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

ThisRegard

Eurosport had a pretty good 2015 highlights package this evening, made entirely of clips with commentators from a variety of languages and channels, no voice over, but some epic music. It was done really well.

retalivity

Majka and kreuziger are prob still shagged frok the giro, so bertie is probably on his own again

dastardly00

retalivity wrote: »

Majka and kreuziger are prob still shagged frok the giro, so bertie is probably on his own again

Well the two lads won their respective national road championships last weekend so their form can't be too bad

lissard

See that karma caught up with poor old Nacer Bouhanni and he's now out of the TDF.

68 lost souls

lissard wrote: »

See that karma caught up with poor old Nacer Bouhanni and he's now out of the TDF.

Yep really needs to pick a sport and stick to it. Boxing and cycling don't make for a great mix.

That or invest in some ear plugs

neris

lissard wrote: »

See that karma caught up with poor old Nacer Bouhanni and he's now out of the TDF.

poor bouhani. cant say im really going to miss him from the tour

mhiggy09

One less sprinter for Bennett to beat. Really hope he gets a stage this year

Taxuser1

mhiggy09 wrote: »

One less sprinter for Bennett to beat. Really hope he gets a stage this year

Best he can hope for is a podium on a muddling sprint stage where lead out trains are in pieces

Stage 1's winds around the Normandy coastline could yet be an echelon fest. Might be his best chance.

Lusk_Doyle

Taxuser1 wrote: »

Best he can hope for is a podium on a muddling sprint stage where lead out trains are in pieces.

Why is that the best he can hope for? He's better than that, no?

Taxuser1

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

Why is that the best he can hope for? He's better than that, no?

in my opinion he's gonna be starting every sprint behind the lead out trains of Katusha with 4 recognised lead out men, Etixx with 6 dedicated to Kittel and Lotto Soudal with 5 dedicated to Greipel. There's only so much road there so unless his team de-rail or anchor one of those 3 he will always find himself sprinting from bike lengths behind and having to go earlier which he's not shown he's got the power yet to do. That's assuming he starts ahead of Sagan or Coquard who seem quicker and Gronewegen who's possibly the dark horse of the opening week. Certainly has the speed if he starts level but he needs a messy sprint for that. Wide open power sprints and he's no better than Top 8

cunavalos

Some slight modification to some Tour De France jerseys

Bora add a white sleeve/shoulder


GiantAlpecin have inverted the black/white colour scheme of their jerseys


This will make Trek/Bora/Giant a little difficult to differentiate from some angles

And Cannondale appear to be going for new green/red colour scheme


Orica will be known as Orica BikeExchange with a slight redesign to be launched tomorrow

neris

cunavalos wrote: »

Some slight modification to some Tour De France jerseys

Bora add a white sleeve/shoulder


GiantAlpecin have inverted the black/white colour scheme of their jerseys


This will make Trek/Bora/Giant a little difficult to differentiate from some angles

And Cannondale appear to be going for new green/red colour scheme


Orica will be known as Orica BikeExchange with a slight redesign to be launched tomorrow

Are orica not changing for next year?

cunavalos

neris wrote: »

Are orica not changing for next year?

No, to be known as Orica-BikeExchange from the tour onwards

Press Release wrote:

Australian-based marketplace, BikeExchange has stepped up its involvement in pro cycling by announcing the naming rights sponsorship with the the newly titled team Orica-BikeExchange, effective immediately. The new kit will be revealed tomorrow and will be worn at the Tour de France onwards. The partnership will extend for a minimum of 12 months.

http://cyclingtips.com/2016/06/bikeexchange-steps-up-as-new-naming-sponsor-for-orica-bikeexchange/

New jersey sees them morph into Movistar-lite

cloonamnaman

(Moderators. Would question previous 3 posts acceptability)
TdF: was happy for Nico's decision for Vuelta but reminded by earlier post that we'll be without his terrific TdF diary...on the other hand great news from ITVcycling. Liggett and Sherwin are gone at long last! Two great blokes Ned Boulting & David Millar commentating instead, so no more 20 years out of date flannel, endless repetitions and ridiculous errors.

neris

cunavalos wrote: »

No, to be known as Orica-BikeExchange from the tour onwards



http://cyclingtips.com/2016/06/bikeexchange-steps-up-as-new-naming-sponsor-for-orica-bikeexchange/

New jersey sees them morph into Movistar-lite

So trek, iam and giant are all going to look the same a d now now orica and movistar, thebloke who designs cycling kit must be running out of crayons. Time for the returnof the mad jerseys of the 90s designed by a lad off his head on a cycadelic trip

retalivity

neris wrote: »

a cycadelic trip

Not sure if spellling error or genius pun!

Beasty

cloonamnaman wrote: »

(Moderators. Would question previous 3 posts acceptability)

If you have a problem with a post report it and leave the modding to the mods

Thanks

retalivity

In lieu of a transfers thread....Sagan and majka to bora argon next year.
Thats bennet demoted so, if not looking for a new team

neris

retalivity wrote: »

In lieu of a transfers thread....Sagan and majka to bora argon next year.
Thats bennet demoted so, if not looking for a new team

Sagan not going to lampre? Or am i thinking of contador?

retalivity

neris wrote: »

Sagan not going to lampre? Or am i thinking of contador?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-bora-argon-18-to-sign-sagan-and-add-hansgrohe-as-naming-rights-sponsor/

dastardly00

retalivity wrote: »

In lieu of a transfers thread....Sagan and majka to bora argon next year.
Thats bennet demoted so, if not looking for a new team

I presume Bora will become a World Team next year? Although even if they were still Pro-Continental, with Sagan onboard they would always get invites to any race they wanted.

neris

retalivity wrote: »

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-bora-argon-18-to-sign-sagan-and-add-hansgrohe-as-naming-rights-sponsor/

so what will astana be riding next year then? or will astana even been around? Nibbles going to the team from Qatar and Specialised going to Bora as bike sponsor

cunavalos

neris wrote: »

so what will astana be riding next year then? or will astana even been around? Nibbles going to the team from Qatar and Specialised going to Bora as bike sponsor

Supplying bikes to multiple world tour teams has never been a problem for Specialized going back as far as 2012

Currently Astana, Etixx and Tinkoff are all riding specialized bikes. With the demise of tinkoff they can still supply another team.

They are not becoming a title sponsor of Bora so can continue a multi team sponsorship model.

Taxuser1

is this a Tour de France thread ?

Pudsy33

Taxuser1 wrote: »

in my opinion he's gonna be starting every sprint behind the lead out trains of Katusha with 4 recognised lead out men, Etixx with 6 dedicated to Kittel and Lotto Soudal with 5 dedicated to Greipel. There's only so much road there so unless his team de-rail or anchor one of those 3 he will always find himself sprinting from bike lengths behind and having to go earlier which he's not shown he's got the power yet to do. That's assuming he starts ahead of Sagan or Coquard who seem quicker and Gronewegen who's possibly the dark horse of the opening week. Certainly has the speed if he starts level but he needs a messy sprint for that. Wide open power sprints and he's no better than Top 8

In a pure flat sprint I think Bennett is faster then Coquard, and there's not much between himself, Sagan, and Gronewegen. He has Archebold too so should be well positioned. That said you're right, a podium would be a fantastic achievement.

neris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq0aA-fkXN8

68 lost souls

“I’ve just been trying to keep the motor rolling, sharpen up, recover a little bit and freshen up this last week,” he said about his current condition.

http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/sam-bennett-takes-control-of-his-own-tour-de-france-prep/
God Sam don't mention the M word!!!

neris

Geraint thomas is now frantically charging round the team sky hotel looking for a map of this year tour to see if he can sneak off next to get the euro semis

Bugsy2000

Well my bet for the day is Dan Martin for a Top 10 finish @ 2/1 with Boylesports. If he doesn't go stage hunting too often it should be well within his grasp. I'd be surprised if he finished out of the Top 10 to be honest.

Pudsy33

Bugsy2000 wrote: »

Well my bet for the day is Dan Martin for a Top 10 finish @ 2/1 with Boylesports. If he doesn't go stage hunting too often it should be well within his grasp. I'd be surprised if he finished out of the Top 10 to be honest.

The issue with Dan is still consistency and staying well. If Etixx can sort that, I see absolutely no reason a solid top 10 isn't possible. I've taken that bet too.