• TV
  • MOVIES
  • MUSIC
  • SHOWBIZ
  • SOAPS
  • GAMING
  • TECH
  • FORUMS
  • Follow
    • Follow
    • facebook
    • twitter
    • google+
    • instagram
    • youtube
Hearst Corporation
  • TV
  • MOVIES
  • MUSIC
  • SHOWBIZ
  • SOAPS
  • GAMING
  • TECH
  • FORUMS
Forums
  • Register
  • Login
  • Forums
  • Entertainment
  • Sport
The Pro Cycling Thread (Part 2)
<<
<
166 of 279
>>
>
swingaleg
14-07-2015
Originally Posted by Edward_Sloley:
“Today is La Fête nationale - so expect the French (particularly Pinot) to be really hungry for a stage win.”

Ten years since the French had a win on Bastille Day !

ES have gone straight to the race without the usual half hour of faffing around with recipies and Greg Lomond
Edward_Sloley
14-07-2015
Only two riders in the break today (14 minutes ahead ATM) - including a Frenchman, natch.

Dowsett is pacing the peloton with a substantial bandage on his right arm.
swingaleg
14-07-2015
Warren Barguil has just crashed and doesn't look good.......looked to me like a leg injury but Carlton saying it looks like a collar bone

Been down for some time now........I think he' going to try and get back on so probably not a collar bone
swingaleg
14-07-2015
Be interesting to see if Cav goes for the Intermediate sprint or if he's given up hope of the green jersey

He made a perfunctory effort on the last road stage but soon eased up
swingaleg
14-07-2015
Top 2 places had already gone in the breakaway so Griepel gets 3rd and Cav had a go and finished 4th

Sagan only finished 6th and loses the green jersey to Griepel !
Edward_Sloley
14-07-2015
Froome is back in 2013 form.

The Clinic must be going apeshit right now.

This is similar to how Mont Ventoux panned out back then...and the stage profile is eerily similar.
Mark F
14-07-2015
Froome really destroying the field.

A minute ahead of 2nd place in the stage and well ahead overall.

Very impressive.
swingaleg
14-07-2015
Chapeau !

huge lumps of time taken out.......big gaps now
Joan_Ferguson
14-07-2015
Sky should let Porte and Thomas off their domestique duties. I'm sure they could give Sky
1,2 and 3 on the Paris podium.

Amazing.
swingaleg
14-07-2015
3 Brits in the first 7 home on a hors category climb ........even 5 years ago I don't think anyone believed they would ever see that !

great ride by Gesink as well........after going up the road, being caught and slipping out the back he got back up again to finish 4th
Marti S
14-07-2015
I am really getting fed up with Carlton bigging up Dan Martin, talk about a bias, he really isnt that good Carlton.

Bad as his Greipel man crush he used to have, at least he as improved this year
jcafcw
14-07-2015
Froome chose the right stage. Some would suffer from the rest day and it was just one climb when he could go full bore for ten kilometres.

He now doesn't have to attack again - just follow.

He took a risk and it paid off.
fluffed
14-07-2015
Awesome from Froome, Adam Yates riding with the GC boys at 22 was impressive too. Ritchie Porte showing his form from a couple of years ago, and Greg Thomas looking like he was just nipping to the shops behind a rather more cream crackered looking Valverde. Great stuff all round really. Expect Contador to try some long range attacks over the next couple days, just to see if he's really out of the running.
Tourmalet & Aspin tomorrow, could be fun, not sure why they're riding the boring La Mongie way up though.
swingaleg
15-07-2015
Live coverage starting a bit earlier today than previous days

scheduled for 12.45 on ES and 1.00pm on ITV4
swingaleg
15-07-2015
Originally Posted by swingaleg:
“Live coverage starting a bit earlier today than previous days

scheduled for 12.45 on ES and 1.00pm on ITV4”

oh dear......looks like the early starts were for additional faffing around

John259
15-07-2015
ITV4 says there are no live pictures available yet. Chris Froome says he's riding clean.
Hmmm.....
walterwhite
15-07-2015
Originally Posted by John259:
“ITV4 says there are no live pictures available yet. Chris Froome says he's riding clean.
Hmmm.....”

Why Hmmm?

It is possible Sky have found a drug that is undetectable or a way of beating drug tests that no other team in the entire Tour has found. It's also possible they are just better. It happens in all sports, why should cycling be any different?
grassmarket
15-07-2015
Originally Posted by walterwhite:
“It is possible Sky have found a drug that is undetectable or a way of beating drug tests that no other team in the entire Tour has found. It's also possible they are just better. It happens in all sports, why should cycling be any different?”

Getting very annoyed with all this. It's the TdF! It's meant to be tough. Somebody has got to win the big stages. Nobody was saying before it all started, "Oh, only a doper could possibly win this year." What Froome did wasn't hugely exceptional with regard to other big climbing stages he has done over the last four years. Nibali cracked early, well before Sky was really driving hard. Contandor is obviously not at the level he was eight weeks ago. Quintana lost a minute quickly, but then recovered and held his distance. van Garderen lost what you'd expect a non-specialist climber to lose. Just another stage on a big Tour, really.
John259
15-07-2015
Going by so many previous cases, one rider doing much better than anyone else raises the suspicion that they're probably doping.
walterwhite
15-07-2015
Originally Posted by grassmarket:
“Getting very annoyed with all this. It's the TdF! It's meant to be tough. Somebody has got to win the big stages. Nobody was saying before it all started, "Oh, only a doper could possibly win this year." What Froome did wasn't hugely exceptional with regard to other big climbing stages he has done over the last four years. Nibali cracked early, well before Sky was really driving hard. Contandor is obviously not at the level he was eight weeks ago. Quintana lost a minute quickly, but then recovered and held his distance. van Garderen lost what you'd expect a non-specialist climber to lose. Just another stage on a big Tour, really.”

Exactly. In every other sport on the planet you get people who are miles better than other people, it's just the history of cycling that makes people not believe it. If you look at Froome's real challengers there's only Quintana who I would class as a serious challenge and he's very, very young in cycling terms.
walterwhite
15-07-2015
Originally Posted by John259:
“Going by so many previous cases, one rider doing much better than anyone else raises the suspicion that they're probably doping.”

He didn't do that much better though did he?

Look at the people who are his main competition:-

Contador - 32 years old and completed the Giro 6 weeks ago.

Nibali - Won last year but only because all the main contenders were out.

Quintana - Good but so young he still qualifies for the young rider competition.

Van Garderen - Young and never really troubled the overall leaders in the Tour.

I'd be more concerned about how good Porte was to be honest.
grassmarket
15-07-2015
Originally Posted by John259:
“Going by so many previous cases, one rider doing much better than anyone else raises the suspicion that they're probably doping.”

Is Serena Williams doping? Novak Djokovic? Lionel Messi? Lewis Hamilton? Or are they just expressing a natural sporting phenomenon whereby people who are very good at their particular discipline not only win by playing well, but also win by intimidating their rivals into playing badly? Or, in the case of team sports, also influence their team-mates into surpassing themselves?
John259
15-07-2015
Believe what you want to believe. A lot of people believed Lance Armstrong for a long time.
Joan_Ferguson
15-07-2015
Originally Posted by grassmarket:
“Is Serena Williams doping? Novak Djokovic? Lionel Messi? Lewis Hamilton? Or are they just expressing a natural sporting phenomenon whereby people who are very good at their particular discipline not only win by playing well, but also win by intimidating their rivals into playing badly? Or, in the case of team sports, also influence their team-mates into surpassing themselves?”

Well, certainly in his case, yes. We know he doped because he admits it openly.
Edward_Sloley
15-07-2015
Cows spotted crossing the descent of the Col du Tourmalet!! Barguil had to take evasive action to avoid a crash with them, not to mention the LottoNL team car...
<<
<
166 of 279
>>
>
VIEW DESKTOP SITE TOP

JOIN US HERE

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Hearst Corporation

Hearst Corporation

DIGITAL SPY, PART OF THE HEARST UK ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK

© 2015 Hearst Magazines UK is the trading name of the National Magazine Company Ltd, 72 Broadwick Street, London, W1F 9EP. Registered in England 112955. All rights reserved.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Complaints
  • Site Map