Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Off Topic => Sports Arena => Topic started by: Jon Crofts on July 01, 2017, 07:23:04 PM
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And we're off with an opening TT in Dusseldorf won by G, his first ever stage win at TdF.
Favourites have to be between Froome, Bardet & Porte, I would have said Valverde as he's been flying so far but he crashed out on day 1 and that's it all over for him. Quintana won't have the support he'll need to mount a challenge and as we saw last year he's incapable of mounting a challenge in the mountains on his own.
Looking forward to the next 3 weeks of suffering.
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4 team sky riders in the top 8 today.
Guessing there will be questions asked
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4 team sky riders in the top 8 today.
Guessing there will be questions asked
I doubt it but if they're all still there in the high mountains then yes!
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My favourite sporting event, delighted for Thomas, another Brit in yellow.
Froome for overall victory for me with Bardet and Porte for minor places. The loss of Valvarde is a huge loss for Quintana.
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Great day for Geraint Thomas and Sky.
Felt very sorry for Valverde, broken knee cap by all accounts. Don't like to see any of the challengers out this early.
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Great stage win for Thomas. Froome looked very strong compared to the other contenders
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Kittel takes the second stage. Have to say I'm not his greatest fan I see him as a bit of a flat track billy but hey ho.
Cav finishing 4th after his disrupted season is encouraging, hopefully the longer he goes the better he will get.
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If there is such a thing as reincarnation I want to come back as Peter Sagan.
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If there is such a thing as reincarnation I want to come back as Peter Sagan.
Before his foot slipped out during the finish yesterday, he looked like he was just cycling down the shops to pick up some milk.
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If there is such a thing as reincarnation I want to come back as Peter Sagan.
Scrub that, it looks as if he has taken out Cavendish in the sprint and possibly the tour.
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That's a DQ no matter how many times you look at it.
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(http://thumb.ibb.co/h5yrja/httpstwittercomitvcyclingstatus882256855136972802_Tour_Crash152_JPG.jpg) (http://ibb.co/h5yrja)
That elbow isn't there for balance.
(http://thumb.ibb.co/eWGcPa/Tour_Crash150_JPG.jpg) (http://ibb.co/eWGcPa)
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I bet that made his eyes water.
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Sagan DQ'd from the tour and rightly so.
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Sagan DQ'd from the tour and rightly so.
I'm a fan but I dont think there was any alternative if they have decided there was intent rather than it being a racing incident.
Looked to me that Cav was on Demere's wheel and had every right to go for the gap, Sagan was looking for the same wheel and swung over. If he had kept his elbows in I don't think he would be looking at an early exit.
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Sagan DQ'd from the tour and rightly so.
I'm a fan but I dont think there was any alternative if they have decided there was intent rather than it being a racing incident.
Looked to me that Cav was on Demere's wheel and had every right to go for the gap, Sagan was looking for the same wheel and swung over. If he had kept his elbows in I don't think he would be looking at an early exit.
He definitely deserved the disqualification, shame as he is such a talented cyclist.
Hope Cav is OK.
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Cav out with fractured collarbone. Great shame as it lookef as if despite his recent illness he had some decent form.
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Racing incident, Cav going for a gap that wasn't there. Sagan barely moved off his line at all. The elbow and proximity to the barriers make it appear worse than it was. No way a Frenchman would have been kicked out for that they just fancy a new green jersey winner this year.
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Racing incident, Cav going for a gap that wasn't there. Sagan barely moved off his line at all. The elbow and proximity to the barriers make it appear worse than it was. No way a Frenchman would have been kicked out for that they just fancy a new green jersey winner this year.
Seeing it for the umptenth time I think the DQ from the tour is wrong. The original decision to relegate him in the stage and deduct points looked about right. Cav had every right to go for Demare's wheel, Sagan did deviate from his line but I don't think there was any intent with the elbow. There is no consistency, Demare clearly deviates and prevents Bouhanni from competing. Boardman said last night that the decision was made on the outcome rather than the nature of the incident.
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I see that Sagan wasn't even allowed to appeal
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I see that Sagan wasn't even allowed to appeal
French rider wins first bunch sprint finish since 2006 in French road race and you want to appeal? I think not monsieur.
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Looks like its going to be a full bore finish today
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Looks like its going to be a full bore finish today
After yesterday I suspect most riders were glad to stay the right way up and finishing on a 20% ramp is never boring!
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It was a good last few km today as most of the contenders tried to test their rivals. I've really no idea who out of the current top ten might end up winning.
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Bollax, Kittel again. Not too impresed by the format of this tour so far. Too many 200k+ stages that end in bunch sprints. Much as I like the sprints I always think they are better once the sprinters have had to get over the Alps and/or the Pyrenees.
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Bollax, Kittel again. Not too impresed by the format of this tour so far. Too many 200k+ stages that end in bunch sprints. Much as I like the sprints I always think they are better once the sprinters have had to get over the Alps and/or the Pyrenees.
It all changes tomorrow Steve when the 'real' tour starts in the Alps.
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Brutal stage today in the Jura. I doubt the young Frenchman, Calmejane, who won will be in a pro-continental team for too long.
Sky train looked good.
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I thought Calmejane had lost it with 5km's to go when he got cramp, but good on him for toughing it out to the end. He must have been in a lot of pain.
Sky looked very comfortable, but tomorrow is a really brutal stage.
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I'm confined to barracks at the moment so feel no guilt in sitting in front of the TV watching the most amazing day of racing.Brutal, absolutely brutal. Both Porte and Thomas crashed out, Aru trying to take advantage of a mechanical for Froome and a photo finish after a huge mountain stage.
Sport at its very very best.
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What a stage ! Feel a bit for Barguil.Glad Martin looks ok.Froome looking good.Great stage
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I should have added that you hope thst Porte's injuries are not too serious.
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Horrible crash. Hope Porte is not too seriously injured.
Dan Martin is nails. He would have been 3rd in GC without the crash.
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What a stage today
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From his team's Twitter
UPDATE: @richie_porte suffered a fractured right clavicle and pelvis in his #TDF2017 crash. Recover well, Richie! 📝👇
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[quote author=SteveN link=topic=57557.msg3286754#msg3286754 date=1499614426 Absolutely Steve.It was a terrible crash.
I should have added that you hope thst Porte's injuries are not too serious.
[/quote]
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An amazing day. I feel sorry for Thomas and Porte though, brutal crashes, but the day was very exciting.
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I drove through the Jura the day before the tour. It knackered me out just dipping the clutch so bloody often!
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Kittel again, the sprints are just being handed to him on a plate. No Cav, Sagan or Demare to challenge, Greipal, Kristoff and Bouhani right off the pace.
Last year Cav treated Kittel as his lead out not bothering with a train something Kittel has learnt from for this tour.
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Oh FFS, why do we bother with these pan flat stages? Just give the win to Kittel and draw lots for the remaining nine places.
Only Dimension Data appear to have any idea how to compete with him, and that's without Cavendish.
Why teams don't fight to get a few strong riders in a breakaway and force Quick Step to work hard is beyond me. Might not work but at least it might give them a chance.
Hey ho, mountains tomorrow, be fun if Fulsang or Bardet are in a break, give Sky something to think about.
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A tidy slope at the end of today's stage. In my present state I doubt I could walk up it. Amazing day's racing.
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Aru, Aru, Aru's on fire
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This could still work out well for Sky. Astana don't have the strongest of teams to defend the yellow jersey. Sky should send Landa up the road tomorrow, he's only 2.55 behind. Astana and AG2R can't let him have too much rope and will need to work to bring him in. Sky and Froome sit and wait and hopefully Froome will have his legs back to make a race of it.
Aru and/ or Bardet will need to have more time im hand on Froome for the time trial.
Should be fun.
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Normally I'd say he'd be happy to give up yellow and everything that goes with it for a few days but he was turning square wheels in that last 500m.... not sure I've ever seen him like that before.
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The aura''s gone for Frome today. Don't think he'll bounce back from this but should be interesting.
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Froome needs a good day tomorrow to restore that aura. I wouldn"t put it past him but as Gareth said we have never seen him crack like that before.
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I'm not sure cracked no matter s fair, he lost less than 30 seconds in the last 300 metres.
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"Cracked" might be a tad unfair but it's all relative with Froome. I can't recall a time when Froome was raced out of it on a.mountain finish to the extent he waa yesterday.
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Another great days racing. Froome looked to attack a couple of times but Aru, Bardet & Uran all responded to the attacks. It's becoming a very interesting race this year, with six riders within 2 minutes of the lead.
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Froome back in yellow by the looks of things
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Aru's dreadful positioning shows just how important having a strong team around the yellow jersey is.
Froome is a clever rider
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Didn't expect that and I don't think Aru did either!
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Aru's dreadful positioning shows just how important having a strong team around the yellow jersey is.
Froome is a clever rider
Aru's got no teammates that can stay with him, whereas Froome has Landa and Kwiatkowski.
It was the latter who spotted the initial gap to Aru and instigated the attack.
Also, Sky just seem better organised in terms of planning (e.g. having more roadside water providers, whilst other teams are relying on a rider dropping back to the team car)
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Aru had enough support to help him to the bottom of the climb and then get on Froome's, or another good wheel. He was way too far back to do that.
Be interesting today if Sky attack on the first climb and get rid of what support Aru has and leave him.isolated.
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Interesting that neither Bardet or Uran have really shown their hand yet but have stayed in touch with whoever breaks. It will be an interesting stage today, I think their will be lots of attacks, especially with a rest day tomorrow.
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Bardet's home turf I think. He needs time in hand for the time trial and by nature he is offensive.
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Superhuman effort from Froome, You have to wonder.
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Great stage so far
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Superhuman effort from Froome, You have to wonder.
Cycling is the same as athletics, as soon as someone puts in an exceptional performance it's an automatic thought to be suspicious.
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Superhuman effort from Froome, You have to wonder.
Froome has been tested possibly more than any other cyclist over the past four years. He is set up to peak for a specific three weeks in the year and also has the support of very strong team mates. Just a very very good athlete.
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Aru had enough support to help him to the bottom of the climb and then get on Froome's, or another good wheel. He was way too far back to do that.
Be interesting today if Sky attack on the first climb and get rid of what support Aru has and leave him.isolated.
Your reading of what happened on Sat was better than mine. Interesting interviews with one of Aru's teammates post Sat stage and pre Sun stage saying that they tried to help Aru Doesn't sound like Aru is well liked by the team and that he doesn't communicate well during the stage.
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Why was Frome getting booed yesterday? Do the French think he is a cheat or is it just because he is good?
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Didn't he get it last year, too?
i think it's more of an antis-Sky thing and by association because of their success at the Tour De France, Froome too.
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Didn't he get it last year, too?
Yeah on Mont Ventoux. Seems to be more in the south, from what I can make out.
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Superhuman effort from Froome, You have to wonder.
Froome has been tested possibly more than any other cyclist over the past four years. He is set up to peak for a specific three weeks in the year and also has the support of very strong team mates. Just a very very good athlete.
There's still questions un-answered that put the doubt in peoples minds though, not helped by the mysterious package delivered to Sky, so guilty by association is an easy one.
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They're all as likely to be cheating as each other so I just try to enjoy it regardless.
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I doubt anybody could ride as hard and fast up and down treacherous terrain around France for 3 weeks on a pedal bike with some assistance. however, I'm not certain that it is purely illegal drugs doing the assisting but I'm not sure talent alone would be enough.
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Cross winds expected todsy, could be fun. Quick-Step are the experts so might be good for Dan Martin.
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Cross winds expected todsy, could be fun. Quick-Step are the experts so might be good for Dan Martin.
I only found out yesterday that Dan Martin is a Brummie and also Stephen Roche's nephew
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Cross winds expected todsy, could be fun. Quick-Step are the experts so might be good for Dan Martin.
Well, what do I know? I was surprised Quick-Step gave most of their support to Kittel for today's stage. It was pretty obvious Sunweb would ride to get him dropped on the first slope, should have left him to find a place in the grupetto and give Martin the support.
If Kittel gets over the Alps he is more than likely to beat Matthews, and probably everyone else in Paris and get enough points to win the green jersey.
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Martin was saying that most of his team had been ill on the rest day. Probably explains the off day
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Still no stage win for Froome but mountains to come, you'd expect him to win a stage.
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Fascinating game of chess going on now.Great stuff. And stunning backdrop scenery. Love the tour.
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Two od the things I like about the tour are the tactics and the races within the race. Opponents become team mates and then back to being opponents.
For me it is the greatest sporting event.
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I'll just leave this here............
(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/1ADF/production/_96997860_41ebe64d-6208-4fb5-8156-bf9f9c4c1d2c.jpg)
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Tough on Kittel today. All that hard work and he's taken down in a crash on the flat
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Tough on Kittel today. All that hard work and he's taken down in a crash on the flat
He looked knackered yesterday and it might hsve been a real effort to be within the time limit today without the crash. Quick-Step left him to fend for himself today, possibly because he has announced he will be riding for Katusha next year. Tough though, not the way he would want to go.
Great stage again and set up for tomorrow, Froome needs to ensure he does not lose sufficient time to Uran as he might be able to compete with him in the time trial. My money is on Froome.
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I'll just leave this here............
(https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/660/cpsprodpb/1ADF/production/_96997860_41ebe64d-6208-4fb5-8156-bf9f9c4c1d2c.jpg)
They belong to Pojianski don't they? A proper set of guns with a proper tan line.
Rule No7
Tan lines should be cultivated and kept razor sharp.
Under no circumstances should one be rolling up their sleeves or shorts in an effort to somehow diminish one’s tan lines. Sleeveless jerseys are under no circumstances to be employed.
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Crunch time right now.Cmon Froomey
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Froome and Sky in control, all down to the TT and what Uran can do
Great ride by Barguil, my man of the tour.
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Froome and Sky in control, all down to the TT and what Uran can do
Great ride by Barguil, my man of the tour.
It was another very exciting day. Agree about Barguil, he has been immense in the Mountains.
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Good win for Froome and Sky on a parcours that was designed to disadvantage him over the three weeks.
Would like to see EBH win in Paris tomorrow, strange that only Greipal of the usual suspects is still standing and he's been in poor form to date.
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Even better when hearing the boos at the start and end of the stage. Ungracious feckers.
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Fair play to Froome. From looking weak briefly at the end of one stage he never looked in trouble again. Bardet will never win the tour with that standard of time trialling.
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Bardet looked in a right old state on the climbs on the TT, on the seat off the seat ion the seat off the seat, horrible form.
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Both Bardet and Barguil will struggle to win the tour in the current format unless they considerably improve their time trialing.
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Tony Martin sandpapering his bollocks during the TT didn't help him
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I struggle to get my head round this last day procession. Whats the actual point?
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It's just that I'm afraid, a procession, are there even any intermediate sprints today?
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It's just that I'm afraid, a procession, are there even any intermediate sprints today?
What would happen if there was only a 5 second gap, I'm not an avid follower, has anybody ever tried it on?
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It's just that I'm afraid, a procession, are there even any intermediate sprints today
No, racing does not start until the Champs Elysees. Sky will lead them on it at the head of the procession. All about tradition although it is a fairly recent tradition
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Some of the 'Rules'
http://www.firstpost.com/sports/tour-de-france-2017-from-not-racing-during-last-stage-to-forming-groupetto-here-are-some-uncommon-rules-3804559.html
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Some of the 'Rules'
http://www.firstpost.com/sports/tour-de-france-2017-from-not-racing-during-last-stage-to-forming-groupetto-here-are-some-uncommon-rules-3804559.html
Cool, but it does seem to take the edge off what is a fantastic event.
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Oh well, that's it for another year, a great sporting event.
Great performance by Froome and Sky, great tour for Barguil and Matthews, well deserved rests for De Gendt and Kwiatkowski.
The Vuelta, Tour of Britain and the Worlds to look forward to.
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Warren Barguil smashed the ascent record of the Izoard. 38:15s
Faster than Schleck in '11 40:40s
Faster than addicts Di Luca and Ricco in '07 40:14s
Faster than Armstrong and dope hounds in '00 41:30s
Faster than Pantani in the giro of '00 40:54s
Not just slightly faster, he would have put minutes in to the lot of them.
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Warren Barguil smashed the ascent record of the Izoard. 38:15s
Faster than Schleck in '11 40:40s
Faster than addicts Di Luca and Ricco in '07 40:14s
Faster than Armstrong and dope hounds in '00 41:30s
Faster than Pantani in the giro of '00 40:54s
Not just slightly faster, he would have put minutes in to the lot of them.
Wow
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Warren Barguil smashed the ascent record of the Izoard. 38:15s
Faster than Schleck in '11 40:40s
Faster than addicts Di Luca and Ricco in '07 40:14s
Faster than Armstrong and dope hounds in '00 41:30s
Faster than Pantani in the giro of '00 40:54s
Not just slightly faster, he would have put minutes in to the lot of them.
The first 15 were under two minutes behind Barguil. Do you believe they are all under suspicion?
Better, lighter bikes, better training and diets, better recovery regimes and I think I'm right in saying that was the first time a stage finished on the summit so they could go flat out. Next day's stage would be gentle for GC contenders. You also have to take into account previous mountain stages, in this tour far fewer than usual.
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Let's start with dispelling the better, lighter bike excuse first.
UCI races, including the Tour, since 2004 have a minimum bike weight of 6.8kg's.
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Superhuman effort from Froome, You have to wonder.
Froome has been tested possibly more than any other cyclist over the past four years. He is set up to peak for a specific three weeks in the year and also has the support of very strong team mates. Just a very very good athlete.
You could have said the same of Lance Armstrong about 10 years ago "I'm he most tested man on the planet" ....
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I read something the other day questioning the "value" of the steroids that Lance was on. They may not have been as near influential as we think.
I, for the record, think Froome is clean, and some impressive athlete at that. He reckons he has five more years in him, so could break all the records.
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I read something the other day questioning the "value" of the steroids that Lance was on. They may not have been as near influential as we think.
I, for the record, think Froome is clean, and some impressive athlete at that. He reckons he has five more years in him, so could break all the records.
Wow, you honestly believe blood transfusions and EPO had a limited effect?
No wonder you think Chris Froome went from someone disqualified for holding on to a motorbike to get up a climb the day after being a domestique for Greg Henderson to possibly one of the greatest cyclists ever, whilst being clean, because he trains hard, and sleeps on his own pillow.
I'll leave the thread now, it's on a completely different level, where people think EPO doesn't do THAT much and bike weights actually matter in the 21st century.
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I read something the other day questioning the "value" of the steroids that Lance was on. They may not have been as near influential as we think.
I, for the record, think Froome is clean, and some impressive athlete at that. He reckons he has five more years in him, so could break all the records.
Wow, you honestly believe blood transfusions and EPO had a limited effect?
No wonder you think Chris Froome went from someone disqualified for holding on to a motorbike to get up a climb the day after being a domestique for Greg Henderson to possibly one of the greatest cyclists ever, whilst being clean, because he trains hard, and sleeps on his own pillow.
I'll leave the thread now, it's on a completely different level, where people think EPO doesn't do THAT much and bike weights actually matter in the 21st century.
What? I don't recall saying that, I said I had read a report over the weekend from a physician commenting words to that effect. I am not qualified to say this, but I thought it interesting. I don't condone the used of EPO's or drugs like this for one minute, one of my staff used to compete for England in the Marathons, so we have had long discussions about where he might have figured in the world had testing been more aggressive during his time. I also think there could well be the placebo effect, enhancing the impact of drug taking. Humans are very complex pieces of kit.
And I do believe Froome is clean, let me know when you find out otherwise, because he will be one of the most tested athletes around. If you prove me wrong, Ill hold my hands up, but at this point he appears to be getting where he is through excellent training, sorry you cant see that. Judging him on other peoples misdemeanours seems belittling and wrong
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I read something the other day questioning the "value" of the steroids that Lance was on. They may not have been as near influential as we think.
I, for the record, think Froome is clean, and some impressive athlete at that. He reckons he has five more years in him, so could break all the records.
Wow, you honestly believe blood transfusions and EPO had a limited effect?
No wonder you think Chris Froome went from someone disqualified for holding on to a motorbike to get up a climb the day after being a domestique for Greg Henderson to possibly one of the greatest cyclists ever, whilst being clean, because he trains hard, and sleeps on his own pillow.
I'll leave the thread now, it's on a completely different level, where people think EPO doesn't do THAT much and bike weights actually matter in the 21st century.
So a young rider does something stupid to cut corners gets caught and is disqualified? Hardly makes him prime candidate for EPO/Steroids or whatever once his developed into an experienced professional cyclist.
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I read something the other day questioning the "value" of the steroids that Lance was on. They may not have been as near influential as we think.
I, for the record, think Froome is clean, and some impressive athlete at that. He reckons he has five more years in him, so could break all the records.
Wow, you honestly believe blood transfusions and EPO had a limited effect?
No wonder you think Chris Froome went from someone disqualified for holding on to a motorbike to get up a climb the day after being a domestique for Greg Henderson to possibly one of the greatest cyclists ever, whilst being clean, because he trains hard, and sleeps on his own pillow.
I'll leave the thread now, it's on a completely different level, where people think EPO doesn't do THAT much and bike weights actually matter in the 21st century.
So a young rider does something stupid to cut corners gets caught and is disqualified? Hardly makes him prime candidate for EPO/Steroids or whatever once his developed into an experienced professional cyclist.
It appears if you are successful, you must be cheating. To be fair, it will take a long time for trust to build back for many people thanks to all the issues the sport has had. It is an amazing event.
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I read something the other day questioning the "value" of the steroids that Lance was on. They may not have been as near influential as we think.
I, for the record, think Froome is clean, and some impressive athlete at that. He reckons he has five more years in him, so could break all the records.
Wow, you honestly believe blood transfusions and EPO had a limited effect?
No wonder you think Chris Froome went from someone disqualified for holding on to a motorbike to get up a climb the day after being a domestique for Greg Henderson to possibly one of the greatest cyclists ever, whilst being clean, because he trains hard, and sleeps on his own pillow.
I'll leave the thread now, it's on a completely different level, where people think EPO doesn't do THAT much and bike weights actually matter in the 21st century.
So a young rider does something stupid to cut corners gets caught and is disqualified? Hardly makes him prime candidate for EPO/Steroids or whatever once his developed into an experienced professional cyclist.
Problem is Peter there's a lot of people that think there's a bit more to it than just hanging onto a motorbike. There is perhaps good reason to be suspicious about Froome, from his TUE exemption for corticosteroids at the 2014 Tour de Romandie and the 2013 ascent of Ventoux where his power to weight ratio and heart rate were in Lying Lance territory (over 7 watts per Kg).
Doubts will persist unfortunately.
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I read something the other day questioning the "value" of the steroids that Lance was on. They may not have been as near influential as we think.
I, for the record, think Froome is clean, and some impressive athlete at that. He reckons he has five more years in him, so could break all the records.
Wow, you honestly believe blood transfusions and EPO had a limited effect?
No wonder you think Chris Froome went from someone disqualified for holding on to a motorbike to get up a climb the day after being a domestique for Greg Henderson to possibly one of the greatest cyclists ever, whilst being clean, because he trains hard, and sleeps on his own pillow.
I'll leave the thread now, it's on a completely different level, where people think EPO doesn't do THAT much and bike weights actually matter in the 21st century.
So a young rider does something stupid to cut corners gets caught and is disqualified? Hardly makes him prime candidate for EPO/Steroids or whatever once his developed into an experienced professional cyclist.
Problem is Peter there's a lot of people that think there's a bit more to it than just hanging onto a motorbike. There is perhaps good reason to be suspicious about Froome, from his TUE exemption for corticosteroids at the 2014 Tour de Romandie and the 2013 ascent of Ventoux where his power to weight ratio and heart rate were in Lying Lance territory (over 7 watts per Kg).
Doubts will persist unfortunately.
Is that level of "power" achievable in someone not on enhancements? (im sorry, my biology expertise only runs to litres of milk from a cow, or days to conception in the dairy cow)
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I read something the other day questioning the "value" of the steroids that Lance was on. They may not have been as near influential as we think.
I, for the record, think Froome is clean, and some impressive athlete at that. He reckons he has five more years in him, so could break all the records.
Wow, you honestly believe blood transfusions and EPO had a limited effect?
No wonder you think Chris Froome went from someone disqualified for holding on to a motorbike to get up a climb the day after being a domestique for Greg Henderson to possibly one of the greatest cyclists ever, whilst being clean, because he trains hard, and sleeps on his own pillow.
I'll leave the thread now, it's on a completely different level, where people think EPO doesn't do THAT much and bike weights actually matter in the 21st century.
So a young rider does something stupid to cut corners gets caught and is disqualified? Hardly makes him prime candidate for EPO/Steroids or whatever once his developed into an experienced professional cyclist.
Problem is Peter there's a lot of people that think there's a bit more to it than just hanging onto a motorbike. There is perhaps good reason to be suspicious about Froome, from his TUE exemption for corticosteroids at the 2014 Tour de Romandie and the 2013 ascent of Ventoux where his power to weight ratio and heart rate were in Lying Lance territory (over 7 watts per Kg).
Doubts will persist unfortunately.
Is that level of "power" achievable in someone not on enhancements? (im sorry, my biology expertise only runs to litres of milk from a cow, or days to conception in the dairy cow)
Contador in his prime had an FTP (Functional Threshold Power) of 420 Watts, meaning he could tap out 420 Watts of power for 1 hour, by contrast Cavendish's FTP is around 300 Watts. Contador's power to weight ratio would have been around 6.7 Watts per kg given the fact he weighed in around 62 Kgs. So over 7 watts per kg isn't unachievable but Contador in his prime was doping and getting caught doping.
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hmm, certainly food for thought.
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When anyone dominates like this there will always be questions. With Armstrong there was obviously good reason. With Froome, there is as much suspicion right now as there is with someone like Mo Farah i.e. surrounded by people who have cheated, but not necessarily any evidence he has yet.
Or it could be a Michael Phelps situation..........where it has been shown that he just has a body that is just built to make him go faster than everyone else (something about his legs being short in proportion to his torso and his feet being big in proportion to his legs). Maybe Froome is just mechanically built to do this, even though he looks unconventional.
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When anyone dominates like this there will always be questions. With Armstrong there was obviously good reason. With Froome, there is as much suspicion right now as there is with someone like Mo Farah i.e. surrounded by people who have cheated, but not necessarily any evidence he has yet.
Or it could be a Michael Phelps situation..........where it has been shown that he just has a body that is just built to make him go faster than everyone else (something about his legs being short in proportion to his torso and his feet being big in proportion to his legs). Maybe Froome is just mechanically built to do this, even though he looks unconventional.
I'm in the undecided camp, there's enough evidence to both doubt him and to believe him, I want him to be clean just the same as Wiggins but Sky & Brailsford haven't exactly helped dispel the doubts the past few years.
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Pretty much everything I have read this year is that Froome's team (SKY) was/is significantly better than the other riders/teams. Thomas and Landa would be GC riders in most teams. If shielded by riders that would otherwise be competing against him must be key factor. The fact that he is rarely isolated must also mean that he has the stamina to compete for the full three weeks.
Is the sky team that much better this year? Are other teams comparable? Do Sky pay more?
Again my understanding is that sky decided (compared to other teams) that money has more impact when spread across the team and crucially coaches rather than invested in one star individual.
Have I simply swallowed their propaganda or would the above have an impact?
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Again my understanding is that sky decided (compared to other teams) that money has more impact when spread across the team and crucially coaches rather than invested in one star individual.
Have I simply swallowed their propaganda or would the above have an impact?
I'm not an expert, but looking at the way the team consistently dominate and compete as a team and he always has someone by his side protecting him, I would say it probably does. However I will also caution that was a trait of the Armstrong years as well.