Le Tour 2018
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@mariner4life said in Le Tour 2018:
Rest days are shit. What am i supposed to do tonight? Go to bed at a decent hour with the wife?
Look at the bright side. At least she won't have to spend as much on batteries.
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@crucial said in Le Tour 2018:
@mariner4life said in Le Tour 2018:
Rest days are shit. What am i supposed to do tonight? Go to bed at a decent hour with the wife?
Look at the bright side. At least she won't have to spend as much on
batteries.Diesel.There. Fixed it for you.
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Latour might be giving the GC peleton a nervous moment.
Currently eaten into his 17:30 deficit by 12:00 and in a decent group of climbers. Nearly at the top of the Col de Mente and less than 50km to go.
If he has the legs he has an opportunity to have a real crack at catching up on the GC board. -
At most Latour will take 7 or 8 minutes out of the leaders now, the peleton never really put the foot down but the chance was missed. After all of that effort he doesn't look like extending his white jersey lead either as Martin has tracked him
Yates having a crack at the stage win with Alaphilipe chasing him
Edit: Yates crashes about 5km out.
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Good stage. Pace at the front for the first 100km or so was ridiculous. A protest stops the race. This tour has every thing.
If anyone is planning on having a go, they are starting to run out of time.
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@mariner4life said in Le Tour 2018:
Good stage. Pace at the front for the first 100km or so was ridiculous. A protest stops the race. This tour has every thing.
If anyone is planning on having a go, they are starting to run out of time.
Tonight is the night according to the pundits! I think there's an expectation that Froome will try something similar to what he did to win the Giro - ride away from everyone on the first climb.
Not sure it will work this time - because he needs to fragment the chase and everyone will be watching for him.
Might be someone else who makes the big long range attack?
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@chris-b To win a stage like that alone from the start requires not only that you can climb, but that you can descend better than everyone else too. Otherwise all the work on the way up will be destroyed on the way down. I don't see Froome able to do that alone, so he'd need to take a domestique who can descend, and will Sky splinter the team on a long-shot to beat their own man?
Also I reckon Dumoulin will haul in such an attack by sticking to exactly the right pace and not wasting energy on bursts. It's his m.o. and Froome hasn't been able to shake him all race. Thomas will mark Dumoulin, knowing that he sets the best pace. Provided a decent descender goes up behind them, they'd haul in Froome.
Also I'd put money that Alaphillipe and Barguil will attack the first climb. They'll be too knackered to wait till the last and they'll want the early points. Well, Barguil will go, and Alaphillipe will mark him. Others will follow. Too big a group like that and it'll never get away.
So my pick is that everyone will charge out of the gates and it will be a massive sprint from the get-go. Halfway up the second climb it will be leaders only as everyone else won't be able to keep up. The big time gainers will be the best descenders from the second peak.
Roglic to do well. Thomas to beat Dumoulin by 10 seconds and Froome by 30. Bardet and Quintana to fade badly.
Nice thing about precise predictions is that I'm bound to be wrong though. Cycling is like that.
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Is quintana a massive cat or just not that good?
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@mariner4life said in Le Tour 2018:
Is quintana a massive cat or just not that good?
He's bloody frustrating that's for sure. He always looks like he's waiting to pounce but never does.
There's no way that Froome is going to not have a crack. He wants the Giro/TdF double to go with last years TdF/Vuelta.
His problem is that he knows Dumoulin can erase the current deficit between the two on the TT so has to break well clear of him. DuMoulin will just stick to him.I think there is still some hope that Thomas will crack. Sky can't afford to try and engineer a Froome win in case Dumolin comes over the top of him. Classic 'dog with two bones' situation.
Today's stage is an odd one. Grand Prix Grid start so that the leading GC contenders are at the front and their teams will have to jostle forward to reach them and get organised. Also a very short stage apparently designed for attacking.
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Quintana with the stage win. Froome cracked. Looks like Thomas may just have done enough to be wearing yellow into Paris. Although still a lot of riding to go.
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Froome must be due to receive his special midnight package very soon?
Can’t watch this live but have enjoyed watching the highlight package on sky each night. Who would have funked it that something you can do with your kids in the weekend could be so exciting to watch
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@mariner4life said in Le Tour 2018:
Is quintana a massive cat or just not that good?
As usual, my timing was impeccable. Great ride.
Thomas's ride was impressive too, that last attack to leave Doumalan behind was alpha as fuck.
Froome was broken. Giro has taken its toll.
And so one more famous climb, and then the TT. I know the riders are suffering, but why cant the tour be 4 weeks?
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As an aside, i am supplementing my Tour viewing by reading Tyler Hamilton's book again. Best sports book I've ever read.