That's right ...... I do remember that!

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Rick, "Retired" hobbyist athlete
Trying to come back slowly from acute A-Fib

All and all. What had the potential of being your standard sprint stage (Meaning: breakaway, caught, field sprint) actually turned out to be a rather interesting and exciting day of racing

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When all is said and done. More is usually said than done
Ba Ba Booey

I think that Saxo looked good, but it still comes down to whether or not Contador can back it up on Ventoux and so on. Yeah it was a big blow and he took a bit over a minute, but he's still 2.5 minutes down. And he's that far down because he wasn't strong enough, not because he missed out or had a mechanical.

On the other hand Sky is hurting. Down a couple of riders and getting themselves worked over. I suspect that Froome will be alone pretty early on Ventoux on Sunday. He's going to have to defend on his own for a lot of that climb. But so far at least, his opposition hasn't shown that they are capable of doing anything to him. If Contador can't take time from Froome on Ventoux I suspect he isn't going to win the Tour.

Great job by the Belkin guys to catch the move and gain on GC. Of course, they are Dutch and this stuff is their bread and butter, even for a couple of climbers. But I don't think they are strong enough to really take it to Froome.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a group get a huge lead tomorrow. Sky will probably try to take the day off as much as possible and make the sprinter teams work if they want the break to come back to save themselves for Sunday. And again, on Sunday I'd let a bunch of no hopers get a big lead and screw the stage win to save energy and use the guys on Ventoux where it matters.

All in all though, today was one of the best stages I've seen in quite a while. Good stuff!

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Kevin

http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com
My Strava

tomorrow Sagan's team is gonna TTT it I think

unless others go ballistic and mess it all up. Maybe Garmin again?

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

That twitter account went off the deep end a few nights back. I legit, it looks like Oleg went on a massive bender.

God damn gingers.....

Apparently it was Roche and Rogers wanting to give it a go, a quick look back to Alberto, he gave the nod and they hit the gas full on. Never even ran it by the team car.

Edit: Here's the article

http://velonews.competitor.com/...he-crosswinds_294869

Supposedly Fabian's 2010 P-R winning move was sparked by Riis. He saw from the car that Boonen had drifted to the back to eat/drink, and told Fabian to go now.

pretty cool stuff.
I'd love to have a cat 3 team with that kind of experience and communication.

we wouldn't be cat 3 for long!

and then I'd be all screwed

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Was it my imagination or was Contador not taking pulls?

It's a TTT at that point. You're putting time on the yellow jersey. Why not help out?

Or was he and I just didn't see him at the front?

If he took a pull it was only a token one and cameras didn't catch it, I never even saw him drift out of the pace line . . . gotta admit that's smart racing, saving those legs for another day, no?

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What are you people, on dope?

—Mr. Hand

Is that what GC contenders normally do during a TTT?

nope, but nor do they draft cars . . . and though I see your point, neither incident occurred during a true TTT.

I didn't say he rode with honor or teamwork or pride, but with brains. As the guy says in Days of Thunder, "If Nascar won't call it low-down, dirty, shit-ass racin', then YOU OUGHTA!"

I don't like AC. At all. But from a risk/reward standpoint with Ventoux and the Alps to go, he was better off without his nose in the wind. How much more time would he have gained on Froome with a turn or two at the front of that attack? I say not enough to justify expending those extra watts. Certainly today's ride won't have done wonders for his teammates' impression of him, but they are paid to ride him to yellow.

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What are you people, on dope?

—Mr. Hand

He pulled at least once. I noticed and thought it was cool for him to pitch in. It may have been a short pull shortly after Saxo started to put the hammer down.

Agree. Best flat land stage I've seen in a while.
Froome said “personally, I think there will be more time won and lost on a stage like Ventoux than in the last 20K of a today’s stage.” Lots of racing left.
I feel sorry for Valverde. Bad timing to have that happen. Interesting comment from announcer saying why not quickly change bikes with someone (10 sec) vs wheel change which took a lot longer.
Marty

My question is, with another flat stage tomorrow and most every team gassed from today, why not put in an effort? Maybe it amounts to 10 seconds, maybe more or less...but as a fairly fresh and incredibly strong rider why not get in the mix and see if you can put in more time, rest the legs tomorrow?

And of course I'm basing this on the expectation that tomorrow is gonna be a cakewalk...we'll see. I fully expect it to be a real slow, boring stage after today and before the wheels point skyward. But I would have liked to have seen Contador (and Froome, for that matter) to have taken a few turns at the front.

With that many team mates he wouldn't work nor be expected to. The two Dutch guys would be expected to work as they didn't have domestiques to do it for them. Same for Cav and Sagan.

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Kevin

http://kevinmetcalfe.dreamhosters.com
My Strava

Here's the question...if it was Froome that punctured instead of Valverde...what happens?

That's why these guys have teams... To gain them time and protect them. With that many guys around him it's remarkable AC did any work at all. I don't really like AC either but gotta say I'm pulling for him this year. It would just be too boring to watch froome and the sky train march through the mountains.

Huge loss for Valverde today, sucks for him. The moment he didn't just take a bike from a teammate was the moment he lost the race and podium.

At some point soon I think sky is going to fail froome big time. It's getting worse and worse. Today he should have had teammates to close down that gap. Plain and simple.

Depends "when" he punctures, typically. If the attack was up the road I don't think they'd slow. They wouldn't attack right after he punctures, again typically. Not sure who tries to neutralize that like cancellara did a couple years ago.

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Fruit snacks are for winners

Agreed on all points except the first...I think today turned into a TTT, and putting some time at the front would have done both Contador and Froome well. More AC than CF, but taking a few turns could have cut/saved some time, and I think everyone's agreed that tomorrow is the very definition of a rest stage.

Nothing against AC, I think he's awesome and when on his game (or on other stuff) he's as fun to watch going uphill as anyone in the game. But a little help might have both helped him, and given the team a little boost that their leader is in it 100%

Few things:

1) While Saxo did burn a lot of energy, so did Sky. Contador had 5 team mates to pull for him, plus the others in the group. Froome had about the same, but at least one of those riders is injured and his contribution minimal.

2) This also moved both Saxo AND Belkin riders into the top 5. This means that in the top 5, Froome is the only rider without a teammate present. Either Belkin or Saxo have a vested interest in attacking Froome, especially Belkin as they are sitting in second. This works to Contadors advantage in that Froome must now counter TWO organized threats with teammates that can eat big margins into him. If it were more different teams in the top 5, they would likely look to attack eachother to secure their placing, but now they can afford to send one rider up the road, while having the other sit in. This puts ALOT more pressure on Froome.

3) This also makes Valverde and Movistar very interested in doing SOMETHING, ANYTHING to make this tour a success. They have not won a stage, and are on the bubble of making top ten. This could force them to try something to make the tour a success, and force Sky to do something.

4) It showed that Sky's team is weak and getting weaker (and possibly disorganized when things start getting chaotic) while Saxo still has some gas left in the tank. If Sky has burned too many matches too early this could lead to trouble especially in the last few days, when it could be easy for a threatening rider to slip away and Froome is forced to chase to maintain his lead. This also boosted the morale of other teams to attack more in hopes of shaking things up.

Sky's chief problem is that they are tactically inept. It has been that way since the beginning of the team. If everything goes according to plan and they can race to the finish staring at their power meters then things work out well. When they have to deal with the chaotic nature of road racing, they frequently screw the pooch. Their DSes have complained about Brailsford interfering with them doing their jobs. There are not exactly echelons on the track.

Sky was caught asleept at the wheel. Once the gap opened they were boned. Cav put out more Wattage bridging the gap to the first group than he did in the final sprint, which shows how hard it was to get across.

I agree with your assessment of Sky's tactical ineptitude, and take it a step further. Froome should have gone for the yellow so early in the Tour. He should have remained close and struck when the tour hits the Alps. Now his team has burned themselves out (or gotten injured) trying to keep him in yellow.

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

No, when the time comes to take time from your opponents, you do it. You don't wait for later. SKy had everyone on the ropes in the first mountain stage and they rightfully went for the kill.

Now, perhaps they should have let a group of no-hopers get away over the last week, but by the time that opportunity would have presented itself, the time gaps were pretty big and other teams were motivated to keep things together (Movistar on the 2nd mountain stage, sprinters this week, etc).

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

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