Posted this in the TdF equipment thread as well....

Interesting that the majority of the Etixx - QS team are still on the old Venge. Cav is on the new Venge and it looked like Kwiakowski was as well. Haven't see any of the Asatana guys yet....

Step Clemons in the breakaway is on the new Scott Foil.

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After the talk of how Astana is such a strong team, this stage is giving them fits.

What's with BMC? They get Tejay up there and then they sit on instead of contributing and gaining more time.

No need with Alberto and Froome in the group. They're not going to drop them so let the sprinter teams do the work on the front.

Of course there is, he needs to gain as much time as possible at every opportunity. To miss out on distancing the best climber in race is a mistake.

Why does it seam that the Specialized rides are all getting flats?

Any idea why Cav went so early? It seemed pretty obvious that he was going to get caught with the quality of riders tucking in behind him. Was there a strategy that I'm not understanding?

Because he used to be able to win easily by going at 200 yds. He's lost some speed.

Slick riding by Greipel and FC to slip in. Cav kind of screwed Martin by not sprinting all the way to line and letting FC get third.

Really good racing today, Cav went too early but he also did not get a lead out, not sure if that was predetermined to try and not drop Martin. Really amazing finish by Sagan considering he had to put in a huge effort at 14k to get back from his puncture. Cancellara proved once again that in a super hard stage he can finish with the sprinters. Greipel did exactly what he needed to do.

That seemed like too simple of an answer., but you're probably right Maybe he can't admit that he's lost a step and needs to change tactics. I guess he wouldn't be the first great athlete to have trouble admitting that Father Time catches up with everyone.

It was earlier than 200, closer to 300. Renshaw ran out of gas too early and there was nothing left to do but hit the gas and hope it lasts. It didn't. Besides, a long flat sprint favors Greipel in any year.

Agreed, it looked more like Renahaw running out of gas, leaving Cav little choice but go early or get jumped.

a bunch sprint is a team event... Cav is as awesome as ever, or perhaps he's "lost a step", but that's not why he didn't win today.

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Yeah, Etixx made a mess of that finish. After crushing it to create the gap, they mucked up the finale and not only lose the stage, but cost Martin the jersey.

Unbelievable. And not the first time this year they have screwed up races they should have won.

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Absolutely, especially since Teejay is not an explosive climber. BMC should have ridden harder / more to create a bigger gap.

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Slick riding by Greipel and FC to slip in. Cav kind of screwed Martin by not sprinting all the way to line and letting FC get third.

No kidding! Ok, so he didn't know it was FC, but still... why is he sitting up? Isn't he interested in the points jersey?

Maybe he can't admit that he's lost a step and needs to change tactics.

Just a screw up. Hit the front too soon. Greipel and Sagan got a great pull to the line.

I think people underestimate the toll that this race took on the guys in the front group. It was a brutal classics-style event, not a typical TdF bunch sprint day with lots of places to hide until the last few minutes.

Avg speed for the stage was 29.75mph.

I think you are a little optimistic as to what BMC can / did do - they rode pretty damn hard, as did Sky and Saxo-Tinkoff to get that gap up to 1:28... that's a huge gap when you consider Astana, Movistar, Garmin and Katusha all had major incentive to chase - as did weaker teams like FDJ and AG2R. Taking 1 minute out of an Astana / Movistar chase would be a good result so getting closer to 1:30 must make BMC, Sky and Saxo-Tinkoff very happy.

It looked like when the split started they sat on and I think were hoping Rohan would catch up. But, I did see them starting to work later once they decided the yellow jersey was lost and putting time in Nibili and Quintana.

Kwiatkowski averaged 52.8 kph (33mph) over the final 1:15 with an avg power of 343W. He was working pretty hard.

343W is cruising for him. The guys pulling the train would have been double that.

cruising? I'd figure his threshold to be around 400, so this would be at ~80%. More pertinent, this is at the end of the stage.

also he did pull the train quite a bit.

Sorry, that was 1:15:00 not 1 min. I didn't see anyone working harder.

The most impressive number for me was this one:

Quote:

Sagan (TCS) clocked a speed of 73.33 km/hr to get back into the race

http://www.theguardian.com/...-2015-stage-two-live

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Cavendish answered this question on Twitter:

@MarkCavendish: If I could hang on for 3rd, I could hang on for the win... Some imbeciles think cycling is a computer game. Problem is, social media & TV are platforms for them to be heard. Gutted for @tonymartin85. Congratulations @AndreGreipel.

Right?!?! I mean, c'mon... he got the red number to wear tomorrow for a reason. He also lost 15 seconds in the last K after Renshaw took over.
Dude was a horse today.

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Exactly, a combination of factors meant he didn't win. If you watch the last 2 km you see that coming into 1km to go Cav and Renshaw are isolated about 6-7 wheels back. Renshaw surges from about 700 to go up the left with Cav on his wheel, then starts his lead out from about 550-600 when he hits the front, Cav starts his sprint at around 250 to go. Way too early when the race is in the gutter from cross winds and he hasn't been able to sit in all day. So a number of things culminated in him getting rolled in the sprint: the tough conditions, Renshaw/Cav losing the rest of the train, Renshaw being poorly placed and having to start his leadout too early, Cav starting his sprint too early.

Greipel is the most underrated sprinter in the peloton, but not by Cavendish.
Cav had the guerilla on his wheel, but when he saw Gallopin starting to come around Renshaw on his right, he went full gas the left.
Greipel didn't screw up, stuck to Cav's wheel, and used him as a leadout.
Game over.

Great riding by Greipel, nice try by Cav, who may well have lost a step... but showed absolutely no evidence of it today.

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Or a solo event. (Greipel, Sagan).

@MarkCavendish: If I could hang on for 3rd, I could hang on for the win... Some imbeciles think cycling is a computer game. Problem is, social media & TV are platforms for them to be heard. Gutted for @tonymartin85. Congratulations @AndreGreipel.

Of course he didn't know FC was the guy passing him, but denying that he sat up makes him look like a wanker in denial.

LOL at people who have no concept of power, 600-700w for over an hour.....

You think rruff has no concept of power? He is talking about guys taking pulls at the front.

http://sportsscientists.com/...from-the-outside-in/

These are some average numbers from 15 non-GC contenders on flat and mountain stages. Takes some pulling at the front of a tour peloton..



And here are some maximum numbers from same sample.

All on turbo cottons?

You're really backing me up, the original post was AVERAGE power for one hour and 15 minutes of 343W, no one is doing double that for the same time period. His average heart rate was 170, so I'm guessing it wasn't an "easy ride"

I'll just quote this because I don't want it to go unnoticed. I wonder what kind of a toll that took...seeing that he only lost by a few inches AND he spun his rear wheel out on the last 2 pedal strokes before the line.

The one poster corrected to 1 hr 15 min, ruff was answering 1min 15 sec. ruff is on of those who knows quite a bit about cycling on this board.

A lot of that was him drafting behind the team cars so probably only doing 150 watts :-)

The one poster corrected to 1 hr 15 min, ruff was answering 1min 15 sec.

Yes, I was thinking of the guys setting up the final sprint. They'd be in the 700W range.

But 343W AP isn't that amazing for an hour either, not for a top world tour pro. I assume he was taking a lot of pulls though, so his NP would have been a lot higher.

Looked to me like Sagan had it, even with all the work to get back in the race, but for that wheel spinning at the end. In addition to talent, youth and training - the other thing the pro's have that I don't (Sagan more than many) is the ability to calmly hydroplane while going all out for the line. If you watch the replay closely you can see him accommodate the rear end going all over the place while still trying to throw down power and toss his bike at the line.

Another bike handling clinic by Sagan, however another example of perhaps a tactical error by allowing himself to get pushed on the painted line in the wet. He may not have had any other choice at that point with the gorilla in front of him, but perhaps he could have gotten all the way to the other side of the line to avoid slipping? Race of mm at that point - going that far over may have cost him the same as the slip.

In any event, love that the commentators failed to notice or mention the slipping even after multiple slow motion replays.

Yeah fair enough, 1min would be higher for sure, plenty of spikes in the 500-600w range, so yeah the NP would be fairly high, definitely not what you want on the second stage.

I was wondering why they failed to address that at all in the broadcast. All I was thinking is that all this "10% stiffer here and 15% improvement in lateral that" mumbo jumbo makes absolutely not a lick of difference for me (with 28mm tires on my go to bike) - but for a world tour sprinter/puncheur it may be the difference between 1st and second. His bike looked like was flexing like a cooked piece of pasta. I couldn't bend a frame like that if I jumped on it while it's lying on its side :)