Sport Tour de France

[Number37]

Cracking stage last night, tense, cramps nearly did the young gun on the finish

Big GC stage tonight potentially, for those watching part time, worth a tune in.

It should be on in today's stage. Aru went gangbusters on the same slopes in the Dauphiné.
I think Contador might be the first to light it up.

Will be fascinating viewing.

 

[Mister B]

Last night was really interesting. Think it was quite subdued as they know what they are in for tonight. GC will blow apart tonight especially if it's a hot day. I look forward to the mayhem!

What are people's thoughts on the length of stages. Really like shorter, more physically intense stages personally.

 

[GotTheGoodes]

This stage has been nuts.

 

[Mister B]

This stage has been nuts.

After that first descent i think it has been fairly tame.

 

[Mister B]

Well guess i'll just cheer on Yates for the White seeing as no one will beat Froome now. Will be a procession of boredom for the remainder of the tour. Sadly, Richie can only blame himself. He ****ed that up big time.

 

[Dan87]

Looked real bad, all the best Richie

 

[Number37]

What about the descending of Bardet?

Poor Richie.
Reminds me of that '12th Man' skit about the gymnast running into the vault.
"Did you slip or just F up? Well Daryl, I just F'd up."

 

[Mister B]

Very interesting stage last night. Both Froome and Are overshoot on the decent before the final climb. The rest of the lead group ******* sits up! WTF???? Are and Bennett attacked towards the end which broke Froome. Makes you wonder what damage could have been done even by maintaining the place when he overshot.

 

[Number37]

Very interesting stage last night. Both Froome and Are overshoot on the decent before the final climb. The rest of the lead group ******* sits up! WTF???? Are and Bennett attacked towards the end which broke Froome. Makes you wonder what damage could have been done even by maintaining the place when he overshot.

Who would have set the pace without Team Sky?
I hope Landa signs with Movistar ( as the rumours suggest), with him, Quintana and Velverde they have a team capable of putting Sky under all sorts of pressure.

 

[Mister B]

Who would have set the pace without Team Sky?
I hope Landa signs with Movistar ( as the rumours suggest), with him, Quintana and Velverde they have a team capable of putting Sky under all sorts of pressure.

Based on the Backstage pass Orica had told Yatesy to treat the final climb as a time trial, to sit at his own red line. That's all the group needed to do. Didn't need to attack, just needed to maintain what they were doing.

 

[GotTheGoodes]

Short but tough tonight (there's a joke there somewhere I'm sure of it).

Will be interesting to see how fresh (or not) Froome is... Can see lots of GC attacks after last night.

 

[Mister B]

Short but tough tonight (there's a joke there somewhere I'm sure of it).

Will be interesting to see how fresh (or not) Froome is... Can see lots of GC attacks after last night.

Much prefer these sorts of stages. Tough and flat out racing the whole time. Will be interesting to see if anyone was foxing. If anyone isn't right this could hurt them. Just wish it was a mountain top finish. Hate this bullshit finish after a long descent.

 

[GotTheGoodes]

Much prefer these sorts of stages. Tough and flat out racing the whole time. Will be interesting to see if anyone was foxing. If anyone isn't right this could hurt them. Just wish it was a mountain top finish. Hate this bullshit finish after a long descent.

They want the best of both worlds. Huge climbs + fast decent/sprints. Greedy & ruining a perfectly good mountain stage.

 

[Mister B]

Very, very interesting stage. Is Froome really struggling? Can anyone distance him in the last lot of mountains? Is Landa riding for himself or is it a play to get two on the podium? Has Yates just wrapped up the white jersey by asserting his dominance in the last 5 km? More short stages please!

 

[Number37]

Based on the Backstage pass Orica had told Yatesy to treat the final climb as a time trial, to sit at his own red line. That's all the group needed to do. Didn't need to attack, just needed to maintain what they were doing.

Today's stage just proved that without Sky setting the tempo there isn't anyone else capable, especially on the climbs.
Makes the racing much more interesting, when Team Sky are not dominating.

 

[Dan87]

Stage 17 tonight looks a beauty

Little wino and watching the suffering tonight for mine.

 

[Number37]

If they don't light it up tonight then I will be disappointed.

 

[Ticky009]

Check this out, this is what 16 days on le Tour does to your legs
http://wwos.nine.com.au/2017/07/19/...badly-fatigued-legs-during-the-tour-de-france

 

[GotTheGoodes]

I reckon last night was a cracker for what was meant to be a flatish transition stage. Bling Matthews with yet another stage under the belt too made it so much better. It was a brilliant sprint to close it out too. Another good close sprint.

I thought this tour would be pretty crap after losing Porte, ValVerde, Cav & Sagan... But it's been brilliant.

Froome can make a finality of yellow tonight. Need a big push by Aru & co if they're going to be a chance... Froome will be far too strong in the ITT.

 

[Mister B]

I reckon last night was a cracker for what was meant to be a flatish transition stage. Bling Matthews with yet another stage under the belt too made it so much better. It was a brilliant sprint to close it out too. Another good close sprint.

I thought this tour would be pretty crap after losing Porte, ValVerde, Cav & Sagan... But it's been brilliant.

Froome can make a finality of yellow tonight. Need a big push by Aru & co if they're going to be a chance... Froome will be far too strong in the ITT.

I think the biggest interest tonight will be the battle for the white jersey. Can't see anyone putting enough time in Froome to hold him off in the TT. Green is settled unless Matthews crashes out. If you get a chance, find the last 10km of racing in the women's la course race. Really impressive stuff.