Tour de France 2018 stage 9: Arras > Roubaix 156,5 km

[70kmph]

The Science of vibrations

Vibration exposure is more intense at the hands than at the cyclist’s seat, regardless of the speed or difficulty of the cobbles

The 80kg-plus guys naturally dampen the vibrations more than the 60kg guys

A French study showed that a rider’s posture also has a significant influence on the VDV (Vibration Dose Value), in particular the position of the forearms and wrist angles, and that optimised bike geometry can reduce this figure by up to 50%.

There’s also the issue of riding style, says Jeppesen: ‘As an example, if you look at Fabian Cancellara, who’s smooth on his bike, he’d probably experience fewer vibrations than someone like Ian Stannard, who’s more about brute force and stomps the pedals


http://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/2604/the-science-of-cobbles

 

[bigcog]

Re: Re:

Sky plan to have six to seven wheels waiting at each sector along the route, on all 15 sectors of pavé
Three bikes per rider brought in just for the Roubaix stage mounted with aluminum handlebars

https://www.velonews.com/2018/07/to...g-full-on-roubaix-approach-for-cobbles_472276

I hate this team so much

Well that just confirms your hidden wish, but that was transparent anyway

 

[thehog]

Re:

Froome has a mechanical and everyone waits for him. They all arrive together good and dandy.

No one can wait for anyone, every man for himself. There will be gaps all over the place. Hopefully the camera bikes can keep up with the action.

 

[yetiyeti]

Re:

I think one of the reason for Nibali's success in 2014 was that he faced the stage with the intention to attack. If you have an offensive mindset that will take you pretty far on the cobbles. He will have that tomorrow again and I think Fuglsang will as well. Maybe also G.

So they should all do well. Froome is probably intending to do the same as G, whether he can is another story. Valverde positions himself well and rides well on cobbles so those five should be the best of the GC riders.

The scared ones (Porte, Nairo, Landa, Martin, Zakarin (I'm assuming a bit with these names)) are in for a very difficult time. Support or not.

Sagan is the favourite but I think a Stepper will win. And in that case I hope it will be Phil. He has had enough of tactical losses this year.

I think you're dead on with this..... trying not to lose is not the answer. I think Sagan is the most likely single rider, but "one of the quicksteppers" is a better bet, I just couldn't pick which one.

 

[Singer01]

I'd love to see this as a TT rather than a normal stage (40-50km), the gaps would be massive, the best riders would benefit, and no lottery of someone going down in front of a GC hope and taking them out.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

Froome has a mechanical and everyone waits for him. They all arrive together good and dandy.

No one can wait for anyone, every man for himself. There will be gaps all over the place. Hopefully the camera bikes can keep up with the action.

What if he pretends to pee?

 

[Warhawk]

Re:

I think you're all giving the DSs way too much credit. The times big teams win races through clever tactics rather than brute force are so celebrated because they're so rare. It's more likely riders from the main teams are all in the bunch together as they hit the first sector of cobbles, and crashes, bad positioning, and poor cobbles skill (power/handling) gradually whittle the main bunch down and split the peloton into groups that drift furtehr and further apart on the road.

Well, I would argue that even if good tactics aren't often going to win you a race, bad tactics can very easily lose you one.

 

[Martinstranger]

Re:

I think one of the reason for Nibali's success in 2014 was that he faced the stage with the intention to attack. If you have an offensive mindset that will take you pretty far on the cobbles. He will have that tomorrow again and I think Fuglsang will as well. Maybe also G.

So they should all do well. Froome is probably intending to do the same as G, whether he can is another story. Valverde positions himself well and rides well on cobbles so those five should be the best of the GC riders.

The scared ones (Porte, Nairo, Landa, Martin, Zakarin (I'm assuming a bit with these names)) are in for a very difficult time. Support or not.

Sagan is the favourite but I think a Stepper will win. And in that case I hope it will be Phil. He has had enough of tactical losses this year.

But will Sagan be free to go for the stage or will he help Majka instead? I presume he will be free but have not seen anything about it. The same goes for GVA - I thought he would help out Porte now that he have had the yellow jersey for days.

Almost nobody mentions Yates - Is he going to loose it all or is he ok with the cobbles. He have a few guys on the team, that could set pressure on the others.

I think Nibali is in for an attack but has a week team to do so, but he did surprisingly well on the rainy cobbles years ago - but he is vulnerable to puncuteres.
Fuglsang and Astana should be in for full attack-mode. He used to ride MTB, have good technique and a few teammates who (might) could make a difference. Besides that, he needs to book some time in the GC and this is one of his best oppertunities. They should ride along with the Steppers and spread the field early - Nibali/Fuglsang does not need the stage but only want to take time in GC.

Lets see tomorrow - maybe Froome is in for a surprise and Sky will go full attack. He have had almost a year to prepare not to crash before the cobbles :surprised:

 

[dercuforever]

Re: Re:

Its very dry and dusty. I'm worried that it might aggravate Froome's asthma and then where would we be?

Why worry have you any proof dust aggravates his asthma?

I don't know about that, but I live near Roubaix, and there was only 4mm of rain since the 31th of may. (-95% of usual values).
It was a very dry and hot month, one if the not the hottest of all times.
I think the dust will be very annoying if you are not in the first positions of the peloton.
Also some of the cobbles sectors are very difficults (rated 5* and 4*) and they are all in the last 100km. PR have 50km of cobbles in the last 160kms, so here with 20km on 100km we have a good density of cobbles sectors for a Grand Tour.

But the main thing I wish is that they go fast so I have time to move to the pub to watch the WC final .

Let's hope a good TT specialist manage to put time to all skys so they have to play aggressive and not tchoo tchoo in mountains. I know Froome can attack a lot, he did it several time in the Vuelta, even though he wasn't always the strongest.

 

[thehog]

Re: Re:

Its very dry and dusty. I'm worried that it might aggravate Froome's asthma and then where would we be?

Why worry have you any proof dust aggravates his asthma?

I don't know about that, but I live near Roubaix, and there was only 4mm of rain since the 31th of may. (-95% of usual values).
It was a very dry and hot month, one if the not the hottest of all times.
I think the dust will be very annoying if you are not in the first positions of the peloton.
Also some of the cobbles sectors are very difficults (rated 5* and 4*) and they are all in the last 100km. PR have 50km of cobbles in the last 160kms, so here with 20km on 100km we have a good density of cobbles sectors for a Grand Tour.

But the main thing I wish is that they go fast so I have time to move to the pub to watch the WC final .

Let's hope a good TT specialist manage to put time to all skys so they have to play aggressive and not tchoo tchoo in mountains. I know Froome can attack a lot, he did it several time in the Vuelta, even though he wasn't always the strongest.

Good post, thanks. Dust is often worse than mud. Can’t see a darn thing. The motorbikes won’t help either.

 

[thehog]

Re:

Sky plan to have six to seven wheels waiting at each sector along the route, on all 15 sectors of pavé
Three bikes per rider brought in just for the Roubaix stage mounted with aluminum handlebars

https://www.velonews.com/2018/07/to...g-full-on-roubaix-approach-for-cobbles_472276

BMC have car one in convoy, that will help. Every team will have wheels at each sector. Whether they have 10 wheels or 70 it’s of little meaning.

 

[Poursuivant]

Re:

I'm pretty reserved about this stage - it's Russian roulette for the GC riders. Someone will get a bullet, and however cool the spectacle is, I don't like that level of luck being potentially so decisive in a GT.

Agree with the premise. Crashes, or getting caught behind a crash, mechanical costing someone something they have worked all year towards is really harsh.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

... and finally, YES, ladies & gentlemen we just have marvellous bunch finish with Sagan & Gaviria & Groenewegen in front...

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

Anyone know the expected finish time.

 

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

Re:

Anyone know the expected finish time.

Oficially 16:10-16:30

 

[movingtarget]

There is always some surprises on the cobbles. Some of the smaller guys end up handling it quite well. This could sort out the pecking order at Movistar pretty quickly.

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

Re: Re:

Anyone know the expected finish time.

Oficially 16:10-16:30

Thanks!

 

[Koronin]

Re:

There is always some surprises on the cobbles. Some of the smaller guys end up handling it quite well. This could sort out the pecking order at Movistar pretty quickly.

I think Movistar is expecting it to.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

... and finally, YES, ladies & gentlemen we just have marvellous bunch finish with Sagan & Gaviria & Groenewegen in front...

I would be very surprised to see a large group at the front at the finish especially with Quickstep taking turns to attack.

 

[Son of Amsterhammer]

Re: Re:

... and finally, YES, ladies & gentlemen we just have marvellous bunch finish with Sagan & Gaviria & Groenewegen in front...

I would be very surprised to see a large group at the front at the finish especially with Quickstep taking turns to attack.

I think there are too many sectors this time for it to happen. There will be an elite selection at some point.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Sky plan to have six to seven wheels waiting at each sector along the route, on all 15 sectors of pavé
Three bikes per rider brought in just for the Roubaix stage mounted with aluminum handlebars

https://www.velonews.com/2018/07/to...g-full-on-roubaix-approach-for-cobbles_472276

BMC have car one in convoy, that will help. Every team will have wheels at each sector. Whether they have 10 wheels or 70 it’s of little meaning.

Good for Richie.

 

[Moviefan1203]

Let us hope for carnage tomorrow! Been looking forward to this stage for months.

 

[benzwire]

What do you think, more fans on the road than Paris-Roubaix or less? The World Cup final is going on at same time too.

 

[thehog]

And don’t forget Nibali rode Flanders this year, performed well. Valverde was due to ride but skipped it.

 

[The Hegelian]

Re:

lol it would still be panic, only with more riders feeling like they needed time and try something. The pave will claim the weak and unsuspecting no matter what

No, that's the issue - it may well claim the strong and diligent. Remember Cancellera face planting a few PR's ago? Museeuw smashing his knee?