Tour De France - Top 3 finish

[SlimChance]

After last seasons Vuelta and this years Giro it seems the net should be cast a little wider than maybe would have been thought before the start of the events. How many riders have genuine aspirations of making the podium outside of the obvious contenders? Is it more than 10?

Froome
Contador
Niballi
Valverde
TVG
Porte
Van Den Broeck
Kreuziger
]Betancur
Talansky
Uran

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Uran isn't riding. Porte and Kreuziger will ride for Froome and Contador, and of the other mentioned, I don't think anyone but Nibali and Valverde aims for the podium.

 

[SlimChance]

Uran isn't riding. Porte and Kreuziger will ride for Froome and Contador, and of the other mentioned, I don't think anyone but Nibali and Valverde aims for the podium.

Thanks Hugo. Homer and Aru threw me on the last two tours. I did think it was realistically between Niballi and Valverde for the last place on the podium but wondering if there was a dark horse(s) I was missing. Is Homer or Costa or both riding for Movistar?

 

[Afrank]

Thanks Hugo. Homer and Aru threw me on the last two tours. I did think it was realistically between Niballi and Valverde for the last place on the podium but wondering if there was a dark horse(s) I was missing. Is Homer or Costa or both riding for Movistar?

Horner and Costa are on Lampre, Costa will ride as leader. And there is a chance Horner could ride (don't think it's been confirmed yet though).


I'd consider Froome, Contador, Nibali, Valverde the top contenders for the podium.

Horner (assuming he rides), Betancur (if he get's his head on straight and get's himself committed to the sport again. Although might not be able to in time for the Tour), and Kreuziger possible darkhorses for the podium. Schleck too of course (come on, you know it in your heart to be possible )

 

[christopherrowe]

Schleck too of course (come on, you know it in your heart to be possible )

 

[HSNHSN]

Does anyone by any chance know what Mollema's aspirations for this year's TdF are?

 

[christopherrowe]

Does anyone by any chance know what Mollema's aspirations for this year's TdF are?

He's been altitude training in the Sierra Nevada since May 26th and will lead Belkin's squad at the Tour de Suisse starting this weekend (as one of the favorites for a podium, in my personal opinion). I think he has high aspirations for July. I have high hopes for him myself.

 

[Afrank]

And I do!

 

[Netserk]

JVDB will obviously finish 4th.

 

[MBotero]

And I do!

If this happens and not that i have anything against it i don't think the forum will ever work again

 

[xanadu]

Ok crystal ball time again, lets see who i can doom to ignominy and failure this year.

The Podium.

Froome
Contador
Valverde

Honourable mentions
Talansky
Tangert
Nibali

What the heck happened to
Teejay
Cadel
Porte

 

[Rnewl21]

The Podium :
Nibali
Froome
Van Garderen

 

[the sceptic]

Contador
Horner
Nibali
Valverde
Betancur
Van Den Broeck
Van Garderen
Rui Costa
Talansky
Mollema

 

[christopherrowe]

The Podium :
Nibali
Froome
Van Garderen

Wow, fortune goes to the bold I guess! Welcome to the forums.

 

[Pentacycle]

JVDB will obviously finish 4th.

It's an even year, so he should. And tbh he's looking pretty sharp, compared to what he showed this spring.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Going with stars and stripes:

Horner
Talansky
Van Garderen

One of the top favorites will crash out on the cobbles stage.

 

[Akuryo]

Someone will lose time on that 5th stage and I belive OPQS will drill it the whole day for Kwiatkowski, since he is (on paper at least) the best of all "contenders" on cobbles. Either way, will be an epic stage and like always a lot of guys will complain about it.

But if you want to win the Tour, you have to be good at everything, even cobbles every once in a while.

 

[Arkaitz]

Podium:

Alberto Contador
Chris Froome
Nibali

Valverde like usually to DNF in one of the stages, the cobbles one.

 

[murali]

whats the latest abt Dan Martin? i know GRS is going through a rough patch. but their luck can change anytime.

Mollema/Kelderman

I think u need to add Kwiato just for the sake of it. Anything can happen in the cobbles, and OPQS is THE cobbles specialists.


My top-3 pick:
Contador
Froome
Nibali

if anyone had a horribly bad day or crashed, the others may get a chance.

 

[SlimChance]

Someone will lose time on that 5th stage and I belive OPQS will drill it the whole day for Kwiatkowski, since he is (on paper at least) the best of all "contenders" on cobbles. Either way, will be an epic stage and like always a lot of guys will complain about it.

But if you want to win the Tour, you have to be good at everything, even cobbles every once in a while.

He's been mentioned as a potential wild card for the podium but has his form dropped off a bit in recent months?

 

[nilfen]

If they stay on their bikes, it will be among those three:

Froome
Contador
Nibali

 

[Vino attacks everyone]

Nibali
AC
Froome

Valverde
JVD
...
...
....
....
....

 

[Cance > TheRest]

The 2 obvious podium finishers are Froome and AC

Valverde will beat Nibali for 3rd, I think. He's a better climber and better at the cobbles aswell (just doesn't have a team to support him on that stage).

Outsiders for Podium:
Costa - he needs to lift his level a bit but it's doable
JVDB - if he keeps his Dauphine form, he will make the top 5 atleast.
Horner - it's a wild shot given lack of recent results, but if he's in last year's form he can podium.

Top 10 candidates:
Talansky, Mollema, Van Garderen, Betancur.
If they are allowed to partly ride their own race, Fuglsang and Kreuziger look as rock solid top 10'ers aswell. Won't mention Porte as he currently looks like someone who shouldn't even be in SKY's TdF-squad.

 

[MBotero]

Froome
Nibali
Valverde
Contador
JVD
TVG
Mollema
..........

 

[SlimChance]

Thanks for all the replies!