Tour de France 2017 General Thread

velo.2010

I'm just waiting for a Channel 4 'Dispatches' programme to finally put all this to bed.

Kaisr Sose

velo.2010 wrote: »

I'm just waiting for a Channel 4 'Dispatches' programme to finally put all this to bed.

Is it big enough for them?

Kaisr Sose

buffalo wrote: »

Not that there's any point in thinking about alternate realities.

Phrase of the thread. Shhhhh...Don't tell Donald of this new dimension of outcomes...

1bryan

Shedite27 wrote: »

Am I right in thinking the general consensus is that Froome should be able to make up a minute on Aru, Bardet or Martin in the Time Trial, whereas Uran might be able to run him closer yeah?

Just looking at their recent H2H's in ITT's:
2015 Tour de France - Uran beat Froome by 10 seconds (13.8k)
2017 Tour de Romandie - Froome beat Uran by 45 seconds (17.8k)

(obviously every course is different, just want to get an idea of how close they are)

TTs in grand tours can be strange, particularly the final one. Most riders use it as a rest day. You'll have a few TT specialists out to win, and obviously the GC riders need to try and make gains. I think you've summed it up well though. Aru, Dan and Bardet wouldn't be expected to be as strong as Froome. Uran, I'm not so sure.

Raymzor

1bryan wrote: »

TTs in grand tours can be strange, particularly the final one. Most riders use it as a rest day. You'll have a few TT specialists out to win, and obviously the GC riders need to try and make gains. I think you've summed it up well though. Aru, Dan and Bardet wouldn't be expected to be as strong as Froome. Uran, I'm not so sure.

Interesting to see times from Stage 1 Prologue:

Froome 16mins 16seconds
Yates 16 41
Martin 16 53
Bardet 16 55
Aru 16 56
Uran 17 07
Landa 17 17

Anyone know if Uran crashed or had a mech?

Lusk_Doyle

Raymzor wrote: »

Interesting to see times from Stage 1 Prologue:

Froome 16mins 16seconds
Yates 16 41
Martin 16 53
Bardet 16 55
Aru 16 56
Uran 17 07
Landa 17 17

Anyone know if Uran crashed or had a mech?

He was just a little more cautious than the others into the corners as he wanted his GT to last longer than the first day is all given that they were like ice.

Brian?

Looking at the GC, my dream podium is:

1. Dan
2. Uran
3. Froome

I want Froome to finish third so he look up at the other 2 for a change.

BowSideChamp

I want Bardet on the podium. AG2R have done more than any other team to excite this race.

wanderer 22

Dan's diary - https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/dan-martin-s-tour-diary-a-rest-day-is-not-much-of-a-breather-1.3158125

"In truth, I’ve always enjoyed the tactical side of racing. I think there are similarities with my uncle Stephen Roche, who was also known for that"

Now I can't say much (having never taken part in a road race!) but I wouldn't have thought tactics were his strong suit

highbury1913

mr spuckler wrote: »

it sounds like it alright.

Armstrong also did the same to Kimmage at the tour of California of course, although he obviously took the opportunity to publicly belittle him while he was at it.

It portrays Brailsford in poor light.

I read that article from Barry Ryan at the time and found nothing wrong with it. All legit questions. It's attacking the messenger once again.

Ryan was right to point out the Sporza example with Bruyneel. It's very similar. Critical reporting and coverage. Lance didn't even have anything to do with it. One day he was interviewed by Sporza at that Tour and Philippe Maertens who was working for Astana dragged him away and said no one was to talk to them.

It won't end well when you go after the media the way Brailsford did.

1bryan

highbury1913 wrote: »

It portrays Brailsford in poor light.

I read that article from Barry Ryan at the time and found nothing wrong with it. All legit questions. It's attacking the messenger once again.

Ryan was right to point out the Sporza example with Bruyneel. It's very similar. Critical reporting and coverage. Lance didn't even have anything to do with it. One day he was interviewed by Sporza at that Tour and Philippe Maertens who was working for Astana dragged him away and said no one was to talk to them.

It won't end well when you go after the media the way Brailsford did.

I dunno, I reckon his arrogance has no bounds. When you think of the onslaught he's already faced, from both media and the authorities in the UK. You'd really want a unique level of brazenness to have acted the way he did. His 'nothing to see here' attitude is quite something.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cycling/sir-david-brailsford-committee-extraordinary-uk-anti-doping-chief-cycling-team-sky-a7514936.html

I wonder do britain often have regrets over who they hand knighthoods. Between himself and Sire Bradley, poor old the queen must be scratching her tiara in befuddlement. No wonder froomey hasn't been featuring on the honours list.

BowSideChamp

BowSideChamp wrote: »

I want Bardet on the podium. AG2R have done more than any other team to excite this race.

+1

One of the highlights was tearing the race apart on stage 9 on a treacherously wet Col de la Biche descent.

Leroy42

Fair play to Dan Martin yesterday. He didn't try to make excuses, just said he didn't feel good and lost the wheel.

Hopefully he will learn from it and come back stronger (either this tour of future ones).

But you have to hand it to Froome. He never gets caught out like that and when he does he mobilises his team to help him get back.

loudymacloud

I want Aru and Bardet on the podium...mainly because I stuck a few euros on them to do so months ago

Aru 9/2 e/w
Bardet 16/1 e/w

odyssey06

1bryan wrote: »

I wonder do britain often have regrets over who they hand knighthoods. Between himself and Sire Bradley, poor old the queen must be scratching her tiara in befuddlement. No wonder froomey hasn't been featuring on the honours list.

Yes every now and then... just google "stripped of his knighthood" ... Parliament has the power to do this e.g. they were able to remove the 'Sir' from Jeffrey Archer but not the 'Lord' part!

"Sir Philip Green has been warned that he could still be stripped of his knighthood and faces further questions from MPs, one year after the collapse of BHS."
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/23/sir-philip-green-could-still-lose-knighthood-mp-frank-field-bhs

el tel

Knighthoods for winning sporting title(s) probably shouldn't be handed out until at after the deadline for retrospective testing passes, or after the statute of limitations. In Wiggins and Brailsford's cases, Knighthoods were far too to premature.
That said, on the other hand, Chris Hoy seems proper Knighthood calibre, and he had a further 5 competitive years after his knighthood.

robyntmorton

Not sure what to make of this!

This is what 16 gruelling stages of the Tour de France will do to your legs
http://the42.ie/3503244

Tenzor07

robyntmorton wrote: »

Not sure what to make of this!

This is what 16 gruelling stages of the Tour de France will do to your legs
http://the42.ie/3503244

Que the usual "all pro cyclists are on drugs" diatribe from the Journal comments section! :mad:

el tel

You can achieve the same visual effect by shaving your skinny legs, getting a bit of tan, tying ligatures around your upper thighs, pumping the legs a bit, and taking a photo with a fancy filter applied

MPFGLB

el tel wrote: »

You can achieve the same visual effect by shaving your skinny legs, getting a bit of tan, tying ligatures around your upper thighs, pumping the legs a bit, and taking a photo with a fancy filter applied

Gosh what you get up to in your spare time

McTigs

el tel wrote: »

You can achieve the same visual effect by shaving your skinny legs, getting a bit of tan, tying ligatures around your upper thighs, pumping the legs a bit, and taking a photo with a fancy filter applied

probably less hassle to just take part in the Tour de France

1bryan

el tel wrote: »

You can achieve the same visual effect by shaving your skinny legs, getting a bit of tan, tying ligatures around your upper thighs, pumping the legs a bit, and taking a photo with a fancy filter applied

or if you just photoshop the top have of your own body onto those legs.

joujoujou

Marcel Kittel quit. No good.

Kaisr Sose

el tel wrote: »

You can achieve the same visual effect by shaving your skinny legs, getting a bit of tan, tying ligatures around your upper thighs, pumping the legs a bit, and taking a photo with a fancy filter applied

Most educational post in a long time. Should be sticky. "How to get Pro legs"

retalivity

What a season sunweb are having, most likely green and polka dot jerseys in the tdf to go with the giro win

Itziger

Impressive setting for the TT. Can we expect any surprises? Hard to see past a Froome/Uran/Bardet podium I guess. Dan to stay where he is as well.

Beasty

Comments relating to today's ITT moved to separate thread

Please remember spoiler rules

Thanks

BowSideChamp

el tel wrote: »

Knighthoods for winning sporting title(s) probably shouldn't be handed out until at after the deadline for retrospective testing passes, or after the statute of limitations. In Wiggins and Brailsford's cases, Knighthoods were far too to premature.
That said, on the other hand, Chris Hoy seems proper Knighthood calibre, and he had a further 5 competitive years after his knighthood.

Come on premature??!! Winning the Tour, hour record, and the most successful Olympic athlete in British history is not premature.

ThisRegard

BowSideChamp wrote: »

Come on premature??!! Winning the Tour, hour record, and the most successful Olympic athlete in British history is not premature.

It's a sad reality but cycling and athletics have long since proven that any record set can come crashing down around you years later.

Using your logic Armstrong should have been made King of the World at the time.

Kaisr Sose

ThisRegard wrote: »

Using your logic Armstrong should have been made King of the World at the time.

He pretty much was that for a few years!