Pin0Q0
Posts:229
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| 07/09/2014 01:16 PM |
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| Teams need to protect their super star just as NFL has put in rules to protect the QB. Sure I love to see the race on the cobbles, but I am not the one forking millions in salary. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 07/09/2014 01:20 PM |
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The salary argument is a good point but really Froome's troubles started yesterday, not today.
Cav crashed out on a spint stage.
Beloki's career was over on a descend.
Andy got blown off his TT bike.
Shit can happen pretty much anywhere. Riders having control over their destiny to me is the treshold between good/tough racing and a circus. |
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Pin0Q0
Posts:229
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| 07/09/2014 01:26 PM |
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| Point taken OC but when you start customizing the road bike from top to bottom so you can stay upright on the cobbles then you might as well throw a mtn bike stage in there too. |
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Yo Mike
Posts:338
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| 07/09/2014 01:33 PM |
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Wiggins acquitted himself more than adequately on the cobbles this Spring. Sky must be doing the 'coulda shoulda woulda' about now.
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 07/09/2014 02:25 PM |
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| And look at that; only one DNF today. There have been "regular" stages seeing much greater carnage. |
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stronz
Posts:447
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| 07/09/2014 03:00 PM |
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| The argument that these cobble stages are unsafe for the GC guys might have merit if it werent for the fact that a skinny little GC guy just took the stage by the throat and killed it! This was a great display of tactics and skilled bike riding. Dont know if you guys saw it but Nibali looked comfortable on the cobbles and he was flying! His team worked the stage perfectly -- sent Terpstra up in the break and burnt his matches slowly so he had Fulgsang with him when they finally joined up with Terpstra. It was perfect. And Sagan and Fabes couldnt catch him in the end. Nibali kicked everyone's ass today and based on this performance desrves to win imo. Plus now we can watch Berto claw his way back. Expect some attacks from far out -- this is shaping up to be a great and unpredictable tour. And Brailsford should be canned for keeping Bradley off the squad. There is no legitimate plan B for SKY but there could easily have been one. |
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thinline
Posts:325
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| 07/09/2014 03:02 PM |
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A few weks back on a thread about Wiggins' status for the tour I remarked about the possibility of Froome abandoning and Sky regretting not bringing Wiggo.
Also, I beleive Cancellara in the Cycling News article someone posted yesterday made a comment quite like Terpstra's re: they make us climb mountains. Unless I read it wrong and was Terpstra being quoted. If it was FC, the reporter should have called him on it. |
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thinline
Posts:325
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| 07/09/2014 03:03 PM |
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Cancellara from yesterday:
"I've already been asked if I'll ask for the stage to be neutralised if it rains but this is different. I know that it’s not a nice stage for Froome, Contador, Nibali and even our GC riders. But my reply is: so why not take out the climbs to make it easier for us? That never happens, so it's only right we race on the cobbles. It’s a risk for everyone, including me, but we've got to live with it and calculate the risks involved." |
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jrt1045
Posts:363
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| 07/09/2014 03:49 PM |
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| Bert (and others) will make Nibbles suffer in the mountains, but he certainly made his own luck today. I don't think that Astana will be able to keep Bert at bay in the mountains without dropping/blowing-up Nibbles. They'll have to try for a happy medium, I get the feeling that the only rider Bert feared on a mountain splattered himself on the cobbles today. Should make for some great rassin' |
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Inferno7
Posts:344
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| 07/09/2014 04:16 PM |
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Wow Nibali second today +2 on everyone......this tour just got real interesting.
Lars BOOM, I bet my neighbor is psyched he's a cross racer went to worlds this year for USA. He'll be stoked to see a cross racer win. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 07/09/2014 04:39 PM |
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Great, great stage. I don't buy the "not fair to the GC guys" argument. Teejay was whining about Froome being out (you guys got your drama), but Froome was out before the cobbles even began. Hell, Teejay himself went down in a roundabout, not on the cobbles. So what....maybe we should just cancel stages when it rains?
The killer today was the rain, not the cobbles.
Nibali just killed it today, as did Astana. Props to them......BUT, I do find the timing of their resurgence (after Vino blasted them) to be.....uh, convenient.
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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zootracer
Posts:835
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| 07/09/2014 05:55 PM |
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| Lady Luck strikes again.... |
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Ride On
Posts:537
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| 07/09/2014 06:08 PM |
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| I'm ok with the stage. In modern times we have come to be condition to thinking that the tour winner should come from a winner of the mountains. Why can't the tour winner come from a classic stage like today. Nabili today showed he was the best on a very hard stage, why can't he take that and be crowned a great winner. I was very impressed with him today and won't take anything away from him, he earned every second he gained today. |
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CERV
Posts:151
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| 07/09/2014 06:44 PM |
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Posted By ed custer on 07/09/2014 05:55 PM
Lady Luck strikes again....
Froomes DNF was 30% bad luck, 70% bad skills.
Nibali also didn't almost win that stage on luck.
I'm in complete agreement with those who say this is all part of bike racing. I've wished for years that they'd have MORE stages like this, Stages of attrition that result in 2 minute + gains change the overall just like mountain stages do. It would be great if the 'general' classification tried to even out the specialties a bit. The winner of the GC would be the best overall bike racer, not just the elite climber with the best TT. |
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Yo Mike
Posts:338
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| 07/09/2014 06:47 PM |
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| Vino is a very 'motivational' speaker. Just ask Rigoberto Uran......... |
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