Tour de France 2017 stage 3: Verviers - Longwy 212,5 km

[LaFlorecita]

Froome won't lose time, I wouldn't even be surprised to see him finish top-10.

 

[Lexman]

Re:

Froome won't lose time, I wouldn't even be surprised to see him finish top-10.

will Berto lose time?

 

[Valv.Piti]

Dwag will definitely be up there, he is in good shape and actually pretty explosive when he chooses his moments. And aggressive as well. I suggest the top 5 will be made up of classics guys while some of the GC-guys will make the top-10, including Froome.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2017/26/7/1499017472-ddv2nxhwsaa3j5v.jpg
ROFL

Spectacular photo! That is an amazing capture of the moment of the crash. Do you know what is the original source of the image?

I like the way Froome is body-surfing the tarmac, as if he is at the beach. But feel badly for the AG2R guys hitting the concrete road-divider.

No wonder Bardet has a sore knee. He hit the kerb.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Nice finish. I'll be one of the sheep and say Sagan or Bling.

Nice finish on stage 5 too, but is there a finish this year which is an in-between? Like around 2 kms @ 7.5%? Those 2 stages are a clear puncheur and a clear climber finish. Would be intriguing to have one where you are not sure if a Sagan or a Porte might take it.

Sagan looked pretty ordinary yesterday.

Yeah that kinda surprised me considering how easily he won in Switzerland. Might have just been a bad day I guess.
I'm going with Matthews since GVA hasn't shown any positive signs of form lately and Sagan is a bit of a question mark right now.

He was in a bad position, too close to the front.

 

[alexix7]

https://twitter.com/Airfrede/status/881795240260194305

Organisers never learn..... this will be carnage

 

[Lexman]

Re:

https://twitter.com/Airfrede/status/881795240260194305

Organisers never learn..... this will be carnage

Trek should put Degenkolb & de Kort as bodyguards of Contador...

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

https://twitter.com/Airfrede/status/881795240260194305

Organisers never learn..... this will be carnage

Looks like a few GC riders might drop some seconds if they are badly positioned or get stuck behind riders that slow down. Pretty dumb approach but good room for spectators !

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Nice finish. I'll be one of the sheep and say Sagan or Bling.

Nice finish on stage 5 too, but is there a finish this year which is an in-between? Like around 2 kms @ 7.5%? Those 2 stages are a clear puncheur and a clear climber finish. Would be intriguing to have one where you are not sure if a Sagan or a Porte might take it.

Sagan looked pretty ordinary yesterday.

Yeah that kinda surprised me considering how easily he won in Switzerland. Might have just been a bad day I guess.
I'm going with Matthews since GVA hasn't shown any positive signs of form lately and Sagan is a bit of a question mark right now.

He was in a bad position, too close to the front.

Exactly, there was really no way he would do anything good from that position. I think he hit the front with a little less than 300 metres to go. In a headwind sprint, that's tough luck. Usually, he is good at coming from behind, so I don't know why he was in front that early. Perhaps because he has a leadout man now, and he thought he would follow him, but I'm not sure how much good it does him. If Selig can deliver him on the front with 190 metres to go, it's obviously fine, but if he can't, Sagan would probably be better off surfing wheels like he usually does. This 10th place is his worst bunch sprint finish ever in the Tour.

 

[sir fly]

Lots of contenders for today's stage.
Should be good for watching.

 

[ThePirate81]

Sonny Colbrelli will win this bike race.

 

[SafeBet]

Lol this stage is absolutely not as hard as some think.
Most sprinters will be there at the bottom of the last hill. Demare could even win it.

 

[Eagle]

Hard fought break today

 

[MartinGT]

Thomas should keep the jersey today?

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Thomas should keep the jersey today?

Yes, no question about that.

 

[MartinGT]

Is Politt in the break? I like him as rider, gutsy lad.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

6 man BotD:
Adam Hansen (Lotto Soudal)
Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin)
Romain Hardy (Fortuneo-Oscaro)
Romain Sicard (Direct Energie)
Nathan Brown (Canndonale-Drapac)
Frederik Backaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert)

Sicard for Polka dots? (edit: maybe not, Brown takes first climb, half-heartedly challenged only by Hardy)
Politt @41 seconds to Thomas in GC

 

[sir fly]

The stage is pretty much shaping up like yesterday's one.
Hopefully, the terrain could inspire someone later on.

 

[miguelindurain111]

Re:

https://twitter.com/Airfrede/status/881795240260194305

Organisers never learn..... this will be carnage

Thanks for the sharing. This may get interesting.

 

[Ricco']

This stage finishes on a climb, so I guess that the 3 km rule won't be in place, right?

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

This stage finishes on a climb, so I guess that the 3 km rule won't be in place, right?

I think the stage is classified as flat. The 3km rule should count.

 

[Sylvester]

Re: Re:

This stage finishes on a climb, so I guess that the 3 km rule won't be in place, right?

I think the stage is classified as flat. The 3km rule should count.

Even with the finish on a 3th cat climb?

 

[Netserk]

Re:

This stage finishes on a climb, so I guess that the 3 km rule won't be in place, right?

I haven't been able to find the .pdf of this year's regulations, but given that it wasn't in place for stage 2 last year, I don't think it'll be for today either.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

This stage finishes on a climb, so I guess that the 3 km rule won't be in place, right?

I think the stage is classified as flat. The 3km rule should count.

I don't think so. That would be farcical. The "at least 3 seconds between riders counting as a gap" rule will probably not be in effect either.

And it isn't classified as flat. The winner only gets 30 points for the points competition.

 

[MartinGT]

Time to turn Eurosport off now that idiot is on and put ITV on