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This is going to get interesting.
Never thought I'd see Thomas winning on the Alpe.
He's going to have to have a bad day soon or Froomey is not going to be sharing his evening coco with him.
Froome yet to win on the Alpe
G can win this not following Froome but following Big Tom
Speechless! Go Get.
Doumalin rode brilliantly too.
G's interview is hilarious. But once again he's clear that he's working for CF.
Wow! Wonder when TD will get narked off with being GTs domestique though?
Froomes got a problem called G not being able to shake Tom!
Is it a temperature thing with the Yates twins ?
TV in Canada is saying Nibali got taken out by a race motorbike
TV in Canada is saying Nibali got taken out by a race motorbike
It will be interesting to find out what Froome saw of the crash, because he attacked as soon as he got through the fans. G rode over Nibali’s wheel, so must have had an idea about what happened. A few years ago most riders would have allowed Nibali and Roglic to get back on before attacking if they knew they’d been taken out by a fan or a bike.
A few years ago most riders would have allowed Nibali and Roglic to get back on before attacking if they knew they’d been taken out by a fan or a bike.
Not so close to the finish though I don't think
Awesome, marred slightly by the bitter ****s who felt the need to boo him on the podium.
Life must be a pretty miserable existence for some folk...
Awesome, marred slightly by the bitter **** who felt the need to boo him on the podium.
The other way to look at it is that these are mainly fanatical cycling fans who know the sport inside out and have made a huge effort to see the podium on top of the Alpe. What is it that makes Sky less popular than even Armstrong’s teams were?
A few years ago most riders would have allowed Nibali and Roglic to get back on before attacking if they knew they’d been taken out by a fan or a bike.
At one point all four leaders sat up (sort of) and had a chat, perhaps discussing whether or not to let them back on, then realising they were within a km of the top of Alpe d'Huez. And that Nibali certainly wouldn't have waited...
That's cool then, they're so knowledgeable they can boo whoever they want regardless?
I feel a bit sorry for them, all that effort to get to watch what proved to be a classic stage finale, and they choose to expend yet more effort booing someone who has taken the biggest stage win of his career. Like he'll care. 🙂
That’s cool then, they’re so knowledgeable they can boo whoever they want regardless?
Its not illegal to boo just rather childish. And, as Martinhutch says, like he’ll care. I’d suggest that the problem here -for some - is that they are booing British riders in a British team.
At one point all four leaders sat up (sort of) and had a chat, perhaps discussing whether or not to let them back on, then realising they were within a km of the top of Alpe
The crash happened at 3.9km, so I doubt it took them 3km to decide to slow and discuss it. All I can see from rewinding it is that as soon as Froome clears the crowd, he glances over his shoulder, sees he has a gap (on G as well) and attacks.
. I’d suggest that the problem here -for some – is that they are booing British riders in a British team.
Maybe that's true, but what would be the problem with that ? Not sure when it's been wrong for British people to support British riders in a British team.
But I'd call out any "so called" fans booing ANY rider after the effort and entertaining everyone of them gave today !!!
Hetiau, G
Exciting now aint it. Froome will want to win not come second so I expect he might try a shit or bust attack like in The Giro. That short mountain stage could see him go from the gun whilst G sits in and watches...or am I getting carried away?
Well 23 Bonus seconds so far, very valuable to have, that 20s penalty is what is keeping Dumolin out of second too
It's going to be up to Froome to drop G I think as they need to I think TD will stick around until the end there which means he needs to find some big time somewhere, because unless he can race back it will be cheating the race IMHO asking GT to sit up for a couple of mins isn't cool.
Nibali didn't seem to have an issue with Froome.
"There were two police motorbikes but there weren't any barriers at that point. When Froome attacked, I went after him and felt good. Then we were slowed up and I went down. I don't know what happened."
It’s going to be up to Froome to drop G I think
Its almost like they are on different teams....
Its almost like they are on different teams….
Well he either has to tell him to sit up and slow down or drop him. If G stops racing they are vulnerable to a couple still so they need to both keep going.
If Brailsford wants to get some credibility with the locals then let them race. I don't think Froome is as immortal this year
Well he either has to tell him to sit up and slow down or drop him.
If Froome goes long somewhere G will just have to sit in. If Froome blows then G takes it. Seems fairly simple to me. That scheming ****er Brailsford has a plan for sure.
Nibbles to hospital with suspected cracked vertebra! 🙁
Well well, I imagine Geraint feels like this..
That Thomas the Bike is doing Wales proud. Pretty impressive by nearly all the big hitters today. Not least for putting up with the idiots at the side of the road.
Very very impressed with the way the Yellow Jumper wearers are actually attacking and showing respect for the jersey.
A few years ago all you’d see would be a small smatter of yellow in a pack later than a netball team heading for the showers, but this year we’ve had GvA and G battling at the front ... hard.
I am impressed.
Feel a little for Tom, he’s a fabulous rider and I’m sincerely hoping he can at least beat Sky on his own. It’s a shame there isn’t another of his very good squad around him when it counts.
But hey, that turn of speed from G at the line was just stunning...
Fan who went after Froome arrested.
https://as.com/ciclismo/2018/07/19/tour_francia/1532020428_071632.html
Great news make the asshole cycle up the climb as punishment! !
Nibbles out 🙁
FFS Need some better fans and no flares
I'm sure Froome is level headed enough to realise that
a) he's probably the fittest, but not the freshest rider after the Giro.
b) he got his first win in similar circumstances when Wiggins had to pull out.
My money's on them both being given equal protection by the rest of the team, and told not to attack each other, but if anyone else attacks it's fair game if one of them goes with them, worst that happens is they take it in turns neutralising the competition like today.
Brailsfords a canny man, he knows that they're in a great position, even if they get a puncture or crash they've still got the win baring some serious bad luck. He also knows column inches are what ultimately funds his team so keeping the race interesting is in his best interests rather than declaring that one is now riding for the other!
We rode stage 12 yesterday (very tough day out especially Croix de Fer) and you can see why it blew the race apart. Then watch in the The Alp (between Dutch corner and Beligan corner). Great atmosphere, lots of flares, drinking and booing of everything Sky related (earlier on in the day a Dutch guy threw a bucket of water in the drivers window of a Sky lorry. The driver stopped and the police had to intervene).
G looked so quick going up. Amazing to see close up.
also it seemed very quiet on the climb in terms of spectators
I can't see Froome winning to be fair - doesn't seem able to drop Tom D and will prob lose time in the TT. I can see G following wheels and then losing a few seconds in the TT unless he blows his tits at some point and loses a fair bit of time.
In a nutshell it's either G or Tom D ftw,
My money’s on them both being given equal protection by the rest of the team, and told not to attack each other, but if anyone else attacks it’s fair game if one of them goes with them, worst that happens is they take it in turns neutralising the competition like today.
I'm willing to bet there actually aren't any team orders. They'll sort it out between themselves - they both respect & trust each other and will do whatever it takes to get one of them to Paris in yellow. I don't think the team will actually be intervening to say "you must do x, y or z", it'll be a case of each rider proving themselves and at some point - maybe not now, maybe not this week - they'll come to a decision as to who should be going for it. Either way, I reckon both Chris or Geraint would accept whatever role they found themselves in without hesitation. It's not like the Brad / Chris days where it was Brad or nothing (and Chris should have bloody won the Vuelta in 2011, not hung around waiting for Brad only to lose the jersey to Juan Jose Cobo).
Sky trust them both and they've both got more to gain than lose by working together.
I reckon G has found the perfect wheel to follow in Tom.
The difference is I think that unless Froome thinks he can do it, he'll yield to G so they can work sensibly together. Unlike Wiggin's who had an ego and wouldn't want to yield voluntarily to anyone. It'll be down to how things are in the 3rd week, if G can keep his form into that third week (or will he blow a gasket like Yates in the Giro?) compared with if Froome's form improves into the third week. Froome looked tired to me today, he doesn't normally look tired at any point - he always has the Poker face on, so that might be a sign. I think the three grand tours are probably taking their toll, and as cool a character as he seems on the outside, we don't really know what effect the whole Salbutamol thing has had on him with the increased worry and stress that he's had to hide and deal with, and now it's all over he could just be cream crackered mentally.
Not sure Tom D looked like he could drop G at any point today, and G can obviously out-sprint him, but we'll see who is the freshest its we go into the 3rd week. G has to pull out enough of a buffer for the TT so he's still got alot of work to do.
When did Quintana last do anything other than look around for someone else to go on the front?
Well I’ll I admit that I got this totally wrong, he did attack and it was rubbish.
Not sure why Barguil also keeps getting talked up? He was rubbish in the Dauphiné, doing better in the tour but still seems a shadow of his 2017 self
I’m willing to bet there actually aren’t any team orders. They’ll sort it out between themselves – they both respect & trust each other and will do whatever it takes to get one of them to Paris in yellow.
There will be some orders, the last thing they want is them tiring each other out and blowing up in the last week.
Froome doesn't spend his life training to come second. G likewise, he may be a loyal domestique on a pro-tour team, but even getting to that position means winning a lot of races to get noticed, regardless of that post race interview, he's competitive!
It's not Froome Vs Wiggins, but remember it was Froome dropping Brad that kicked all that off!
Bernal was the rider of the day for me. That and Kwiatkowski again burying himself.
Froome will show his class next week. That class will either be riding into better form for some time gains and yellow, or riding for G to keep yellow if he feels he hasn’t got it. Either way, I think Team Sky are looking imperious. I agree that between the two, and the team, they won’t mind who wins. Froome would be delighted if G won a GT I am absolutely sure of that. He’d be gutted for himself of course, but it’s a team sport
Nibbles out. Can’t stand him as a rider, but nobody should be out like that. And Sagan last man standing. Unless GvA goes for a long breakaway into Paris, or Sky try and get Kwiatkowski the win.
Tough course.
Is Kwiat the new Kiryi ?
Thought about it again and oddly I think Sky could find themselves in trouble. Whilst Thomas has a big time advantage over everyone else Froome does not. If Thomas burns all his matches trying to keep himself in yellow then blows up spectacularly not only will Froome be left in a real dog fight with the rest of the field but he'll be there without his lieutenant. Judging by yesterday's performance Froome does not seem to be in the sort of form where he could ride away from everyone else (though you could have said that in the giro too and look what happened there).
Dumoulin might just sneak this (I hope, if Thomas fails).
Long term I hope Thomas sees his performance here as a confidence boost to leave Sky and join another team as GC contender in his own right. I think he's a likeable enough character that he deserves to be on a team that is generally seen in a favourable light by the public. Being wingman to Froome on a now tainted team that is brilliant but rather cheerless must be getting old now.
You can't write Froome off yet, especially after what he did in the Giro. I'd really like G to win, I don't dislike Froome, I'm just a big fan of G's but G is unproven over 3 weeks and after the Dauphine may not be able to hold his form into the third week. If G falters then it's either Froome or Tom, barring some major incident causing a big shake-up of the GC. Both had a hard Giro so all comes down to how well they've prepped for the 2nd & 3rd week of the Tour - you have to give Froome a slight advantage on that though given his (and Sky's) greater GT experience. As long as it's not decided by a crash/mechanical I'm alright with whoever wins...
Another thing is that the Alps suit Dumoulin and his measured TT efforts, he seemed to suffer on the lower slopes on AdHuez yesterday, when it gets to more consistent slopes later on, he was back.
The rest of the mountains are the Pyrenees, bit steeper and bit more inconsistent in their slopes.
Froome did look tired at points yesterday, especially when he spun his legs up a few times to try and pull away, he didn't get very far. But Grand Tours are attrition, often it is not who is fastest in the final week, but who has tailed off the least.
Is Quintana one of the biggest underachievers in the race? It seems like he's always spoken about as though he could do real damage on the climbing stages yet he's never remotely close to pulling it off.
Underwhelmed.
Really wanted Bardet to do it yesterday, his riding was brilliant with the multiple attacks. He really deserves a better team around him, possibly the one that Quintana wastes every year.
@martinhutch - apologies, I realised what you meant about the riders sitting up when I watched the ITV4 highlights later. I thought you meant they sat up within the last km. A comprehension failure! ☺️
Looks like Nibali caught his bar on a camera strap. Not good
Don't like Nibali personally, although I think he's great as a rider, it's just his lack of sportsmanship and verbal digs in the press etc. but I've every sympathy for him today.
Not great for ASO to have this happen again and they seem to be doing little to dissuade the abuse Sky are getting. You've got to feel for G when he gets all that shit for the greatest road win of his career and he's done nowt wrong. <span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">I know they can't barrier the whole AdH climb but why can't they at least rope the spectators back and have the gendarmes patrol that? </span>
I'm going off Dumoulin a bit these days. He's always the strongest rider and would have won if it wasn't for other teams/bad gear shifts/wind/having the shits....and the missus started taking a keener than usual interest in ITV4 last night when he was being interviewed:)
<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;"> </span>
Great threads these - thanks.
Epic stage yesterday, amazing result for G and next week will be very interesting.
Why don't other teams copy Sky? I had hopes for Movistar but three leaders all seemingly on independant plans, how's that going to work?
Are Sky going to prove that having two "leaders" can work?
I'm not sure about Dumoulin but Bardet could come good and is close enough that a mistake by Sky might be enough for him to get closer to the lead. At the moment though Sky are tactically the best team in the race, Movistar seem all over the place for example.
G won’t be leaving Sky for another team. How did that work out for errrr Porte, Landa, Nieve? Sky are the strongest team. As they said at the foot of the climb yesterday. Sky are leading the pack up the climb with three domestiques. All the other teams had lost theirs. And they had yellow and GC leader as well! As I said, imperious.
And I’d love G to win. I’d like Froome to win five, and I’d like Bernal to win white jersey. And a stage.
Well after yesterday's "fans" these would make a pleasant if freaky change...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=b5C79dQ1RsM
I wonder if the Alpe D'Huez stage was on a Thurs to keep numbers down? Seems a bit sensible but wonders never cease.
on a Thurs to keep numbers down?
The ban on alcohol probably had more of an effect 🙂
They had banned alcohol from being sold locally and it said that they had not allowed camper vans on, all the local roads leading in were blocked to vehicles.
Reports saying Nibali has fractured vertebra and that his bars had caught the strap of a spectators camera as he leaned in.
The fans that run along next to them or shove flags in the riders faces (or both at the same time) do look like such tossers. Every rider to get a taser and two charges would be my preferred option to keep the fans in check.
Difficult really, it is isn't fair on the riders to be abused or physically harmed, but the spectators make the race (just watch Abu Dhabi or similar). The ASO are already reporting spectator numbers are way down and TV figures too.
You see the police motorbikes trying to usher fans away, but yesterday Froome was having to shout at them as they were holding him up.
Not sure exactly what the answer is other than barrier the whole mountain?
Over enthusiastic fans is nothing new though is it? In 1975 Eddy Merckx was punched by one "fan" https://www.bicycling.com/racing/a20041531/who-punched-eddy-merckx-the-conclusion/
There's previous on riders catching camera/handbag straps as well, about 1 minute into this video
As for numbers on the Alpe d'Huez, locals are not exactly enamoured with fans' behaviour so short of banning consumption of alcohol there's not a lot that can be done. Even then if someone turns up in a campervan with a couple of crates of beer how do you stop them drinking that inside the van?
dynamo charged tasers; the faster Froome spins his legs, the bigger the whack he can give the bloke that runs up to him.
Amazing result for G....but not the most enjoyable stage to watch.....just waiting for a spectator to get in the way.
Give me the stages in the Pyrenees with more Basque fans, who are more respectful.
You can’t write Froome off yet, especially after what he did in the Giro.
I don't think this applies in this case. The Giro was a perfect storm of events that came together that only just reduced the risk of a very risky manoeuvre to just about acceptable to have a go. And also Froome didn't do it by himself.. it drew upon every resource the team had...so in the case of this TDf they're not going to recruit in a Geraint in yellow and heading for a win to support a dramatic high risk attempt for Froome to steal it.
I think Sky will capitalise on this and whoever wins out wins out. Their competitors have two people to watch out for who can can play games and employ distraction techniques...people talk about Sky have a big decision to make as to who they back...but in reality the competition have a trickier decision about two they decide to cover and mark/attack. Are they going to bet of G or Froome? They can't cover both. Even if Froome has given up any hope of winning this year, he'll play them to create confusion and support G, and if G blows a gasket he is in a good position to go for the win. At the end of the day Dumoulin or Bardet seem to have zero effective support from their teams...they're properly on their own. Sky have the relentless Sky train and Froome and G. can team up and play games as they see fit. I think it's Sky's to loose, who out of G or Froome gets it I don't know, but it's theirs to lose.
Watching Spanish coverage. They've for a shot of the camera strap snagging the bars and also were pretty unimpressed by the behaviour of the watchers to frome and sky.