79pmooney
Posts:3189
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| 07/16/2018 11:44 AM |
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Bardet and Quintana. Bardet showed he has real heart. Like the heart needed to win the Tour. (I doubt this year, but he upped his ranking in my book a lot with that ride.) Quintana just laid low, stayed up front, rode smart and finished with everyone he needed to; 27 seconds off the winning time set by classics hard men. Just what you would expect from a pint sized climber, right?
And Movistar still having all three in there? Wow
Ben |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 07/16/2018 01:07 PM |
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I may have written Quintana off too soon...yes, he is ~2 min down on Thomas, but only ~1min down on Froome...and I still in no way believe that Thomas is a "co-leader" for SKY. They will still ride for Froome when push comes to shove.
I was worried that the GC race would ahve been blown wide open after yesterday's stage....instead, it is all still pretty tight heading into the mountains, leading to the possibility of an exciting race. NOw, I am sure SKY's tactics and a fear of failing by the contenders will prevent an exciting race from happening, but for the moment, it is a real possibility.
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 07/16/2018 02:01 PM |
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With Stage 9 out of way, if there's any Tour Quintana can win, this is the one. So many mountain stages.
Key may be reduced team size and damage count for Sky. Froome had some minor spills but nothing serious. How did Kwiatkowski fare? And Moscon? Those are key helpers. Of course Poels has been laying low and will be important in mountains per usual. Thomas would be key help if/when he gets brought back into the mental fold. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 07/16/2018 09:42 PM |
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Hot take for tomorrow - a snooze fest. With no summit finish, tired legs from Sunday (and lungs full of dust) and three days in the Alps, no one is gonna push it and try to attack too seriously.
The break wins the day tomorrow and GC’s watch each other... |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 07/16/2018 10:29 PM |
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Another hot take after you flunked the previous one? Sucker for punishment eh?
But tend to agree. Warm up for action in next two stages. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 07/17/2018 06:55 AM |
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Redemption take. 
Bonus take - GVA keeps yellow. (Admittedly a stretch, but possible) |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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longslowdistance
Posts:2886
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| 07/17/2018 07:10 AM |
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| GVA is off the front early - doing everything he can to stay in Yellow. When Sky puts its usual headlock on the peloton later on, a break likely will survive and GVA may even take some time. But be really tired tomorrow. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 07/17/2018 11:18 AM |
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Aside from a few would be contenders struggling off the back and Martin random motion attacks not much action today. Redemption complete.
Sky with usual headlock. Ugh.
Really curious what Dumoulin and Roglic can do long-term. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 07/17/2018 11:25 AM |
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And my bonus take paid off as well....(but not exactly in the manner I expected him to do it.). Superb ride by GVA.
Tough pick between GVA and Alaphillipe as to who deserved the Most Aggressive award today....but GVA got the nod.
OC is correct about Martin...WTF was that move? No chance to win the stage, he is minutes down on GC and there is a descent to follow...made absolutely no sense.
Good, entertaining stage....even if nothing of real significance happened for the GC. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 07/17/2018 01:15 PM |
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"All I saw today was Sky butts and an attack by Martin that didn't make any sense. Froome briefly looked me in the eye, this is when I closed my mouth."
- Tom Dumoulin
(maybe he meant Sky bots) |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 07/17/2018 02:40 PM |
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| I like Dumoulin more and more.... |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 07/18/2018 12:50 PM |
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Glad to see Quintana still lacks the fortitude to actually attack when it matters.....Valverde goes out and lays it on the line and then when he finally gets caught, Quintana (and Landa) starts looking around. Even after both Thomas and Froome have attacked, he is still flapping his elbows for other to pull...I never want to hear his name mentioned as a contender in July again.
Race is now down to Dumoulin and the inter-SKY battle. About the only bit of intrigue left is how SKY will manage to maneuver Froome past Thomas for the overall. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 07/18/2018 01:07 PM |
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Fully agreed on Quintana. Landa at least has a crash for excuse but why is it that when Sky support leaves team, their fortunes go downhill?!
I'm still expecting some long range attack from Nibali or Bardet or Martin sometime somewhere. Will have to see how Dumoulin fares tomorrow. I had predicted he would attack today but for wrong reasons. I figured the finish being not overly steep suited his style. But he attacked cause this is the ski hill where he went as a kid and his uncle who always rented a big cabin for the family passed away last year. So he was going for stage win in his honour.
Roglic is also still a bit of a dark horse. He'll be something in coming years for sure. I think Thomas will crack sometime next week. His wide open jersey is telling. |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 07/18/2018 01:52 PM |
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| Quintana has an Andy Schleck-like way of waiting for the perfect moment, which never comes. That or he's given up so much time that when an opportunity plops in his lap he's down so much time all it does is move him a few spots further up in the top 20... and nobody cares |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2886
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| 07/18/2018 09:31 PM |
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I enjoyed the fireworks today.
Nibali will make the podium barring illness or similar. |
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