[Closed] TdF Stage 8 - The First Key Test [Spoilers]

I'm looking forward to this today, the first chance we'll really start to see who's in form.
OH is off shopping this avo so feet up and tv on for me, while hopefully the bairns stay asleep at nap time 😉

Froome for the win, maybe.....

Today the race truly begins. Time called on the glory boy sprinters, for the time being. I mean, losing 15mins yesterday because they couldn't be bothered chasing any more? Really? Someone give Sagan the green jersey now please.

Sagan must be a nailed on cert for the green jersey as Cav really is poor in the big mountains and this year the tour is so mountainous I cant see him getting near Sagan .In fact is it so lumpy he might get out of time and be eliminated ?

Is too excited to predict

Bet it turns out a boring defensive one

At last. The first couple of days were great and it's always interesting to see how teams are looking but it was time for the real battle to begin

Spanish alliance to attack attack attack on last climb. Should be exciting to watch.
My relentless slide down the fantasy league continues. It's a kiss of death for any rider to be in my team. On that basis froome and porte will blow big style, and ultimately get dropped by the Cavendish group, losing 15mins on the stage.

To kick him out of the team after 11 months of giving him their support, I just don't understand it

Mandy, its not difficult: Frank is a convicted doper, "the team" is under new owners, and Trek are understandably keen to distance themselves from convicted dopers....

Great ride from cannondale, as Boardman and Imlach said, a 100km lead out, which Lotto and OPQS combined couldn't chip into.

Looking forward to Sky taking on the combined Spanish armarda in the mountains.

Excited 🙂 Might be one for Purito if the other big favourites are all marking each other.

Sagan must be a nailed on cert for the green jersey as Cav really is poor in the big mountains and this year the tour is so mountainous I cant see him getting near Sagan .In fact is it so lumpy he might get out of time and be eliminated ?

No, Cav can climb. Just not as well as Sagan. I don't think Cav/Griepel did too badly yesterday but that group realised they weren't going to catch up again so did the sensible thing, sat up and saved their energy.

That said, I don't think Cav can get green this year, unless Sagan has a really dire couple of weeks or crashes out, he's pretty much won it already. And the situation is complicated by the fact that OPQS have the white jersey which they'll look to defend so it'll be difficult setting Cav up for sprints while they're trying to look after white.

Junkyard - have you noticed how similar our winning teams are? Come on Stannard..

the dark horse of the tour if you ask me

Time to do some crashing top of the loser league

Froome dog will do a burst of speed at some point on the climb to get a psychological advantage and steak [ see what I did there] his claim to the crown. Gains 20-30 seconds but easily caught on the descent
One QG person blows up - Schleck as he does not want to try or he gets scared on the down bit

I like Cav but I'm glad we're not experiencing the Murray-Mania syndrome. It's a tough race and quality will out. Personally I'm a fan of the all-rounder type of rider (like Thor Hushovt) and I'd like to see the rules set up to favour rider with all the skills and to partially neutralise the overwhelming team dominance of the event.

YEs given the fantasy chance again i would go for Sgan
there is no doubt flat out Cav is by far the best but as an all rounder Sagan is on his own for his ability to ride everything even cars

Better wheelies as well

That ruined castle right up on the ridge - WOW!

Never ming the bike racing, that's kind of incidental to the stunning scenery in full HD. 🙂

Hold your horses their fella you are bottom and I am second as surely the objective was to get the lowest possible score - ie loose that league.

Yeah, on the top metaphorically... 😉

Dont say that I bet on him being pants for the losers league and you went for the dirty steak eater - not abad shout but he will be more competitive IMHO at GQ

Yeah it's a risky move I think, I'm kinda hoping he's going to crash out/get DQ'd/get pushed off his bike by Porte or just not be that spectacular...

I went for cuddles getting beaten by TJ and then just not trying ...he could get competitive

PS what shame we are better at being crap 😳

Hate contador I thought he was the real deal and he looks awesome dancing on the pedals [ i like to think i ride like this but in reality I am mashing]
Shleck takes him out on descent by simply forgeting to break
In relaity I reckon he will be top three and probably the only non Sky one there
Anyway breakaway may get it but hoping we get some proper action on the hill rather than have SKY TT there way up again and then round France

why are we not watching the peleton come up the bloody hill that is where the actual "race" is

PS what shame we are better at being crap

Give it a few more days..

why are we not watching the peleton come up the bloody hill that is where the actual "race" is

Yeah true.

Go tommy V

Really wanted him in my team but too expensive should have sacrificed Cav

Oh poor Tommy! 🙁
You almost want to just give him a big hug, poor guy.

Yellow jersey - meet back door...

wish i had a poorly knee like Quintana's

was somewhat short lived...like one of my attacks

Now catch that fella as he is on my loser team

Love proper climbers like Quintana. Poetry in motion.

Put Cav in my team instead of Quintana... Cav better do me proud or there's going to be words.

That was a cracking climb from the Columbian!

Winners or losers ... I pout him in my losers 😳

Winners obviously. You put Quintana in your losers? Oh dear...

Think you should [s]race[/s] crawl away with it now unless Bertie wins the Tour

Cav wont be good value for money this year though

SClech and evans spat out the back [ they are my losers as well}

Bloody columbian climbing god getting white,stage and polka dot I hate you

let's hope he's not 100% columbian

😀

probably not help him but we should be able to tell at the celebration 😉

Proper race on moment as they catch him

Immense by Porte!

BOOM go team SKY and rip their legs off

The tour has proper started and a psychological blow if nothing else

Nice long ad break by ITV... Just as Froome makes a move

bertie's dreaming of a beef laden dinner

Contador struggling without the help of doping..

I like the fact the adverts are not synced between ITV and eurosport

Contador struggling without the help of doping..

Yeah Bertie doesn't look as good nowadays, funny that! Froome is quite possibly the most ungainly rider I've ever seen! Hard to get that excited about Froome and co-constantly looking down at his SRM.

I'm still not sure that I like Froome but he's way more interesting to watch.
Contador needs a 'rest' day

Going to have to watch the highlights later just catch the bits in the ad breaks.

winning the tour today by the looks of it

Given his TT only an accident will hurt him

They are literally no where near him...should have given a LA look before going

Bertie needs to 'glow' on the rest day...

GC done already. Froome Porte 1-2 sewn up barring an accident. It could be 10 minutes to the first none Sky rider by Paris.

both in my winners team so hope so and there you go he murders them

No way could Brad ever do that and Porte second

Bloody hell 😯

I'm not really a fan of Froome but what a performance. First proper day on the slopes and he's demolished the opposition.

Just awesome!

This could have been Froome's 3rd Grand Tour win instead of his 1st.

I'm not really a fan of Froome but what a performance.

Touche!

He's the Andy Murray of professional cycling, wouldn't smile if you held a gun to his head and threatened him! But my god, what a ride... Was expecting him to maybe just nudge a few seconds into the GC lead today over Contador et al, but he's just done 50% of the work he needs to do to win the Tour probably with that ride!

he looks pretty fresh and he is barley out of breath in the interview

lots of smiling and joy from him as well

Awesome days racing

All over bar the shouting I'd say. I didn't see anyone who could challenge Froome in the mountains today and don't forget he can time trial as well.

Poxy ITV4 advert break as well just as the stage was obviously kicking off.

Don't hate,celebrate! Big up Team Sky!

That ad break was badly timed wasn't it 🙄

Loved watching Porte grinning like a maniac.

LOL @ the dodgy looking "local dignitaries". Looks like they've just rolled out of the bar.

Told.

ITV4 ad break well timed as always.

Fantastic ride from Froome, and he was even keeping his elbows in check (most of the time). Porte rode excellently too, hoping he gets a stage win or two, he definitely deserves it.

Also a fantastic ride from Impey, he really wanted to stay with them, but it just wasn't on the cards.

Froome, Porte, Evans, Contador, Valverde, Quintana, Ryder, even Andy (maybe...) could all be in the mix. If anyone takes big time today it will be Froome, but I'm not expecting him to win the tour today, although I am expecting quite a few to lose big time today and be forgotton about for the rest of the tour.

So we can forget about Evans, Ryder, Andy, Tejay, Gesink, Voeckler, Rolland... Contador, Valverde, Quintana - maybe the first two just had a bad day today? Quintana definitely went a bit too soon, but I think he'll come back later.

Like I said, I wasn't expecting Froome to win the tour today, but I think he pretty much has.

Also looking forward to the VG update tonight.. 🙂

Going to have to watch the highlights later just catch the bits in the ad breaks.

If you have an iPad get the ITV player and pay 4 quid for the premium package for a month, it's the same coverage but starts earlier and is continuous without ads.

Mostly I watched TV then reverted to iPad when the final "strategic" ad break came on.

I think Froome's pet dog just died, otherwise I find it hard to explain his complete lack of enthusiasm on the podium.

Not a good day for my team, my longshot choice of Schleck hasn't paid off 🙄

I think Froome's pet dog just died, otherwise I find it hard to explain his complete lack of enthusiasm on the podium.

Interviewed on Eurosport he was smiling all the way through

I think Froome's pet dog just died, otherwise I find it hard to explain his complete lack of enthusiasm on the podium.

They're sportsmen, not media stars - give the guy a break, he's just ridden 180km over sweltering hot mountains - I bet you'd look a bit peeved by the time the 12th journalist stuck his microphone under your nose and started asking the same inane questions when all you wanted was a cold drink and a lie down!

Immense ride, did it Armstrong style - stay out of trouble and anonymous in the first week, wait for the first big hill, stick the whole team on the front and blow the race to pieces!

I did enjoy watching the cheating Spainsh bastard drop back too. Now we just have to wait for his miraculous rest day recovery... 🙄

Ah right, the premium thing, that explains the ridiculously long ad break at the crux of that climb. Completely different race before and after the break. Bloody annoying as itv4 is all I can get on my hols 🙁

Anyone else see the knob drawn on the road with about 1k to go?

They're sportsmen, not media stars - give the guy a break, he's just ridden 180km over sweltering hot mountains - I bet you'd look a bit peeved by the time the 12th journalist stuck his microphone under your nose and started asking the same inane questions when all you wanted was a cold drink and a lie down!

I can understand that, but I was talking about the podium... he actually seemed fairly cheerful when he was being interviewed. (Although I'd argue that top professional sportsmen [b]are[/b] media stars these days...)

Anyone else see the knob drawn on the road with about 1k to go?

Yes.

😆

I don't care anymore. It's just entertainment.

I agree hence the attempt at humour rather than a rant and was wary of derailing the spirit of Realmans threads, whatever it was impressive and he's a more exciting rider to watch than Wiggins (even if he was staring at his SRM he was turning himself inside out on a solo attack). Just hope it hasn't killed the competition off so soon in the tour.

Disappointed in Quintana, I was hoping he would drag my fantasy team score back into the realms of respectability! Loved him nonchalantly grabbing a bottle from the pannier of the Vittel support bike as he passed, then pointing to his back wheel as he passed Riblon with a total poker face. Class.

Big UP for Peter Kennaugh, another Manxie doing well on Tour. Can't wait for a Radio 2 "top tenuous" for him as my father-in-law lives across the road from his Gran....

Just caught up with the highlights. That felt like a real old school sort of win where a gc contendor takes a stage in style rather than microseconds at a time. Felt sorry for Evans though, that must have been destroying today

A bit too old school for some people 😕

i love richie porte pain management face,id love to see chuck norris handle that ?

A bit too old school for some people

Yep, that's true but at least it's not happening when everyone else is on top form so it's not so unreasonable. When bjarne Riis won it felt back in the day it felt like he was just taking the piss really. Doesn't feel like that this time

WOW! Just watched the highlights.
Quintana did claim that he was riding for Valverde, trying to break Sky, which may have been a bit of a niaive plan but showed what he was capable of. Watch out for stage wins from him.
But Froome looked immense. Let's hope that we see some more wins from him rather than just defensive riding.