Cycling thread 2015

[Bruce Wayne]

Just the 'heads of state' left at the front. Nibali setting the tempo.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Another bad day for Uran. Majka is pulling away though so the pace isn't 'that' hot in the leaders group?

 

[Wat Tyler]

Big day tomorrow, last big day in the Pyrenees.

 

[Whistlin' Dixie]

Just the 'heads of state' left at the front. Nibali setting the tempo.

Last I seen of him, he was tying up, badly!! Will have to check the finishing order in a bit. Switched off when 'little Tommy' (Voeckler) crossed the line (5th).

Gonna lump on Quintana tomorrow. Sh1t or bust - for the both of us!

 

[sbbefc]

does carlton kirby do the eurosport tdf commentry? He is bloody awful

 

[bluelife]

Very excited for tomorrow- last chance to show if anyone else has it in them as it will be too late in the alps. What a monster of a stage

 

[arminisgod]

To be honest though, they don't dominate grand tours. Of the 16 or so grand tours since they've been around, they've dominated 2 of them. They've had decent stabs at another handful but have far from dominated.

They've also had a notable lack of success in the classics, with not a single monument victory in their five years in existence. I'm not sure they've even had a podium in that time.

Exactly the same as the U.S. Postal team then

 

[arminisgod]

does carlton kirby do the eurosport tdf commentry? He is bloody awful

Yep. Him and Sean Kelly are woefulwoeful

 

[sbbefc]

Exactly the same as the U.S. Postal team then

Whilst team sky may or may not be doping other cyclists/teams have also displayed similar dominance in the past, coppi, merkxx, hinault to name a few. There is obviously a cloud of doubt over them too, but the stimulants they would have taken would have nowhere near the same impacts modern blood doping does. I just cant believe that a team under such scrutiny would be audacious enough to even contemplate it considering the Armstrong fallout.

 

[joey_macmo]

Exactly the same as the U.S. Postal team then

they won at least 2 grand tours no? sure Hincappie got a classic or 2 as well

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Exactly the same as the U.S. Postal team then

Hardly. Armstrong won 7 tours in a row. Heras won a couple of Vueltas, I think Savodelli won his Giro whilst at Postal. 10 GTs vs 2 is hardly the same, is it?

 

[bluelife]

does carlton kirby do the eurosport tdf commentry? He is bloody awful

Yep. Him and Sean Kelly are woefulwoeful

Can't believe this like..........

 

[Bruce Wayne]

On the racing today, it looks like a tough one. You have to believe that Astana are out of the running, and I wonder with Majka sent off stage hunting yesterday whether Tinkoff have much fight in them. Can Movistar sock it to Sky on their own? Tough ask, as Sky have Poels, Kennaugh, Konig, Roche, Porte and Thomas as mountain help. It's one thing Valverde nipping off for a few seconds, but they need a lot more than that.

 

[Whistlin' Dixie]

Quintana generally 5/1 today (29/5 if you have a betfair account - I don't ) 1/4 odds 1-2-3

If he doesn't at least get a podium finish today, then I'm gonna lose interest in this year's tour.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

It does seem to rest on his shoulders to spice things up. Contador doesn't look as though he's got it after the Giro. Nibali is way off the pace, Uran also. van Garderen is good at following but I'm not sure he can really drop the main guys on a climb. Valverde is great pinching a few seconds towards the line but not really longer range attacks.

I just can't see the Sky domestiques allowing Quintana to go on a long one. They've got so much good mountain support they should be able to contain him you'd imagine. I mean yesterday Porte had an easy ride to the finish, as did the likes of Poels and Konig. No doubt that was with today in mind.