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Post by meput on Jul 12, 2014 7:54:46 GMT -7
I'm wondering how Team Sky feels now about their decision to put all of their apples in the Chris Froome basket and diss Bradley Wiggins. Hmmm. Froome appears to be a great talent, but not the model of consistency and somewhat distant from his teammates. Jim, I think similar comments can be made about Sir Bradley. A lot of bad luck / bad joss for the entire peloton. Team Sky had overall good luck in '12 and '13. Maybe it all balances out in the big picture over the years. Example: look how it has played out for Lance. Going from the best Tour rider ever, to the worst bicycling scoundrel ever. This year's Tour has had more significant first week crashes than I remember from prior years. Fewer of the big crashes, but a lot of 1 - 5 man crashes. It seems more of the Tour favorites have been affected by the crashes. Cavandish, Froome, Schleck, Talansky, VanGarderen, Sagan, etc. A lot of riders with road rash bandages. I have been very impressed with Nibali this far. He managed the pave very well. His ride allowed him to gain on all of the other GC contenders over the cobbles. This is from a rider who has never seriously raced on the cobbles previously. Maybe the Astana Team manager (Vinokurov) had him ride wet cobbles in training for this year's Tour. Speaking of Vinokurov, he was always up to something in when he was riding. Solo attacks, doping, bribery etc. He was the winner of the stage that Lance rode across the downhill field. The next test for Nibali will be when the road goes up. Will his good luck continue?
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Post by JimRatliff on Jul 14, 2014 9:03:31 GMT -7
WOW. What a move by Niboli. I didn't realize he was a climber, but his acceleration and speed on the 20% grade at the end of the final climb was just awesome.
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Post by meput on Jul 14, 2014 9:07:03 GMT -7
First Froome, now Contador. The pre race favorites are dropping. The rain got Froome after his "minor fall". When both wrists/hands were injured, I don't blame him for abandoning prior to the cobbles. No pictures of the Contador fall, reported hit some road hazard, hole/rock causing his fall. In the final analysis all that matters is that his injuries have forced him to abandon the Tour.
Hope that the weather improves for the Tour. So far the peloton has had rain on the toughest sections: cobbles, mountain tops - both going up and down. The wear and tear on the riders must be incredible. I know I hate to ride in the rain. Road grit gets into everything and everywhere. I hate squish, squish, squish from my feet with each pedal stroke. The mental gloom for the riders in the rain must be incredible. The last couple of stages, downpour rain then a little bit of sun as a teaser, then more downpour rain. This year is also different with the 1st rest day being put off by Bastille Day. The peloton will have earned a day off tomorrow even if just a mental health day.
Poor Team Astana. They give up the yellow jersey to get a rest from having to defend it. Unfortunately Lotto Belisol is a team built to support Greipel and sprint finishes. They are not built to defend Tony Gallopin the yellow jersey in the mountains. So Astana has to work to control the break away to keep Nibali in position to ultimately take back the maillot jaune later in the Tour. Might just as well have Nibali in yellow if Astana has to do the work. So Nibali has a great ride on the final climb. Win the stage and take back the yellow jersey. Will be a long Tour for Team Astana if Vinakurov wants the team to defend Nibali in the yellow jersey all the way to Paris.
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Post by meput on Jul 14, 2014 9:18:55 GMT -7
WOW. What a move by Niboli. I didn't realize he was a climber, but his acceleration and speed on the 20% grade at the end of the final climb was just awesome. You are absolutely correct. Fantastic ride on the last climb. If his team can support and protect him, his chances look good for yellow in Paris.
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Post by meput on Jul 14, 2014 9:34:59 GMT -7
Broken tibia and Contador got back on the bike. Rode for a moderate distance before he abandoned. Gets my respect.
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Post by JimRatliff on Jul 14, 2014 12:37:04 GMT -7
Broken tibia and Contador got back on the bike. Rode for a moderate distance before he abandoned. Gets my respect. Yes. First reports from the tour he said he couldn't put pressure on the leg due to the abrasions (probably he suspected even then). I agree, that was really giving it a go. Too bad, was looking forward to the mountain stage challenges.
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Post by JimRatliff on Jul 14, 2014 12:42:37 GMT -7
...... Will be a long Tour for Team Astana if Vinakurov wants the team to defend Nibali in the yellow jersey all the way to Paris. To his credit, Vinakourov was the management behind the decision to surrender the yellow. His quote, I believe, was "that the only day that counts is the last." From what I heard today, his team really set out to put some time between them and Contador -- then when Contador crashed out they just happened to be in a good position to make a run for the front. I'm sure that, without that crash, todays final climb (or two) goes a lot different. Interesting to wonder if Niboli would have looked that strong if Contador had been attacking. Like you say, that is the Tour. I was surprised by the number of the riders interviewed at the end who didn't know that Contador had retired. I would have assumed that they had more radio communication than that.
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Post by meput on Jul 14, 2014 16:37:53 GMT -7
I think Contador was looking forward to the mountain stage challenges as well. Nibali still had about 2 and 1/2 minutes on Contador at the beginning of Stage 10. Contador would have had to attack at some point. Nibali covered Contador's attack on Stage 8 very nicely. What you don't know will not hurt you, or help you. While you are riding, knowing that one of the favorites is out might change your focus, possibly for the worse. I can understand keeping the riders of other teams on a need to know basis only. I was impressed with the universal graciousness of the interviewed riders on first learning that Contador had abandoned.
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Post by JimRatliff on Jul 18, 2014 11:26:05 GMT -7
I have been really impressed by Niboli so far. Has been careful, team has worked well with and for him, and he seems to make strategically good decisions. And when he goes, as he did today, he seems untouchable. It only takes one bad day to fall to the back (or a flat tire just outside the 3km end boundary), but so far that stuff happens to the other riders and not him.
He's looking like a winner.
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Post by meput on Jul 18, 2014 11:38:54 GMT -7
I have been really impressed by Niboli so far. Has been careful, team has worked well with and for him, and he seems to make strategically good decisions. And when he goes, as he did today, he seems untouchable. ... He's looking like a winner. I agree. Niboli was very impressive on his climb to Chamrousse. No teammates to help so just take control and stomp on his competitors. Another stage win and made it look easy going up a category HC climb. Van Garderen had a very good ride. If he continues to bounce back from his crash injuries, he may have a shot at the podium in Paris.
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