The problem with Nibali attacking was that it then left the door open to the likes of Quintana and Valverde to respond to protect their podium places.
And Nibali got an advantage of the others not attacking.
This was my thought, although it's hard to say whether the others didn't attack because of ethics or because they couldn't at that point. Quote from Quintana doesn't really say anything on the subject.
Nairo Quintana (Movistar)
"I had waited for Sky to neutralise Nibali, they didn’t do that so we went steadily up the climb instead and then I attacked, where I’d planned to. I was hoping to get a bigger gap on Froome, and to be honest it wasn’t as much as I wanted, he fought back harder than I thought was likely. I’ll go on fighting and see what we can do. It was so fast on the climb, there’s no way I could get away before. I’ll keep on fighting though.
"We did what we could and Froome is very strong. At least we’ve tried. I’ll try again tomorrow from further out, let’s see how strong he is then. We’ll try for the stage win at least. NIbali got away today, but I’m sure Alejandro Valverde will be able to handle him in the battle for the podium."
Ok, why are people throwing **** over, and spitting on Froome ?
A few reasons, some of which seem to be that some seem to think that cycling is "their" sport ( ie French, Spanish etc ) and don't like it when a well funded, well organised team from the UK brings in new ideas and rattles a few cages. Same as the old fart track cycling brigade's reaction to the results of the investment in Team UK on the track.
This dislike has then been whipped into a frenzy in France by biased media misrepresenting Sky and Froome's relationship with drugs. It's impossible to say their is no drug use in team Sky but it's telling that the journalist who investigated and exposed Armstrong who is also investigating Sky/Froome says that at this stage in his investigation of LA he had three people close to the team willing to give evidence of drug use. He hasn't found a whiff of it in SKY.
So it's bad losers misled by biased a media having a go at the "Englishers".
In short, it's considered unsportsmanlike to take advantage of your competitor's punctures, mechanical issues, etc by attacking (accelerating and trying to distance yourself), the idea being that you want riders to compete on physical skill rather than luck and misfortune. A famous recent example was in 2012 when saboteurs lined the road with nails and many riders punctured. Bradley Wiggins, who was wearing the yellow jersey at the time, slowed down the pack to allow the affected riders to get new wheels and catch back up before allowing the race to proceed normally.
There's quite a lot of etiquette and unspoken rules in cycling and the Tour de France in particular. The most obvious example of this is the fact that the battle for overall victory actually finishes on the penultimate day of the Tour. No one challenges the rider in the yellow jersey on last day of the Tour. Technically, someone COULD attack the leader of the Tour on the final day and try and win, but the other riders wouldn't let it happen and would do everything to thwart any such efforts.
I think the thing about the last day is that it's very much seen as a triumphant procession into Paris for ALL the riders who have managed to complete the race and a victory parade for those riders and teams that have won the various competitions
So the bunch will ride together and various riders/teams will go to the front to accept the applause of the crowd
And you get the clicjhés like the jersey wearers riding along drinking champagne and do so on
So it's not the done thing to attack the race
Then when they get to Paris they have a proper full on race around the circuit of the Champs Elysees which is probably considered the most prestigious stage of any race of the whole year for the sprinters (Cav has won it a few times)
The rules still apply on the final stage though - the yellow jersey holder has to cross the line with a winning overall time. But I guess that if necessary the other riders would hold back to allow that to happen.
Would there be an attack on the final day if the Yellow jersey rider was only a few seconds in front of 2nd place or has it always been accepted the Paris stage is a "light-hearted" cycle around the streets with the sprinters going for the win?
Would there be an attack on the final day if the Yellow jersey rider was only a few seconds in front of 2nd place or has it always been accepted the Paris stage is a "light-hearted" cycle around the streets with the sprinters going for the win?
I have been watching the tour for 30yrs and never seen the yellow jersey attacked apart from when the last stage was a time trial Greg Lemond v Lauren Fignon
Would there be an attack on the final day if the Yellow jersey rider was only a few seconds in front of 2nd place or has it always been accepted the Paris stage is a "light-hearted" cycle around the streets with the sprinters going for the win?
The bit leading into Paris is usually accepted as neutralised, but the last 50k or so is always treated as a real race. The problem is that tactically such a move would be almost impossible to carry off unless the yellow jersey team were down to five men or something. If there was going to be an attack, I think teams would indicate in advance that they were going to do it.
Off we go with the whole stage on Eurosport and ITV4 - Welsh fans will be getting a documentary about bulls for the first 90 minutes, though. >:( American TV obviously hasn't started yet, so no Phil & Paul.
But when the race is full on towards the finish his attitude appears to be that it's every man for themselves
Thing is that Nibali's style of riding requires him to attack near the top of hills. If his strength is descending, then he needs to create a gap before he gets to the top, because otherwise lesser descenders can just get on his wheel and copy his lines.
At last, back with the Welsh commentary as ES and ITV go on a break! Things are getting better with the commentators, a couple of weeks ago they were having trouble finding people who a) knew something about cycling and b) could complete a sentence of Welsh without having to resort to English words.
Back in 2008, Sastre took out 2 mins and yellow on Alpe d'Huez by taking off at the base of the climb. The chasers included Valverde, Sanchez, Evans, and teammates, the Schlecks. The stage was nearly twice as long as today's. A youthful Froome finished 11:41 down.
Comments
And Nibali got an advantage of the others not attacking.
This was my thought, although it's hard to say whether the others didn't attack because of ethics or because they couldn't at that point. Quote from Quintana doesn't really say anything on the subject.
Nairo Quintana (Movistar)
A few reasons, some of which seem to be that some seem to think that cycling is "their" sport ( ie French, Spanish etc ) and don't like it when a well funded, well organised team from the UK brings in new ideas and rattles a few cages. Same as the old fart track cycling brigade's reaction to the results of the investment in Team UK on the track.
This dislike has then been whipped into a frenzy in France by biased media misrepresenting Sky and Froome's relationship with drugs. It's impossible to say their is no drug use in team Sky but it's telling that the journalist who investigated and exposed Armstrong who is also investigating Sky/Froome says that at this stage in his investigation of LA he had three people close to the team willing to give evidence of drug use. He hasn't found a whiff of it in SKY.
So it's bad losers misled by biased a media having a go at the "Englishers".
Thank you for that explanation (very interesting)
So the bunch will ride together and various riders/teams will go to the front to accept the applause of the crowd
And you get the clicjhés like the jersey wearers riding along drinking champagne and do so on
So it's not the done thing to attack the race
Then when they get to Paris they have a proper full on race around the circuit of the Champs Elysees which is probably considered the most prestigious stage of any race of the whole year for the sprinters (Cav has won it a few times)
I have been watching the tour for 30yrs and never seen the yellow jersey attacked apart from when the last stage was a time trial Greg Lemond v Lauren Fignon
The bit leading into Paris is usually accepted as neutralised, but the last 50k or so is always treated as a real race. The problem is that tactically such a move would be almost impossible to carry off unless the yellow jersey team were down to five men or something. If there was going to be an attack, I think teams would indicate in advance that they were going to do it.
He differentiates between situations where the peloton is rolling along early to mid stage.......then he would expect them to stop
But when the race is full on towards the finish his attitude appears to be that it's every man for themselves
Thing is that Nibali's style of riding requires him to attack near the top of hills. If his strength is descending, then he needs to create a gap before he gets to the top, because otherwise lesser descenders can just get on his wheel and copy his lines.
Finally.
My favourite mountain top finish in cycling.
Still on the Croix.......I don't think Sky were expecting attacks until the Alpe !
Going to be a real gunfight on the Alpe....
Looks like a straight fight between Froome and Quintana although Froome can give away 2 minutes.
And we come back and it's all a huge peleton again! Don't think that worked out for Movistar at all.
Intermediate sprint was a bit anticlimactic today!