Will SKY make this ToF the most boring ever?

[ggusta]

How awesome would that be.

I saw a couple of wet noodle attacks that AC would have built into a serious disruption instead of the little ripple that amounted to nothing.

It's boring to me. I don't know about most boring, I don't know enough to answer it, but it's getting dull.

 

[42x16ss]

NOOOOOO it would be even more boring, im not his biggest fan but Bertie would destroy this field.

I'm not totally convinced that would happen. I suspect that Froome and even VdB (if he didn't lose early time) would push Berto pretty hard.

Either way Wiggins would be put back in his box

 

[Warhawk]

Yeah, I imagine if he was in the race, Froome would be the unquestioned leader of Sky by this point. That's a wheel Wiggins can't suck.

In any case, so much of this tour seems to be demonstrating the peloton in transition. I mean, really, how many "GC contenders" in their primes are competing here (or at least who haven't crashed out)? There's a lot of old people who their teams still consider as "leaders" but who clearly don't have it anymore (and that's not even counting Cadel, who is rightfully BMC's leader but is still showing signs of age). And then there's a number of young guys who aren't quite at that level yet but who have aspirations for the future (Pinot, van Garderen, Taaramae, Rolland, etc.). And then a few guys who could have made it interesting have been hurt by crashes (Sanchez, Hesjedal, Gesink).

Which leaves us with Nibbles, VDB, Froomedog, and Dr. Skybotnik (I'm totally gonna try to make that last one a thing...). Oh frickin' joy.

I'll get better in the future I reckon though. As I said, we seem to be in a bit of a transition period.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Well I would like to think that there will be at least one or two surprises to come in the coming week and a bit but I doubt there will be. Evans has said he will continue to fight on which is good but what damage can really be done by the challengers who don't have the numbers and the firepower to penetrate Sky.

 

[movingtarget]

Well I would like to think that there will be at least one or two surprises to come in the coming week and a bit but I doubt there will be. Evans has said he will continue to fight on which is good but what damage can really be done by the challengers who don't have the numbers and the firepower to penetrate Sky.

His time loss in the first TT was not a good sign. He tried something yesterday but he may have been better to wait until the third week. Anyway he still has a chance for third place unless something unexpected happens. Shame he did not have the legs testerday as Van Garderen obviously did.

 

[pugdog]

Yeah, I imagine if he was in the race, Froome would be the unquestioned leader of Sky by this point. That's a wheel Wiggins can't suck.

In any case, so much of this tour seems to be demonstrating the peloton in transition. I mean, really, how many "GC contenders" in their primes are competing here (or at least who haven't crashed out)? There's a lot of old people who their teams still consider as "leaders" but who clearly don't have it anymore (and that's not even counting Cadel, who is rightfully BMC's leader but is still showing signs of age). And then there's a number of young guys who aren't quite at that level yet but who have aspirations for the future (Pinot, van Garderen, Taaramae, Rolland, etc.). And then a few guys who could have made it interesting have been hurt by crashes (Sanchez, Hesjedal, Gesink).

Which leaves us with Nibbles, VDB, Froomedog, and Dr. Skybotnik (I'm totally gonna try to make that last one a thing...). Oh frickin' joy.

I'll get better in the future I reckon though. As I said, we seem to be in a bit of a transition period.

Transition period, yes. But if Contador had been in the race, and maybe Andy Schleck, things would have been different.

 

[RedZone]

His time loss in the first TT was not a good sign. He tried something yesterday but he may have been better to wait until the third week. Anyway he still has a chance for third place unless something unexpected happens. Shame he did not have the legs testerday as Van Garderen obviously did.

It really was suicidal. So far from the top of the climb with Skys strongest climbers still all there. I love that he gave it a shot, but they were never going to give him an inch and he just didnt seem to have it yesterday.

What I was wondering was how well Tejay could have done if Evans didnt attack. He looked very strong yesterday, could he have caught the front group?

 

[auscyclefan94]

It really was suicidal. So far from the top of the climb with Skys strongest climbers still all there. I love that he gave it a shot, but they were never going to give him an inch and he just didnt seem to have it yesterday.

What I was wondering was how well Tejay could have done if Evans didnt attack. He looked very strong yesterday, could he have caught the front group?

He had to try from a long way out as La Tousuirre is too shallow. JVDB and Nibali made the mistake of not attacking once Evans was caught as the heat was really on. Attacking on the final climb was never going to get a time gap. I doubt TJVG would have caught the front group on the La Tousuirre climb. Sorry, but I just didn't see that as a possibility.

 

[rata de sentina]

I saw a couple of wet noodle attacks that AC would have built into a serious disruption instead of the little ripple that amounted to nothing.

I think you're exaggerating a little about the noodle but I agree that AC would have blown straight past VDB and kept going. Nibali should have gone again near the top since that tempo chasing that Sky use is not going to work in those circumstances.

There is almost always someone who goes sub par in the Alps and flies in the Pyrenees or vice versa will be interesting to see who that is.

 

[SilentAssassin]

Yeah, I imagine if he was in the race, Froome would be the unquestioned leader of Sky by this point. That's a wheel Wiggins can't suck.

In any case, so much of this tour seems to be demonstrating the peloton in transition. I mean, really, how many "GC contenders" in their primes are competing here (or at least who haven't crashed out)? There's a lot of old people who their teams still consider as "leaders" but who clearly don't have it anymore (and that's not even counting Cadel, who is rightfully BMC's leader but is still showing signs of age). And then there's a number of young guys who aren't quite at that level yet but who have aspirations for the future (Pinot, van Garderen, Taaramae, Rolland, etc.). And then a few guys who could have made it interesting have been hurt by crashes (Sanchez, Hesjedal, Gesink).

Which leaves us with Nibbles, VDB, Froomedog, and Dr. Skybotnik (I'm totally gonna try to make that last one a thing...). Oh frickin' joy.

I'll get better in the future I reckon though. As I said, we seem to be in a bit of a transition period.

Cadel's having a great tour IMO. I am doubting the performance of both Froome and Wiggins at this point. I don't know if what I'm seeing is real, or fake. A lot of people are questioning their performance at this point.

 

[movingtarget]

He had to try from a long way out as La Tousuirre is too shallow. JVDB and Nibali made the mistake of not attacking once Evans was caught as the heat was really on. Attacking on the final climb was never going to get a time gap. I doubt TJVG would have caught the front group on the La Tousuirre climb. Sorry, but I just didn't see that as a possibility.

Evans is a smart rider but he made the same mistake Nibali made the day before. They both picked the wrong stage to attack. Even though there is only one more MTF there are a few other interesting stages suitable for breakaways next week. Evans was getting a bit desperate as Sky have not showed major cracks in their armour so far. Without his break I think he could have hung in on the last climb. I am still convinced that he can do a good TT next week. They would both be better off waiting for VDB to attack because he has to attack constantly and then make a decision whether or not to go with him. The good thing is that Sky were made to work for it yesterday and there will be some tired bodies next week even though it did not work out for Evans. Menchov was the day's big loser and I was kind of expecting it to happen sooner or later.

 

[Tei6chai]

Only if the rest of the contenders/teams accept the status quo. Then it may be the most boring TdF ever, but not down to Sky.

I think they sense that Wiggins is fragile in many respects, so fully expect mind games and on the road poker over the next week.

+1

Yep, I'm pretty sure I've seen them working their little picks into any potential crack that they can find between Wiggins, Froome and the rest of the sky team

 

[cineteq]

He had to try from a long way out as La Tousuirre is too shallow. JVDB and Nibali made the mistake of not attacking once Evans was caught as the heat was really on. Attacking on the final climb was never going to get a time gap. I doubt TJVG would have caught the front group on the La Tousuirre climb. Sorry, but I just didn't see that as a possibility.

That was a suicide...they did the right thing not going with Evans, however Evans should have gone with Nibali the previous day and gain a couple of minutes on Wiggins, it made more sense from what he did yesterday.

 

[RedZone]

He had to try from a long way out as La Tousuirre is too shallow. JVDB and Nibali made the mistake of not attacking once Evans was caught as the heat was really on. Attacking on the final climb was never going to get a time gap. I doubt TJVG would have caught the front group on the La Tousuirre climb. Sorry, but I just didn't see that as a possibility.

I dont blame him for going from a long way out, I blame him for going so far from the top of the Croix de Fer. If he attacks near the top, takes an advantage over, descends a bit faster than sky and still has TJVG with him he might stay away. It is irrelevent however as he didnt have the legs.

As for TJ, youre probably right that he doesnt catch the front group, but sky werent gonna chase him hard so he could have stayed away as well.

 

[Warhawk]

I dont blame him for going from a long way out, I blame him for going so far from the top of the Croix de Fer. If he attacks near the top, takes an advantage over, descends a bit faster than sky and still has TJVG with him he might stay away. It is irrelevent however as he didnt have the legs.

As for TJ, youre probably right that he doesnt catch the front group, but sky werent gonna chase him hard so he could have stayed away as well.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the plan wasn't to gain a big chunk of time on the climb of the Croix de Fer, but rather to just get a gap and start chipping away on the descent (Evans is a good descender, and Tejay showed he can descend as well by catching the leaders on the descent on stage 10). Maybe even catch the breakaway on the descent and see what they could do from there.

Probably would have worked if Evans had been able to match Tejay's pace. As it was, they lost most of the ground they had gained in the moments that Tejay had to sit up to wait for Cadel. Tejay just riding as he was riding would probably have stayed away until the summit.

As a side note, re: speculating about Tejay attacking on the final climb, while Sky might not chase him hard, you saw what happened when Pinot attacked - VDB took the opportunity to go with him. Decent chance that if Tejay attacked on that final climb a guy like VDB or Nibali would have picked up his wheel and Sky would have ended up chasing anyway.

 

[DominicDecoco]

If one call this a terrible Tour de France one should probably follow interest in something else.

 

[Bavarianrider]

If one call this a terrible Tour de France one should probably follow interest in something else.

Exactly, so far this is an absolute brilliant Tour de France.
If this goes on like this it could very well be the best GT in the last 5 years.

 

[the asian]

Exactly, so far this is an absolute brilliant Tour de France.
If this goes on like this it could very well be the best GT in the last 5 years.

So only Grand Tours where Time Triallers who can't attack, but only wheel suck can win are considered brilliant?

 

[MonteZoncolan]

So only Grand Tours where Time Triallers who can't attack, but only wheel suck can win are considered brilliant?

Intersting. You don't think Voeckler, Rollands, Pinots stage wins were good stages? or the Sagan/Greipel sprints? There is more to making a good tour than the lead GC team you know.

 

[RedZone]

As a side note, re: speculating about Tejay attacking on the final climb, while Sky might not chase him hard, you saw what happened when Pinot attacked - VDB took the opportunity to go with him. Decent chance that if Tejay attacked on that final climb a guy like VDB or Nibali would have picked up his wheel and Sky would have ended up chasing anyway.

My speculation was whether if he attacked exactly where he did could he have stayed away? Nobody went with him there and I think he could have had a pretty good advantage over the top, and maybe crawled his way up towards Rolland on the final slope.

 

[Warhawk]

Ah, ok, I misunderstood. Hard to say then.

Though I doubt that Sky would give Tejay too much rope, not because they're particularly afraid of him in the mountains, but because if they accidentally let him back into the GC race, based on his performance so far he's probably the one guy up there who could put the fear of God into Wiggo in the final TT. I imagine they'd be a lot more comfortable with, say, VDB or Zubeldia in that position.

 

[Dutchsmurf]

Intersting. You don't think Voeckler, Rollands, Pinots stage wins were good stages? or the Sagan/Greipel sprints? There is more to making a good tour than the lead GC team you know.

The Giro got called boring and had people from breaks winning too. Calling the Tour so far boring is exactly in line with the ratings the Giro got. It has been a worse Tour than last year so far in my opinion, but that Tour had a third week to save itself somewhat.

 

[DominicDecoco]

The Giro got called boring and had people from breaks winning too. Calling the Tour so far boring is exactly in line with the ratings the Giro got. It has been a worse Tour than last year so far in my opinion, but that Tour had a third week to save itself somewhat.

This years Tour has been twice the race that Giro was.

 

[Dutchsmurf]

This years Tour has been twice the race that Giro was.

Because Sky has dominated it?

 

[Machu Picchu]

Anyone who thinks this is the most boring tour ever must either have a very short memory, or just doesn't like the fact that the dominant team isn't American.

There is nothing going on here that didn't go on for all 7 years of the Armstrong era.

Those were dull tours.

Nope, I hated the LA years but to compare his victories (however he earned them) to the way Wiggins is going to wheelsuck his way to Paris (tt excepted) is very wide of the mark.