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NIbbs 4k to go..
Quinty..
Froomie at 13s
20 secs for Quintana or so
Can't wait to watch this later!
Nibali lead down to 1m27 - I don't think that's enough at this pace
Tomorrow is going to be epic, can't wait...
Froome is losing time her, big, BIG move.
Punctuation missing in my joke post... Missing the good weeks...
Froome has gone full alien-face
nibbs hurting
I think Froome looks ok
letour tracking not working for me now!!
nairo has an unreal poker face, he doesn't look like he's hurting at all
come on froome!
pebblebeach - Memberletour tracking not working for me now!!
Nope - Bust
2.1K to go for Nibbs. Quintana 1'10 back. Froome 1'27 back.
RM.
I've got goosebumps here, this is epic.
Nibbs 1.4 k to go..
Quinty
Frommie at 22s
Nibbles is flying.
quintana's face actually moved!
Good stage by Nibbs, went off when he should have and has ridden excellently...
Dude..
Quinty
Frooomie @ 20s
Well done nibali, that was brilliant
what a celebration. what a ride. what a stage.
what a race!
Nibali seems to have something dangling off his face
sharky snot
muppetWrangler - MemberNibali seems to have something dangling off his face
He had his necklace in his teeth for a bit - some religious thing
The contents of his stomach I would say the way he rode 😕
Rolland looks like he needs his Mother..
Jeeze, what a stage 😯
I would have preferred it if Nibbles had performed a quick trackstand just before the line, turned and gave his beloved DS in the following car the bird. No doubt Vino will be keen to claim the credit for his 'inspiring words'... 🙄
Good stage! Can't wait for tomorrow.
RM.
edit: Nibali up to 4th overall!! 😯
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2.38s for Froome now, tomorrow will be quite a day I suspect...and I wont be near a TV to watch it. Gutted.
Replay of Nibali looking at Froome's mechanical pretty conclusive.
Millar thinks it's fine. History of Chaingate says otherwise.
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One cheat defending another
offtopic - that Bernado's advert is a bit full-on scaremongering isn't it!?
froome miffed at todays spitting incident?
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What mechanical did Froome have, any bearing on his race?
No doubt Nibali clocked Froome's mechanical, Millar seems to think it's not an issue.
We will have to agree to disagree.
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His mate behind filming it - hope they get picked up by the gendarme
No doubt Nibali clocked Froome's mechanical, Millar seems to think it's not an issue.
i think it was unsportsman like behaviour but I don't think it massively influenced the outcome of the day.
the Inner Ring ?@inrng 1m1 minute ago4th overall this morning Geraint Thomas finishes 53rd, 22 minutes down
I'm glad Froomie called Nibali out. Gone up slightly in my estimation for that.
It was a massive day. From the word go the racing was on. All in all it was a good day to be able to tick it off with one day of racing left. Quintana put in a big attack and I opted to limit my losses and keep a bit of energy. - Chris Froome speaking to ITV4
Let's hope this was the case.
Froome didn't mention the spitting, maybe didn't notice with all the shouting from the crowd.
Millar backtracking on his earlier comment.
Wow Sky in all kinds of problems, at the end of today Poels was at 6 minutes and then Geraint next way back at 22 mins. And now they have to pick themselves up and ride again tomorrow, yikes.
I think all the work Geraint has done for Froome over the last weeks has been starting to tell for the last couple of days, and today it eventually all caught up with him 😥 Fair play for hanging on so long mind, he's done better than some of the bigger names in his team.
Millar backtracking on his earlier comment.
To be fair there was new information - i.e. the Nibali denial.
'Sometimes your a hammer , sometimes your a nail . Today I was a cheapy wee ikea nail'.
i love Geraint Thomas.
IKEA to sue Sky for slander !
This could well blow tomorrow wide open, Quintana might be thinking about how much extra time he can get back, Nibali is within reach of a podium now so he could light it all up again tomorrow if he can recover in time.
Watching this on +1, I had to follow it on Twitter and here while I was on the train home so just catching up on the actual footage now.
Another roadside hero from today
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I did notice that one (the spitter passed me by).
Someone is going to have to be made an example of I feel.
Froome might well be in the running for both yellow and KOM Jersey here...
I reckon Froome has something left in the tank and will burn all his matches tomorrow. Him and Quintana head to head on the Alpe.
Even Sean Kelly might get a bit excited by that.
brakes +1
Reckon he was riding tempo to a certain extent after Quintana today. Limiting his loss and trying to keep something back for the last mountain stage.
Yup agree with Brakes. He didn't look as stressed as he has in the past and wants the Alp D'Huez win.
Hats off to Wouter Pouls today. Everyone's been going on about Geraint Thomas this Tour but Pouls turned himself inside out today and may have saved the MJ for Froome.
Another roadside hero from today
What is wrong with these jeffing idiots?
Unfair to answer your own question like thatWhat is wrong with these jeffing idiots?
They're all a-froth with insinuations of "dopage" that Mr unimpeachable JaJa's spouting along with some of his chums and also, probably more truthfully, can't bear the thought of more English-speaking domination of their race
All this doping talk about Froome seems odd to me when banned doper Valverde is in the form of his life.
Insinuations of doping.. Quintana has stuck to him like glue and beat him today, why's no-one spitting on him?
There was a Spanish BMC rider interviewed on Eurosport a day or two ago who ran through the list of top riders in terms of threat.All this doping talk about Froome seems odd to me when banned doper Valverde is in the form of his life.
When he came to Valverde he gave a sort of laugh and said "he never has a bad day"
Much admiration for Froome here. Seriously tough day, much hard racing having ravaged his team, had to do a lot on his own. All the media mud slinging he has to put up with daily, patiently answering the same questions day in day out, then being spat at and having piss thrown at him and probably no end of verbal abuse too, all the while turning himself inside out doing something unimaginably hard. And still coming across in interviews as a decent guy. More mental toughness than I can possibly comprehend.
Yes, it pretty incredible that with all these obvious and ex(?) dopers in the race Froome is still in lead....
Must be some guy to do that clean, eh?
Oh, and on iplayer there's BeSpoke: Alpe d'Huez for those that haven't done it, it'll give you a flavour for tomorrow...
Absolutely the best day I've ever had on a road bike was up the Alpe 🙂
bertie to win tomorrow
metalheart, go knock yourself out on [url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/le-tour-dopingspeculationrumourconjecture-thread/page/12#post-7064349 ]this thread[/url].
FWIW, a pretty good article on [url= http://cyclingtips.com.au/2015/07/the-curious-case-of-chris-froome-why-he-and-cycling-deserve-better/ ]The Curious Case of Chris Froome[/url] over at cyclingtips. And the linked to [url= http://rouleur.cc/journal/riders/laurens-ten-dam ]Rouleur article on Ten Dam[/url] is well worth a read.
Ay(e), there's the rubmetalheart - Member
Yes, it pretty incredible that with all these obvious and ex(?) dopers in the race Froome is still in lead....
Must be some guy to do that clean, eh?
Though I suspect that, until they come across the next great undetectable (including by passport) drug, doping's not as helpful as it used to be
@Mrblobby: oh, I see. You can throw mud, just not in one specific direction.... I note you don't feel it necessary to 'instruct' anyone else. #doublestandards
'Sometimes your a hammer , sometimes your a nail . Today I was a cheapy wee ikea nail'.i love Geraint Thomas.
IKEA to sue Sky for slander !
Nah…. If IKEA marketing bods have any squirt of originality they'll release a modern flatpack interpretation of a [i]welsh dresser[/i] and call it it the [i]Geraint[/i]
@Mrblobby: oh, I see. You can throw mud, just not in one specific direction.... I note you don't feel it necessary to 'instruct' anyone else. #doublestandards
Eh?
Metalmuppet you can throw your mud in any direction on mud slinging thread that was specifically created for that purpose. Off you go,ta.
Haha, I saw three (veiled) doping reference posts in a row (two specifically mentioning valverde) and jumped in with both feet...
I actually don't want to derail these daily threads believe it or not... I deliberately [i]didn't[/i] *speculate* about tomorrow! 😀
Yes, it pretty incredible that with all these obvious and ex(?) dopers in the race Froome is still in lead....
Must be some guy to do that clean, eh?
If that wascaimed at me you have missunderstood my point. Froome has one le tour before and hasnt ever failed a test. He is riding as expected. Valverde who has been banned before and is currently riding way above expectations. If I was going to be throwing accusations around or looking at someone to investigate it would be Valverde. Both or neither could be doped.
Doping aside (deliberately not airing my views on this thread) my comment was just about the mental toughness someone in Froome's position has to have to endure what he does. Same would go for anyone in the yellow jersey in the current climate, be that Quintana, Nibali, Contador, etc. Though the daily media and roadside hatred that seems to be directed at Froome personally, which he seems to put up with graciously, just puts it on another level. No one deserves that.
Not sure where the #doublestandards is there?
metalheart - Member
Yes, it pretty incredible that with all these obvious and ex(?) dopers in the race Froome is still in lead....
Must be some guy to do that clean, eh?
So if he's leading and cheating, we can the assume that Nibbles, Quintana, Bardet, Ancona, Rolland, Jungles... Anyone who beats him, they're all juiced too, no?
Guys, you are right, I've probably misread your intentions.
And actually thinking about what you've clarified, well, it's made me think a little harder. And for once, I've actually have tried to think it from Froomes side. Now, [i]that[/i] felt weird.... 😯
Though the daily media and roadside hatred that seems to be directed at Froome personally, which he seems to put up with graciously,
No-one would be giving him shit if Michelle was still allowed to get involved 😆
Aw I feel bad about the name calling now Metalheart, I take it back. 🙂