monty1104
Premium Platinum
After a rest night, we have been able to breathe and digest why we saw on stage 10. Here is a quick rundown; Contador broke his leg. Plenty of differing account of what actually happened. Climbed a cat 2 climb with a broken leg, overtaking the autobus plus a bunch of other riders.
Voeckler and Rodriguez duked it out for the KOTM was entertaining until Voeckler realised he could never beat Purito up a hill. Tony Martin went into Panzerwagen mode and dragging Kwiatkowski (and others) all the way until the 2nd last climb, only for Kwiatkowski to crack and lose the white jersey to Bardet. Sagan made the break and getting another 20 points at the intermediate sprint point. Machado fell, announced as abandoned, then continued to ride. Nibali showed he is by far the best climber left at the tour.
Stage 11: Besancon - Oyonnax
Current Jersey Leaders
Yellow: Vincenzo Nibail (AST)
White: Romain Bardet (ALM)
Green: Peter Sagan (CAN)
Polkadot: Joaquin Rodriguez (KAT)
Lantern Rouge: Ji Cheng (GSH)
Team: AG2R La Mondiale
General Classification after Stage 10
ITA 1 NIBALI, Vincenzo (ASTANA) 42:33:38
AUS 2 PORTE, Richie (SKY) + 2:23
ESP 3 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) + 2:47
FRA 4 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 3:01
FRA 5 GALLOPIN, Tony (LOTTO BELISOL) + 3:12
FRA 6 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ.fr) + 3:47
USA 7 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 3:56
FRA 8 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 3:57
POR 9 FARIA DA COSTA, Rui Alberto (LAMPRE - MERIDA) + 3:58
NED 10 MOLLEMA, Bauke (BELKIN) + 4:08
Tonight's stage is yet another one of these nasty medium mountain stages. We have 4 categorised climbs within 30km, all towards the end of the race. Unfortunately for the riders, there isn't a flat run in to the climbs, it undulates the whole way there. Luckily, it seems as though we will have relatively dry roads today, which will make it easier on the riders and hopefully we will have less crashes. This stage looks perfect for a puncheur to really make a break on the final climb, then keep their break on the descent coming into Oyonnax. Throughout the stage I think Canondale will try to keep the break in check, as on paper this stage would be good for Sagan, as long as there is no breakaway. I wouldn't be surprised to see someone like Thomas Voeckler break at the to of the last climb and try to use his good bike handling skills to stay away. Having said that, I'll be all patriotic and tip Simon Gerrans tonight.
Watch out for: Paul and Phil mentioning Elia Viviani's win here during last year's Criterium Dauphine
Conversation regarding past cases of PED use or innuendo surrounding current riders will not be tolerated. This thread is specifically about Stage 11 of the 2014 Tour de France, so let's keep it that way.
Voeckler and Rodriguez duked it out for the KOTM was entertaining until Voeckler realised he could never beat Purito up a hill. Tony Martin went into Panzerwagen mode and dragging Kwiatkowski (and others) all the way until the 2nd last climb, only for Kwiatkowski to crack and lose the white jersey to Bardet. Sagan made the break and getting another 20 points at the intermediate sprint point. Machado fell, announced as abandoned, then continued to ride. Nibali showed he is by far the best climber left at the tour.
Stage 11: Besancon - Oyonnax
Current Jersey Leaders
Yellow: Vincenzo Nibail (AST)
White: Romain Bardet (ALM)
Green: Peter Sagan (CAN)
Polkadot: Joaquin Rodriguez (KAT)
Lantern Rouge: Ji Cheng (GSH)
Team: AG2R La Mondiale
General Classification after Stage 10
ITA 1 NIBALI, Vincenzo (ASTANA) 42:33:38
AUS 2 PORTE, Richie (SKY) + 2:23
ESP 3 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) + 2:47
FRA 4 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 3:01
FRA 5 GALLOPIN, Tony (LOTTO BELISOL) + 3:12
FRA 6 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ.fr) + 3:47
USA 7 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 3:56
FRA 8 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 3:57
POR 9 FARIA DA COSTA, Rui Alberto (LAMPRE - MERIDA) + 3:58
NED 10 MOLLEMA, Bauke (BELKIN) + 4:08
Tonight's stage is yet another one of these nasty medium mountain stages. We have 4 categorised climbs within 30km, all towards the end of the race. Unfortunately for the riders, there isn't a flat run in to the climbs, it undulates the whole way there. Luckily, it seems as though we will have relatively dry roads today, which will make it easier on the riders and hopefully we will have less crashes. This stage looks perfect for a puncheur to really make a break on the final climb, then keep their break on the descent coming into Oyonnax. Throughout the stage I think Canondale will try to keep the break in check, as on paper this stage would be good for Sagan, as long as there is no breakaway. I wouldn't be surprised to see someone like Thomas Voeckler break at the to of the last climb and try to use his good bike handling skills to stay away. Having said that, I'll be all patriotic and tip Simon Gerrans tonight.
Watch out for: Paul and Phil mentioning Elia Viviani's win here during last year's Criterium Dauphine
Conversation regarding past cases of PED use or innuendo surrounding current riders will not be tolerated. This thread is specifically about Stage 11 of the 2014 Tour de France, so let's keep it that way.
