Tour de France Stage 11 Carcassonne › Montpellier

dastardly00

Quote from Geraint Thomas when describing their breakaway...

Sagan was just motoring

.... probably not the best phrase in the world to be using!! :pac:

TheBlaaMan

retalivity wrote: »

Balls to that anyway

Actually might be a good thing.............they still have to go up thru the forested section and maybe, just maybe, Quintana will finally wake TF up and have a go....:rolleyes:

isitraining

https://twitter.com/simongerrans/status/753257852593119233

Some very angry cyclists on Twitter after that. Just a taster there from Gero.

neris

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

Oleg enjoyed that....

https://twitter.com/Laura_Weislo/status/753257990996824064

i used to think oleg was a bit of fun and was trying to change cycling to make it somewhat better for the pro tems but now hes just another egotistical russian prick whos becoming annoying and a bad image for the sport

pelevin

neris wrote: »

i used to think oleg was a bit of fun and was trying to change cycling to make it somewhat better for the pro tems but now hes just another egotistical russian prick whos becoming annoying and a bad image for the sport

Could leave the "Russian" bit out though. Most nationalities don't struggle to produce egotistical pricks. I'm sure he's adept at being a gob****e but take away the sham veil of decency & what do the Murdochs amount to - totally different level of pricks. Not that I'm aware of much of a veil - Rupert Murdoch & his far-right 'news' agencies & army of hardcore pornography channels beaming into a family home near you. Not the best image for the sport - though more reality than image.

Total classless photo of Tinkov agreed though with his stupid triumphant middle fingers.

happytramp

A shorter stage is probably good for Dan right?

neris

Olegs now on the itv highlights

TheBlaaMan

Watching the Orica Backstage video this evening, you can hear Sagan ask Bodnar to accompany him onto the podium for the awards ceremony after todays victory. Nice touch, IMO,..... there are those that still have no time for Sagan, but he is turning into a class act and a stunningly competitive cyclist. Even stronger suggestions tonight (from Tinkov himself) that he is bound for Bora – Hansgrohe (as the team will be called) next year and was asking for €6M per year. Specialized are stumping up for some of this......I wonder where that leaves Sammy B.?

Stunning work by Froome today; I'm not a fan, but credit where it is due.....

pelevin

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

Watching the Orica Backstage video this evening, you can hear Sagan ask Bodnar to accompany him onto the podium for the awards ceremony after todays victory. Nice touch, IMO,..... there are those that still have no time for Sagan, but he is turning into a class act and a stunningly competitive cyclist. Even stronger suggestions tonight (from Tinkov himself) that he is bound for Bora – Hansgrohe (as the team will be called) next year and was asking for €6M per year. Specialized are stumping up for some of this......I wonder where that leaves Sammy B.?

Stunning work by Froome today; I'm not a fan, but credit where it is due.....

Bodnar said in interview straight after the stage Sagan was saying to him he'd try and let him win the stage but Bodnar said no, that it would be too awkward - I suppose given Froome would be sprinting himself.

For Sam B, sometimes as domestique/lead-out man when/if partnered with Sagan would be far from the worst thing for his career & learning curve.

fat bloke

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

maybe, just maybe, Quintana will finally wake TF up and have a go....:rolleyes:

I've never seen Quintana do anything other than ride on a wheel.

Fair play to Froome, he's such an awful man to watch wrestling with a bike usually but by God is ratcheting up the entertainment in this tour.

Between today and his last descent stage win, they were two hard-earned and risky time gaps. He must be looking to really make a mark, cos you'd imagine he could just play it safe, wait for the hills and walk away with it there.

Lusk_Doyle

Proper bike racing on display this year.

dastardly00

Just finished watching the highlights on TG4.
Great move by Sagan & Bodnar and chapeau to Froome for going with them. Really impressive stuff. Movistar really dropped the ball, they were way behind when Froome followed Tinkoff's attack.

JK.BMC

velo.2010 wrote: »

Phew! My heart climbed towards the end there. Tinkoff clearly had a idea to attack much like they did in 2013 as you could see them grouping at the front. Froome hesitated in 2013 and got caught in no mans land when that group went... but not today.

If he wins the race by the 40 seconds he's gained by the two attacks, then he very much deserves it.

And Sagan is the best rider in the world.

He is World Champion for a reason- that was hands down the best piece of bike racing this year.
Who needs mountains to make it interesting? Top marks to all 4 in the front group. Every single racer from the lowest league to top pro could learn from today.
And feck it, I really hope Froome wins overall. Marginal gains me hole! That was pure bike racing at its best.

thebouldwhacker

Crikey , Froome really is playing high stakes, for such a surgical rider to ride in such an unorthodox way, he must be really messing with Quintana's head. Great to see the crazy tactics Sky is putting out there. They can play the robot and the Rouge.
Sagan is fast becoming one of the greats and to see him and Froome fighting for the finish, in green and yellow, from a 4 man break away, on a flat stage... I reckon there would have been some odds on that... Really looking forward to tomorrow, Quintana surly has to respond on Ventoux, he is just bleeding time in places he must never have thought possible. All Froome has to do is follow him for a change, no tactics, 'just' draft.

outfox

fat bloke wrote: »

I've never seen Quintana do anything other than ride on a wheel.

+1. I'm tired of waiting for the Quintana attack that never comes.

Brian?

It really appears that Sky have learned from past mistakes. They've looked weak on descents and cross winds in previous years, this year it's where they've made time. Credit where it's due, they've lit up the Tour so far.

I've almost warmed to Froome this year.

dastardly00

Rafal Majka's crash yesterday.... ouch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHPpfYoVa0k

irishrover99

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

Watching the Orica Backstage video this evening, you can hear Sagan ask Bodnar to accompany him onto the podium

I seen another interview and Sagan says the stage was for Bodnar and was not expecting Froome to sprint for the stage. Even more impressive that he just put the power down and won easily enough.

Koobcam

outfox wrote: »

+1. I'm tired of waiting for the Quintana attack that never comes.

I wouldn't be writing him off just yet. If you look at the time gaps in GC, they are so tiny as to be almost meaningless. I actually don't think there's been a realistic opportunity for Quintana to attack. Froome has ridden very impressively, no doubt, and it's great to watch. But, I can't decide if this is a sign of a really strong rider trying to mess with his rival's head, or a ride who is not sure how strong his opponent is and is really worried about what is to come. The last 4 stages of the Tour before Paris are absolutely brutal and will rip the race to pieces. In that context, any time gained so far by Froome will be pretty irrelevant, though I would expect his lead to be bigger after tomorrow's TT. If he is not at least two minutes ahead of Quintana after that then I think it would be time for Froome to start worrying.

Eamonnator

The last time, there was a Green Jersey/Yellow Jersey 1-2 in the Tour, was in 1974.
1st Patrick Sercu.
2nd Eddy Merckx.

ThisRegard

Balls, sounds like I'm missing a great 'boring' part of the tour this year. The local Eurosport seems to show the highlights at random times and I haven't caught it in days.

Re the tweet about how dangerous the stage was, what was the issue, the wind?

Moflojo

ThisRegard wrote: »

Balls, sounds like I'm missing a great 'boring' part of the tour this year. The local Eurosport seems to show the highlights at random times and I haven't caught it in days.

Re the tweet about how dangerous the stage was, what was the issue, the wind?

No I think some of the riders had issue with the amount of street furniture and narrow twisting roads that they had to negotiate. Apparently they were brought through a lot of small villages with tight bends and a lot of raised traffic islands.