Tour De France 2014 Stage 7: Epernay - Nancy

[monty1104]

Last night was very much a run of the mill stage. In the end, it was a bunch sprint won by Greipel, though I think it will be a hollow victory, as his compatriot Marcel Kittel punctured with about 800m to go. Either way, it was a welcome return to form for Greipel.

Current Jersey Leaders
Yellow: Vincenzo Nibali (AST)
White: Peter Sagan (CAN) worn by Michal Kwiatkowski (OPQ)
Green: Peter Sagan (CAN)
Polkadot: Cyril Lemoine (COF)
Team: Astana

General Classification after Stage 6
ITA 1 NIBALI, Vincenzo (ASTANA) 24:38:25
DEN 2 FUGLSANG, Jakob (ASTANA) + 2
SVK 3 SAGAN, Peter (CANNONDALE) + 44
POL 4 KWIATKOWSKI, Michal (OMEGA PHARMA - QUICK-STEP) + 50
SUI 5 CANCELLARA, Fabian (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 1:17
BEL 6 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) + 1:45
FRA 7 GALLOPIN, Tony (LOTTO BELISOL)
AUS 8 PORTE, Richie (SKY) + 1:54
USA 9 TALANSKY, Andrew (GARMIN SHARP) + 2:05
ESP 10 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) + 2:11

Though tonight looks fairly straight forward, the two category 4 climbs towards the end offer a point of difference. This stage should not see any of Kittel, Greipel, Demare, Renshaw or Coquard make the final sprint. Sagan, however, definitely could make it, as could Degenkolb. Gerrans would have pigeonholed this stage as one for him to win, but after his crash, he just mightn't be up to it. I'd say that OGE might put their eggs into the basket of Michael Albasini, who rides in a similar style to Gerrans and is in good form. This might also be a chance for Valverde to take a few seconds on Nibali, but I'd expect Astana to be wary of him and quickly close down a move. My tip for tonight is Peter Sagan.

Watch out for: Astana and Canondale doing a bit more pacemaking, as Giant Shimano and Omega Pharma Quickstep will feel they shouldn't have to do as much.

Conversation regarding past cases of PED use or innuendo surrounding current riders will not be tolerated. This thread is specifically about Stage 7 of the 2014 Tour de France, so let's keep it that way.

 

[Ichabod Noodle]

Nibali is a better descender than Valverdi and there's a lot of downhill into the finish after the last climb - depends on the type of descent though I suppose.

Tailor made for Sagan you'd think, but Gerrins could be there or thereabouts.

 

[monty1104]

Nibali is a better descender than Valverdi and there's a lot of downhill into the finish after the last climb - depends on the type of descent though I suppose.

Tailor made for Sagan you'd think, but Gerrins could be there or thereabouts.

Not that I've seen the road, but just on the fact in descends only 130m over 4.5km (-2.8% average) I don't think it will be tricky enough for Nibali to really take advantage of.

 

[Vader]

Not cycling related, but I'm looking forward to seeing them riding through Verdun. This was the scene of arguably the worst fighting of WWI, with Germany & France losing close to a million soldiers each. Almost every soldier in the French army served in Verdun, at one time or another during that battle.

 

[monty1104]

Not cycling related, but I'm looking forward to seeing them riding through Verdun. This was the scene of arguably the worst fighting of WWI, with Germany & France losing close to a million soldiers each. Almost every soldier in the French army served in Verdun, at one time or another during that battle.

Was is a particularly strategic point to hold?

 

[Vader]

Not particularly strategic, but it held immense importance to the French for several reasons. The Germans knew that the French would defend this location with every drop of blood they had - so they set out to bleed them dry. This was a battle fought almost entirely on the grounds of attrition, rather than for any strategic gains that might be made through Germany actually capturing the town.

The battle started in February 1915 and ended in December that year. It resulted in over 700,000 casualties and can be regarded as the single biggest individual battle in history - both in terms of duration and the number of casualties. All of this happened in an area only slightly larger than the ANZACs occupied at Gallipoli.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

Did the motorbike cameraman nearly ride into the ditch then?

They never cease to amaze me how epic they are, especially on the mountain downhills

 

[Mister B]

Nobody really willing to let the break get much beyond 3-4 minutes so far this tour.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

What is more prestigious - stage wins or the green jersey?

Say at the end of this tour kittel has 5 stage victories and Sagan has 2 but wins the green jersey - who would be deemed ore successful?

 

[monty1104]

What is more prestigious - stage wins or the green jersey?

Say at the end of this tour kittel has 5 stage victories and Sagan has 2 but wins the green jersey - who would be deemed ore successful?

Probably green jersey, but essentially, you end up aiming for whatever your sponsor suggests.

FTR, each stage win is worth €22,500, whereas the winner of the Green Jersey nets €25,000 (taken from last year's numbers). Obviously, in your hypothetical, Kittel has made more money, but Sagan will forever be remembered as a "victor" in all the official records.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

The money go to the team owners, the team members or the individual?

I only ask the previous Q as kittel shows little interest in the green jersey

 

[Vader]

The money go to the team owners, the team members or the individual?

I only ask the previous Q as kittel shows little interest in the green jersey

Kittel knows he can't win it. Sagan can get over the hills that Kittel can't, frequently making him the only sprinter left in the bunch when it hits the finish line. He is able to contest more sprints than Kittel, giving him access to far more points than Kittel can ever hope to muster.

 

[Vader]

Any prize money won on the course is usually shared between all of the riders on the team.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

Any prize money won on the course is usually shared between all of the riders on the team.

Hadlee clearly could never have been a cyclist...

 

[monty1104]

Kittel knows he can't win it. Sagan can get over the hills that Kittel can't, frequently making him the only sprinter left in the bunch when it hits the finish line. He is able to contest more sprints than Kittel, giving him access to far more points than Kittel can ever hope to muster.

Similar to how Hushovd won it in 2009, when there were more than one intermediate sprints per stage. He just went on breakaways on hilly stages and beat everyone in the break, and when It came to flat stages, he was quick enough to get a few points at the final sprint.

 

[monty1104]

Tejay has gone down.

 

[The Falcon Strike]

Bugger, leave for 2 minutes...

 

[Donakebab]

Tejay has gone down.

Going to have to burn some tickets to get back to the front. Not only a bad time for it to happen but also a bad day considering they are about to start climbing.

 

[Donakebab]

Wow what a finish. Drama at the same bend, another rider just near the line, Sagan falls short by a bees dick and Teejay loses about 54 seconds. Had it all.

 

[JuddsABlue]

Those crashes looked nasty

Seen horse races called dead heats that weren't this close

 

[monty1104]

Talansky the rider down right at the end. It looked like his fault, he just looked around at the wrong time and clipped Gerro's back wheel.

Kangert was one of the riders down on the bend. Phil mentioned Richie Porte's name around that time but I'm not sure what it was in reference to.

Sagan cost himself the stage. I know why he attacked with Van Avermaet, but it wasn't likely to succeed.

Looks like Tejay lost about 1 minute.

Good win by Trentin.

Unfortunate to see the man with the best name, Darwin Atapuma, abandon. Any Spanish/Columbian experts out there know why Darwin is a common name in Columbia?

 

[monty1104]

Jurgen Van Den Broeck also went down in the crash on the bend.

 

[Donakebab]

Even with the horns from supporters, Sagan looks SO pissed off.

 

[monty1104]

Even with the horns from supporters, Sagan looks SO pissed off.

Wtf are those horns? I thought the Vuvuzelas were annoying!

 

[iluvparis]

Not sure if its official yet but I reckon there must be some chance of Gerro being DQ'd and relegated to last in the bunch. I reckon he cut across Talansky's front wheel and brought him down.