General Tour de France Thread 2016 - use spoiler tags until midnight

neris

theres a behind the scenes of the tdf on bike channel at 20:45 on bike channel this tuesday

Lusk_Doyle

MPFGLB wrote: »

Cavendish is riding the Tour ...why would he not as best prospect for stage wins for his team

EBH and now Steve Cummings are equally as prospective for wins as he is. Both have been known to get in breaks and gets wins. Cav is not what he used to be in the sprints and doesn't have a dedicated lead out train capable of what the likes of lotto sudal, giant and etixx, and to a lesser extent, cofidis and katusha, can do in terms of control.

mhiggy09

Was wondering if its on sale in shops yet. I bought one today and it wasn't an official one so I might bring it back and wait to get the official one. Has anyone seen it in shops yet? Thanks

ednwireland

Yes it's out bought mine a couple of weeks ago. Its the one in the box !

mhiggy09

ednwireland wrote: »

Yes it's out bought mine a couple of weeks ago. Its the one in the box !

The shop must be sold out so. Suppose this one will do.

pelevin

Quintana sounds in very sprightly form in the Route du Sud - going on a long 2-man breakaway day 1 virtally from the gun, & winning the TT on day 2. Both TdFs he came 2nd to Froome he was trying to claw significant time back from early on. This could be the year he's really going properly toe-to-toe for the victory.

Pantanifan84

2 ITTS in 5 days. Last few days should be interesting.

retalivity

Nibali is apparently in the Astana team for the tour...surprised at that.

Aru is surely plan A, will nibali work to that end or push himself as plan B?

neris

retalivity wrote: »

Nibali is apparently in the Astana team for the tour...surprised at that.

Aru is surely plan A, will nibali work to that end or push himself as plan B?

he will in his bollix, Niballi only gives a fcuk about niballi

dastardly00

pelevin wrote: »

Quintana sounds in very sprightly form in the Route du Sud - going on a long 2-man breakaway day 1 virtally from the gun, & winning the TT on day 2.

It is worth pointing out though he had literally no competition in Route du Sud. None.

TheBlaaMan

retalivity wrote: »

Nibali is apparently in the Astana team for the tour...surprised at that.

Aru is surely plan A, will nibali work to that end or push himself as plan B?

Yeah, sure, he will like fcuk! ln Nibaliland Nibali is plan A and plan B......

Taxuser1

Lots of clues and pointers in the past few weeks.

I don't think Froome was in top shape and he still won the Dauphine. Aru was clearly not there yet or at the very least just content in getting race miles in. Quintana looks like he's in shape at Route du Sud but I'm surprised he came down from the clouds so early! He might be heading back up there.

On a separate point, the Colombians are going really well this year particularly when you see the roads rise above 2000m. Possibly an indication of their natural talents coming back to the forefront just like in times of old (Lucho Herrerra comes to mind)

Lopez, Chavez, Pantano and Atapuma have all delivered on the big stage in the past 2 months. With the Pyrenees coming first this year, it could mean Quintana delivers at the end of the first week and is ahead of Froome going into the TT and the Alps in the final week when Froome has in the past been weaker than others. What fun and games we'd have then.

odyssey06

An update on Team Sky's possible lineup for TdF... Nico not even mentioned... the Dauphiné team plus Thomas and AN Other.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-froome-to-rely-on-stannard-and-rowe-for-protection/

pelevin

Regarding the criticisms of Nibali, how many other current GT multiple winners have much record of domestique riding since they got to the top? You more or less don't get to that level without being very driven & interested in winning. And I don't see that as a bad thing!

If you want to trump the more selfless riders there's always the likes of exciting Richie Porte to light things up.

Macy0161

Aru's performances are probably the biggest thing pushing a Nibali Plan A scheme!

neris

pelevin wrote: »

Regarding the criticisms of Nibali, how many other current GT multiple winners have much record of domestique riding since they got to the top? You more or less don't get to that level without being very driven & interested in winning. And I don't see that as a bad thing!

If you want to trump the more selfless riders there's always the likes of exciting Richie Porte to light things up.

he,ll be on domestique duties for froome

pelevin

neris wrote: »

he,ll be on domestique duties for froome

He's been refining the fine details of the role of late.

Taxuser1

I was trying to come up with a Top 10 and it was tough work ! Here's my 10 in no exact order and very subject to change again

Quintana
Aru
Froome
Contador
Pinot
Nibali
Bardet
Julian Alaphilippe
Warren Barguill
Mollema
Van Garderen

My Top 25 extended to 30
Rolland
Kreuziger
Talansky
Matthias Frank
Mikel Landa
Rosa
Samuel Sanchez
Richie Porte
Valverde
Dan Martin
Julian Alaphilippe
Louis Meintjes
Sergio Henao
Adam Yates
Daniel Navarro
Stef Clement
Robert Gesink

A good month for the French was my original thinking. Barguill said he'd target the white jersey, Alaphillipe will surely contest that too. Bardet and Pinot will go well. The FDJ time trial improvements bring him back into my thinking for a Top 5

I don't think I've been this excited about the Tour in quite a while. Honestly think Aru is the man this year. No form to speak of except that daring solo win in the Dauphine but he didn't even try in the mountains, he never went into the red. I just think he's one of the top 3 climbers here and Astana always have a plan.

pelevin

Aru to come second?! Big call if second on the list implies second in the Tour.

Taxuser1

pelevin wrote: »

Aru to come second?! Big call if second on the list implies second in the Tour.

the top 10 was in no particular order. But I think Aru can win it based on what I've seen of him last year and what I think he was trying to do in the Dauphine. He never went into the red. got his race miles in and back up to altitude.

Brian?

1. Froome
2. Quintana
3. Aru

pelevin

Talansky
TVG
Bobby Julich

neris

pelevin wrote: »

Bobby Julich

:eek:

Decuc500

1. Froome
2. Quintana
3. Bardet/Pinot/Bargiull/Alaphilppe/Rolland/Latour

Brian?

Decuc500 wrote: »

1. Froome
2. Quintana
3. Bardet/Pinot/Bargiull/Alaphilppe/Rolland/Latour

You think list 3 will all beat Aru, Contador and Nibali?

Decuc500

Brian? wrote: »

You think list 3 will all beat Aru, Contador and Nibali?

Well I think there will be a French man on the podium. Just not sure which one. Hopefully having two leaders will derail Astana and I can see younger legs beating Contador.

retalivity

If rolland finishes ahead of bardet/pinot/barguil (accidents permitting) i will eat my hat

Decuc500

So I wasn't being completely serious with Rolland or Latour or Alaphilippe but anything can happen over 3 weeks. Some of the 4 or 5 big favourites are guaranteed to have bad days or crash out. It's the nature of the race. One French man will podium.

Macy0161

Quintana
Contador
Pinot
Van Garderen
Dan Martin

Froome a DNF, having messed up his prep trying to peak for the last week, and bailing before the end. Aru not carrying the form in and Nibbles not being able to maintain it. Porte to be up there, and then have his usual bad day.

neris

Valverde and Nibali, the Tour’s ‘super-duper’ domestiques

http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/06/news/valverde-nibali-pelotons-super-duper-domestiques_410802