Tour de France 2015

[Reign Man]

Is Matt Keenan actually in France or is he doing it from a voice-booth in Australia?

He's in his mums basement

 

[monty1104]

One of the finer staples. That, and The Muppets singing "Moving Right Along".

You called it 24 hours early.

 

[eth-dog]

Digital TV doesn't receive SBS, internet is nearly run out for the month, Foxtel is down.

I'm relying on you guys tonight/

 

[grouse mate]

Orazio2Joe given their lack of success so far, do you think it was a mistake by Giant Alpecin not to put Marcel Kittel in their squad to ride this tour? Do you think he's a chance to leave at the end of the year?

Hes been injured most of the year and just returned to racing. There was big question marks on whether he could race at this level yet.

 

[grouse mate]

Another one who might be looking for a team leader role that might be attainable would be Rafal Majka. Again, take all this with a grain of salt as I have no idea about contract information.

He got a decent contract after last years Giro, at least 2-3 years.

 

[monty1104]

Cav finally gets one

 

[Papa Juggs]

Cav finally gets one

I missed it as I was out for the night but this was a steep finish which is strange. Perhaps this is the new lighter Cav. Less power on the flat but can now go up a bit of a hill to get to the line.

Will have to see a replay.

 

[Hellgood]

If Kittel had the conditioning and preparation anywhere near the level required to be at the Tour he'd be there. Why is it being suggested otherwise?

That was a pretty damn good finish. Was a few tricky little bends in there, but made for a great contest in the sprint. Can understand the riders frustration at seeing courses that put them in danger, but fortunately as far as I'm aware the conclusion to the stage went by without any crashes.

 

[monty1104]

I missed it as I was out for the night but this was a steep finish which is strange. Perhaps this is the new lighter Cav. Less power on the flat but can now go up a bit of a hill to get to the line.

Will have to see a replay.

Nah, it was pan flat

 

[monty1104]

Stage 8: Rennes - Mur-de-Bretagne
Last night saw the first non-crash affected finish of the tour so far. In an uneventful stage, Cav ended up showing his class, beating the who's who of sprinters, with Greipel, Sagan, Degenkolb, Kristoff, Demare and Farrar finishing in spots 2-7 respectively. As expected, Martin did not take his place at the start of the stage, leaving only 9 yellow jerseys out there.

Current Jersey Leaders
Yellow: Chris Froome (SKY)
White: Peter Sagan (TCS)
Green: Andre Greipel (LTS)
Polkadot: Daniel Tekelhaimanot (MTN)
Lantern Rouge: Michael Matthews (OGE)
Team: BMC

• Km 99.5 - Col du Mont Bel-Air1.5 kilometre-long climb at 5.7% - category 4

• Km 181.5 - MÛR DE BRETAGNE2 kilometre-long climb at 6.9% - category 3
  
  
  
  
  General Classification after Stage 7
  GBR 1 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) 26:40:51
  SVK 2 SAGAN, Peter (TINKOFF - SAXO) + 11
  USA 3 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 13
  FRA 4 GALLOPIN, Tony (LOTTO SOUDAL) + 26
  BEL 5 VAN AVERMAET, Greg (BMC RACING) + 28
  COL 6 URAN URAN, Rigoberto (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) + 34
  ESP 7 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF - SAXO) + 36
  CZE 8 STYBAR, Zdenek (ETIXX - QUICK STEP) + 52
  GBR 9 THOMAS, Geraint (SKY) + 1:03
  FRA 10 BARGUIL, Warren (GIANT - ALPECIN) + 1:07
  NED 11 MOLLEMA, Bauke (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 1:32
  ITA 12 NIBALI, Vincenzo (ASTANA) + 1:38
  NED 13 GESINK, Robert (LOTTO NL - JUMBO) + 1:39
  CZE 14 KREUZIGER, Roman (TINKOFF - SAXO) + 1:51
  ESP 15 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR)
  COL 16 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) + 1:56
  ESP 17 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 2:00
  FRA 18 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 2:07
  USA 19 TALANSKY, Andrew (CANNONDALE - GARMIN) + 2:39
  FRA 20 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 2:54
  
  Tonight is not a night for sprinters. The Mur-de-Bretagne is a steep climb, even if it is only for 2km. The first km sees an average gradient of 9.8% before it plateaus out near the top. Similar to the finish on the Mur de Huy, expect the likes of Valverde, Sagan, Kristoff, Rodriguez (probably not difficult enough for him though in all honesty) Degenkolb and Van Avermaet to be at the pointy end. I'm going to go for an outsider and say that tonight's stage will be won by Alexis Vuillermoz, who has shown good form so far this tour and showed on the Mur de Huy that finishes like this do not frighten him.
  
  Also look for Daniel Tekelhaimanot to be in the break to get the points on the Col du Mont Bel-Air. If he does win it, he will be known as "The Fresh Prince" from here on.

 

[Papa Juggs]

Nah, it was pan flat

I see I was mixed up now between today and yesterday.

Anybody that is serious about the polka dots might want to have a crack today but with so many big mountain passes to go it might just be a good idea to sit behind Froome as his team pulls him up the last climb. Gotta wait for the right time to make the attack and today could be much too early.

 

[Donakebab]

http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/article/2015/07/11/paolini-out-after-testing-positive-cocaine

Really? An in competition positive test for cocaine?! Surely the B sample comes back false.

 

[Vader]

Boom boom.

 

[Mister B]

Nice shot of the cows in the paddock with the riders coming past. You just know where that footage will end up.

 

[monty1104]

Was Matt Keenan commentating on Greg Van Averman just before?



He's quite the athlete then...

 

[monty1104]

Holy crap. I got something right. Why didn't I have money on that one!

 

[grouse mate]

Sagan is wasting his time at Saxo. Thinking tonight will have a surprise, the profile makes it interesting especially the end and Nibali blowing up last night wasn't a good sign. Sky and Tinkoff have looked strong every day, read a few comments online about people not liking the placement of the TTT in the middle rather than stage 1, I'm the opposite I think it adds plenty and we dont see riders in yellow out of default rather than earning it.

 

[eth-dog]

So what will be the order tonight? Does BMC go last as leaders of the team competition, or Sky since Froome is in Yellow?

 

[monty1104]

So what will be the order tonight? Does BMC go last as leaders of the team competition, or Sky since Froome is in Yellow?

Sky last.

 

[eth-dog]

Sky last.

So that means Saxo-Tinkoff 2nd last and BMC 3rd last. Does Froome retain yellow after tonight?

 

[grouse mate]

So what will be the order tonight? Does BMC go last as leaders of the team competition, or Sky since Froome is in Yellow?

Don't know. The race director can have discretion on it, I would expect yellow to be last.

 

[grouse mate]

So that means Saxo-Tinkoff 2nd last and BMC 3rd last. Does Froome retain yellow after tonight?

Time is taken from 5th across the line but any rider dropped will get a separate time. BMC are favourites to win, so big chance for TJ to be in yellow. Anything can happen really.

 

[eth-dog]

Time is taken from 5th across the line but any rider dropped will get a separate time. BMC are favourites to win, so big chance for TJ to be in yellow. Anything can happen really.

I hope so. Tejay is one of my favourites.

 

[monty1104]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CJqpLftUcAA5f20.png - Link to start order

 

[Freakie]

I dislike the fact there is only 17km of true TT'ing in this years tour. The yellow is for best overall not best climber.