Tour de France 2013

will_powder

will_powder

Active member
Who else watches cycling obsessively?

I hope Hesjedal can podium in GC but he has a cracked rib now so I don't know. Wouldn't mind if Froomey did well either...Basically as long as Contador doesn't do well I'll be happy.

Cav had a great lead out yesterday, Lotto killed it today for Greipel. Nice to see Orica sharing the yellow between teammates too.

 
I only watch the last day of the Tour de doping.

And when it's incidentally on in the background but then I only pay really attention to the lovely French countryside, castles and quaint towns they pass.
 
^screw this guy huh.

yeah i love the tour. record it everyday and come home from work and watch it.

i like the sprints, they are exciting, but I just can't wait until the mountains where all the big boys come out.

froome vs contador should be fun. I wonder what schleck still has and also how cadel can do and whoever else out there who has any shot.
 
I will be happy if anyone but Froomey/Porte/Skyborgs does well, I can't stand the Sky mentality of throwing money into having the best team and steamrolling everyone else. Hopefully Contador/Valverde/Quintana/Rodriguez can liven it up and put Sky out of their comfort zone a little
 
You guys see the major cock-up with the bus the other day? getting stuck and forcing them to end the race early.
 
That's what Orica GreenEdge gets for having a bigger bus then Sky.

Tour-de-France-team-bus-stuck-595x793.jpg
 
Greenedge is killing it right now on publicity and in the tour haha. I agree, Contador is not the most moral rider but he does liven up every race he`s in, unlike watching wiggo and the sky train power meter themselves back onto every attack. Hesjedal is by far my favourite rider (being Canadian) but with a fractured rib I don`t think his GC chances are good. It looks like the whole Garmin team (minus Talansky) are killing time so they can go stage hunting.
 
fuck the tour de france it a bunch of euro fruitcakes riding around all hopped up on performance enhancing drugs, and its the fourth of july, 'merica bitches
 
I highly doubt it, Sagan is too fast in the sprints and too good on the climbs. He'll be getting a fair number of points when Cav and the other sprinters are getting none because they can't keep up over the hills.
 
And suddenly Sagan is almost 100 points up. Big day tomorrow...I expect Schleck and Contador to do well. The other GC guys will go better in the alps than the Pyrenees. Which isn't to say that Froome, Evans, etc. won't keep up, but if Schleck and Contador have the some form as they have in past tours, I don't see anyone getting time on them.
 
As someone else mentioned, I love watching it for the sprints and strategy.

Unfortunately, I don't know the riders nor the teams very well. I just started road biking this year, and have yet to immerse myself into the races and competitions.

Back to the sprints, those guys are such beasts. They ride for 4-5 hours at basically my top maintainable speed on the flats, then they hop out of the saddle and push what...1000+ watts? Insane.

I'll definitely make an effort to watch some more when they get into the mountains.
 
interesting day today. Froome is on another level. same with porte.

dissapointing to see contador lose that much time, i would have liked to see a closer race for the next two weeks.

that quintana kid looks like a stud and is definitely a contender.

we'll see what happens tomorrow, with 4 stage 1 mountains. Are you kidding me?! either the race is over tomorrow, or maybe someone makes a move to make it a little exciting.

what a stage
 
Yeah it seems clear that Schleck isn't fully recovered from his injury and Contador just doesn't have the form (drugs?) he has had in previous years. I'm glad Valverde finally seems able to hang with the big boys, though. Regardless, phenomenal riding from team Sky, looks like they'll be tough to beat.

With the downhill finish tomorrow I don't see more time being taken by anyone than there was today. I don't think anyone is strong enough to attack on the first climb or two and then stay away for the other 2 or 3. I don't see any time being put between the GC guys until the last climb of the stage.
 
good call on the downhill finish. seems like people wanted to attack early, but it just didnt materialize.

so much for schleck and contador though. They looked significantly better than yesterday. i saw an interview michael rogers said contador wanted to attack but he had to hold him back, due to the 30km downhill like you said.

so much for porte also, damn...

so now we got a week of sprints and time trials, then we got the alps. hopefully schleck, contador, valverde, quintana, ect. can bring it up a closer in the mountains, which after today seems possible.

i would say a good two days in the mountains was pretty entertaining
 
I am hoping that these guys can attack and make this tour a lot more interesting than last year when the sky train was unbeatable.After today Dan Martin looks good, and I am excited to see what he has for the Alps.
 
Garmin killed it today, very interesting stage with Porte getting dropped and Froome going without his typical Sky train. Good weekend in the Pyrenees in my books...
 
Man, as well as Hesjedal and Froome do well, and Cuntador does poorly then I'll be happy. And fuck Orica GreenEDGE, trying to spend more money than Sky... No one spends more money than Sky...
 
Bump because I love the Tour and today was just silly on Mont Ventoux. How can Froome be clean with superhuman efforts like that? He dropped Contador like it was barely any effort.

I'm excited about Quintana. The guy's got a good future ahead of him.

AND NEXT WEEK - the double Alp d'Huez day is going to be killer. This is an exciting race but I'm a bit sad about Cadel Evans losing time (I've always been a fan) and about Hesjedal's poor performance thus far
 
Froome is a beast, no one can dispute that after today that is for sure. However, there are still important stages to go, so hopefully we will see some of the other contenders (if any) come up with something good.

Supposedly, Quintana's father was a notorious drug mule in the Colombian mountains, riding his bike on crazy paths that no one knew about. Quintana would then follow his father, who had no intentions of waiting since he constantly had to be on the move. Rumors have it, that it is the reason why he has developed such stamina when riding uphill!

These are riders I believe have something to display against Froome and Sky:

Alberto Contador

Roman Kreuziger

Nairo Quintana

Jakob Fuglsang

Michael Rogers

Alejandro Valverde (maybe)

People who have fallen through, despite being destined to do big things, and probably wont make any big appearances in the rest of the tour

Andy Schleck

Cadel Evans

Robert Gesink

Thomas Voeckler

On top of everything, Froome is looking dangerously strong in the mountains and also on the time trials. The chances of the others or dwindling every km they get closer to Paris.
 
Froome's a beast for sure, but as we get in to flatter stages I think Quintana's really gonna give him a run for his money. I really dislike Cuntador. Convinced he's doping...
 
Contador - Possibly, he got dropped by Nieve today in the last few kms

Kreuziger - Honestly looking better than Contador at the moment, just needs to be let off his chain

Quintana - Absolute monster, real bright future for this guy

Fuglsang - Total darkhorse coming out of Brakovic's crash, looks promising

Rogers - Same as Kreuziger

Valverde - On his way out. Fought well in the first 2 weeks but he's dying

Nieve - Stayed off the front all the way up Ventoux...insane.

Kwiatkowski - Amazing young guy, definitely one to watch in the future

Biggest disappointments:

Pinot

Van Garderen

Voeckler

French cycling in general
 
Lol I was thinking the same thing. I have a feeling Quintana is going to have something to say on this stage:

PROFIL.png


 
he did't give him ventoux because he wanted the glory - he probably likes the glory too much to give him alps d'huez as well.

also i enjoy lance chirping froome:

w83ih0.png
 
If Quintana waits for the second ascent and attacks at the right time he could get the stage win, but it will be difficult with the sky train dragging Froom along for the entire stage until that final ascent.
 
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