Jul 22, 2015 at 10:04 PM
It's true though, the whole Sky team look like they're huffing corticosteroids. Thomas in particular.
Tour de France
Jul 22, 2015 at 10:16 PM
Look familiar??? Slap a Sky jersey on him and get him a Pinarello...
Jul 22, 2015 at 10:23 PM
I had hopes when I saw all those Movistar dudes in the yellow-jersey group, then I saw Quintana put in what seemed like his only move with just a few kilometers to go...and I'm like, yeah, "Froome is going to fall victim to an attack in the last 2 K of a Cat 2 climb?" Better luck next year I guess.twoyacks said:It's horrendous, predictable and unwatchable....It's like watching Postal all over again....been there, done that
Jul 23, 2015 at 02:05 AM
I keep wanting to see Quintana put in a better move than he what we're seeing. Maybe these are just probes of Froome and he's waiting for a bigger chance. This tour is getting boring, I am getting tired of watching the 2003 tour all over again.
Jul 23, 2015 at 11:56 AM
Wait, the Tour is still going on? I thought froome already won.
Jul 23, 2015 at 12:25 PM
He did...on that first summit finish. It's funny ever since then everyone has been like, "the tour's not over, there are lots of opportunities to attack." And then when those opportunities present themselves, down to a group of 20 or so, on the early climbs of a stage, the dudes are all like, "Oh wait, this hurts, never mind. I'll wait until the last climb now." And then then get to the last climb and they're like, "Oh, woa, 10k to go, man we sure are going hard, I'll wait until 5k to go...nope, still going hard, how about 2k to go? Yeah, that'll be good."Phillip Maronilla said:Wait, the Tour is still going on? I thought froome already won.
I mean, I get it. Froome's competition simply isn't strong enough, and everyone is racing to protect their GC position at this point. I mean, Contador claims he isn't/won't, and perhaps if he didn't crash we would have seen evidence of that.
Today perhaps? #hopespringseternal
In other snark-news, when exactly did Garmin-Cannondale become irrelevant to the race?
Jul 23, 2015 at 01:25 PM
Way too many [deleted by moderator] in this race. Movistar could for sure light this up if the sacrificed one of their guys but both are too egocentric and the team is one of these boring "team classification" units. Yawn. Mostly blame Quintana for that as he has done nothing other than play it safe. Dude should go full gas at the bottom of one of these climbs but he is too bothered about 2nd. Contadoper would have tried if he wasn't shot from Italy.
Jul 23, 2015 at 02:55 PM
The green argyle folk have been irrelevant to this entire season.
Jul 23, 2015 at 04:08 PM
They may be downsized to Continental Pro status for lack of results. I've been watching the Tour since 1967 and I never find it boring but I'm biased as you may well know.
Jul 23, 2015 at 04:39 PM
This tour is no worse than many tours. In fact I would go as far as to say MOST tours, especially ones with lots of mountains.
When there are lots of mountains - the strongest always rise to the top. There are not really that many surprises.
It is only a week or so ago that this tour was fantastic: cobbles, cross winds, etc. Things that require skills other than a power/weight ratio.
However fans seem to like the high mountains - even through there are rarely surprises.
Armstrong, Indurain. All of those years were pretty unexciting (maybe except 2003)
The mid-80s were pretty good, but IMO because the protagonists (Hinault, Fignon, Lemond) only valued first place, so riding conservatively wasn't their thing.
When there are lots of mountains - the strongest always rise to the top. There are not really that many surprises.
It is only a week or so ago that this tour was fantastic: cobbles, cross winds, etc. Things that require skills other than a power/weight ratio.
However fans seem to like the high mountains - even through there are rarely surprises.
Armstrong, Indurain. All of those years were pretty unexciting (maybe except 2003)
The mid-80s were pretty good, but IMO because the protagonists (Hinault, Fignon, Lemond) only valued first place, so riding conservatively wasn't their thing.
Jul 23, 2015 at 05:01 PM
The only interesting stages are the ones that " feel like a one day race" , because ,One day races are the only interesting races to watch,
that being said i'm still watch the tour everyday ,
Jul 23, 2015 at 06:35 PM
it's probably the american sports fan in me, but i don't get why movistar doesn't gamble and attack a lot more. sure, it could totally backfire and they'd lose their podium spots. that would suck. but where's the glory in riding to protect....3rd place
i feel like they could be putting a lot more pressure on froome by attacking with one, then the other of their GC guys. and doing it earlier - not waiting for the 10K/5K to go flag. animate the race. DO SOMETHING!
maybe sky is just stronger (questionable performance theories aside), that's fair (or not), but at least Movistar would have gone hard for the win. i'd prefer a hail mary to taking a knee.
i feel like they could be putting a lot more pressure on froome by attacking with one, then the other of their GC guys. and doing it earlier - not waiting for the 10K/5K to go flag. animate the race. DO SOMETHING!
maybe sky is just stronger (questionable performance theories aside), that's fair (or not), but at least Movistar would have gone hard for the win. i'd prefer a hail mary to taking a knee.
Jul 23, 2015 at 07:23 PM
What happened to the Quintana of Tirreno-Adriatico who attacked so hard it looked like his competitors were standing still? (yes, big performance question there) And Valverde seems to think he's got to wait until his rivals show weakness before attacking.dstearns said:
i feel like they could be putting a lot more pressure on froome by attacking with one, then the other of their GC guys. and doing it earlier - not waiting for the 10K/5K to go flag. animate the race. DO SOMETHING!
maybe sky is just stronger (questionable performance theories aside), that's fair (or not), but at least Movistar would have gone hard for the win. i'd prefer a hail mary to taking a knee.
While we can debate the why's, one interesting thing is that Froome rides to pull back just about everyone. Nibali and Contador aren't close, but he goes after them whenever they attack. This could be good for tomorrow and Saturday, or it could just be the Tour getting strangled.
changing gears...maybe this should go in the Kit Connoisseur thread, but is Geraint Thomas taking a Dremel to his helmets or has his noggin grown oddly? His casques look too small perched on his skull.
Agreed. I don't know if it's because their budget is so low they've filled the roster with guys either entering or exiting the pro ranks, or that there's a new drug on the scene, or they've been coached poorly, or they just lack motivation. They pretty much knew at the start of the year that the early classics (M-SR, Flanders, Wevelgem, P-R) would not be a goal other than showing up. Vaughters has been MIA most of the year as well. I don't know how Danielson got another year; I'm sure he and Hesjedal are gone at the end of the season.ian ellis said:The green argyle folk have been irrelevant to this entire season.
Jul 23, 2015 at 09:07 PM
Bicyclists Begin Formalwear Stage of Tour de France
Jul 23, 2015 at 09:26 PM
@ Stearnsy
"Kimmage [interviewing Roche]: This is a quote from the report: One doctor stated that it was impossible to lose the weight that some riders achieve without assistance, and that the TUE is taken advantage of to enable this practice. He stated that riders use corticoids to "lean out", ie to lose weight quickly, and keep it off, without losing power. By way of example he explained that to lose 4kg in four weeks by using corticoids would provide a seven per cent power/weight improvement. He added that when used in large quantities and in conjunction with other substances, they supported performance gains. Another doctor stated that some quite recent big wins on the UCI WorldTour were as a result, in part, of some members of the team all using corticoids to get their weight down to support the individual who won (who also used the same weight-loss technique). It was reported that this had been a planned approach by that group's management."
Teams not in the MPCC (like Sky) could go bonkers on this stuff because they aren't subject to the MPCC low cortisol sit-out rule.
"Kimmage [interviewing Roche]: This is a quote from the report: One doctor stated that it was impossible to lose the weight that some riders achieve without assistance, and that the TUE is taken advantage of to enable this practice. He stated that riders use corticoids to "lean out", ie to lose weight quickly, and keep it off, without losing power. By way of example he explained that to lose 4kg in four weeks by using corticoids would provide a seven per cent power/weight improvement. He added that when used in large quantities and in conjunction with other substances, they supported performance gains. Another doctor stated that some quite recent big wins on the UCI WorldTour were as a result, in part, of some members of the team all using corticoids to get their weight down to support the individual who won (who also used the same weight-loss technique). It was reported that this had been a planned approach by that group's management."
Teams not in the MPCC (like Sky) could go bonkers on this stuff because they aren't subject to the MPCC low cortisol sit-out rule.
Jul 23, 2015 at 10:38 PM
Wonder if Astana tried to have it both ways.JohnMalcolmson said:@ Stearnsy
Another doctor stated that some quite recent big wins on the UCI WorldTour were as a result, in part, of some members of the team all using corticoids to get their weight down to support the individual who won (who also used the same weight-loss technique). It was reported that this had been a planned approach by that group's management."
Teams not in the MPCC (like Sky) could go bonkers on this stuff because they aren't subject to the MPCC low cortisol sit-out rule.
Jul 24, 2015 at 12:16 AM
Jul 24, 2015 at 05:23 AM
The weight thing is interesting to me. It seems that this is the first year that so many guys have had those scary skinny physiques. Maybe I'm just imagining it, but I seriously can't remember another year where so many dudes looked like they were little more than skin stretched over bones.
In other news, another night I force myself to stay up until 1am trying to watch the tour's latest snore fest. Maybe because work was hard today and I was tired going into it, but chrissss, this tour is a snore.
Because as has been mentioned here already, racing to protect those GC spots right now is what it's all about. Because that's the tour, that's the importance of the tour, and a 7th versus a 8th or a 2nd versus a 5th.
Jul 24, 2015 at 08:35 AM
Jul 24, 2015 at 01:32 PM
@Marc Bertucco They're protecting 5th or 6th place in hopes that in some future drug test everybody ahead of them will get caught, and they get to move up because they never had to take a drug test.
Jul 24, 2015 at 09:39 PM
Is sticking your tongue out mandatory on Europcar?
Jul 24, 2015 at 09:54 PM
i watched a bike race today
Jul 25, 2015 at 02:51 PM
Jul 25, 2015 at 03:55 PM
C'mon John, I hope that you haven't joined the " The Tour is boring " camp.
Jul 25, 2015 at 08:51 PM
It's hella boring. The only tension is around motos taking out riders or the inevitable mid-race doping bust.Thierry Bonnaire said:C'mon John, I hope that you haven't joined the " The Tour is boring " camp.
Jul 25, 2015 at 09:31 PM
today's stage was definitely not boring.
Jul 25, 2015 at 09:39 PM
Alright Jules, you want to hurt my feelings? That's alright, I'm a man, I can take it but I believe that the Tour is the greatest race there is and at this point I don't care if people think otherwise.
Jul 25, 2015 at 10:13 PM
I think it's a great race; but when the modern king of dope and his team lead almost from the gun it takes a lot of the joy out of it.Thierry Bonnaire said:Alright Jules, you want to hurt my feelings? That's alright, I'm a man, I can take it but I believe that the Tour is the greatest race there is and at this point I don't care if people think otherwise.
Jul 25, 2015 at 10:47 PM
@Thierry The narrative arc of this year's tour I do find boring. The opera that was The Alp stage — Lettuce losing the dots (to, who else?), the Nibbles' mechanical, Mr Canada vs Pinot Noir — it was an entertaining stage. Just kind of wished Froome got explosive diarrhea on the first switchback.
Jul 25, 2015 at 11:04 PM
Damn John, you know how to wish!