Whelp, as I predicted, Chris Froome will win. But what a ride these last few days in the Alps.
By the time the stages would end, I was exhausted just from watching. Makes it hard to get out of bed and go to work.
It's easy to play armchair quarterback, but I was really hoping Quintana and Movistar would have attacked sooner on the final climbs of the last two stages. I'm not there and I don't know what the riders are thinking or feeling, but it seems to me that Quintana never seems to be completely out of gas when he crosses the finish line.
I did like Quintana's attacks today on the L'Alpe D'Huez. Two smalls ones to shed as many Team Sky riders off the front and then one hard hit.
For those who doubt, today's stage was an excellent example of teamwork from Movistar. Putting Winner Anacona in the break and the attack from Valverde were the decisive moves on L'Alpe D'Huez. When Team Sky didn't react to Valverde's move, Quintana attacked, and bridged to him, then together they set a tempo equal, if not faster than Team Sky.
Once Quintana bridged to Anacona, Valverde's job was done, and Anacona upped the pace with Quintana. Perfect team tactics.
Barring any major incidents tomorrow, here's how we should finish.
3. Nobody!
No one wins! Yea! Playing for third! Woot!
4. Marc Deussault - Vincenzo Nibali
I can here Manny now, "Guess someone got a blood bag before stage 19." It was a pretty impressive win by Nibali on stage 19. Some controversy on his choice of attacking when Froome had a mechanical. Even more interesting to hear Bob Roll and Christian Vande Velde in the post show agree with the tactic. All for another post I guess.
5. Manny Treeson - Alberto Contador
I can here Manny now, "I would have been in 4th if it wasn't for a blood bag."
9. Craig Housenick - Romain Badret
Impressive riding by Badret to get back into contention in the Alps.
16. Blaine Rainey - Thibault Pinot
Surprised he didn't pick Rein Taaramae or Tanel Kangert. Great end to a very trying tour for Pinot. Winning on L'Alpe D'Huez has almost as much recognition as winning the entire tour.
40. Arnold Serame - Ryder Hesjedal
Rough tour for the former Giro winner, but like the Giro this year, he seemed to recover in the final week. A kilometer or two too far on L'Alpe D'Huez today.
48. Toby Fleming - Richie Porte
Interesting fact: Peter Sagan finished in 46th, almost 2 minutes faster than Porte. No matter, I'm excited at the possibility that next year he'll be in the black and red of Team BMC. He still showed well throughout the tour shepherding Froome. You can't buy loyalty like that.
2. Dan Boland - Nairo Quintana
I blame my poor showing on Nibali not taking his blood bag sooner. I always thought Froome was going to win, but after the showing of Astana at the Giro, would have thought they had the team to rally around Nibali and put him on the podium in 2nd. No matter, at least I didn't pick...
1. Mike Jenness - Chris Froome
It always seems like a real option for third when you see is riding style in the mountains. How does anyone go that fast looking like that?
DNF stage 17 - David Fish - Tejay Van Garderen
This was a real blow to the Tour. What would have been if he didn't succumb to sickness? He did not look good that day he dropped out. He never would have won the tour. He, like Froome, needs more CLM miles to contend with the pure climbers like Quintana. Next year he'll have Porte with him. Double pronged attack for BMC or will Porte play chief lieutenant?
DNF stage 4 - Tom Beck - Fabian Cancellara
Fabian has had a rough season, let alone a rough tour. Is this the first tour where two yellow jersey winners crashed out while still in yellow? Hopefully Spartacus returns to form to challenge for the worlds this year.
My next day off is Tuesday. Hopefully I can put in one last blog post to discuss the Nibali attack on stage 19. After listening to Bob and Christian present a good argument for not waiting for Froome, I've had to re-evaluate my stand on the matter. Perhaps a point/counter point with Manny?
Thanks again for anyone who read this. And please do me the favor of commenting on this post so I know we are reaching someone with our random trains of thought. I hate talking for no reason.
Safe riding and I'll see you all on the road!
Saturday, July 25, 2015
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Thursday, July 16, 2015
This Is Why We Play For Third.
Three big mountain stages and what have we concluded?
Chris Froome is going to win.
He put his stamp on the first mountain top finish La Pierre-Saint-Martin. Now all he has to do is have his team set an infernal pace, follow the wheels, control the breaks of his nearest rivals and always finish near the front.
Tour done. First place taken care of.
Everyone can preach in their interviews "The tour is not over". Yes it is.
"There's still the Alps to climb". Doesn't matter, unless Froome cracks more than once, 2+ minutes is hard to pull back.
Makes the tour a little boring for me. I tried to watch this morning's stage to Plateau de Beille. I might try again tonight (if I get home from work at a reasonable hour). I read that all the contenders tried to break away on the final climb and one after another, Team Sky just reeled them back in.
*Yawn* a formula we see all to often. Sky sets pace on the front, Froome tucks in and enjoys the ride. Everyone tries to break away, Team Sky drags them back. Boring.
What made last years tour exciting? The loss of Froome and Contador left gaping holes on dominating teams. Tactics had to change and victories in the tour were measured differently.
This is why we play for third place. It brings a little more excitement to the tour if you are truly cheering for your rider. At the moment, David Fish and I are separated by 17 seconds. I personally think David is winning this year, All Tejay can do is hold wheels in the mountains. Quintana can pull away if he wants to. Granted he tried today, and was unsuccessful. Perhaps he'll be successful in the Alps to gap Van Garderen. And David will finish on top, and I'll finish on the bottom.
In other news, as a BMC fan, I'm liking the rumours of Ritche Porte coming to the team next season. I've said it for years, BMC doesn't have enough quality climbers to shepherd the team leader (whom ever that may be) in the high mountains of the tour. How often this tour have we seen TeJay alone on the final climb? I hear Damiano Caruso has a cough that's preventing him from full power, but I'm sure he's got tired legs after his performance of at the Giro.
Well, that's enough stream of consciousness for tonight. See you on the road.
Chris Froome is going to win.
He put his stamp on the first mountain top finish La Pierre-Saint-Martin. Now all he has to do is have his team set an infernal pace, follow the wheels, control the breaks of his nearest rivals and always finish near the front.
Tour done. First place taken care of.
Everyone can preach in their interviews "The tour is not over". Yes it is.
"There's still the Alps to climb". Doesn't matter, unless Froome cracks more than once, 2+ minutes is hard to pull back.
Makes the tour a little boring for me. I tried to watch this morning's stage to Plateau de Beille. I might try again tonight (if I get home from work at a reasonable hour). I read that all the contenders tried to break away on the final climb and one after another, Team Sky just reeled them back in.
*Yawn* a formula we see all to often. Sky sets pace on the front, Froome tucks in and enjoys the ride. Everyone tries to break away, Team Sky drags them back. Boring.
What made last years tour exciting? The loss of Froome and Contador left gaping holes on dominating teams. Tactics had to change and victories in the tour were measured differently.
This is why we play for third place. It brings a little more excitement to the tour if you are truly cheering for your rider. At the moment, David Fish and I are separated by 17 seconds. I personally think David is winning this year, All Tejay can do is hold wheels in the mountains. Quintana can pull away if he wants to. Granted he tried today, and was unsuccessful. Perhaps he'll be successful in the Alps to gap Van Garderen. And David will finish on top, and I'll finish on the bottom.
In other news, as a BMC fan, I'm liking the rumours of Ritche Porte coming to the team next season. I've said it for years, BMC doesn't have enough quality climbers to shepherd the team leader (whom ever that may be) in the high mountains of the tour. How often this tour have we seen TeJay alone on the final climb? I hear Damiano Caruso has a cough that's preventing him from full power, but I'm sure he's got tired legs after his performance of at the Giro.
Well, that's enough stream of consciousness for tonight. See you on the road.
Another Day ... Another 4 Mountains
So today they went up and down. A Lot! I have heard heard an interesting theory. That this stage so hard that it neutralized itself. For most of today it did feel that way. Sky let a HUGE group (22 riders) get off the front. They got 12 minutes. Last climb hit and the big guys heat it up a bit (but only a bit) and basically they finished the stage together. There was some digs from Movistar & Saxo and Sky road them all back. Smart defensive riding on a very hard day. Oh and there was WEATHER. From 90 degrees on the flat to 60's and hail on the final mountain.
I do wonder are these guys starting to get tried? They are human after all these days right? Are they holding their energy for next week? Or are they just riding to make it to the podium? I am found of saying we will know when we know but we are starting to know at this point.
Where we stand
Photos from the Day
From @jeredgruber
From Cyclingnews
And this presented without comment... Caption it yourself
Data from the Day
Rodriguez's speed up the mountain on his way to the win
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Into the rest day
First impressions was that this was an excellent day of racing. I was at the edge of the couch as Sky came in. The jersey for Tejay, as Dan rightly points out, was always going to be a reach but I did think was possible. So when it became clear that Sky had brought a much stronger TTT team to the race then we saw in June then the narrative for me turned entirely to the separation between the contenders at the end of the first 9 days of racing around France. Movistar showed up. That much is clear. They were disappointed clearly. If they had not lost so much time on stage 2 ...would haves/should haves as all well and good but this why the tour is the tour. No mistakes + Strength + Team = Results. Lost any of these and time goes with it.
Clearly some interesting stories building as we head into the rest day. I think we have a good idea of our protagonists in the race. For me now what I will find interesting is going to who will animate the coming stages in the mountains. Nibali has lost so much time that maybe he can really take a flyer. It is a very dangerous position for the rest of the GC men to be in. Even at two minutes back I can not image the rest letting him free but you can not chase everyone. If you don't chase him down you let him right back in it. I get the sense it is more luck and team discipline that has him so far back and not strength. So we know more when we know it.
Oh and one other thing .... Froome looks STRONG. Those pulls he put in at the front where massive. It going to fun racing in the mountains with lots of strong folks having a go but if Froome is as strong as he looks who can really take him on?
I am just going to call out Uran as dark horse to watch. Only 1:18 back. I bet out of all the GC men a bit back he may not get chased if the everyone else is watching each other. Just what kind of form does he have?
As you where and happy riding.
Clearly some interesting stories building as we head into the rest day. I think we have a good idea of our protagonists in the race. For me now what I will find interesting is going to who will animate the coming stages in the mountains. Nibali has lost so much time that maybe he can really take a flyer. It is a very dangerous position for the rest of the GC men to be in. Even at two minutes back I can not image the rest letting him free but you can not chase everyone. If you don't chase him down you let him right back in it. I get the sense it is more luck and team discipline that has him so far back and not strength. So we know more when we know it.
Where we Stand
I am just going to call out Uran as dark horse to watch. Only 1:18 back. I bet out of all the GC men a bit back he may not get chased if the everyone else is watching each other. Just what kind of form does he have?
Quotes from the Day
Tejay (BMC) ... when asked about his ability to reach for the win.“That’s tall order. First we have to get to the Pyrenees. The Pyrenees are going to be the test to see who’s actually fit enough to win the Tour. The Alps are going to be who has the stamina to make it to the end. We definitely passed the first phase of the Tour very well. With the way I was climbing and feeling in the Dauphiné compared to Froome I think I’m pretty close. We’re really not going to know that until we get to the third week to see who really has the depth to hold it. The Tour is a marathon. We’re not even close to the end."Geraint Thomas (Team Sky):
I'm annoyed we didn't win. We should have won that. Fair play to BMC they did a good ride but it’s disappointing. It's been a tough week. A lot of people say it, that the Tour starts on Tuesday with the mountains, which is crazy, but we can be happy. We put time into everyone else bar Tejay, but we really wanted that.
Images from the Day
From CyclingnewsData from the Day
And where their speed toped out.
Top recorded speed on stage 9: Roche (SKY) at 78.37 km/h at the 16.5 km point.That is just a bit north of 48 mph ... I am guessing on a downhill stretch.
As you where and happy riding.
Too Much Hype
Sorry to the one person who reads the blog that I haven't been posting. I've had a rough week of work, and will probably go back into stealth mode for the next week because I've got another busy one coming up. Which is unfortunate since the mountains are coming.
I was able to watch today's TTT live since I had a stupid o'clock call this morning and at this hour (+6 since call time) they haven't done anything. I don't like to post if I can't watch the stage live. Social media really makes it impossible to not know the outcome of the race soon after it finishes. I prefer my post to be raw reactions to what I watch.
I have been listening to the hype on NBC about Tejay possibly getting the yellow jersey after today's TTT. They've been hammering that possibility home for the last couple of days.
I didn't buy one word of it.
I get it, NBC is the American media presence at the Tour, they have to pander a bit to their views (most of which are American). But it was really too much and very misleading.
I wonder how many new fans, or less than knowledgeable fans, are disappointed that Tejay didn't get the jersey today. I wonder how many of them think they didn't try hard enough, or blame the 4 riders who tailed off the back before the finish leaving only 5 to pull up the final hill.
I, for one, knew there was a very slim chance of him getting the jersey. It is not wise to discount Team Sky. They too are a well oiled machine who I'm sure have been practicing the TTT. Haven't they finished near the to top, if not the top step of the TTT in races past?
In any case, congratulations to the boys of BMC for getting the win, if only by a whisker.
The real revelation, Movistar. You look at that roster and aside from Alex Dowsett and Adriano Malori, you are pressed to find a time trial specialist. And yet, they finished 4 seconds off the pace. Impressive. Very impressive. They put Quintana in a very good position coming into the mountains.
I fell asleep last night to the NBC boys in studio with Alex Dowsett discussing today's stage. It was refreshing to hear Alex state that he knew the TTT was the entire reason he was on the team to begin with. After tomorrow, his job is to get Quintana safely to the bottom of the mountain and then try to finish within the time cut. That's what I like about cycling, it is a team sport and everyone has a role to play. You aren't all going to be winners, and your finishing time and place is not as important as just finishing the race in Paris.
Rest day tomorrow.
See you on the road.
I was able to watch today's TTT live since I had a stupid o'clock call this morning and at this hour (+6 since call time) they haven't done anything. I don't like to post if I can't watch the stage live. Social media really makes it impossible to not know the outcome of the race soon after it finishes. I prefer my post to be raw reactions to what I watch.
I have been listening to the hype on NBC about Tejay possibly getting the yellow jersey after today's TTT. They've been hammering that possibility home for the last couple of days.
I didn't buy one word of it.
I get it, NBC is the American media presence at the Tour, they have to pander a bit to their views (most of which are American). But it was really too much and very misleading.
I wonder how many new fans, or less than knowledgeable fans, are disappointed that Tejay didn't get the jersey today. I wonder how many of them think they didn't try hard enough, or blame the 4 riders who tailed off the back before the finish leaving only 5 to pull up the final hill.
I, for one, knew there was a very slim chance of him getting the jersey. It is not wise to discount Team Sky. They too are a well oiled machine who I'm sure have been practicing the TTT. Haven't they finished near the to top, if not the top step of the TTT in races past?
In any case, congratulations to the boys of BMC for getting the win, if only by a whisker.
The real revelation, Movistar. You look at that roster and aside from Alex Dowsett and Adriano Malori, you are pressed to find a time trial specialist. And yet, they finished 4 seconds off the pace. Impressive. Very impressive. They put Quintana in a very good position coming into the mountains.
I fell asleep last night to the NBC boys in studio with Alex Dowsett discussing today's stage. It was refreshing to hear Alex state that he knew the TTT was the entire reason he was on the team to begin with. After tomorrow, his job is to get Quintana safely to the bottom of the mountain and then try to finish within the time cut. That's what I like about cycling, it is a team sport and everyone has a role to play. You aren't all going to be winners, and your finishing time and place is not as important as just finishing the race in Paris.
Rest day tomorrow.
See you on the road.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Thanks NBC...
Thank you NBC for deciding to have the live coverage on NBC and not NBCSN this am because when I got up later then I normally do there was no TDF on the DVR. Well I knew right away that it must be on NBC and not where it should be on NBCSN. Flipped it on to catch the last 2K live. Well at least that was most of the action for day so there is that. Up side I got to play with the live data beta site. Interesting but more on that later.
Now as for the race. Hmm... Nibali OH MY. It is only 10 secs but why was it 10 seconds? Just not sharp? Headwind? Distracted by another bidon? We will know what there is to know on Tuesday when we get the mountains in ernest.
The other thing I took away from that sharp climb at the end was that the rest of the main guys seem to all be there or there abouts. Tejay and BMC again have not put a foot wrong. Tomorrow could be a very very big day for them. So close to yellow and they are the world champions at the discipline of Team Time Trialling. So again on the morrow we will know what there there is to know.
So lets have a word about tomorrow. Appointment television for sure. If I am correct this is latest a TTT has been in the tour. The TV Folks said the tour had to get a special compensation from the UCI to have it this late. Lots of teams are missing riders. Time will be lost on the road for many. It could be massive for some. Oh and hey it ends going up hill.
Look at that profile. Now that is anything but FLAT. So it is all going to come down a few key things. What teams have the right group of ridders for this(I am looking at you BMC and Sky). What teams have all 9 men in good health still. What team has the right rhythm and plan for the day. It will be very exciting to watch.
Now as for the race. Hmm... Nibali OH MY. It is only 10 secs but why was it 10 seconds? Just not sharp? Headwind? Distracted by another bidon? We will know what there is to know on Tuesday when we get the mountains in ernest.
The other thing I took away from that sharp climb at the end was that the rest of the main guys seem to all be there or there abouts. Tejay and BMC again have not put a foot wrong. Tomorrow could be a very very big day for them. So close to yellow and they are the world champions at the discipline of Team Time Trialling. So again on the morrow we will know what there there is to know.
So lets have a word about tomorrow. Appointment television for sure. If I am correct this is latest a TTT has been in the tour. The TV Folks said the tour had to get a special compensation from the UCI to have it this late. Lots of teams are missing riders. Time will be lost on the road for many. It could be massive for some. Oh and hey it ends going up hill.
Where we stand
Images from the day
From steephill.com
And I just love these from Getty Images
Meanwhile at the tour of Austria this is what the podium looks like. Presented without further comment.
Data from Today
Interesting... the tour data first reported that the winner on the stage climbed the Mur at 39km/h but pretty quickly corrected that to 27.23km/h. Beta... still in beta but I love the concept.
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