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Stage 10 » Tarbes › La Pierre-Saint-Martin (167k)
Bastille Day in the Pyrenees!
We move into a whole new phase of the Tour de France now with this stage that will allow us to see the climbers properly flex their muscles for the first time in the race. The Tarbes Budget Ibis was our base for 5 days last year when we did the Etape du Tour. Tarbes is a nice, tidy town, and in the same way that Gap is seen as the gateway to the Alps, Tarbes and the nearby Pau & Lourdes are very much gateway to the Pyrenees. From practically anywhere in Tarbes, you can see the beautiful and rather intimidating site of the Pyrenees dominating the Southern horizon. There's a lovely Italian in the very pleasant town centre called La Dolce Vite that do a good pizza and a mean bolognese, but I really don't recommend the Buffalo Grill. In fact my advice would be to give the whole chain of Buffalo Grills a very wide berth indeed. We have the first "real" climb of the Tour today with the HC summit finish at La Pierre-Saint-Martin.
This stage could catch some riders out. For a start, it comes after the rest day, secondly, the profile is pretty flat so the whole rhythm will be disturbed by the HC climb at the end. Lastly, as it is Bastille Day there will be extra incentive for the French riders. The stage is 167km long, but the first 143km are virtually flat. There are 3 Cat 4 climbs but they aren't going to cause any problems for anyone. The riders will head North West out of Tarbes towards Pau, which they skirt around to the North. They will then head South West towards Spain. The 3 Cat 4 climbs come at 66km, 90km and 134km. Once they are over the Cote du Montory they will quickly hit the lower slopes of the final climb.
La Pierre St Martin is a ski station on the Spanish/French border in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region close to the town of Arrete, it has never been a stage finish before, although the race did go over the top from the other side in 2007. This area is well known for its caves, which are among the largest and most extensive in the world. Some of them are kilometres long, and one has a cavern called La Verna that has been measured at 250m wide and 194m high. It is said that you could fit 6 Notre Dame cathedrals in there, and a hot air balloon has even been flown in it! I doubt whether most of the peloton will be interested in having a look at the caves though. They will be too busy worrying about this climb. The climb measures 15.3km @ 7.4%. This is a serious test. This has been described as a harder climb than the Tourmalet, and possibly one of the hardest in the Pyrenees. The gradients start midly, but quickly ramp up and there are several consecutive kilometres with gradients over or well above 8%. Around 10km in the gradient eases slightly, but then gets serious again with the remainder of the climb varying between 5%-7%. The top is just after the Col du Soudet and the ski station right on the border with Spain, at 1610m. A difficult day following the rest day and with the change of rhythm that the climb will need. Someone is bound to lose time here. Bardet, Pinot, Barguil and co will be keen to take win on their national day, but this could be the day that we see Nairo Quintana stamp his mark on the race.
Bastille Day in the Pyrenees!
We move into a whole new phase of the Tour de France now with this stage that will allow us to see the climbers properly flex their muscles for the first time in the race. The Tarbes Budget Ibis was our base for 5 days last year when we did the Etape du Tour. Tarbes is a nice, tidy town, and in the same way that Gap is seen as the gateway to the Alps, Tarbes and the nearby Pau & Lourdes are very much gateway to the Pyrenees. From practically anywhere in Tarbes, you can see the beautiful and rather intimidating site of the Pyrenees dominating the Southern horizon. There's a lovely Italian in the very pleasant town centre called La Dolce Vite that do a good pizza and a mean bolognese, but I really don't recommend the Buffalo Grill. In fact my advice would be to give the whole chain of Buffalo Grills a very wide berth indeed. We have the first "real" climb of the Tour today with the HC summit finish at La Pierre-Saint-Martin.
This stage could catch some riders out. For a start, it comes after the rest day, secondly, the profile is pretty flat so the whole rhythm will be disturbed by the HC climb at the end. Lastly, as it is Bastille Day there will be extra incentive for the French riders. The stage is 167km long, but the first 143km are virtually flat. There are 3 Cat 4 climbs but they aren't going to cause any problems for anyone. The riders will head North West out of Tarbes towards Pau, which they skirt around to the North. They will then head South West towards Spain. The 3 Cat 4 climbs come at 66km, 90km and 134km. Once they are over the Cote du Montory they will quickly hit the lower slopes of the final climb.
La Pierre St Martin is a ski station on the Spanish/French border in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques region close to the town of Arrete, it has never been a stage finish before, although the race did go over the top from the other side in 2007. This area is well known for its caves, which are among the largest and most extensive in the world. Some of them are kilometres long, and one has a cavern called La Verna that has been measured at 250m wide and 194m high. It is said that you could fit 6 Notre Dame cathedrals in there, and a hot air balloon has even been flown in it! I doubt whether most of the peloton will be interested in having a look at the caves though. They will be too busy worrying about this climb. The climb measures 15.3km @ 7.4%. This is a serious test. This has been described as a harder climb than the Tourmalet, and possibly one of the hardest in the Pyrenees. The gradients start midly, but quickly ramp up and there are several consecutive kilometres with gradients over or well above 8%. Around 10km in the gradient eases slightly, but then gets serious again with the remainder of the climb varying between 5%-7%. The top is just after the Col du Soudet and the ski station right on the border with Spain, at 1610m. A difficult day following the rest day and with the change of rhythm that the climb will need. Someone is bound to lose time here. Bardet, Pinot, Barguil and co will be keen to take win on their national day, but this could be the day that we see Nairo Quintana stamp his mark on the race.
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Bit early for Gap. Tomorrow suits him if the break is allowed to go.
Garmin, Kaput.
Garmin, Kaput.
MOV having confidence in Quintana here, working hard on the front, destroying the peloton. If this is an armchair for Froome it might be an uncomfortable one.
Pinot, Bardet gone.
Movistar splitting this up SKYtrain style.
Movistar splitting this up SKYtrain style.
There's a Europcar in there or is it my eyes? Presumably Rolland.
Laid Gesink -- Valls came across too easily and he is a classy little climber.
It is Rolland, and Barguil I think, my apologies for that.
Yates and Valls gone. How Gallopin has stayed in there I'll never know.
So much for Froome riding defensively in the pyrennees! He is putting this to bed today!
You cannot discount Quintana, but Froome is 2013 vintage!
We never see following wheels on the first mountain stage, anyone who says we do doesn't know cycling.
Really impressed with Gesink at the moment after a couple of years of medical problems he looks to be back to where he left off.
Quintana again looking like he is not quite as good in the mountains as the media would have us believe .
The onus was on him to take time back and did absolutely zip.
The onus was on him to take time back and did absolutely zip.
Froome will have at least 3minutes on GC over 2º after this stage.
Good Gesink gave it a go, but it looked laboured and he was nowhere near the steep stuff where Froome attacked.
Race over on the first climb , accidents barring .
This is becoming a norm in Le Tour .
This is becoming a norm in Le Tour .
Quintana needed to go harder there on that easier section but he is going backwards...
A ride very much in the mould of Landis, Pantani, Armstrong etc. Highly unbelievable.
Not so unbelievable for those that saw the signs of his riding in the Criterium Dauphine!
Ventoux 2013 was supposed to be unbelievable, numbers were normal when they were hacked and released. Those shouting doping are now shouting that he was cheating with a motor.
Porte adding zeros to his next contract, whether that might be...
Sky will have 3 men in the first 6 on the stage, incredible strong team performance.
Is this the Porte who was dreadful in the Giro before abandoning ...... sailing past the 2nd best climber after being a work horse on the climb ?
If you guys are going to go like this, I'm ready to give this forum chat a miss!
TJ 2'29 on a climb that didn't suit him.
Contador 2'51.
Nibali's dom's have left him? Abandon coming?
Contador 2'51.
Nibali's dom's have left him? Abandon coming?
Jul 14, 2015 -- 9:55AM, Autocue wrote:
A ride very much in the mould of Landis, Pantani, Armstrong etc. Highly unbelievable.
lol. Anyone who knows cycling could see that one coming.
hard not to be cynical. everyone defending froome are the same people who defended Armstrong. Its cycling FFS.
and obviously didn't watch giro if you say porte was dreadful.
and obviously didn't watch giro if you say porte was dreadful.
Porte was in great shape going in to Giro but got injured in a fall there. All he has done here is regain his early season form when he was beating everyone on the climbs. Obviously people on here who haven't been watching all season!
Great stuff from Sky, they will now have yellow, polka dot, and team classifications, a testament to how good their training camp has been. froome said pre-race they were in better shape than ever and he is being proven right.
Great stuff from Sky, they will now have yellow, polka dot, and team classifications, a testament to how good their training camp has been. froome said pre-race they were in better shape than ever and he is being proven right.
Jul 14, 2015 -- 10:06AM, nugget wrote:
Porte 450/1 e/w
Well done! Wouldn't have touched that with anyones!
I haven't seen a rider dominate a climb like that since Rasmussen.
Yates and Gallopin had a wonder of a day. Wouldn't have either of them up in this company before the stage started.
good bet on porte. has been the first one dropping out each day to save himself.
A performance like that should always be rated highly suspect. It's the price cycling pays for condoning and covering up drug use for years. Froome put a minute into Contador and 40 seconds into Tejay in one kilometre. I don't believe that was clean.
Jul 14, 2015 -- 10:16AM, Autocue wrote:
A performance like that should always be rated highly suspect. It's the price cycling pays for condoning and covering up drug use for years. Froome put a minute into Contador and 40 seconds into Tejay in one kilometre. I don't believe that was clean.
Gallopin put 30 seconds into Contador ffs.
Autocue, the likes of Gallopin Thomas and Yates all put big time in to Contador. After riding the Giro Bertie was never going to be at his best here and was always going to struggle to go with Froome and Quintana, the fact he cracked so early showed how much the giro too out, and NOTHING to do with being suspect you idiot. As fpr TJVG he pften cracks and goes nbackwards on big mountains in the heat.
You know nothing about cycling an should keep your narrow minded opinions to yourself you fool.
Sky and Braislford are just about the most vocal anti-doping people there are in the sport.
You know nothing about cycling an should keep your narrow minded opinions to yourself you fool.
Sky and Braislford are just about the most vocal anti-doping people there are in the sport.
They're ****g Trolls CJ -- don't ever see them here -- one big stage, one big performance, in one big race, and they're all time experts. Forget about it, it's not like you're going to convince idiots, but I guess you can try.
Jul 14, 2015 -- 10:11AM, scoobeck wrote:
good bet on porte. has been the first one dropping out each day to save himself.
Saving energy to take time bonuses off Quintana.
Hopefully we won't here any more rubbish on Bastille Day next year about French riders and their 'desire' to win the day.
I did expect at least an attempt for a small group to get away and try and steal the day ......
I did expect at least an attempt for a small group to get away and try and steal the day ......
Looking back Barguil was very late in getting dropped. I wonder what he could have done if he didn't have that heavy bang and the long chase earlier in the day.
Nibali in 10th after being wiped out today and already 2 minutes back.
I would have expected some of the younger guys talked as contenders to have at least beaten that , but a number of them were very disappointing today.
I would have expected some of the younger guys talked as contenders to have at least beaten that , but a number of them were very disappointing today.
p.s Autocue - Contador has come out and said he struggled with his breathing and didn't feel great all day, hence why he went backwards quickly once the climb ramped up!
I think some of the big names got a peak at Froome's power data and were beaten mentally.
You couldn't half see this coming with the way Brailsford was going on the offensive in the media.
“It’s part of the game, isn’t it?” he said. “If he does well tomorrow [in the first Pyrenean stage], the rest of the Tour it’s ‘How do you know he’s not doping?’ We’ve thought about [what we can do to convince the doubters] but again we’ll be back to [discussing] pace of climbs, physiology, power data etc. Well, actually we have done something about it ... we think someone has hacked into our training data and got Chris’s files, so we’ve got some legal guys on the case there.”
“It’s part of the game, isn’t it?” he said. “If he does well tomorrow [in the first Pyrenean stage], the rest of the Tour it’s ‘How do you know he’s not doping?’ We’ve thought about [what we can do to convince the doubters] but again we’ll be back to [discussing] pace of climbs, physiology, power data etc. Well, actually we have done something about it ... we think someone has hacked into our training data and got Chris’s files, so we’ve got some legal guys on the case there.”
Contador loooked out on his legs at the end of the Giro , only his big lead got him home.
He is coming to the end of his career and to win the Giro and Le Tour is for a man in his peak .....if possible at all .
I expected the race to be a shoot out between Froome and Quintana .....but it is a mis-match.
Quintana did nothing other than sit behind Froome looking like he was going easy , not even the hint of an attack from him , a very big let down .
He is coming to the end of his career and to win the Giro and Le Tour is for a man in his peak .....if possible at all .
I expected the race to be a shoot out between Froome and Quintana .....but it is a mis-match.
Quintana did nothing other than sit behind Froome looking like he was going easy , not even the hint of an attack from him , a very big let down .
The long-range breakaway was allowed to build a big gap since they only numbered two and neither was an expert climber, moreover the predicted difficulty of this stage potentially causing gaps to form between the GC riders equal to that of the next two Pyrenean stages, allowed the GC teams to ride tempo, closing the course for better equipped riders to try their hand at forming a break closer to the start of the climb. Once the peloton got onto the climb proper, I think riders such as Gesink, Valls, and Valverde -- the only three that gave it a crack -- fell into the trap of attacking on a more comfortable section to their characteristics, when the nature of this climb prevented riders from setting a rhythm and would essentially disrupt their riding, eventually. Froome attacked on the steep section, where his whirling cadence is best suited, however by that point everyone else was too tired to regain time -- this was seen in the flatter section where a solo Quintana was going backwards when he should have been closing.
Quintana was probably the biggest loser today since he failed to enter the psychological game which began on the Mur de Huy. Froome was never going to follow wheels because things like that haven't been happening since the 90s, and he had improvement in hand.
Quintana was probably the biggest loser today since he failed to enter the psychological game which began on the Mur de Huy. Froome was never going to follow wheels because things like that haven't been happening since the 90s, and he had improvement in hand.
I think following wheels is more closely linked to races with riders being in strong positions because of time trialing expertise , Indurain , Wiggins , Evans etc. Not applicable this year due to lack of a long time trial.
Wasn't this years race setup being talked about a year ago as not suiting Froome ?
Wasn't this years race setup being talked about a year ago as not suiting Froome ?
I guess it can be argued that Contador was a bigger loser on today's stage than Quintana, losing 3 mins on the road and going from striking range of Froome to joining Nibali in the Autobus, however as CJ has said and many expected, Contador was always going to struggle in so far as the Giro was going to catch up with him eventually in this race.
2013 TdF deja vu. At the 2013 TdF on the first mountain top finish (Ax-3 Domaines) it was Froome winning from Porte 2nd at 51sec behind, Valverde 3rd at 1:08 behind and Quintana who worked for Valverde was 1:45 behind. Today on the first mtf of the 2015 TdF it was Froome winning from Porte 2nd at 59sec behind, Quintana 3rd at 1:04 and Valverde who worked for Quintana was 2:01 behind.
I could see what Movistar were trying to do with their tactics by riding on the front so early, they were trying to shed Froome of his helpers and leave him more isolated later on in the climb. The end result was that Movistar burnt up all their riders first leaving Froome with more teammates at the key part of the climb. It was plain to see Froome was super strong at this point of the race and with a suitable stage for him (see 2013 tdf) it might have been wiser for Movistar to let Sky ride on the front. Not that I think it would of made much difference to the outcome but the gap might not have been so large.
I could see what Movistar were trying to do with their tactics by riding on the front so early, they were trying to shed Froome of his helpers and leave him more isolated later on in the climb. The end result was that Movistar burnt up all their riders first leaving Froome with more teammates at the key part of the climb. It was plain to see Froome was super strong at this point of the race and with a suitable stage for him (see 2013 tdf) it might have been wiser for Movistar to let Sky ride on the front. Not that I think it would of made much difference to the outcome but the gap might not have been so large.
Yeah I think the writing was on the wall with Contador at the Giro. He was lucky to win it and if Astana had of played their cards right they could of won that Giro.
Autocue, the likes of Gallopin Thomas and Yates all put big time in to Contador. After riding the Giro Bertie was never going to be at his best here and was always going to struggle to go with Froome and Quintana, the fact he cracked so early showed how much the giro too out, and NOTHING to do with being suspect you idiot. As fpr TJVG he pften cracks and goes nbackwards on big mountains in the heat.
You know nothing about cycling an should keep your narrow minded opinions to yourself you fool.
Sky and Braislford are just about the most vocal anti-doping people there are in the sport.
You are trolling yes? this is not a serious reply.... surely not??
You know nothing about cycling an should keep your narrow minded opinions to yourself you fool.
Sky and Braislford are just about the most vocal anti-doping people there are in the sport.
You are trolling yes? this is not a serious reply.... surely not??
I'm surprised with the reactions of posters here who are quick to condemn other posters for being suspicious of a riders performances. I mean if Chris Froome didn't want to be accused of being a doper then he should've chose another sport. You have to feel a bit for Froome but really with cycling's track record it's just part of the territory. Any long time cycling followers must have had favourite riders in the past who were doping and I'm sure if you were shrewd enough to now the signs you would of made some coin. It is a bit funny that some are so quick to jump all over someone else who is a bit suspicious of a riders performance and accuse people of being ignorant or stupid and act like it's such an outrageous accusation. It's not like this would be a new thing for cycling.
Jul 14, 2015 -- 11:58AM, seanpantani wrote:
Autocue, the likes of Gallopin Thomas and Yates all put big time in to Contador. After riding the Giro Bertie was never going to be at his best here and was always going to struggle to go with Froome and Quintana, the fact he cracked so early showed how much the giro too out, and NOTHING to do with being suspect you idiot. As fpr TJVG he pften cracks and goes nbackwards on big mountains in the heat. You know nothing about cycling an should keep your narrow minded opinions to yourself you fool.Sky and Braislford are just about the most vocal anti-doping people there are in the sport.You are trolling yes? this is not a serious reply.... surely not??
Go on, have a go at putting an opinion up instead of some ad-hom attacks which you can't back up?
No?
I particularly like to read the libel forums of Cycling News each time Froome/SKY has a good performance. It's full of Contador fans whining, the same thing seems to have spilled over here.
I don't mind, I call a doper a doper. Was there anything suspicious in todays performance? Not particularly. Numbers for Froome are lower than you'd expect but the outrage is because of Contador and Nibali not being close. Same in 2013 where Laurens Ten Dam(One of my favourite riders) was put up as the yardstick for Froome being exceptional.
If I were most of the commentators who have pitched up here I'd be looking at why Contador isn't performing in the biggest cycling race since his ban.
I don't mind, I call a doper a doper. Was there anything suspicious in todays performance? Not particularly. Numbers for Froome are lower than you'd expect but the outrage is because of Contador and Nibali not being close. Same in 2013 where Laurens Ten Dam(One of my favourite riders) was put up as the yardstick for Froome being exceptional.
If I were most of the commentators who have pitched up here I'd be looking at why Contador isn't performing in the biggest cycling race since his ban.
C'mon now, Contador started on Lance's Team Discovery Channel. Contador has his bad meat and Froome has his mystery illnesses.
tbf to Froome if you look down the top-15 of todays stage and take out the "big names" you would probably say he didn't beat much and he underperformed.
I think maybe Froome fans get a bad rap because most of Armstrong's fans probably jumped on his bandwagon.
tbf to Froome if you look down the top-15 of todays stage and take out the "big names" you would probably say he didn't beat much and he underperformed.
I think maybe Froome fans get a bad rap because most of Armstrong's fans probably jumped on his bandwagon.
Reading the lines, I suspect most of the Armstrong fans hitched to the Contador wagon.
I still can not comprehend what people found unbelieveable about Froome's peformance today??? The figures and times were nothing unusual, the man who has dominated most mountain top finishes he has competed in for the last 4 years won again?? Nibali who rarely if ever has beaten Froome on a mountain top finish gets blown away so??
The only rider I thought at the start of the stage would be able to live with Froome on the climb if all was together was Quintna, but this was based on Quintana of last year. The Colombian has done very little of note this year, and so would seem he is just not in the same form as last year, hence why the likes of Thomas, Gallopin , Yates were only just behind him. Quintana himself would have blown away the likes of them in last years form but he just isn't.
Froome won the final two stages at the Dauphine, all the facts said he was the strongest rider in the best form coming in to the race, and he is just backing that up. What is such a shock about that??? I don't know what other result you people expected today?? The only mildly surpising thing to me was that Quintna wasn't more competitive and that the two of them weren't further clear of the rest, as that was what I was expecting. I presumed Quintana would be in better strong form and I may just have misjudged that, and gicen him too much credit for last year, not taking this years form in to account enough.
I think at the start I said I could see Contador and Nibali struggling on the big mountains against the big two and thats what happened.
So please somebody tell me where the surprise was today because I didn't see one.
The only rider I thought at the start of the stage would be able to live with Froome on the climb if all was together was Quintna, but this was based on Quintana of last year. The Colombian has done very little of note this year, and so would seem he is just not in the same form as last year, hence why the likes of Thomas, Gallopin , Yates were only just behind him. Quintana himself would have blown away the likes of them in last years form but he just isn't.
Froome won the final two stages at the Dauphine, all the facts said he was the strongest rider in the best form coming in to the race, and he is just backing that up. What is such a shock about that??? I don't know what other result you people expected today?? The only mildly surpising thing to me was that Quintna wasn't more competitive and that the two of them weren't further clear of the rest, as that was what I was expecting. I presumed Quintana would be in better strong form and I may just have misjudged that, and gicen him too much credit for last year, not taking this years form in to account enough.
I think at the start I said I could see Contador and Nibali struggling on the big mountains against the big two and thats what happened.
So please somebody tell me where the surprise was today because I didn't see one.
Jul 14, 2015 -- 10:51AM, nugget wrote:
I think some of the big names got a peak at Froome's power data and were beaten mentally.
The figures and times were nothing unusual, the man who has dominated most mountain top finishes he has competed in for the last 4 years won again??
He has been good during this period but with all this mountain top domination over the last 4 years he has only won one GT. Maybe he'll real off 6 or 7.
So please somebody tell me where the surprise was today because I didn't see one.
The other big name riders were worse than expected. Even TJ got spanked and he kept Froome pretty close at the Dauphine. 3 Sky riders in the top 6 alittle surprising. I do agree with you that Froome's performance was not surprising.
Maybe all the clean riders in the top-10 made Froome's performance look better than what it was.
the East African true brits shining very brightly in their respective sports
Quintana looked to be pretty comfortable(as comfortable as one can be on a mountain climb) but found nothing off the bridle
in fact it looked to me as if he never came off the bridle
maybe that's just the way he rides & he was extending himself even tho'he appeared to just be relatively cruising
end result being..'they think it's all over' & barring an act of God(if such a being exists) it appears to be very much the case..now 1/6..free money?
Quintana looked to be pretty comfortable(as comfortable as one can be on a mountain climb) but found nothing off the bridle
in fact it looked to me as if he never came off the bridle
maybe that's just the way he rides & he was extending himself even tho'he appeared to just be relatively cruising
end result being..'they think it's all over' & barring an act of God(if such a being exists) it appears to be very much the case..now 1/6..free money?
Nearly all top sports stars are doping -they're not going to get caught because noone wants to catch them. Too much $$$ at stake.
Wasn't TJ's sort of climb so I think he did well to manage his losses and stay well on the podium. The guys that you would have thought would have jumped him all did worse than expected bar Quintana.
Last seasons dominant players..
Nibali 16th +4,02
Peraud 25th +5,38
Pinot 49th +10,03
Last seasons dominant players..
Nibali 16th +4,02
Peraud 25th +5,38
Pinot 49th +10,03
Yeah probably free money jtb but I have a Froome-Dauphine/TdF double going so I'll pass on the 1/6, I personally couldn't believe Froome was still better than evens when he had a 2min advantage. This stage was similar in route and result to the first mtf in the 2013 TdF. Froome punished the opposition with Porte 2nd and Movistar 3rd. Interesting to note that in the last 2 mountain stages in 2013 Froome looked to be fatigued and Quintana took 1:30 back off him and Quintana was riding for Valverde for half the race. This time Froome should see him coming though and I just dont think the route is hard enough this year for Quintana to take back the required time even if Froome fades and Quintana finishes strong again.
Nugget I think your analysis of the stage and how panned out was spot on regards Movistar and Sky's efforts, a great summary of what happened.
With regard to TJVG being closer to Froome at the dauphine, i think that was to be expected. TJVG is a very good one week rider and was in no doubt in top condition to try and win the Dauphine. However Froome was trying to peak for this, and has a much stronger 3 week pedigree. So I think it was fully expected Froome would put a lot more in to TJVG here than in the Dauphine especially in the heat on a climb like todays.
And yes Froome should have won more grand tours, and undoubtedly will. Unfortunatey in 2012 he was chiefly riding for Wiggins, and though he did go to the Vuelta its hard to back up the tour and Vuelta. He had only narrowly missed out the year before when beaten by Cobo whose performances did definitely come out of leftfield. Then 2013 he won the tour convincingly his major goal for the year, before crashing out last year when big favourite to follow up. he did go on to ride the Vuelta but his injuries from the tour meant he was not in peak condition there. If he stays fit and well, I would fully expect him to win at least a few more grand tours, as of the riders about at the minute I believe only Quintana can really live with him when he puts the hammer down on the big mountains.
With regard to TJVG being closer to Froome at the dauphine, i think that was to be expected. TJVG is a very good one week rider and was in no doubt in top condition to try and win the Dauphine. However Froome was trying to peak for this, and has a much stronger 3 week pedigree. So I think it was fully expected Froome would put a lot more in to TJVG here than in the Dauphine especially in the heat on a climb like todays.
And yes Froome should have won more grand tours, and undoubtedly will. Unfortunatey in 2012 he was chiefly riding for Wiggins, and though he did go to the Vuelta its hard to back up the tour and Vuelta. He had only narrowly missed out the year before when beaten by Cobo whose performances did definitely come out of leftfield. Then 2013 he won the tour convincingly his major goal for the year, before crashing out last year when big favourite to follow up. he did go on to ride the Vuelta but his injuries from the tour meant he was not in peak condition there. If he stays fit and well, I would fully expect him to win at least a few more grand tours, as of the riders about at the minute I believe only Quintana can really live with him when he puts the hammer down on the big mountains.
The gap between Froome and TJVG didn't surprise me. Despite his consistency I think TJVG's chances have been a bit overated. Gesink, Yates, Thomas, Rolland and Gallopin all finishing in front of him is evidence of this albeit a touch surprising.
Agree with you about Froome, should of won more and should win more, as long as he can stay on top of the illnesses that have plagued his career.
Agree with you about Froome, should of won more and should win more, as long as he can stay on top of the illnesses that have plagued his career.
nice bet there NUGGET..not tempted to lay off @1.18?
you're in a strong position
you never know with these falls what can happen
you're in a strong position
you never know with these falls what can happen
seanpantani 14 Jul 15 17:58
You are trolling yes? this is not a serious reply.... surely not??
sean, haven't seen you posting for donkeys years, hope you're winning
You are trolling yes? this is not a serious reply.... surely not??
sean, haven't seen you posting for donkeys years, hope you're winning
I think I will take him on at the present odds of 1.18 too far to go yet,accident/illness can still be major factors.Will Thomas and Porte be able to carry on as they did today there are some horrendous stages coming especially next week and Thomas seems to have ridden in just about every race this year.I know Froome has a decent buffer now but a part of me thinks the plan was get as much time as possible early on knowing next week could be the teams weakness.Nibali and Contador proved today how much time you can lose on one stage if its an off day.
yeah jtb I might lay off a bit @1.18(& back Quintana @8/1) to lightly green my position on the field vs Froome. If nothing else to guard against misfortune as ekbalko and yourself suggest, after all there is still a lot of km's to be ridden. Taking that position will allow me to better focus on backing some more stage winners too.
GoBallistic - all good thanks, been out of the UK for a few years and been using other sites given that i have been in the US..
back now - and enjoying all this circus again!
and yes - to date the TdF has been good for me (even Froome...)
back now - and enjoying all this circus again!
and yes - to date the TdF has been good for me (even Froome...)
Good to hear
Circus is a good way to describe it - different clowns but otherwise business as usual
Circus is a good way to describe it - different clowns but otherwise business as usual
Anybody catch the BBC News 22:00 last night? The majority of its coverage about the stage was questioning if Froome was doping.
It wound me up so much that I have emailed Points of View to complain. Doubt if BBC would have covered it the same way if the held the rights or its wasn't 'SKY' who sponsor the team.
It wound me up so much that I have emailed Points of View to complain. Doubt if BBC would have covered it the same way if the held the rights or its wasn't 'SKY' who sponsor the team.
The risk reward ratio for Dave Braislford having anything to do with doping is massive. He has so much to lose to have anything to do with doping. For him it just wouldn't be worth it.
had to have a small lay of froome for a oner at these odds..probably representative of his chances but u never know what the next day may bring
not trying to kybosh u NUGGET just purely a maths thing
as it goes with all the hype pre tour of 4 genuine contenders it's proving to be anti climactic..bit disappointing really unless events change
not trying to kybosh u NUGGET just purely a maths thing
as it goes with all the hype pre tour of 4 genuine contenders it's proving to be anti climactic..bit disappointing really unless events change
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