, frequently drops before Kwiatkowski, and yet somehow finishes ten minutes ahead of him on the stage.Brullnux said:You could see how dead Kwiat was when he took off his sunglasses and just threw them away, instead of putting them on his helmet or on his person somewhere.happytramp said:arvc40 said:Absolutely crazy to see kwiat pull off and have to stop. At that intensity nobody is doing anything flashy
There's a chance they play it up for the camera.... just to prove how much they're burying themselves.. If they didn't stop brailsford would probably give out to them for still having energy left.
Same thing with Henao. He was barely able to pull at all but rarely lost much time for a domestique.shalgo said:Kwia is such a good teammate. He pulls until he is absolutely dead. Nieve, by contrast, frequently drops before Kwiatkowski, and yet somehow finishes ten minutes ahead of him on the stage.Brullnux said:You could see how dead Kwiat was when he took off his sunglasses and just threw them away, instead of putting them on his helmet or on his person somewhere.happytramp said:arvc40 said:Absolutely crazy to see kwiat pull off and have to stop. At that intensity nobody is doing anything flashy
There's a chance they play it up for the camera.... just to prove how much they're burying themselves.. If they didn't stop brailsford would probably give out to them for still having energy left.
wwabbit said:shalgo said:Kwia is such a good teammate. He pulls until he is absolutely dead. Nieve, by contrast, frequently drops before Kwiatkowski, and yet somehow finishes ten minutes ahead of him on the stage.
That's because Nieve has the responsibility of being the 3rd rider to come in for for Teams Classification
Or whoever got first between the two. No reason for any of them not to help Froome or the team. Kwiat have just been fantastic.Tank Engine said:wwabbit said:shalgo said:Kwia is such a good teammate. He pulls until he is absolutely dead. Nieve, by contrast, frequently drops before Kwiatkowski, and yet somehow finishes ten minutes ahead of him on the stage.
That's because Nieve has the responsibility of being the 3rd rider to come in for for Teams Classification
What WWabbit says is for sure true.
But replace Nieve by Henao, and the original argument holds with extra power![]()
dercuforever said:I've followed the Tour on this forum everyday, and it is quite fun to see that many people have different point of view on everything.
For me this last stage was quite cool to watch for the last part (I'd rather forget the first 100 kms).
As in the whole Tour, Froome, RU and Bardet had a very similar level. Also it doesn't help that none of them has a "speciality" that could disturb the other. i'm thinking : Valverde/Rodriguez "jump", or Dumoulin steady ride.
I'm now a bit sad that Valverde crashed out because the scenario would have suit him a lot (hmm bonus seconds each mountainous day).
Overall we had some good actions on not so good designed stages.
people put far too high requirements for the atheletes imo. they get paid for delivering the result, not for bringing an entertaining spectacle for the fans. had Bardet and Uran read 'damn, finally do attack idiots', they would've laughed their hearts out. Uran will be staying on the Tour podium in two days, his team status and working conditions will improve tremendously, so there's obviously something to lose. I can fancy him attacking say straight from the bottom of the steepest part of l'Izoard, digging too deep and possibly losing the podium. And what he would've gotten for this? Nothing, but "thanks for trying".movingtarget said:Carols said:wwabbit said:masking_agent said:Uran, what an utter disappointment
Oh really? At the start of this season if someone said that Uran will be 2nd placed at the TDF, everyone will be calling him nuts.
THIS. Geez the guy is riding Way Over expectations and all people do is throw abuse at him. Great ride Rigo. Have a great ITT and podium the TdF!
Yes by far his best GT ride since the 2014 Giro.