Cycling thread

[Bruce Wayne]

I see the logic in that, but isn't the safe bet to sky train the whole stage? Dumoulin will have to attack regardless.

I'd imagine they will want to put time into Dumoulin. Thomas is still largely unknown at this stage of a GT, it's unknown how Froome will respond after the Giro, and the world TT champ isn't 'that' far behind. They'll want a buffer imo because at the moment if something happens to Thomas, Dumoulin wins because he can take time up on Froome in the TT.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Short stage tomorrow like - 65K with a gridded start (?!), but over 3 mountains.
Would have said this was a gimmick but with the state of the race maybe we'll see them hammer it from pedal one.

Phil Gil was lucky today - that was a fairly spectacular OTB. I know he hurt his knee and is now out, but could have been a lot worse.

 

[sbbefc]

what are the separation distances between each cyclist on the grid?

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Think it's pretty tight, they're not spaced out by 10 metres or anything like that. It's straight onto the first climb of the day, no neutralised first few k - will be rapid.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jul/24/tour-de-france-grid-start-17th-stage

 

[Xylophène]

Respect.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Respect.

That was a terrifying incident. He's out of the race, but thankfully it wasn't any worse than that.

 

[blue to the bone]

Fabalous stage today.
Quintana showin he's the best pure climber today.
Froome is a beaten docket now.
Thomas with a super ride. Doumilon still has a small chance with the time trial to come. But it's Thomas's to loose now

 

[Chris O'Connor]

The day Thomas won it, no chance whatsoever for Dumoulin, Froome or Roglic now, cast iron favourite - only the fact he's never won a big one before keeps a lingering doubt alive, showing absolutely no sign of weakening though.

Team Sky's dominance to continue and Thomas to take over the mantle of hated rider for the sky haters

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Fabalous stage today.
Quintana showin he's the best pure climber today.
Froome is a beaten docket now.
Thomas with a super ride. Doumilon still has a small chance with the time trial to come. But it's Thomas's to loose now

I thought it was a bit dull to be honest. Not really sure what the contenders were thinking of. Bardet burns his men out, does nothing off the back of it and then pops. Movistar send Valverde and Soler up the road to seemingly no effect, and Quintana is so far down as to be largely irrelevant, with Martin largely the same, and Dumoulin seems content to suck every wheel he can. Meanwhile Sky played the conservative card and just road tempo on the front (but how good does Bernal look?) At least the Lotto boys gave it a bit of a go.

After a Giro when every stage seemed to offer something, this Tour has been monumentally dull.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

Thomas the strong man of the Tour no doubt about it now - deserves to win and hope he can do it. It would put him up there with Neville Southall and Kevin Radcliffe as the greatest Welsh sportsmen postwar.

That grid start looked extremely biscuit-arsed to me. G was sat on the top tube when the lights went green, totally NEA.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Thomas the strong man of the Tour no doubt about it now - deserves to win and hope he can do it. It would put him up there with Neville Southall and Kevin Radcliffe as the greatest Welsh sportsmen postwar.

That grid start looked extremely biscuit-arsed to me. G was sat on the top tube when the lights went green, totally NEA.

It was utterly daft. It hasn't been a great advert for the Tour this year imo, and it's quite frequently the least exciting of the three GTs now.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

It was utterly daft. It hasn't been a great advert for the Tour this year imo, and it's quite frequently the least exciting of the three GTs now.

A nine goal thriller between Preston and Port Vale can be more exciting than a cagey stalemate between Real and Barcelona, Bruce. Different tiers, though.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

A nine goal thriller between Preston and Port Vale can be more exciting than a cagey stalemate between Real and Barcelona, Bruce. Different tiers, though.

The Tour has better hype and marketing, I'll give you that. In terms of racing and parcours though, the Giro wins hands down.

Seriously, this has been the dullest race. Pretty much the only time gaps have been because of mechanicals or crashes. Hardly any attacking riding at all.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

It's alright though, cos he's French.

 

[Black Belt Jones]

The Tour has better hype and marketing, I'll give you that. In terms of racing and parcours though, the Giro wins hands down.

Seriously, this has been the dullest race. Pretty much the only time gaps have been because of mechanicals or crashes. Hardly any attacking riding at all.

The teams are stronger though, across the board. If Sky made the Giro their #1 priority there wouldn't be any attacking riding on that, either - they'd just boa constrictor the GC to death like they do in the Tour.