SNH Cycling thread

[defoxster]

great stage today! woo, sky are looking very weak- only 6 riders 2 of them with serious injuries. Froome is obvs the strongest rider but looks like anyone could isolate him in the alps if not before.

Great stage today... I forgot about this thread until now. Really was edge of the seat stuff not knowing whether Saxo could keep up the pace to blow the peleton out of the race. Froome chose to do the right thing not rushing up to the break but I think it would have been a very different finish if he had! Cav did well A, to get into that break then B, to get onto Sagans wheel & secure the stage. I have no idea whats gonna happen on tomorrows stage Saxo could try it again (Like Contador did in the Vuelta last year) & split the peleton but i think Sky/Froome will be watching this time.

Really have no idea whats going on with sky. They seem really disorganised & its been said before weak. Froome is definitely vulnerable now but it is his race to loose & Unless Movistar & Saxo bank have a dig or try & 1-2 him in the mountains!

[Jurrecane]

Been a good day for the Dutch!

[hutyluty]

i think the tactic may end up being- ride hard up the first mountain to ditch as many sky riders as possible and then attack froome on the flat as he is so strong going uphill and having team mates is less important there- if you have two riders (like mollema-ten dam or kreuziger-contador) then you can one two him- it'd be impossible to follow every attack.

It'll all come down to reading the race- froome might have to let people go who are 5/6 minutes down and if they make back time then that's even more threats to deal with on the next stage.

I dont think anything major will happen for the next couple of stages- infact i expect froome to make a little bit more time on ventoux but when they get into the alps its anyones game, exciting!

[defoxster]

Yeah that sounds about right. Thinking about it though Contador hasn't looked strong at any part of the race so he's gonna need the whole team around him if they wanna do anything. Kennaugh, Porte & Stannard really need to up their games if they want to stay on the winning side of this tour. Another one to watch now is Quintana riding for GC & Valverde being some sort of super domestique!

Dont know if I said it before but I'm glad Cav got that stage today. Just wanna see what happens on the Champs Elysees when Kittle Sagan & Cav go head to head. Also in other news Renshaw will be joining Quickstep after the tour apparently...

[zionlion18]

Just caught up on the last two days due to work. This race is anyones.

Cannot wait for today lets see what happens at Mont Ventoux, I'm hoping for some major spanners and I dont just mean from saxo but possibly some other teams, maybe movistar can get in the mix after valverde's shocker.

[hutyluty]

so just caught ventoux- poor andy . Nice to see purito attack a little bit though, still reckon he could sneak onto the podium.

Froome still could be vulnerable when he gets to the later mountain stages but he's just soo far infront its hard to see anyone putting enough time into him, or even seriously trying to- they might end up focusing on those around them and move up a few places. The only thing is i dont think contador really cares for a podium- for him it's either win or bust.

[defoxster]

Contador is fucked! He's got nothing in the tank... Was good finally seeing the devil on Vonteux. Im hoping Quintana pulls his socks up & gets up to 2nd or 3rd. Double Alp D'huez is gonna be the one

Lots of big characters this been really enjoying different personalities! What coverage you lot watch? ITV Eurosport? Sean Kelly's voice does my head in!

[zionlion18]

Andy Noooooo!!

Good stage, Froome is a beast, he owes lots of thanks to the team and in particularly Porte.

Haha TDF fan park in Canary Wharf from Tuesday till Sunday, might have to pass through!!

[hutyluty]

Contador is fucked! He's got nothing in the tank... Was good finally seeing the devil on Vonteux. Im hoping Quintana pulls his socks up & gets up to 2nd or 3rd. Double Alp D'huez is gonna be the one

Lots of big characters this been really enjoying different personalities! What coverage you lot watch? ITV Eurosport? Sean Kelly's voice does my head in!

yeah i watch itv- like th only thing i enjoy watching on there- even if the commentators repeat themselves contantly- ooh look paul it's nairo "born at 2300 feet in boyoca colombia" quintana on the attack lol.

contador isnt the strongest rider at all but he does have the strongest tea+ a team mate up there in 4th with him to play the tactical card. defo where the biggest threat is coming from.

[hutyluty]

ouch peraud falling heavily onto a broken collar bone has to be murder. does anyone know if he made it to the finish in time?

double alpe d'huez tomorrow, if anyone wants to have a go at froome theyve got to get a big chunk back- and with contador, quintana and rodriguez all looking lively its gonna be great

[AxeD]

Whether he made it to the finish? I'd like to know if he made it to the hospital.

Get off work at around 3 tomorrow, after that it's tour time.

[hutyluty]

im supposed to be going round to a girls house but tbh double alp d'huez seems more important than sex atm

[zionlion18]

Bad luck for Peraud, French must be gutted, cringed away so badly when it happened. He unfortunately did not finish if you look on the official stage standings.

Pretty disappointed by Tony Martin, but climbs aren't his thing. Froome was sensational... again. I just read an article that apparently when Froome went for it in the final few of Mont Ventoux on Sunday, Carlton Kirby similarly decribed Froomes acceleration in a very similar way as to the way he described Lance Armstrong's acceleration in 2000 when he overtook Pantani. Through this people are coming to their own conclusions, especially the French, and now every post stage interview is becoming plagued with them suspiciously asking Froome if its all natural, which i believe is unfair as if someone like Peraud had been this good they would never question him like that. In my option they should be asking Contador if he is eating steak again as he is starting to come alive suddenly

[AxeD]

Good chance a lot of them are on dope, but I think Froome's not hitting impossible power levels.
Think they measured over 6 w/kg at the end of the first week. Insane but not impossible I think.

[hutyluty]

it is hard to get invested in froome though just because every time someones been this good theyve ended up being implicated sooner rather than later (and he went up ventoux at pretty much the same speed as armstrong- although he did have a tailwind)- i dont think it's just pro french bias either tbh, l'equipe were the first to point out rolland's dodgy test earlier this year ( ).

But yeah, hopefully nothing comes out because i think if he is doping it would hit british cycling hard. A good first step would be sky (and others) releasing their power data tbh and a good second step would be for teams to have a mandatory clause in their contracts where if a guy gets caught doping then the contract is immediately terminated and the rider can get sued- like with many of the sponsorship contracts with adidas/nike etc.

I don't think doping is nearly as prevalent in cycling atm as it is in other sports though really. Football, rugby and especially tennis. I think tennis is in a position like the UCI was with Lance in 1999 where they knew he'd doped but it would cost so much for the sport that it was better to just ignore it and accept the bigger and bigger paychecks coming in. At least in cycling there is the will to actually try and catch the cheats.

[zionlion18]

Well Sky are renowned for their anti doping policy, as they fired their last team doctor after it was found he was in some scandal previous to joining sky. I think all teams should have a policy similar to the one you mentioned, but I doubt it will be that easy to draw up and I do believe in second chances as well. People should serve their ban but may be allowed to return if they have repented, that to me is justice.

Haha someone else thinks tennis people are doping! I suspected Rafa and I'm sure he'll get done. Who else do you think, i'm intrigued??
I don't think doping is that prevalent in football and rugby though, why do you say so I'm interested to know?

Also predictions for tomorrow???

1)Froome
2)Quintana
3) Contador
4) Rodriguez

[defoxster]

That bike changed proved very worthy! Can believe how much of a difference it made... Contador must be kicking himself. The Sky change over was shit compared to the Movistar swap for Quintana now that was rapid. that decent looks horrible so many narrow old roads. Would be fun to go down tho!
Alpe D'huez tomorrow should be a great stage. All the others are now just going for podium places Froome has to have it in the bag unless he gets knocked of or something!? I really hope he attacks the stage & wins it again. Failing that I want Quintana to blow the race apart & end up 2nd knocking Contador off te podium!

Never thought of people doping in Tennis myself. Interesting though I can see why & how much you could gain from it.

[AxeD]

Not sure if he has it in the bag yet though. Two times up Little Holland.. already saw some signs pointing
Froome to sheer cliffs

Doubt any of the general class. men will take the stage tomorrow. Maybe Quintana.
But could be wrong. These days it's not uncommon for yellow contenders to also win stages.

[hutyluty]

Yeah i'd think a breakaway should take the victory but they'll be riding hard behind all day no doubt so you never know.

A lot depends on how team sky turn up, if froome goes over the top for the first time without porte then it'll be hell for him on the descent and in the valley with contador and kreuziger one twoing and having to let rodriguez/quintana go up the road- but if porte's there he can probaly deal with it.

I dont see him losing more than a couple of minutes but this is a much tougher stage (for froome) than ventoux.

[defoxster]

This tour has been filled with with thrills! Everyday I never know what to expect... That last climb was brutal. I really hope Movistar get around Quintana & ride him into 2nd Get Contador down/off the podium! For all of the haters/questioners -

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/tour ... 48218.html

ALLEZ QUINTANA.

Also Big up porte what a bad man for gettin what ever for Froome even tho he knew the consequences!