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Tour de France 2014 |OT| Riding Around 101

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And that was an epic last push by Nibali. I mean, dude hasn't done shit all year up until last week and winning the Italian road championship, but shit. Would have been great to see that form in comparison to Froome and Contador, but alas. Unless he also abandons very hard to see him losing this race.
 
And that was an epic last push by Nibali. I mean, dude hasn't done shit all year up until last week and winning the Italian road championship, but shit. Would have been great to see that form in comparison to Froome and Contador, but alas. Unless he also abandons very hard to see him losing this race.

I think it was more a fact of knowing not to peak early.
 
Jurgen Van den Broeck just said that it was Contador's own fault for falling. He said the peleton was taking it easy downhill and Alberto took a risk, stepping on the pedals, trying to win a couple of places. Hit a hole or something and went tumbling.
 

Kabouter

Member
I have seen what the third Tour week can do with a runner's body. Some just implode. There is always a chance for Nibali to hit rock bottom.

Most who implode in the third week tend to be people who foolishly do the TdF after the Giro d'Italia.
 

kottila

Member
Hope that one of the young french guys can get a top 3. Of corse the pressure to follow up next season will most likely destroy his carreer, but a podiumfinish would be great
 

Pacbois

Member
Pinot seems really good on the climb, I even think he could've reach Nibali and win the stage. TT is going to be a bit difficult from him but we can have a Frenchie on the podium.
 
Tee Jay saying he was right behind Contador when the crash happened and that nothing appeared out of the ordinary, just a usual descent and then saw him go down. Didn't even realize he abandoned until the interview now.
 
Gallopin "it wasn't just the last climb, it was terrible from the start, the worst day I've ever spent on a bike, it was hell, I'm sorry, I gave everything"

Seemed that way for a lot of riders today. Brutal start.
 
Nibali only 30 seconds slower than Froome up the mountain in 2012. very impressive giving that this stage was a lot harder. Although of course Froome beat Nibali up it then.
 
Contador broke his tibia and will need surgery.

Yep, awful. Going to miss the Vuelta. Hope he can get back into form for next year. Such a big loss. Amazing that he was able to get on the bike in the first place.

Stealing this from another forum, who knows if true:

It looks like all the nonsense about broken bikes having falling off cars and so forth was just panic damage management. French TV has just shown a clip where Contador's bike, which was indeed broken in half, was being rapidly stuffed into the back of a team car by a mechanic (in two halves if fitted nicely...) and put out of sight faster than Niabli attacked!
 
So in all likelyhood the top 3 is already set, with Nibali cruising to victory and Porte/Valverde still having to battle it out for 2 and 3. This after the 1st week. Well damn.

The Vosges were a lot of fun and it shows that you don't always need 15+km monster climbs (where the first 10km nothing happens anyway) to have drama.
 

Joni

Member
It is kinda true they're all on drugs. There are enough legal drugs to support them. But yeah, probably not what he meant, also hoping a doctor handles stuff like that in case of legal and illegal drugs.
 
http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/07/t...dentified-as-cause-of-snapped-contador-frame/

Following hours of speculation and confusion about the circumstances of the crash which took Alberto Contador out of the Tour de France, the Specialized company has clarified how one of the rider’s bikes was broken in half.

It has stated categorically that the badly damaged frame shown on French television did not occur in the impact, but rather was a spare machine damaged on the roof of the Tinkoff Saxo team car during the frantic moments after the Spaniard fell.

According to the company’s team liaison Giampaolo Mondini, the rider fell on a straight road when he was descending at speed. “He was trying to take some bars from his pocket, the tarmac was irregular and he lost the control of his bike and fell,” he told CyclingTips.

“What happened next is that the team car tried to get recover position and get up to him, passing all the other team cars in doing so. The road was really narrow and the second bike on the roof ended up touching those on the Belkin team car. It was going pretty fast and the frame broke on top of the roof due to the impact.

“When the car arrived to Contador, Roche had left his bike to the side [for Contador to use if necessary]. The people inside didn’t initially realise that the bike on the roof had been broken as things were so stressful. Everybody was a little bit confused. Contador got a third bike and got going, but unfortunately couldn’t continue in the race.”

BshYRhnIIAAiehp.jpg


Rest at link.
 

kottila

Member
doesn´t matter anyway... the Tour is over... if we are talking about suspense and the Tour Winner.

There was only 3 possible winners, and now there is only one, and if anyone doubts this, just look what he did yesterday.

Nibali's not immune to accidents either
 

tba

Member
lol yeah.. but I hope he will try to dominate the Tour .. maybe get a new (modern times) record for biggest time difference between him and nr. 2..
I want him to win but I really hope he will try fight not the riders or the course but for the place in history - as if it is not reserved for the winner of all 3 grand tours.
 

kottila

Member
His form had been rather erratic this year, not completely unthinkable that he might collapse at the end
(at least we can have hope that the race will be exciting all the way)
 

Kabouter

Member
lol yeah.. but I hope he will try to dominate the Tour .. maybe get a new (modern times) record for biggest time difference between him and nr. 2..

I hope he has an incredibly weak day that leads to there being an actual contest for the yellow again.
 

Hanmik

Member
I hope he has an incredibly weak day that leads to there being an actual contest for the yellow again.

that would be the ideal situation yes.. but I have a feeling that is not going to happen.... and looking at his "closest" competition he needs to have a really bad day.. like really bad..
 
His form had been rather erratic this year, not completely unthinkable that he might collapse at the end
(at least we can have hope that the race will be exciting all the way)

definitely, last year's vuelta is proof enough that its entirely possible he can still lose. had led till stage 18, then lost it on 19 and 20 to...42 y/o chris horner.
 

Linkinito

Member
Time for stage 11 and a little journey into the Jura mountains for a stage that could either be for the breakaway or for sprinters like Sagan.
Tour-de-France-Stage-11-1400751425.png
 

Kabouter

Member
Time for stage 11 and a little journey into the Jura mountains for a stage that could either be for the breakaway or for sprinters like Sagan.
Tour-de-France-Stage-11-1400751425.png

If Sagan wins, it probably won't be by sprinting considering that he's attacking now :p. Maybe he'll make the same mistake as he did a few days ago where he expends too much energy foolishly attacking and then just lose the sprint at the end because of it.

Edit: Aaaand caught.
 
Not even on categorised climb and Talansky is going out the back. No team mates around him, hope he's just going back to the car.
 
Think this is the final stage for him.

That's what I'm thinking too. Go home and come back for the Vuelta like Froome, maybe Contador and the likes of Quintana, Uran, Wiggins(?), Aru and a dozen others!

Edit: Gone now it seems. :(

Edit2: Er... maybe not now!
 
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