Tour de France 2018 stage 5: Lorient > Quimper 204,5 km

[del1962]

Adam Yates will win this bike race

 

[Robert5091]

No Benoot - abandons.

Dan Martin twittering about keeping people back from the roads especially small children. Hope parents take notice.

 

[DNP-Old]

Matthews is sick and had to puke this morning. No stage contention for him.

 

[Robert5091]

Re: Re:

Because the last km has real chance of creating 5-10 second splits between relevant GC mens in case raced hard with reduced field. There are a few (i.e Nibs) who are notorious of losing time in such finishes if isolated. Froome will start playing the marginal gains track pretty soon and tomorrow is not suitable to that I think. And again... G wants yellow today. It will be either him or Alaphilippe wearing it.

But they should drive furious pace for 30-40 km and burn many men, for a very slightly possible time gain? And who guarantees that Froome or Thomas won't lose time in such finale? I wouldn't do that...

My guess is we'll see Bora, QS and BMC on the front.

Probably, but there could be another race behind them. Sky plus LRP, Uran & Tommy D know the climbers need a buffer before the ITT so they'll all go nuts next week. Sky & BMC were hoping for some advantage from the TTT but ...

 

[Rollthedice]

The final km is very narrow, undulating and has short steep gradient, positioning is key, seconds will inevitably be lost by some GC riders.

 

[wouterkaas]

Re:

Matthews is sick and had to puke this morning. No stage contention for him.

Sad news, this could have been a great stage for him. I really hope we don't get a repetition from this year's Dauphine with Team Sunweb...

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yikes, not the kind of news you want to read. Sunweb already have such a small squad with all the injuries and illnesses this season.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Bad news for Matthews, who would have had a good shot at the stage win today. Sunweb willl be praying the sickness doesn’t spread to others in the team.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Matthews even DNF now. Poeh. That's harsch, would have been valuable in hilly terrain as well for Dumo.

 

[Frankschleck]

yay kragh will get his own chance.

 

[Pricey_sky]

A lot of journalists and media on twitter saying it’s really narrow in places with lots of pinch points. It’s going to be a big battle to stay up the front. Also the odd cobbled part, I hope it’s a really interesting stage.

 

[bambino]

Re:

yay kragh will get his own chance.

Looking at this year Finestere, even the asphalt doesn't look like in prime shape in some narrow areas. Will definitely be interesting.

 

[QuickZulu]

Two-pronged Quickstep attack. Gilbert might try to take it out early, if he succeeds he gets yellow. if not then Alaphilipe will look to distance GVA in the final climb and get himself in yellow.

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

Re:

Two-pronged Quickstep attack. Gilbert might try to take it out early, if he succeeds he gets yellow. if not then Alaphilipe will look to distance GVA in the final climb and get himself in yellow.

Yeah, Greg will have to be at his best to keep yellow today.

 

[bambino]

Moscon and Katusha rider crashed in first km's. Some suggesting it was Zakarin, but no confirmation. Moscon up and chasing, but the Katusha rider looked in pain on the ground.

Edit. It wasn't Zakarin, it was Kiserlowski.

 

[fantomas]

ABandon Kiserlovski.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Kiserlovski abandons after an early crash, lucky not to be taken out by the moto afterwards.

 

[tomorrow]

Re:

ABandon Kiserlovski.

omg, it bloodbath(not only because of crashes obviously) this year, and it's only 5th stage.

 

[tomorrow]

Re:

A lot of journalists and media on twitter saying it’s really narrow in places with lots of pinch points. It’s going to be a big battle to stay up the front. Also the odd cobbled part, I hope it’s a really interesting stage.

what cobbled part, I missed this somehow.

 

[shalgo]

A strong break today.

 

[Laplaz]

Re:

A strong break today.

Indeed. Calmejane ftw!

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Re:

A strong break today.

Good luck to them with BMC chasing and QST / BOH likely to join in later

 

[bambino]

BMC driving peloton fairly hard from the start to keep the break in reasonable distance. Break in 3 min now. I guess the best in GC from break is Chavanel at 1:48 which makes him the virtual Yellow in the road atm.

This can become really tough 204km to many riders...

Quite a few punctures already in short distance, I think I've seen at least Barguil, G. Izaguirre and Jungels having one. Jungels seemed to be escorted back to peloton by Gaviria alone

 

[The Hegelian]

Re: Re:

Yeah, I think most GC teams will be thinking of the Mur-de-Bretange, and ride this stage defensively.

I'm sure QS will have a plan though, to put one of Gilbert/Jungels/Alaphillipe in yellow. Will be quite interesting on that front - but I think GVA can make the selection. Sunweb were also awesome tactically last year - maybe they'll try something to have Matthews in yellow after the Mur?

While an awesome murito, the Mur-de-Bretagne is actually quite short in terms of real climbing. The +6% section is only about 1km and the whole climb is about 2km with last 800m more or less false flat. I see tomorrow much more suited to classic specialists than today and expect less GC firework tomorrow compared today. Today is way harder than tomorrow in general.

It's more mental than physical though - because the Mur is at the end, it represents the very first full gas climbing test in the tour; and this matters psychologically, because it is an early marker of form. In 2011 Evans just nipped Contador on the line, in 2015 Froome had big go and Nibali was out the back and lost time.

 

[ThePirate81]

Sagan vs Alaphilippe vs Colbrelli.
Peter ftw.