[Closed] TdF Stage 6 - Something For Everyone [Spoilers]

Cav FTW today.

Have to say Cav is favorite. Don't think he was on the money yesterday, still a bit stiff no doubt. But, form plays a big part in sprinting, and Griepel will no doubt be feeling superstrong(Copyright David Harmon)

cavendish goss greipel is my guess

sweep entry on how close to the finish the last breakaway rider is caught: 1.3K

Great pictures, shame they're ruined by Greipel's face

shame they're ruined by Sky's silly yellow helmets.

I bet Sky's style-gurus are livid with that idea.

safe bet = massive pile-up 1-3km out.

Never mind Greipel's face in those pics, have you seen the man's legs!?

One thing that made me chuckle a moment ago while looking at the live tracking, is the fact that the riders on the map appear to be riding backwards 🙂

[img] [/img]

Cheers, Rich

How did Sky offer Cav for a place? Given the amount of support they're giving him, it'd better be a lot!

Bit of a shambles imo. Cav in another team built around him and Wiggo in Sky would have been better. Rather sad to see Cav getting effed around in the peleton in the last few kilometres. He is world champ and a national treasure and deserve more protection and a decent lead out.

Bit of a shambles imo. Cav in another team built around him and Wiggo in Sky would have been better. Rather sad to see Cav getting effed around in the peleton in the last few kilometres. He is world champ and a national treasure and deserve more protection and a decent lead out.

He's not focussing on the tour, he's focussing on the Olympics. He would've known the tactics, and he would've agreed to them. You can't throw away Wiggin's best shot at yellow so Cav can have a better chance at picking up a couple more wins during a race he's not even particularly interested in. Wait till you see the Olympic lead out train.

yesterday i got the impression that the sky train was formed primarily to protect wiggins with a lead out for cavendish as a side salad.

The HTC-High Road sprint team changed the way flat races were played and won, maybe Sky supporting sprint and GC winners is another step change in Grand Tour racing.

The HTC-High Road sprint team changed the way flat races were played and won

Lead out trains have been in use since the 70's, but it was Cippollinis Saeco team that turned it into an exact science. HTC didn't do anything that hadn't been done before.

maybe Sky supporting sprint and GC winners is an uneasy compromise as they look at the bigger picture and other goals, ie. GC and olympic gold, and will have no effect on how other teams, or even Sky, ride in other grand tours once the olympics is out of the way

FTFY

I get it that Wiggo is the 1st priority and know Cav knew this from the start. I'm just concerned about Cav making it to the Olympics without a broken collarbone or wrist or hip.
Even more reason to be in your own team where you are No.1 and get supported and protected so you can have a great tour ( could have broken the record for most stage wins by now ) and arrive in Paris without injuries ready for the Olympics.

I got the same impression as Yoss re yesterdays lead out.

Zabriskie in the break? Yeah, he's alright, he's pretty cool.

big crash AGAIN

Ryder losing big time..

carnage and again loads of big names getting entangled. Seems to be more crashes every year?

WTF is it with so many crashes this !??

tricky bit of road that...

carnage and again loads of big names getting entangled. Seems to be more crashes every year?

Not sure that's strictly true - I think that in the past it will have been missed a bit due to there only being a 30-60 min highlights programme. Now with every stage live, more people watching, Twitter feeds etc, everything gets picked up on instantly.

Looks like Goss's to lose.

could have broken the record for most stage wins by now

Could have done, but even with a dedicated lead out it's not a certainty. I wouldn't even bet on Cav going to the mountains, which other team would pay rockstar money for a guy who's prioritising winning in another jersey to theirs and won't be finishing the tour?

BBC Sport website saying Cav was held up by the last crash? Can anyone watching confirm? Is that him out of contention for the sprint?

Cav's in the second peloton and out of the running for the finish.

That is correct Ash

...and won't be finishing the tour?

Cav has always indicated that he wants to finish the TdF, the Team Sky plan is certainly for that to happen.

I can see both sides, I feel sorry for Cav that he's basically out of contention for green now barring miracles and he's come into the Tour knowing that he's not going to get a lead out train and is basically riding for himself (and is support of Brad) but equally, he knew that from when he signed with Team Sky that this year at least, he'd be there in support of Brad. Wiggins in yellow is a far bigger goal than Cav in green and it's nigh on impossible to do go for both jerseys. Last time that happened was 1997 with Ullrich and Zabel and it's more or less accepted that the whole T-Mobile team was doping at that time.

they are digging into the suitcase of courage

Bugger.

All over for Cavendish?

no chance today just under 2 mins down

Yeah, I meant in terms of defending his green from last year...I haven't checked out the remaining stages yet...

why are they crashing so much this year?

come on Gorilla!

sagan beats the chin

erm, ok

by over a bike length

Sagan!!!! Young missile dude!

blimey - good job he's in my Fantasy TdF team...

Sagan is so dope it's ridiculous. I WANT MOUNTAINS.

Where's Cav?

To be honest I'd like to see Sagan finish with green in Cavs absence.

Great finish.

in the group 2 mins down

broken drivetrain by Kenny, and Griekel was covered in blood, but sagan is a monster

didn't see him in that group

just coming in now

where was wiggo?

Wiggins finished in the first bunch, lost no time.

Wiggo in couple of seconds after sprinters

i have to say that like the Giro i am already totally bored of this TdF. All the crashes are turning it in to a lottery and spoiling the racing.

and Sagan, well when they something is too good to be true, it usually is

doped to the eyeballs - gotta be

could have broken the record for most stage wins by now

How? he had won 20 after last year and Merckx record is 34 .It`s not possible to have won 15 stages 6 stages into this years race

Sagan's potential was noted a couple of years back, he's been steadily improving since.

doped to the eyeballs - gotta be

How? he had won 20 after last year and Merckx record is 34 .It`s not possible to have won 15 stages 6 stages into this years race

They mean most stage wins by a pure sprinter. Merckx, Armstrong etc all won TT and mountain stages to add to their tally, Cav has got his wins on sprint stages alone.

doped to the eyeballs - gotta be

Got to be.

Did you say the same about Cavendish when he started winning?

Very, very talented youngster takes it to the next level.

Did you say the same about Cavendish when he started winning?

the context being?

So somebody new crashes the party and you think you are so clever to announce that he's a doper before anybody else and with absolutely no proof whatsoever . What a sad cynical world you must inhabit .

Well, from my point of view the context is easily found in this thread.
[url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/still-blindly-defending-him-hora ]http://singletrackmag.com[/url]
Which I assume you've read, but you did miss it out when quoting, which is a bit odd if you're going to quote me.

So somebody new crashes the party and you think you are so clever to announce that he's a doper before anybody else and with absolutely no proof whatsoever . What a sad cynical world you must inhabit .

you've lost me

Apparently. 😛

Personally I don't think (and thats all any of us can do) that he's doping. He's had the talent for years, and has risen to the top of his game like a very select few can do. If you look at his three wins, two were short, sharp climbs, which is absolutely his strength, and stages he was almost expected to win, the third was a sprint against a bloke with a dislocated shoulder, and a bloke with a snapped chain.

I think you do him a slight injustice there . Even I would fancy myself in a sprint against a bloke with a dislocated shoulder and one with a broken chain .

😆 😆

I'm a bit late to the party here, family visiting so only able to watch the stage this morning.
Those saying Sagan is doping and then referencing the Armstrong debacle just show how ill-informed they are about road racing. One of the two big magazines on pro cycling did a big feature on Sagan about 6 months ago saying he was a phenomenon, so he's not just appeared and won three stages out of nowhere. What warton says above is spot on. Also its pretty widely accepted that Lance's wins were during a time of wide-spread doping. Since then average speeds for the Tour have come down - a pretty good sign that the sport has got cleaner. Nobody has suggested that Andy Murray has doped to out-do himself and get to the final, have they??