Bike Ping
STAGE 7
There is no climbing today, but the course is almost 150 miles and literally uphill all the way with lots of false flats. Then an uphill finish. I think this course suits Sagan.
Posted on 07/02/2014 12:26:29 PM PDT by Baynative
Crazy! Don’t know how they did it.
I think Contador could definitely make up the 3 min in a steep mountain stage. He was nipping at Froome’s heels last year but couldn’t bridge the gap b/c Froome was too strong. I don’t like the guy but he’s one of the strongest climbers in the TdF. Remember he was 4th last year. With Froome out, I think he sees a fine opportunity to attack when we hit the hills.
I love watching a stage race play out, don’t you?
Yes. Even when your favorite ( mine was Froome) is out there is always the intrigue of who can take the Yellow.
Appreciate your very through take. Will be watching the coverage and keeping this in mind as the stages unfold.
Also, there is something odd in the fact that it is harder to drop the yellow jersey than any of the others and how important teams become even at 15 mph.
This is why they have races.
STAGE 7
There is no climbing today, but the course is almost 150 miles and literally uphill all the way with lots of false flats. Then an uphill finish. I think this course suits Sagan.
I agree with you, Baynative. It is unexplainable but there is clearly a “power” that comes with the yellow jersey. We have seen it time and again. It’s like a Superman cape. It is going to be interesting indeed to see what happens when we get to the mountains. I expect Contador to attack but there will be others with the same thing in mind and Nibali is a very strong climber.
And... this is why we watch!
And Sagan adds 7 points to his total after the mid point sprint.
Hey, a few point here and a few points there can keep a sprinter in the Green Jersey.
40k to go...Sagan wants this stage and everyone knows it.
Seriously! It’s insane. How about that finish today? Razor thin difference. I was really sorry to see Tejay go down. Such terrible luck for him. It’s as if there is no safe place to be this year! There have been crashes at the front, the middle, the back.. what’s a rider to do? At one point the peloton was all together moving down the road and it seemed like every rider had a bandage somewhere.
What are the odds that so many of the top contenders are the ones going down - Cavendish, Froome, Tejay, Talansky, Greipel, Porte, ValVerde...
Well, a bunch of the regular riders have been hitting the floor also.
No quarrel there. I wonder if it’s nerves or a lack of concentration.
Now it begins as the road tilts up.
This is just to get the heart rate up a bit before the real fun starts on Sunday leading into an ass kicker on Monday with seven climbs and a summit finish before the rest on Tuesday.
I think there was a race 4 - 5 years (maybe longer?) ago that was full of crashes. The polka-dot jersey holder even crashed a couple of times in the individual time trial, no one anywhere near him ... it was bizarre. And when the guy did the flip into the barbed wire, that year was bad too.
Of course, Contadore never seems to get caught up in a mess ... grrrr! Not that I ever want to see someone hurt, but he just bugs me.
Really hoping that Tejay & Talansky are okay for tomorrow.
I found the path through Douaumond & Verdun very moving, such a lot of sad and brave history there. My DH has written books on the fortifications & battles in these areas, so I know them well.
I am really liking the little videos with Alex Howes (??) — what an engaging personality!
Thank you for that. When I can I have been focusing on keeping the tour news posted, but that bit of footage grabbed me too.
This is still the FRee Republic and remembering the battles for freedom all over this globe should not get short notice if we are to continue our role in giving people hope.
...honest hope
Did you see the interview with Peter Stetina after the stage? He said b/c it’s the Tour, riders are “just that much closer together”. His theory is that everyone wants to be at the front and the riders are very jumpy in the peloton. The extra tight formation makes it that much harder to avoid a crash so a bunch of riders go down.
We have certainly seen horrific crashed over the years- I think the worst was Beloki going down on hot tar. The one a couple of years ago when the official car swerved and launched Hoogerland and Antonio Flecha into a barbed wire fence was incredible. I seem to recall another year when the Tour was going across a very low lying area with water on both sides and virtually the entire peloton fell.
That said, this year is memorable in sheer numbers. I don’t think I have ever seen as many riders fall. Has anyone seen actual numbers? Is this really the most crashed Tour? Or does it just feel that way?
It’s almost like the last man standing is going to win! haha!
2014 is the Tour de Rain.
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