Tour De France 2014 Stage 10: Mulhouse - La Planche des Belles Filles

[Fitzey]

Anyone up for predicting the top 10 now?

I'll go for

1. Nibali
2. Valverde
3. Porte
4. Mollema
5. Costa
6. Talansky
7. Van Garderen
8. Van den Broeck
9. Kwiatkowski
10. Fuglsang
(11. Bardet/12. Peraud/13. Pinot)


Thought it's extremely explosive and I've got virtually no confidence in it. Backing Talansky in to get over his injury troubles and think he'll put time into all of them bar Porte, Tejay and Kwiatkowski in the TT and is probably the 4th/5th best climber left. Think Tejay/VDB/Kwiatkowski and perhaps Costa will be found out on the high climbs and that Fuglsang will falter a little in service of Nibali.

Stage is set for a Porte podium though.

1. Nibali
2. Porte
3. Valverde
4. Talanksy
5. Mollema
6. Tejau
7. Costa
8. Kwiatkowski
9. Van de Broeck
10. Fuglsang.

Almost the same but just different placings.

 

[Ichabod Noodle]

Think about it... Would you like to ride another 90km odd with some sort of pain? And it's not exactly an easy 90km...

Other riders do/have done - and then go in the breakaway a few days later all bandaged up. It's the TDF, you don't just walk away from the TDF.

 

[blue gunslinger]

Other riders do/have done - and then go in the breakaway a few days later all bandaged up. It's the TDF, you don't just walk away from the TDF.

Esp if u r defending champ

 

[Sasquatch]

Anyone up for predicting the top 10 now?

I'll go for

1. Nibali
2. Valverde
3. Porte
4. Mollema
5. Costa
6. Talansky
7. Van Garderen
8. Van den Broeck
9. Kwiatkowski
10. Fuglsang
(11. Bardet/12. Peraud/13. Pinot)


Thought it's extremely explosive and I've got virtually no confidence in it. Backing Talansky in to get over his injury troubles and think he'll put time into all of them bar Porte, Tejay and Kwiatkowski in the TT and is probably the 4th/5th best climber left. Think Tejay/VDB/Kwiatkowski and perhaps Costa will be found out on the high climbs and that Fuglsang will falter a little in service of Nibali.

Stage is set for a Porte podium though.

1. Vincenzo Nibali
2. Jurgen Van Den Broeck
3. Alejandro Valverde
4. Richie Porte
5. Jean Christophe-Peraud
6. Bauke Mollema
7. Romain Bardet
8. Andrew Talansky
9. Leopold Konig
10. Thibaut Pinot

Just missing out in 11th place will be Rui Costa

 

[Fitzey]

Other riders do/have done - and then go in the breakaway a few days later all bandaged up. It's the TDF, you don't just walk away from the TDF.

True and it is a bad look but we don't know the extent of the injury yet.

 

[blue gunslinger]

Amazing stage week tour

 

[iluvparis]

So...who was the third favourite before the Tour?

Nibali - now HOT favourite

 

[blue gunslinger]

Nibali - now HOT favourite

Was my número uno!

 

[monty1104]

At least with Voeckler and Rodriguez battling out the KOTM, we will be in for action.

 

[iluvparis]

Other riders do/have done - and then go in the breakaway a few days later all bandaged up. It's the TDF, you don't just walk away from the TDF.

Contador wouldn't be allowed in a break even if he was 20+ minutes down though.

 

[Ichabod Noodle]

True and it is a bad look but we don't know the extent of the injury yet.

No, you are right, we don't know the extent of the injury and I'll be the first to apologise if it is more serious. I thought Froome gave up a little easy too until I found out the full extent of his injuries. I just thought he would have gone a bit further before abandoning, that's all. He hadn't even fallen back to the Autobus.

 

[blue gunslinger]

Go up cat 1 must go down.... In wet ....

 

[Forward Press]

Nibali - now HOT favourite

Well...bad things happen in threes.

Nibali can probably afford to take things easier though, I suppose.

 

[Ichabod Noodle]

Contador wouldn't be allowed in a break even if he was 20+ minutes down though.

No, but you know what I mean. Riders get banged up all the time and fight on, with far less chance of ever winning than Contador.

 

[Skippos]

Did he just not want to ride the rest of the way on his own? Did he know he wasn't going to get back on this stage and he was losing too much time? No offense but he seemed to give up just a little bit to easily. I've seen riders torn up and seemingly in worse shape (Johnny Hoogerland got smacked by a car into a barbed wire fence for f*** sake) still get back on and finish the stage. Ok so they haven't been GC contenders but to me, it doesn't look good for him - oh I'm hurt and my chances of the overall are gone, so I might as well pack it in.

Happy to be proved wrong by broken bones - but if he's just got a case of gravel rash, even a bad case of gravel rash.....

Oh well the tour is wide open now.

If you're not first you're last.

Retiring gives him the opportunity to rest, heal his wounds and get into some good form and target the Vuelta.

 

[Belnakor]

No, you are right, we don't know the extent of the injury and I'll be the first to apologise if it is more serious. I thought Froome gave up a little easy too until I found out the full extent of his injuries. I just thought he would have gone a bit further before abandoning, that's all. He hadn't even fallen back to the Autobus.

I'm guessing ribs and his wind was gone. Just gravel rash would be poor form really.

I was in the same boat with froome - I think a lot of people had egg on their face when his injuries were announced!

 

[blue gunslinger]

I'm guessing ribs and his wind was gone. Just gravel rash would be poor form really.

I was in the same boat with froome - I think a lot of people had egg on their face when his injuries were announced!

Froome has small fractures countador had a bike split in two apparently

 

[JuddsABlue]

So what is Martins plan here?

Rodriguez has taken enough points so far for KOTM jersey tomorrow, does he plan on challenging for the points on the last two hills instead or is he working on something else beside the polka dot jersey?

 

[monty1104]

So what is Martins plan here?

Rodriguez has taken enough points so far for KOTM, does he plan on challenging for the points on the last two hills instead or is he working on something else beside the polka dot jersey?

He is riding for Kwiatkowski, trying to get him the yellow jersey.

 

[blue gunslinger]

He is riding for Kwiatkowski, trying to get him the yellow jersey.

We're there rumours about kwiatk?

 

[Blue and Silver]

Apparently Contador's crash came because a bike fell off the team cars roof.

If true that is ridiculous

 

[blue gunslinger]

Apparently Contador's crash came because a bike fell off the team cars roof.

If true that is ridiculous

When?

 

[monty1104]

We're there rumours about kwiatk?

What rumours?

 

[Skippos]

Apparently Contador's crash came because a bike fell off the team cars roof.

If true that is ridiculous

I heard that the rumours of a bike snap happened because of that, not that it was the cause.

Think about it, a bike falling off a Tinkoff car would happen well behind the pack of Contador i reckon.

 

[blue gunslinger]

What rumours?

He went missing for spells I heard