Tour de France 2017 Stage 18: Briançon - Izoard, 179.5kms

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Nov 29, 2010
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woodburn said:
ppanther92 said:
Brullnux said:
Bardet: "I've did everything I could. I made the race."

Froome was simply stronger. Bardet tried at least, not like Uran...

Bardet actually beat Froome on the road by 16 seconds. Uran did, too. I'd say all three were pretty equal except for time trial.

Wait what? Pretty sure both Uran and Bardet had more bonus seconds than Froome, not less. Which would mean Froome beat them both on the road by 30+ seconds :Question:
 
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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 :(

Froome is at the same level. The rest just got near his level.
 
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DFA123 said:
Arredondo said:
DFA123 said:
Well that was pathetic from Bardet and Uran.

No wonder those guys never win anything.

I mean, Uran. He's the biggest wheelsucker i have ever seen.
The way he bridged that gap to Froome with relative ease today, just as he did the same on Mont Chat; but didn't think once about attacking himself all race. For such a talented rider, his poor palmares really does reflects his shocking tactics.
You could see towards the end him dropping. So it looks like he was dead TBH.
 
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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 :(
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.
 
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Ikbengodniet said:
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 :(

Froome is at the same level. The rest just got near his level.
Strongly doubt this. Froome hasn't performed alien level for two years now, and there is a reason why. He is onyl a few months younger than Nibali after all.
 
Re: Re:

Ikbengodniet said:
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 :(

Froome is at the same level. The rest just got near his level.
I doubt that Uran and Bardet are as strong as Quintana in 2015.
 
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Pantani Attacks said:
Weakest I have seen Froome since pre Vuelta transformation. Dead lucky Landa and Kwiat were stronger than him and were able to carry him whilst also weakening everyone else.

Thats simply not true. You could see it clearly today. Additionally many here are now ranting over the low level of competition. Also not true at all if you look at climbing times. Bardet was already very good and has the natural age progression going on for him, Uran can't really be explained, but apparently rode in an all-time bestform.
 
Re:

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 :(

I'm a big fan of Valverde's abilities, but no ways would he have won this race.
Hypothetics are a waste of time, especially when you are so wrong.
 
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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 :(
Here we go again.

Because he was the best at altitude!
 
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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.
 
Re: Re:

Escarabajo said:
DFA123 said:
Arredondo said:
DFA123 said:
Well that was pathetic from Bardet and Uran.

No wonder those guys never win anything.

I mean, Uran. He's the biggest wheelsucker i have ever seen.
The way he bridged that gap to Froome with relative ease today, just as he did the same on Mont Chat; but didn't think once about attacking himself all race. For such a talented rider, his poor palmares really does reflects his shocking tactics.
You could see towards the end him dropping. So it looks like he was dead TBH.
Of course everyone is dead in the last km when riders are sprinting for the line. But why not try a longer effort going 7km from the top, or try something on the Vars using his team-mates up he road? He never tried anything all race so will never know how Froome or Bardet would have reacted. Maybe Froome would have blown up or messed up tactically; Bardet and Uran didn't even give him the opportunity to do so.
 
Re: Re:

Gigs_98 said:
Ikbengodniet said:
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 :(

Froome is at the same level. The rest just got near his level.
I doubt that Uran and Bardet are as strong as Quintana in 2015.

That is because Quintana 2015 was stronger than Froome.
 
Re:

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 :(
You will have to get used to this. Froome, Nibali are declining, Contador is done, Nairo fell off a cliff and there's a larger group of young riders who are pretty much equal. And Valverde would not have won this Tour.
 
Re: Re:

ppanther92 said:
Pantani Attacks said:
Weakest I have seen Froome since pre Vuelta transformation. Dead lucky Landa and Kwiat were stronger than him and were able to carry him whilst also weakening everyone else.

Thats simply not true. You could see it clearly today. Additionally many here are now ranting over the low level of competition. Also not true at all if you look at climbing times. Bardet was already very good and has the natural age progression going on for him, Uran can't really be explained, but apparently rode in an all-time bestform.
Climbing times will be inflated this race I think for other reasons as well. Partly because there have only been about six proper climbs in three weeks, and partly they were nearly all ridden at the most efficient steady tempo by Sky domestiques, rather than more usual stop-start attacks.
 
Re: Re:

Ikbengodniet said:
Gigs_98 said:
Ikbengodniet said:
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 :(

Froome is at the same level. The rest just got near his level.
I doubt that Uran and Bardet are as strong as Quintana in 2015.

That is because Quintana 2015 was stronger than Froome.
Yet who got the Jersey.