Tour de France 2017 stage 2: Düsseldorf - Liége 203,5 km

[LaFlorecita]

Don't crash, Berto

 

[muppetkokken]

Kristoff will try, fail miserably and claim it's because Mørkov's not with him.

 

[bob.a.feet]

Re: Re:

I don't plan on watching, the race already feels like its over before its properly begun yet. Saddening.

Come on Valv.Piti! You don't want tomiss Nono's first TdF stage win...

Yes, Demare to slay the German Drago(n). Mark my words .

Nah Kittel will still win.

 

[jaylew]

Kittel, Greipel, Sagan in some order.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Re:

What exactly am I missing about the stage design that's so bad? I mean it's a first week Tdf stage. Seems much better than others we've had.

Go to your favourite mapping engine. Type in "Liège". Switch to terrain view.

If the stages to Arenberg-Porte du Hainaut in 2010 and 2014 had no cobbles, or a stage to Oudenaarde featured no hellingen, it would replicate this joke. They don't even have to go clone LBL, there are lots of climbs in the Mosel valley to the north and east of the city too. Something like the 2014 Sheffield stage is more than doable, and even if they're worried about the selectivity being too much, at least something like the Seraing stage a couple of years ago or just a single climb near enough to the end to make attackers think they can make it, like the 2010 Vino stage, would suffice. There are literally hundreds of route design options that could be done in the area while keeping the same specific towns they need to pass through but that would have provided a better prospect for racing. It's not that the stage is bad in a vacuum, it's that it would have been so easy to make something better that they have clearly wilfully rejected the idea of providing good racing, but given it's not to balance the number of flat stages since there's 10 of them, and it's not to rest the peloton's weary legs since it's only stage 2, to what end is still not really clear.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

What exactly am I missing about the stage design that's so bad? I mean it's a first week Tdf stage. Seems much better than others we've had.

Go to your favourite mapping engine. Type in "Liège". Switch to terrain view.

If the stages to Arenberg-Porte du Hainaut in 2010 and 2014 had no cobbles, or a stage to Oudenaarde featured no hellingen, it would replicate this joke. They don't even have to go clone LBL, there are lots of climbs in the Mosel valley to the north and east of the city too. Something like the 2014 Sheffield stage is more than doable, and even if they're worried about the selectivity being too much, at least something like the Seraing stage a couple of years ago or just a single climb near enough to the end to make attackers think they can make it, like the 2010 Vino stage, would suffice. There are literally hundreds of route design options that could be done in the area while keeping the same specific towns they need to pass through but that would have provided a better prospect for racing. It's not that the stage is bad in a vacuum, it's that it would have been so easy to make something better that they have clearly wilfully rejected the idea of providing good racing, but given it's not to balance the number of flat stages since there's 10 of them, and it's not to rest the peloton's weary legs since it's only stage 2, to what end is still not really clear.

There's something almost admirable about their decision to use the only flat road for miles around, into a city surrounded by steep hills. It's spectacularly perverse. A lot of the time stage routes are boring because some town in an entirely flat area has paid to host the finish. But here it must have taken considerable effort to make this finish bad.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re: Re:

What exactly am I missing about the stage design that's so bad? I mean it's a first week Tdf stage. Seems much better than others we've had.

A lot is related to the fact that the stage finishes in Liege and so they could at least make the sprinters work harder for a chance of victory.

Having said that, I can't imagine that Liege could look worse than it does in the final kilometers of LBL, so it might even be an improvement

I was never more surprised to find out that a city is actually very attractive than I was with Liege. They start LBL in the ugliest bit of the centre and they finish it in one of Belgium's grimmest suburbs.

 

[Ruby United]

Sam Bennett is faster than half the guys in the poll. Just hope he's fine after going down today.

 

[Rollthedice]

Stage 2? It's gonna be Froome blasting by Kittel, Greipel, Cavendish, and Sagan to take the stage win! Easy call. LOL.

I am going to agree with this. I think Froome wins stage 2.

Thomas second, Kwia third.

 

[vedrafjord]

Sam Bennett isn't in the race - George Bennett fell today.

 

[Galic Ho]

Re: Re:

I don't plan on watching, the race already feels like its over before its properly begun yet. Saddening.

Come on Valv.Piti! You don't want tomiss Nono's first TdF stage win...

Yes, Demare to slay the German Drago(n). Mark my words .

Nah Kittel will still win.

I always remember Ivan Drago saying "I will break you" and then banging his gloves down over the top of Rocky's...but, who cares for exact lines anyway.

Good resemblance to Kittel. Always has reminded me of Ivan aka Dolph Lundgren.

 

[Tonton]

And in the movie, who wins? Nono Balboa!!!

 

[DNP-Old]

Stage finish in Liege and this is the best they could come up with. Someone needs to take their meds.

 

[bob.a.feet]

Re: Re:

I don't plan on watching, the race already feels like its over before its properly begun yet. Saddening.

Come on Valv.Piti! You don't want tomiss Nono's first TdF stage win...

Yes, Demare to slay the German Drago(n). Mark my words .

Nah Kittel will still win.

I always remember Ivan Drago saying "I will break you" and then banging his gloves down over the top of Rocky's...but, who cares for exact lines anyway.

Good resemblance to Kittel. Always has reminded me of Ivan aka Dolph Lundgren.

Unfortunately for every Drago there's a Rocky (Grivko).

 

[Moviefan1203]

Re:

I don't plan on watching, the race already feels like its over before its properly begun yet. Saddening.

Come on, man. We're one stage in! So much can happen.

 

[sir fly]

Grafenberg should make a must-see start.
Interested to see how a city hill looks like there.

 

[SHAD0W93]

I am behind Cav 1000%. If not I hope Demare wins.

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

Sagan because, well it's Sagan.

 

[markene2]

Any chance that if someone thats a really strong Rouleur could attack and stick to the finish on Cote d Olne? Or is it not steep at all?

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re:

Any chance that if someone thats a really strong Rouleur could attack and stick to the finish on Cote d Olne? Or is it not steep at all?

It's 1.3 km with 4.7% and 20 km from the finish.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: Re:

Any chance that if someone thats a really strong Rouleur could attack and stick to the finish on Cote d Olne? Or is it not steep at all?

It's 1.3 km with 4.7% and 20 km from the finish.

Maybe bora could go all out there to drop Kittel but beside that I really can't see anything happening there and actually the scenario I described is highly unlikely as well.

 

[DFA123]

It seems almost impossible to see that Cote playing any significant role. Pretty much the only riders who would have the balls to try something on it, and have any outside chance that it might stick, are either on Kittel's team or are defending the yellow jersey.

 

[Susan Westemeyer]

15°-21° today, and dry as of midday, which is good news.

I know most of the places they are riding today, very odd feeling. Not all that very far from where I live!

 

[capuldemetal]

forecast says 30 km/h wind in the last 50 k's.any chances for echelons?

 

[MartinGT]

Groenewegen FTW!