Tour de France 2018 - General Thread

MPFGLB

So its nearly upon us...The Tour !!!!!!!!!!!

And already its full of controversy ...going to be a hot 3 weeks in France

https://www.letour.fr/en/overall-route

Start list :https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-de-france/2018/startlist

Dan Martin has leadership of a weak UAE team and there is alot of TTing to be done . But can he pull time back in the mountains...sure he can

Richie Porte is looking good but can he stay on his bike and without mechanicals or time penalties ...emm

ASO are trying to block Froome from riding the Tour :rolleyes:
CHRIS FROOME HAS BEEN CLEARED - SO NOW HE CAN GO ON TO WIN

And what about the new Colombian sensation Bernal ? or the old Colombian sensation Quintana and his team mate Landa who is threathening all kinds of insubordination and what will the old capa Valverde do :eek:

Tom Dumouloin is riding GC ... can he do it :cool:

And what of Bardet ?? or even the very old Colombian sensation Uran

I think Roglic will be up there on GC ...I think he has the ability and form

And I havent even had time to select a fantasy team yet

Melodeon

Don't forget the Team Presentation is live on Eurosport 1 on Thursday 5th at 5:15pm too.

retalivity

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/aso-try-to-block-chris-froome-from-racing-tour-de-france/

Lovely darts.

There seems to be way more candidates this year than before, its going to be a stacked top 10 if everyone stays upright.

Dr. Bre

Thomas to win cos no Froome racing!

Good on the ASO

Is Dumouloin 100% confirmed? I know he's been in the squad but hadn't heard him say with conviction he'd start and really I wasn't expecting him to.

Noticed Kiryienka missing from the Sky line up.

padohaodha

Was thinking of backing Dan Martin..has he a realistic chance of a podium?

MPFGLB

padohaodha wrote: »

Was thinking of backing Dan Martin..has he a realistic chance of a podium?

Is very hard to know in cycling but Dan has the TT miles and weak team against him.. top 5 I think is possible but who knows he can climb with the best

MPFGLB

So did anyone notice who I left out above by mistake and who I think will win the Tour

Sprinter Sacre

Froome gets banned, Thomas crashes out early and Bernal wins.

retalivity

padohaodha wrote: »

Was thinking of backing Dan Martin..has he a realistic chance of a podium?

Possible top 5/10 contenders vs martin

Froome
Thomas
Bernal
Porte
Quintana
Landa
Valverde
Bardet
Nibali
Uran
Fuglsang
Majka
Yates
Dumoulin
Tvg/barguil/roglic/zakarin etc....

It would be very tough for dan, i reckon a top 5 would be an amazing result this year

MPFGLB

MPFGLB wrote: »

So did anyone notice who I left out above by mistake and who I think will win the Tour

Nibali? I'd be happy to him do it.

WinnyThePoo

Wolt poels to win by ten minutes.

funnights74

If froome is out
Nibali.
Dumoulin
Quintana on the podium
Dan and Richie Porte for top 5.

neris

Roglic could be a good outside bet. Be nice to see the race thrown open without froome

flatty

Deleted User wrote: »

MPFGLB wrote: »

So did anyone notice who I left out above by mistake and who I think will win the Tour

Nibali? I'd be happy to him do it.

Why? He's well dodgy

MPFGLB

flatty wrote: »

Why? He's a cheat.

How do you mean ?
He hung on to a car at Vuelta and was DQS for it

Many have done that including Froome who held on to a car at Giro before he became a worldbeater and was DQS as well ....
Demare did it on his way to winning MSR

Footballers 'cheat' and are sent off and then play again ..

So please tell me how Nibali is a cheat and does not deserve to win

flatty

Yep. Hanging onto a car for that length of time to gain an advantage is like kicking a golf ball up the fairway.

flatty

Also, comparing him to froome isnt high praise.

MPFGLB

flatty wrote: »

Also, comparing him to froome isnt high praise.

Geez well there are many cheats out there

Many who took drugs or who hung on to a car

So isolating Nibali is a bit ridiculous ...he has never had an adverse finding

Carpenter

He is out now

F1ngers

At last, something to watch on the Eurosport player. :pac:

flatty

He cycled for Astana.

MPFGLB

flatty wrote: »

He cycled for Astana.

Jasus ...I get it ...you dont like him

Weepsie

Mod Voice

Some flying close to doping accusations here. Please refamiliarise yourselves with the rules or you'll be taking a break from the forum.

martyc5674

Will TG4 be doing the highlights?... is froome in it or not?

cython

martyc5674 wrote: »

Will TG4 be doing the highlights?... is froome in it or not?

ASO (organisers) say no, Sky think otherwise, and appealing to get him back in.

magicbastarder

i'm trying to imagine what the effect on the sport would be if ASO had to re-admit him, and he won.

Weepsie

They have a clause that saying that they can refuse riders who may damage the image etc (hahaha)

It's UCI approved too. Sky should be aware of the rule and should be aware that this ongoing case falls well within ASOs reasons to ban a rider from entering.

ASO should've stated earlier that can't enter if case is not resolved by x date and left it that. It's their fault for dragging out the appeal

retalivity

magicbastarder wrote: »

i'm trying to imagine what the effect on the sport would be if ASO had to re-admit him, and he won.

i'm imagining a situation where aso do not let him in, and sky sue them into oblivion!

Have the ASO been crafty here a bit though? They have made rumblings for ages about the case but today is the first we've heard the foot come down, and 6 days to go before the start. They likely knew Sky would lawyer up and limited the time they had for appeals and courts a CAS etc.

I'd like to see the Vuelta tell him not to bother thinking about a defence if he doesn't ride the tour which would likely be his plan B

So where does that leave him? Uncharted territory to either actually ride other bike races late season like Poland, Austria, Worlds or Turkey or sit pretty till a ban is served or not.

One of the reasons why I'd like so see Nibali win is because he rides more than a GT and a few warm up races a year. I've little time for the pure GT GC men. There's even a few in Team Sky I'd cheer to win, not Thomas though.

Dr. Bre

Anyone but a sky win for me...