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The Pro Cycling Thread (Part 2)
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swingaleg
23-07-2014
aah.........they caught Kirienka jus before the top of the penultimate climb

Rodrigues and Mika fighting it out for the mountain points......

the main peloton is down to about 10 riders .........though some more should get on during the downhill before the final climb

I still wouldn't rule out Nibali from winning the stage and taking the big double points at the finish........his group are about 2 minutes 40 behind the Rodrigues/Mika group
jake1981
24-07-2014
I don't know hardly anything about cycling but I just watched Nibili take the lead going up a hill like he was on a moped
How can someone look so much better than the rest . Doesn't seem right

Still, as I said , I don't know much about the strength needed to complete this course so easily
divingbboy
24-07-2014
It's sad that it's come to this, but I'd feel a lot happier if Nibali even remotely looked like this was hard.
aggs
24-07-2014
Originally Posted by jake1981:
“I don't know hardly anything about cycling but I just watched Nibili take the lead going up a hill like he was on a moped
How can someone look so much better than the rest . Doesn't seem right

Still, as I said , I don't know much about the strength needed to complete this course so easily”

On the one hand, Froome and Contador who would have been the main rivals aren't there so theoretically the time gaps for the top 3 could have been smaller.

On the other, it's a worry. I just keep wondering what the comments would have been if LA had worn yellow for what? 99% of the race, won 4 stages and been top 3 in a handful of others and had 6 minutes on the next man. I just wish he at least looked like he was having to puff a bit.
Mark F
24-07-2014
Being managed by a former drug cheat isn't exactly going to help quell any suggestions either.

Sad but its the way people might think.
swingaleg
24-07-2014
Before the race started it was pretty much seen as a straight fight between Froome and Contador with Nibali probably 3rd and the rest nowhere

The only other grand tour contender would be Rodrigues but he's coming back from serious injury

Doesn't it just show the gap between the handful of genuine grand tour contenders and the best of the rest ?
cmq2
24-07-2014
Hopefully, it was new and uninsured: http://gfycat.com/ImpassionedShamelessCapybara

15 seconds from second to fourth. Pinot said he needed a minute to hold off Valverde on Saturday's hilly ITT.

Peraud beat Valverde in a shorter time-trial with a similar profile in the Tour of the Basque Country earlier this year. Last year he crashed in preparation for, and then agonisingly fell on the injury in, the final ITT: http://youtu.be/ZyoYkVCeZMk
jake1981
24-07-2014
Originally Posted by aggs:
“On the one hand, Froome and Contador who would have been the main rivals aren't there so theoretically the time gaps for the top 3 could have been smaller.

On the other, it's a worry. I just keep wondering what the comments would have been if LA had worn yellow for what? 99% of the race, won 4 stages and been top 3 in a handful of others and had 6 minutes on the next man. I just wish he at least looked like he was having to puff a bit.”

Originally Posted by swingaleg:
“Before the race started it was pretty much seen as a straight fight between Froome and Contador with Nibali probably 3rd and the rest nowhere

The only other grand tour contender would be Rodrigues but he's coming back from serious injury

Doesn't it just show the gap between the handful of genuine grand tour contenders and the best of the rest ?”

That's a fair point about the 2 main rivals being out, but it's just the ease with which he pulled away that didn't seem right
As I say, I know very little about this sport so I will accept that he's very good and the others aren't
Andy2
24-07-2014
I'm just watching the sprint tandem races, and something is nagging at me. Why are the two sets of pedals lined up IE in sync? Isn't there a 'dead spot' where the rider can deliver very little power (when one leg is right down and the other leg right up), so it seems funny to me that both riders are forced to be in this position at the same time.
Assuming I'm right so far, would it not be better to offset one rider's pedals by 90 degrees so that a more constant flow of energy is delivered?
Or is my background in 3-phase power engineering not applicable here?
fluffed
24-07-2014
http://sheldonbrown.com/tandem2.html

On the track it sounds like in phase is the way to go (no hills), but it's personal preference. Also, track bikes are fixed gear, the dead spot effect inst really as pronounced as with a freewheel.
swingaleg
24-07-2014
Originally Posted by jake1981:
“That's a fair point about the 2 main rivals being out, but it's just the ease with which he pulled away that didn't seem right
As I say, I know very little about this sport so I will accept that he's very good and the others aren't”

Another point is that you probably saw him zooming past the Sky rider as though he was standing still........but that guy had been out front either on his own or with a small group for many kilometres over two huge climbs........he would have been knackered. Nibali was sat in the peloton sheltered behind his team mates slipstreaming along saving energy...........relative to the Sky guy he would have been as fresh as a daisy coming to that last climb

Nibali came out of the group of favourites with about 9K to go but at the finish the other lads were only a minute behind him..........so the comparison with the Sky rider is probably false.........you should be comparing him with the other GC contenders who were with him with 9K to go up the last climb. ..........in which case beating that lot by a minute over a 30 minute climb isn't that extraordinary, but enough of a margin to be a winner rather than someone who finishes 8th or 9th
cmq2
24-07-2014
Brailsford has indicated a shift in Team Sky priorities for next year. A more balanced approach to the season's schedule; less focus on the Tour. Recruiting a larger number of competitors rather than team role players: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/brai...uelta-a-espana
aggs
24-07-2014
Originally Posted by swingaleg:
“Before the race started it was pretty much seen as a straight fight between Froome and Contador with Nibali probably 3rd and the rest nowhere

The only other grand tour contender would be Rodrigues but he's coming back from serious injury

Doesn't it just show the gap between the handful of genuine grand tour contenders and the best of the rest ?”

I have to admit I flip flop terribly. On balance , i think even if Froome and Comtador had been in a position to challenge, he would have had the measure of them. To me, he won with the stage in Sheffield and more importantly over the cobbles. He rode an exceptionally tactically brilliant first week and the others were playing catch up from almost the word go.
fluffed
24-07-2014
I hate his cheating guts, but I think Contador may of been in a better position to challenge than Froome. With hindsight, Froome lost his GC chance when he fell off in the Dauphine, and his team have been nowhere since he withdrew, compare that to Saxo. Froome would of had to solo the mountain stages, trying to pull back time on Nibali, a tough ask.
Party Animal
25-07-2014
I think Contador would of gone very close to winning the tour - team Saxo has a very strong mountain climbing team this time round... whereas Astana team dropped away early leaving Nibali to fend for himself
but is what it is and the main favourites crashed out leaving it wide open for Nibali and the younger guys to step up to the plate

this years Vuelta is going to be a pretty epic event
aggs
25-07-2014
Originally Posted by fluffed:
“I hate his cheating guts, but I think Contador may of been in a better position to challenge than Froome. With hindsight, Froome lost his GC chance when he fell off in the Dauphine, and his team have been nowhere since he withdrew, compare that to Saxo. Froome would of had to solo the mountain stages, trying to pull back time on Nibali, a tough ask.”

Yes, compare that to Saxo who lost their leader but have still won 3 stages. Even in 2012/13 Team Sky were patchy with odd tactics at times, though. I could be way off, but I sometimes think there is a lack of someone in the team to actually respond to what is going on instantly. Both Contador and Nibali have a good racing head and while the race isn't won there, it can be lost. Sometimes too much reliance on the ear piece and team car is not the way to ride.

I think Sky are a bit like Banesto of old - while their leader is strong it covers the deficits if the actual team.
swingaleg
25-07-2014
Just heard a snippet of business news.......BSkyB have bought Sky Italia and a large stake in Sky Germany

A spokesman for the company said they are keen to expand their European TV interests

I suppose this is good news for the cycling team as presumably Sky will carry on with the sponsorship as long as they have ambitions to expand in Europe where most of the cycling audience is !
MR. Macavity
25-07-2014
Originally Posted by Mark F:
“Being managed by a former drug cheat isn't exactly going to help quell any suggestions either.

Sad but its the way people might think.”

Could anyone tell me what the doping control arrangements are for the Tour? Is it the first 3 for each stage or done randomly? All the Jersey wearers?

Nibali has made it look a bit too effortless at times but I guess the sport will always have to live with performance being questioned?
aggs
25-07-2014
It always used to be first 3 on the stage, all the jersey holders, anyone who got the combativity award for the day and then a number of randoms pulled out of the hat. I assume it's still something along those lines.
aggs
25-07-2014
To late to edit but here it is:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopin...France#Testing

Quote:
“After each stage, four riders are tested: the overall leader, the stage winner, and two riders at random. In addition, every rider is tested before the first day's stage, normally a short time-trial. Most teams are tested in their entirety at some point during the three-week race.”

swingaleg
25-07-2014
If the teams had any sense they would test their own riders every day and pull them out if anything showed up..........before they had the chance to fail an official test

The adverse publicity if they were caught by the race officials could well cause sponsors to pull out

I'm sure that's what they do !
Mark F
25-07-2014
Originally Posted by aggs:
“It always used to be first 3 on the stage, all the jersey holders, anyone who got the combativity award for the day and then a number of randoms pulled out of the hat. I assume it's still something along those lines.”

Plus they would have random tests.

How did so many like Armstrong get away without being caught.

Regarding Wiggins and his comments about not returning to the road - are they just words coming from somebody being angry and bitter about being dumped by Sky or is that it for him?
aggs
25-07-2014
I think Bradley's heart has always really belonged to the track.

With regards positive testing, I guess it's the age old story - you can only test when you know what it is you are actually testing for and I think repoxygen and the like is still all but impossible to detect? (Which is why the bio-passport).
swingaleg
25-07-2014
I reckon it's the case that the track guys have to go road racing for a few years to make some money.........I don't suppose there's much money in track cycling unless you're Chris Hoy and get adverts to do and so on........
Electra
26-07-2014
Jens Voigt's daily Tour de France post was so short and, um, to the point, we decided to just share it on Facebook:

"F楊, that was just another s葉 day on the Tour! That was a s葉 day! Those were s葉 roads! That was s葉 weather! That was a s葉 hard tempo! Those were s葉 crosswinds! Those were s葉 flats! Those were s葉 crashes! That was a s葉 finish and that was a s葉 parking lot after the finish!

I'm so over the Tour de France! I'm over smiling and signing autographs!

About the only funny thing about the day was that moment when we passed through a town called "Condom!" I had to laugh about that, yeh! Geez, maybe I should have seen that before I had six kids, haha!

But other than that there was nothing good about this day. I'm so over the Tour de France!"


https://www.facebook.com/bicyclingma...type=1&theater

Shut up Jens Damn, I'm going to miss him
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