He runs out of puff in the high mountains, so a GT isn't going to happen for him. Still a great bike rider though, the way he turns a slight gap into a big one right a the top of a climb is amazing.
Good bit of hyperbole from Harmon as Fab made his move and dropped Sagan on the stretch of the final climb.........'that's the only way to beat sagan, you've got to literally kill him'.........
Did anyone watch yesterday's stage...............it was a terrific race
Gerrens won
Stage 2 today - Elgobar to Vitoria..............Vitoria of course is the City where the Duke of Wellington finally saw off the French during the Napoleonic wars and drove them out of the Iberian peninsula
You know you're in the basque country when you're going through places called Aretxabaleta and Eskoriatza..........:p
Great finish, Henao just edges Betancur on the line. Porte finishes ahead of Contador on a 21% gradient :eek:. Quintana takes 2 seconds from both of them. Awesome stage.
Cancellara crashed in the race and could be doubtful for Paris-Roubaix. Sagan has already said he is not competing on Sunday.
Thats good to hear, they have been utterly pathetic for Cav this season, oh how he must wish for Renshaw back by his side headbutting riders out the way for him:D.
Seriously though i hope they get something sorted for him by the Tour comes around, hes clearly still the best and entering his peak years, he just needs a half decent leadout, see what happens in the Giro, tbh it cant get any worse can it?
Cycling news forum in meltdown again, must admit Porte has suprised this season to the extent im thinking of betting everything i have on him each way in the Tour @ 66-1 to win which if Froome crashes out you never know but your getting just over 16-1 for him to podium which looks massive and highly likely, just going off willhill there, bet theres 100-1 out there somewhere.
Will he be last man with Froome in the mountains ahead of Wiggins? you would think so with Brad doing the Giro wouldn't you? but you hear Brad saying he intends to be right up there and hopefully grabbing a podium, i dunno but if its Porte and Froome last 2 i cant see Porte being left to far behind when the action kicks off with Contador/J-Rod/Nibali/Valverde etc....i know its a long way away still but it looks possible Contador wont even podium.
Theres a 25k TTT this year 4th stage, Froome, Wiggins and Porte will absolutely kill it or at least kill their GC rivals as OPQS will be a tough challenge, cant wait.
Comments
Live feeds start 12pm CET.
http://www.cyclingfans.com/node/7305
My second tier wildcards are Terpstra and Thomas. I do not see Boonen or Chavanel being around at the end. Maybe a Hushovd comeback ride?
The chance of rain on the cobbles towards the end has all but disappeared. No real wind; just cold for time of year.
Just seen an ad for the Giro on Eurosport and it said 'Exlusively Live'.............:o
http://sport-onthebox.com/cycling/
Edit: Thomas back in the main group, everyone is just twiddling away waiting for the final lap, bit dull really.
It makes you wonder if could ever challenge for a major Tour.
Good bit of hyperbole from Harmon as Fab made his move and dropped Sagan on the stretch of the final climb.........'that's the only way to beat sagan, you've got to literally kill him'.........
:eek::p
Tour of the Basque country starts tomorrow, stage one live on Eurosport from 2.30
It's one of my favourite races for the stunning scenery
Team Sky.........
11 - Richie Porte
12 - Ian Boswell
13 - Joe Dombrowski
14 – Josh Edmondson
15 – Sergio Henao
16 - Vasil Kiryienka
17 - Jonathan Tiernan-Locke
18 - Xabier Zandio
Sun shining and they're in the hills...........on a cat 2 climb at the moment
Gerrens won
Stage 2 today - Elgobar to Vitoria..............Vitoria of course is the City where the Duke of Wellington finally saw off the French during the Napoleonic wars and drove them out of the Iberian peninsula
You know you're in the basque country when you're going through places called Aretxabaleta and Eskoriatza..........:p
There are no bonus points in this race for stage finishes or intermediate sprints
Today is 167K from Vitoria to Trapagaran. The stage finished on a cat 2 climb with a hellish finale of 400 metres at average 21%
General Classification now:
1. Henao
2. Quintana +8
3. Porte +10
4. Contador +10
5. Caruso +10
6. Spilak +10
7. Fuglsang +21
8. Weening +21
9. Herrada +21
10. Betancur +21
After being left too much to do today in the Scheldeprijs race, the Omega Pharma boss is talking of changing riders if they fail to perform for Cavendish: http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/537717/mark-cavendish-and-omega-pharma-team-boss-unhappy-with-lack-of-sprint-support.html
http://youtu.be/jxsbSivHHNQ?t=1m7s - he is behind the yellow and black helmet rider on the left at the start.
Cancellara crashed in the race and could be doubtful for Paris-Roubaix. Sagan has already said he is not competing on Sunday.
During the commentary they were talking about cutting squad sizes. Would love to see how the likes of Sky would control climbs with a team of six.
Snow blizzard in London
what's the world coming to................:eek:
There's another race on now on ES2, a one day race in Belgium, highlights of that one are on after today's stage of 'Basque' on ES1
Five riders have got over 4 minutes with 57K to go............about to tackle the 1st cat climb............
Thats good to hear, they have been utterly pathetic for Cav this season, oh how he must wish for Renshaw back by his side headbutting riders out the way for him:D.
Seriously though i hope they get something sorted for him by the Tour comes around, hes clearly still the best and entering his peak years, he just needs a half decent leadout, see what happens in the Giro, tbh it cant get any worse can it?
Kiryenka seems to do this singlehandedly!
breakaway has just over a minute.............
Will he be last man with Froome in the mountains ahead of Wiggins? you would think so with Brad doing the Giro wouldn't you? but you hear Brad saying he intends to be right up there and hopefully grabbing a podium, i dunno but if its Porte and Froome last 2 i cant see Porte being left to far behind when the action kicks off with Contador/J-Rod/Nibali/Valverde etc....i know its a long way away still but it looks possible Contador wont even podium.
Theres a 25k TTT this year 4th stage, Froome, Wiggins and Porte will absolutely kill it or at least kill their GC rivals as OPQS will be a tough challenge, cant wait.