As much as I am tired of seeing Sky and Froome dominate the tour, I have to say they executed very well again this year and deserved this win. Now that it’s over, anyone want to try and call their shot on when Froome will finally crack and go away? I’m guessing they will load up the team and try to get him #5 next year, but I don’t see him winning again after that. My prediction is that he has a good chance of cracking next year and if he somehow wins, he will definitely be done and dusted in 2019. Thoughts?
Who’s going to beat him? Uran is 30, only slightly younger. Team Sky also seems much stronger than other teams and with seemingly great management. It might just be his own motivation that gets him in the end.
He’s already done. This was his final victory lap. If not for Mikel Landa going back to pull him, it may have been Landa winning. I’m really hoping Landa can put two seconds on Bardet for a podium. That guy deserves it more than anyone.
As much as I am tired of seeing Sky and Froome dominate the tour, I have to say they executed very well again this year and deserved this win. Now that it’s over, anyone want to try and call their shot on when Froome will finally crack and go away? I’m guessing they will load up the team and try to get him #5 next year, but I don’t see him winning again after that. My prediction is that he has a good chance of cracking next year and if he somehow wins, he will definitely be done and dusted in 2019. Thoughts?
Who’s going to beat him? Uran is 30, only slightly younger. Team Sky also seems much stronger than other teams and with seemingly great management. It might just be his own motivation that gets him in the end.
Dumoulin might have a shot with a proper Team.
Bardet and Aru need to drill TT practices.
Barguil has the potential, but he first needs to prove that he can manage the stress of a grand Tour as a folgender.
I think that the answer to this is when the team weakens. Sky have yet again been utterly dominant. They have two or three riders in the team acting as domestiques who could be GC contenders in their own right. Will be interesting if they head to other teams in search of their own glory.
A good friend of mine made an astute comment the other day - now that there is (we assume) less / no drugs in the peloton the racing has become a lot more boring. It has again been a bit of a procession. One exciting stage (9 I think it was) where Porte had his crash amongst other things, but other than that, just a long ride around France. When everyone was tanked up on they were able to recover and attack again the next day. Just look at Bardet today after the TT - I’m not sure he’ll make it to Paris tomorrow!
I’m not saying lets go back to the Armstrong days, but things were certainly more lively shall we say.
I think that the answer to this is when the team weakens. Sky have yet again been utterly dominant. They have two or three riders in the team acting as domestiques who could be GC contenders in their own right. Will be interesting if they head to other teams in search of their own glory.
A good friend of mine made an astute comment the other day - now that there is (we assume) less / no drugs in the peloton the racing has become a lot more boring. It has again been a bit of a procession. One exciting stage (9 I think it was) where Porte had his crash amongst other things, but other than that, just a long ride around France. When everyone was tanked up on they were able to recover and attack again the next day. Just look at Bardet today after the TT - I’m not sure he’ll make it to Paris tomorrow!
I’m not saying lets go back to the Armstrong days, but things were certainly more lively shall we say.
In terms of doped and exciting vs undoped and less exciting, the solution is alternating more stages that are 100K long after the 180K stages. They don’t need to make every stage 100K, but alternate mountain stages that are short would open up more exciting racing while undoped.
For example the Izoard stage on Wed did not need to be 180K.
Look at this stage profile. Start it at Les Thuiles at the the halfway (distance) point where the intermediate sprint is. Move the intermediate sprint to Jausiers to make sure the pace is immediately hot for the first 15K. Then you have a Cat 1 climb and HC climb as a full out drag race. Even amateur/age group cyclists can go full gas on two of these in a day on a 90K outing.
I think one of the issues especially in the mountains is it seemed too many times they let the break go and end up racing for 3rd-6th. Since the races are esssntially always decided in the mountains + TT then make the wins really count.
Among the top 3 GC guys, how many even went top 3 in stages? Froome got 2 3rds in mts and 3rd today right? So it seems like it’s more about marking each other then going for the glory of wins. IE, to me a stage win isn’t enough for them to “go for it” unless they are too far down and then we’re given the freedom to get away.
And no I don’t want to advocate 1min for stage winds but I wonder what this would look like.
Int time bonuses- 10,6,3
Finish time bonuses- 20,12,6
What id like to see is intermediate and finish time bonuses.
How did Landa lose nearly 3 mins to yellow before he got allowed to go in the break in the middle of the Toue? I know in stage 1, he finished 1min down…but did he crash in other stages? Or drop off after massive pulls? That was why he was even allowed in the break w contador and Q, they were too far down already that they were given rope.
I’m not saying lets go back to the Armstrong days, but things were certainly more lively shall we say.There were identical complaints of boring races when Armstrong and USPS were dominant.
Edit: Avg margin of victory for LA in his first 4 wins was 6:55 so not exactly close.
well thomas was set to be froome’s last man til he crashed out, the same role poels played last year.
landa lost 1:08 in stage 1
landa lost 1:07 in stage 5 mtn finish
i’m not going to look thru to see when he lost other seconds.
sky allowed him to go so bardet, aru, martin, etc had to do some work. he’s close to their GC spots.
if he doesn’t get distanced to the line 2 days ago on izoard then he could very well be 3rd now.
he has a job to do and for the most part he did it quite well.
kwiat was the real star for sky
I think one of the issues especially in the mountains is it seemed too many times they let the break go and end up racing for 3rd-6th. Since the races are esssntially always decided in the mountains + TT then make the wins really count.
Among the top 3 GC guys, how many even went top 3 in stages? Froome got 2 3rds in mts and 3rd today right? So it seems like it’s more about marking each other then going for the glory of wins. IE, to me a stage win isn’t enough for them to “go for it” unless they are too far down and then we’re given the freedom to get away.
And no I don’t want to advocate 1min for stage winds but I wonder what this would look like.
Int time bonuses- 10,6,3
Finish time bonuses- 20,12,6
What id like to see is intermediate and finish time bonuses.
Here is how to fix the tour.
first off the TdF is a much to big of a stage in cycling compared to the vuelta and giro. Because of this, Sky put all their eggs in the TdF basket and nobody can match it. So vuelta and giro need to be elevated to the TdF level by telecasting them and covering them. It would be nice to have a 4th major in winter somewhere like SAfrica or Australia or South America.
I propose a rule change. Last 3 riders across the finish line on each stage are eliminated. Not only this add excitement to the back of the race but changes the whole race strategically. Sky has to think twice about ramping up the pace. You want Kwiatkowski to bury himself for 60 miles? Ok. Attack him in the back once he has hit the wall to eliminate him. It will make the race exciting in the front as well.
I mean yeah that’s kinda cool idea but is it relevant to any GC teams? I mean even on those mt stages, when those guys pull off they are still huge amount of time above the sprinters who make up the sag group.
I’d wager every GC team finished top 120 on every stage unless they had a late stage crash.
In reality you would be limiting the sprinters over GC
ETA: stage 5 where Landa lost time, sky’s worst rider was 20 spots from last but still 5+ mins from last.
Eliminator is a cool idea. It’s just not going to eliminate the riders you intend the rule to help shake up the race. It will eliminate the sprint teams domestiques + sprinters who call truce on first uphill of any mt stage and then group ride it in to beat the time cut.
So when Sky drills it and guy falls off with 1.5 mts still to climb, he still finishes in 109th and no where close to elimination spot.
yeah, i’d like to see bigger time bonuses. as much as they are an artificial construct, they create another opportunity for separation which otherwise only happens in TTs and via the back door on mountains. creating more aggressive racing has to be good
generally i think ASO are on the right track with the route this year. limited but valid TTs so you have to master that skill. sets of 2 days in the mountains spread through the race, often long day then short day. plenty of variety
it would be great to see the giro and vuelta gain more prominence but i just don’t see it happening. to me though, much as froome’s nearly 4 TDF overall wins is impressive, he doesn’t measure up to the greats as he just hasn’t won much else (nothing this year). much the same can be said for sky in general, though the last couple of years they have been working on that. while a team with more resources than anyone else is purely focused on one race they are likely to keep winning it
I think he at least goes for tying the record for most wins, so at least 3 more years.
And all of you that somehow think Landa was held back and could have been a contender, just take a look at the stages where he lost his time, and the other ones where he was head to head with the other captains. Not to take anything away from him, but he is just he best Lt. in the peloton, or he could be someone else captain on a lesser team. Froome did what he could for him in the final stages, but he just doesn’t have the acceleration or staying power against the top 4 or 5 guys who climb steady but can accelerate on a dime if needed. He is a Diesel engine in a race of Ferraris.
I feel like the issues isn’t what type of climber he is or isn’t. It’s that he’s ALWAYS there in the end. And that is likely because he doesn’t need to attack like the others are forced too. He’s more or less the one that doesn’t crack. He’s simply put lasting everyone because that’s what he needs to do. He takes
He only lost what 30s in 1 mt stage at the very end of a super punchy finish? Everyone else has major holes that forces them to attack 1 day only to pay for it next day (it seems).
So when they race the way they do now in the mountains none of the mountain goats seem to ever gain any time back on Froome. Now maybe he fails after this year, and if he does great. But to me Froome’s overall strength allows him to not go in the red that others are forced too. He beat Uran by what 90s in time trials and Uran only took back how much time on Froome? The 1 stage of 30s at the very end?
I mean yeah that’s kinda cool idea but is it relevant to any GC teams? I mean even on those mt stages, when those guys pull off they are still huge amount of time above the sprinters who make up the sag group.
I’d wager every GC team finished top 120 on every stage unless they had a late stage crash.
In reality you would be limiting the sprinters over GC
ETA: stage 5 where Landa lost time, sky’s worst rider was 20 spots from last but still 5+ mins from last.
That’s because nobody is scheming because that rule isn’t in place. On a mountain stage, the sprinters just go fast enough to be within the time cutoff. But if there was strategy involved, you may see AG2R riders pacing the groupetto in the back and attacking people who drop off from the front for example. Plus, nobody is beating the sprinters in a sprint to the line even in the back. The sprinters would be ok. It’s worth a try though. Maybe in a smaller tour like Switzerland or Cali.
