Volta ao Algarve 2016, February 17 - 21

[Cance > TheRest]

I expected a little bit better from Thomas. Maybe 10 seconds faster but he did crash yesterday which can take a little bit of the edge off your ride even if there's no significant damage.

Still, being 3 seconds behind Martin isn't the end of the world considering he's missing Lopez and Kwiatkowski. Izagirre will still be a big threat on Malhao.

What a loss it must be for him . . .
Thomas is not an outstanding time trialist. He lost the Tour de Suisse overall win in a time trial against Spilak. There's no shame in losing only ~30 seconds to the two best time trialists of the last 10 years. It was most definitely not below par, what the track specialist showed today.

 

[Tonton]

The bottom line is: Bravo Spartacus! Wow! Geraint did excellent, matching Martin, and he's now the overwhelming favorite. Average Contador...Aru??? And my Pinot seems to have faded: he lost a lot after the first time check. Finishing behind Gallopin isn't good IMO. 12th is what he'd do last year. I was expecting better.

 

[sir fly]

I expected a little bit better from Thomas. Maybe 10 seconds faster but he did crash yesterday which can take a little bit of the edge off your ride even if there's no significant damage.

Still, being 3 seconds behind Martin isn't the end of the world considering he's missing Lopez and Kwiatkowski. Izagirre will still be a big threat on Malhao.

What a loss it must be for him . . .
Thomas is not an outstanding time trialist. He lost the Tour de Suisse overall win in a time trial against Spilak. There's no shame in losing only ~30 seconds to the two best time trialists of the last 10 years. It was most definitely not below par, what the track specialist showed today.

Well, it could've been fatal loss if he'd taken the lead today.
3 seconds are the perfect measure, Etixx will try to defend compensating Sky's missing duo.
Maybe there's the explanation for his slower second part of the tt

 

[DBotero]

Astana Pro Team ‏@AstanaTeam 20 min.acum 20 de minute

Luis Leon Sanchez is now at the hospital and he is ok, a part from the cut on his chin. Waiting for the examinations.
5 redistribuiri 8 aprecieri

 

[JRanton]

I expected a little bit better from Thomas. Maybe 10 seconds faster but he did crash yesterday which can take a little bit of the edge off your ride even if there's no significant damage.

Still, being 3 seconds behind Martin isn't the end of the world considering he's missing Lopez and Kwiatkowski. Izagirre will still be a big threat on Malhao.

What a loss it must be for him . . .
Thomas is not an outstanding time trialist. He lost the Tour de Suisse overall win in a time trial against Spilak. There's no shame in losing only ~30 seconds to the two best time trialists of the last 10 years. It was most definitely not below par, what the track specialist showed today.

Yes, he will miss Lopez and Kwiatkowski on the Malhao stage but not so much now that Etixx have to defend the lead. I thought that was pretty obvious. Like I said, it was a decent TT from Thomas but no more than that.

 

[TommyGun]

I expected a little bit better from Thomas. Maybe 10 seconds faster but he did crash yesterday which can take a little bit of the edge off your ride even if there's no significant damage.

Still, being 3 seconds behind Martin isn't the end of the world considering he's missing Lopez and Kwiatkowski. Izagirre will still be a big threat on Malhao.

What a loss it must be for him . . .
Thomas is not an outstanding time trialist. He lost the Tour de Suisse overall win in a time trial against Spilak. There's no shame in losing only ~30 seconds to the two best time trialists of the last 10 years. It was most definitely not below par, what the track specialist showed today.

Yes, he will miss Lopez and Kwiatkowski on the Malhao stage but not so much now that Etixx have to defend the lead. I thought that was pretty obvious. Like I said, it was a decent TT from Thomas but no more than that.

This conversation is surreal .
Now, in 2016, people debate whether Thomas was slightly disappointing because he is 3 seconds back a multiple TT World Champion.
What happened !? This Thomas guy was no more than a domestique a few years ago (nobody knew him before 2012).

 

[rhubroma]

I expected a little bit better from Thomas. Maybe 10 seconds faster but he did crash yesterday which can take a little bit of the edge off your ride even if there's no significant damage.

Still, being 3 seconds behind Martin isn't the end of the world considering he's missing Lopez and Kwiatkowski. Izagirre will still be a big threat on Malhao.

What a loss it must be for him . . .
Thomas is not an outstanding time trialist. He lost the Tour de Suisse overall win in a time trial against Spilak. There's no shame in losing only ~30 seconds to the two best time trialists of the last 10 years. It was most definitely not below par, what the track specialist showed today.

Yes, he will miss Lopez and Kwiatkowski on the Malhao stage but not so much now that Etixx have to defend the lead. I thought that was pretty obvious. Like I said, it was a decent TT from Thomas but no more than that.

This conversation is surreal .
Now, in 2016, people debate whether Thomas was slightly disappointing because he is 3 seconds back a multiple TT World Champion.
What happened !? This Thomas guy was no more than a domestique a few years ago (nobody knew him before 2012).

If he keeps this up he will podium at the Tour.

 

[pastronef]

I expected a little bit better from Thomas. Maybe 10 seconds faster but he did crash yesterday which can take a little bit of the edge off your ride even if there's no significant damage.

Still, being 3 seconds behind Martin isn't the end of the world considering he's missing Lopez and Kwiatkowski. Izagirre will still be a big threat on Malhao.

What a loss it must be for him . . .
Thomas is not an outstanding time trialist. He lost the Tour de Suisse overall win in a time trial against Spilak. There's no shame in losing only ~30 seconds to the two best time trialists of the last 10 years. It was most definitely not below par, what the track specialist showed today.

Yes, he will miss Lopez and Kwiatkowski on the Malhao stage but not so much now that Etixx have to defend the lead. I thought that was pretty obvious. Like I said, it was a decent TT from Thomas but no more than that.

This conversation is surreal .
Now, in 2016, people debate whether Thomas was slightly disappointing because he is 3 seconds back a multiple TT World Champion.
What happened !? This Thomas guy was no more than a domestique a few years ago (nobody knew him before 2012).

you said it right. a few years ago
2012 is 4 years ago.
Tour white jersey wearer in 2010, 2nd behind Hushovd in the Tour cobble stage 2010, Bayern Rundfahrt GC 2011, Prologue Romandie 2012
but I know you wont care

 

[HelloDolly]

EDIT : wrong thread

 

[Rollthedice]

I expected a little bit better from Thomas. Maybe 10 seconds faster but he did crash yesterday which can take a little bit of the edge off your ride even if there's no significant damage.

Still, being 3 seconds behind Martin isn't the end of the world considering he's missing Lopez and Kwiatkowski. Izagirre will still be a big threat on Malhao.

What a loss it must be for him . . .
Thomas is not an outstanding time trialist. He lost the Tour de Suisse overall win in a time trial against Spilak. There's no shame in losing only ~30 seconds to the two best time trialists of the last 10 years. It was most definitely not below par, what the track specialist showed today.

Yes, he will miss Lopez and Kwiatkowski on the Malhao stage but not so much now that Etixx have to defend the lead. I thought that was pretty obvious. Like I said, it was a decent TT from Thomas but no more than that.

This conversation is surreal .
Now, in 2016, people debate whether Thomas was slightly disappointing because he is 3 seconds back a multiple TT World Champion.
What happened !? This Thomas guy was no more than a domestique a few years ago (nobody knew him before 2012).

Well, nobody knew Froome before August 2011.

 

[HelloDolly]

Re: Re:

I never said anything of the such...Now who is putting words in people's mouths

And also stop talking down to people just because you are rattled

You posted
"If you can't enter into a discussion about what is an obvious issue with Contador"
To me that sounds as if you're claiming I refuse to admit there is an "obvious issue with Contador". That is simply untrue I just refuse to join you in your "OMG his performance was so bad Froome would have taken 10 minutes on him drool drool" Sky fan ******. Thank you that is all. Good afternoon.

What the hell ?? I am discussing Contadors performance today ???

Sky fan ******.

what does that mean ??

Geez if you don't like the message you shoot and insult the messenger ....nice

 

[harryh]

I expected a little bit better from Thomas. Maybe 10 seconds faster but he did crash yesterday which can take a little bit of the edge off your ride even if there's no significant damage.

Still, being 3 seconds behind Martin isn't the end of the world considering he's missing Lopez and Kwiatkowski. Izagirre will still be a big threat on Malhao.

What a loss it must be for him . . .
Thomas is not an outstanding time trialist. He lost the Tour de Suisse overall win in a time trial against Spilak. There's no shame in losing only ~30 seconds to the two best time trialists of the last 10 years. It was most definitely not below par, what the track specialist showed today.

Yes, he will miss Lopez and Kwiatkowski on the Malhao stage but not so much now that Etixx have to defend the lead. I thought that was pretty obvious. Like I said, it was a decent TT from Thomas but no more than that.

This conversation is surreal .
Now, in 2016, people debate whether Thomas was slightly disappointing because he is 3 seconds back a multiple TT World Champion.
What happened !? This Thomas guy was no more than a domestique a few years ago (nobody knew him before 2012).

u mad bro? but hey nice avatar you've got there

 

[TommyGun]

I expected a little bit better from Thomas. Maybe 10 seconds faster but he did crash yesterday which can take a little bit of the edge off your ride even if there's no significant damage.

Still, being 3 seconds behind Martin isn't the end of the world considering he's missing Lopez and Kwiatkowski. Izagirre will still be a big threat on Malhao.

What a loss it must be for him . . .
Thomas is not an outstanding time trialist. He lost the Tour de Suisse overall win in a time trial against Spilak. There's no shame in losing only ~30 seconds to the two best time trialists of the last 10 years. It was most definitely not below par, what the track specialist showed today.

Yes, he will miss Lopez and Kwiatkowski on the Malhao stage but not so much now that Etixx have to defend the lead. I thought that was pretty obvious. Like I said, it was a decent TT from Thomas but no more than that.

This conversation is surreal .
Now, in 2016, people debate whether Thomas was slightly disappointing because he is 3 seconds back a multiple TT World Champion.
What happened !? This Thomas guy was no more than a domestique a few years ago (nobody knew him before 2012).

u mad bro? but hey nice avatar you've got there

I am bit frustrated, yeah
Pinot's and Bardet's good form are the only nice things I will remember from this week.

 

[alspacka]

This hysteria about Contador is absurd. Isn't it sky ubiquity that's annoying?

 

[Cance > TheRest]

I expected a little bit better from Thomas. Maybe 10 seconds faster but he did crash yesterday which can take a little bit of the edge off your ride even if there's no significant damage.

Still, being 3 seconds behind Martin isn't the end of the world considering he's missing Lopez and Kwiatkowski. Izagirre will still be a big threat on Malhao.

What a loss it must be for him . . .
Thomas is not an outstanding time trialist. He lost the Tour de Suisse overall win in a time trial against Spilak. There's no shame in losing only ~30 seconds to the two best time trialists of the last 10 years. It was most definitely not below par, what the track specialist showed today.

Yes, he will miss Lopez and Kwiatkowski on the Malhao stage but not so much now that Etixx have to defend the lead. I thought that was pretty obvious. Like I said, it was a decent TT from Thomas but no more than that.

And you don't think they'd do that anyway? Both Thomas and TMartin are diesel climbers who need a train in front of them - an alliance would have been likely to form between their two teams even if SKY had taken the lead with Thomas.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re: Re:

I never said anything of the such...Now who is putting words in people's mouths

And also stop talking down to people just because you are rattled

You posted
"If you can't enter into a discussion about what is an obvious issue with Contador"
To me that sounds as if you're claiming I refuse to admit there is an "obvious issue with Contador". That is simply untrue I just refuse to join you in your "OMG his performance was so bad Froome would have taken 10 minutes on him drool drool" Sky fan ******. Thank you that is all. Good afternoon.

What the hell ?? I am discussing Contadors performance today ???

You mentioned that Froome is an even better TTer than Thomas. And then you say Contador trained for months but still isn't good enough. In other words "Froome is so much better". Just unnecessary.

Sky fan ******.

what does that mean ??

Geez if you don't like the message you shoot and insult the messenger ....nice

*** = like horsecrap but the bull variant...

 

[dacooley]

cycling constantly changes like it or not. today thomas was close to martin. tomorrow or in a few years martin his ownself will be beaten by someone new. the way cycling develops is illogical and unpredictable.

 

[johnymax]

The biggest positive surprise for me was Gallopin. I didn't expect him to do this well. Another one who will again be a protagonist in PN.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

The biggest positive surprise for me was Gallopin. I didn't expect him to do this well. Another one who will again be a protagonist in PN.

He also did a great ITT in Besseges. I agree he could be a contender for PN.

 

[TommyGun]

Re: Re:

The biggest positive surprise for me was Gallopin. I didn't expect him to do this well. Another one who will again be a protagonist in PN.

He also did a great ITT in Besseges. I agree he could be a contender for PN.

Yep, French riders are doing well currently. That is my only consolation!

 

[jens_attacks]

Fabian looks close to his best days shape

Can't wait for strade bianche and sanremo

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

Really bad Uran, a rider like him cant do that sensation when he will be one of the favourites in the ITT of the Giro. He looked emply yesterday, so I am not very surprised, but...

I wouldn't worry too much, durning 2013 and 2014 he was only good in the first stage race of the year and then he sucked until May, right now it's not a huge problem.

 

[Taxus4a]

Re: Re:

Really bad Uran, a rider like him cant do that sensation when he will be one of the favourites in the ITT of the Giro. He looked emply yesterday, so I am not very surprised, but...

I wouldn't worry too much, durning 2013 and 2014 he was only good in the first stage race of the year and then he sucked until May, right now it's not a huge problem.

It is not a question of worry, but a question of likes.

Anyway he has vefore the Giro: Tirreno, Cataluña and some clasics, and till april he dont need to be in shape.

 

[carolina]

jesus... castroviejo TT suit is just like valverde's jersey. thank god dowsett and oliveira had the right to a decent, classic design.

movistar must really hate their own country.

 

[Poursuivant]

Cancellara definitely back to his best, beast mode.