Cycling Thread

[EdgeOfTheAlps]

Tommy V again. I love the way this man rides and I don't care if he's not the most popular rider in the peleton. Him and Jens Voigt are by far my favourite riders.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

He is great value for sure. Gives it absolutely bloody everything. Shame he can't do a decent TT really, and he had an awful day on the first day of climbing or he would be a GC contender.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Looks like Evans has lost about five minutes today. Ouch.

 

[Donegal Wolf]

Looks like he is down to 7th not even highest place rider in his team.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

8'06" down. Game over for Evans.

 

[leedswolf]

Classic riding from the leading three.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Wiggins and Froome take time out of Nibali. Froome would have won that stage without waiting for his team leader. Race over completely now - Wiggins and Froome will finish something like 4 to 5 minutes clear of the rest

 

[Kenny]

Having a low interest in the sport. Can you explain how the teams work in cycling?

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

You have 9 riders per team. The cyclist who has the number ending in 1 is the team leader - Nibali is 51, Wiggins is 101 etc etc

The other 8 work for the team leader as the tour starts, or for the sprinter if the team is unlikely to challenge for General Classification. Froome is the number 2 at the moment and so his job is to protect Wiggins in yellow. If Froome had not been held up in a crash in the first week that cost him 90 seconds, and had been a bit closer to Wiggins in the time trial it might have been every man for himself as they would be very close, but the important part was for them both to take those last few seconds out of Nibali and kill the thing stone dead. They will get a stage win tomorrow.

Domestiques are the "other riders" of a team. They collect water bottles for the leaders, and set the pace up the mountains like pacemakers in a 1500 metres. Ritchie Porte, Edvald Boason Hagen, and Mike Rodgers are the Sky domestiques in the mountains.

 

[Kenny]

Right, all a bit complicated for cycling up and down some steep hills for a month..........

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

They all share all the prize money equally so there is an incentive to get the team leader into Paris on the top of the podium

 

[ROVERT47]

, Edvald Boason Hagen,.

Wasn't he discovered a couple of weeks ago?

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

By Hazel Grove. No scientific use for him though

 

[OldGoldnBlack]

so, in essence, Wiggins is a goalhanger?

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Not really. Cavendish would be a more accurate goal hanger in that he just sits in the train and then pops out and claims the stage victory. Wiggins just goes at the set pace and watches everyone else crumble. The stages he wins are time trials without a team and against the clock and there he demolishes the field (bar Froome) on his own.

 

[Knockout Ned]

You could say it's about as complicated as just kicking a ball into a net...

Anyway job done for Sky, just stay out of trouble 'til Sunday and we have our first Tour winner!

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

If Froome and Wiggins both have good TTs and Rogers can do the same, then Sky could also pinch the team prize. Got quite a few minutes to make up so it is a big ask, but you never know

 

[Johnny75]

You have 9 riders per team. The cyclist who has the number ending in 1 is the team leader - Nibali is 51, Wiggins is 101 etc etc

The other 8 work for the team leader as the tour starts, or for the sprinter if the team is unlikely to challenge for General Classification. Froome is the number 2 at the moment and so his job is to protect Wiggins in yellow. If Froome had not been held up in a crash in the first week that cost him 90 seconds, and had been a bit closer to Wiggins in the time trial it might have been every man for himself as they would be very close, but the important part was for them both to take those last few seconds out of Nibali and kill the thing stone dead. They will get a stage win tomorrow.

Domestiques are the "other riders" of a team. They collect water bottles for the leaders, and set the pace up the mountains like pacemakers in a 1500 metres. Ritchie Porte, Edvald Boason Hagen, and Mike Rodgers are the Sky domestiques in the mountains.

Do you think they will let Froome have a go next year? Watching the two mountain stages he could have taken those 2 minutes out of, including today, do you think that if Wiggins wasn't in yellow they'd have let him go?

 

[Knockout Ned]

Froome will get his chance one day, whether with Sky or someone else. He'll also be well respected as a domestique, shouldn't be short of work for a while either way.

It depends how far off the pace Wiggins was as to whether they'd let Froome off the leash, they did just that in last years Vuelta when Wiggins was struggling having just returned from the broken collar bone he suffered in last years Tour.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Yes - he definitely could have got the stage win today and he also could have left Wiggins on the mountain top finish in the alps. I wonder if it won't be sky's problem next year. I can see someone like Rabobank (who have a bucketload of cash like Sky) or possibly even BMC making a serious offer for his services. The problem for Froome was getting caught up in the crash in the first couple of stages. As I say that cost him 90 seconds. Apart from that he has lost about 8 seconds on the prologue and 25 on the first TT, which he could easily have made up today had he burned Wiggins in the last kilometre.

I think Froome might win the TT from Wiggins, and he will almost certainly be given his head in the Vuelta.

When Contador returns next year, Froome may be the better bet to take the Spaniard on. Depends on the route, which I haven't checked yet.