79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 06/09/2016 11:24 AM |
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A grudging "good work" to Chris Froome for getting himself ahead of the 9 second split on the uphill finish of Stage 4 into Belley. I'll bet he had Wouter Poels who finished 2 places behind him to thank.
Froome is now 4 seconds behind Contador and 2 seconds ahead of Porte.
Ben
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 06/09/2016 11:32 AM |
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| Nasty crash with 2K to go today...... |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 06/09/2016 02:43 PM |
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| Did that crash split the peloton and cause that discrepancy? |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 06/09/2016 03:34 PM |
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Didn't look like it...only 2 guys went down, a Cofidis and Ag2R guy. Cofidis bike popped about 10 feet into the air...pretty spectacular and was all at high speed.
But it looked like everyone behind stayed on and no gaps opened at that point. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 06/09/2016 04:04 PM |
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apparently there was a split and 3km rule wasn't applied. Contador said he doesn't care about the seconds but he does care about application of the rules.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/criterium-du-dauphine-contadors-lead-slashed-in-split-behind-stage-4-crash/ |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 06/10/2016 07:03 AM |
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Yeah, Ritchie Porte also said something similar.
Apparently since the stage was deemed an "uphill" finish, the 3k rule was not applicable? |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 06/10/2016 10:22 AM |
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The curse of the yellow jersey? Tinkoff having to spend much of the day at the front, especially early when everyone wanted to get away. And they have spent far more time there over the past few days than Sky. Froome/Sky have stayed rested (in relative terms) over the past days. Can they use that over the next two days as they protect the jersey and can Contador recover and throw a punch?
The flip side is whether Contador should burn the matches he would have to to make up what he lost today. He might figure he has seen and done what he needed for his Tour prep.
Ben |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 06/10/2016 11:10 AM |
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I'd like to think that AC is being cagey and not wasting energy in the Dauphine with the Tour looming....but it was pretty clear during the stage today that he was going all out and digging deep.
If it were me, I think I would save my energy for a single critical stage or 2 and not even worry about the GC. And even then, I would set limits for how deep I was willing to dig on those critical stages....
AC's greatest strength, and Achilles, has always been his competitive fire. He could have coasted to hsi Giro win last year, but he continued to attack when he didn't need to, burning matches. This just strikes me as more of the same.
Let Froome and Porte go....let them think they "beat" you....all the while you are keeping you powder dry for when it really counts.
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 06/10/2016 04:24 PM |
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CK that's what makes him such a good rider to watch and that's why he had such positive words for Aru this week.
Win, lose, who cares :-) |
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79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 06/10/2016 05:46 PM |
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Yeah, OC, Contador is fun to watch. He rides with passion. Sky does its best to train out passion, at least all hints that show.
Ben |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 06/10/2016 07:41 PM |
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| Oh yeah, no doubt that is part of his appeal....I just want to see a good race in July and seeing him go so deep for the Dauphine concerns me in that regard. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 06/11/2016 03:21 PM |
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| Good stage today.....all the favorites pretty much acquieced to Froome, I think, but Bardet gave it a good run. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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