Re: Cycling : Thu Jul 12, 2012 5:28 pm  

i know there's a long way to go but there's no evidence to suggest that anyone can challenge team sky in the hills. evans has blown out, and there's only nibali threatening to break away and every time he's been reeled in. wiggo and froome look by far the strongest climbers of the leading contenders, surely only an accident or illness can thwart wiggins now

however having said that i think if froome hadn't punctured on that early stage he could have won this tour, or gone very close. i always get the impression he could ride away from wiggins in the mountains and it would make for an exciting tt between the 2 sky riders if froome had opened up a bit of a gap in the hills

Re: Cycling : Thu Jul 12, 2012 5:45 pm  

were over halfway now (11 done, 9 to go), one more hilly stage then a sprinters transition to the pyrenees

of the nine stages left, theres a tt and four sprinters stages, so only 4 more chances for mountain attacks. of these the most obvious one is stage 17 with its big uphill finish - its also the last mountain stage. however 16 offers lots of chances though it is after a rest day, and probably is the one the king of the mountains contenders will fancy as lots of points are on offer. cant see stage 14 troubling sky so my money for an attack will be tomorrow. its the longest stage and could suit a long breakaway. will one of the contenders risk it and go early tomorrow, something we haven't seen yet?

[John_D]

Re: Cycling : Thu Jul 12, 2012 7:51 pm  

the artist wrote:

however having said that i think if froome hadn't punctured on that early stage he could have won this tour, or gone very close. i always get the impression he could ride away from wiggins in the mountains and it would make for an exciting tt between the 2 sky riders if froome had opened up a bit of a gap in the hills

The puncture certainly makes keeping Froome in line to support Wiggins a lot easier for the Sky management. I'm not sure I quite believe Wiggins saying they couldn't hear the radios today - it looked like out-and-out dissent from Froome, an "I could totally do this if I wanted to" statement - but in the absence of evidence I guess we'll have to take it as read.

Re: Cycling : Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:44 pm  

yes i got the impression that froome could have ridden away today and also a bit more than what he did on stage 7 which he won. he will win the tour one day though

Re: Cycling : Thu Jul 12, 2012 9:58 pm  

Well well, isn't this getting interesting. Froome could absolutely win this tour if he was allowed to, and doesn't he just know it. It's not quite Contador-Armstrong, but it's a sightly awkward situation for Sky. At the same time though, he does seem willing to act as Brad's super domestique at the moment, and you couldn't wish for a better teammate. I'm not convinced Brad would be as strong if he was left isolated.

If Wiggins does prevail this year, as seems increasingly likely, it will be interesting to see if Sky let Froome off the leash at next years tour. I suspect they'll let him lead the Giro team instead.

I'm just glad they're both in my fantasy team

[John_D]

Re: Cycling : Fri Jul 13, 2012 8:24 am  

GCM1980 wrote:

I suspect they'll let him lead the Giro team instead.

I suspect you're right

[John_D]

Re: Cycling : Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:28 am  

Long one today. Couple of early cat 1 hills, but then a good 150km to reel in anyone who tries to feck off over them. Sharp wee climb to the finish - looks like a Sagan kind of a stage if he's got any legs left.

[John_D]

Re: Cycling : Fri Jul 13, 2012 1:12 pm  

Escapees allowed to go 11 minutes up the road and no real urgency to pull it back in. David Millar is up in the front 5. A fourth British winner in the one Tour? That'd be nice

[John_D]

Re: Cycling : Fri Jul 13, 2012 2:54 pm  

Bloody brilliant. Four of GB's five-man Olympic road-race team have now won stages on Le Tour. How good is that?

Re: Cycling : Fri Jul 13, 2012 2:58 pm  

GCM1980 wrote:

If Wiggins does prevail this year, as seems increasingly likely, it will be interesting to see if Sky let Froome off the leash at next years tour. I suspect they'll let him lead the Giro team instead.

Seven mountain finishes in this year's Vuelta.