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Post by Shireblogger on Jul 6, 2013 23:01:09 GMT 1
Wow at SKY today. Froome and Porte blew everyone away, with an awesome shift put in by Pete Kennaugh.
Contador will be tucking into those steaks tonight. And my dark horse prediction, Cadel Evans, looks completed past it.
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Post by Panda on Jul 6, 2013 23:19:03 GMT 1
Awesome display by Sky. I'm not sure if that was the solid plan at the start of the day but Quintana got his tactics wrong and played right into Sky's hands.
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Post by raliverpool on Jul 7, 2013 11:46:11 GMT 1
A magnificent ride by Froome; Porte & Kennaugh, but the rest of Sky does not seem as strong as last year.
Already you feel psychologically the other teams/main rivals have to go for bust in today's challenging stage otherwise this tour could be as good as virtually over (bar incident or accident).
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Paddy
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Post by Paddy on Jul 7, 2013 12:07:14 GMT 1
So sad that the main French paper is asking is sky are drug doping. Sad to see Peter knocked off bike.
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Post by raliverpool on Jul 7, 2013 18:49:39 GMT 1
Well done Froome regarding today's stage; but what a disaster for Porte and Team Sky.
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Post by Panda on Jul 12, 2013 12:40:46 GMT 1
Edvald Boasson Hagen out of the race after yesterday's big crash at the end of the stage...
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Paddy
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Post by Paddy on Jul 12, 2013 13:02:37 GMT 1
Fractured shoulder.
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Post by Panda on Jul 12, 2013 13:08:50 GMT 1
Yeah, he was holding it as he crossed the line yesterday so it's not a huge surprise. I think Froome might be the only Sky rider not to go down during the race.
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Post by Panda on Jul 12, 2013 16:18:50 GMT 1
Dramatic stage!
Crosswinds causing havoc, with gaps opening up all over the place and some teams setting a frantic pace early. Valverde suffers a puncture, loses a lot of time and simply can't get it back, ends up losing nearly 10 minutes and is out of contention for the yellow jersey.
Cheatador and Saxo-Tinkoff manage to break clear with 25km to go, along with a few others including Cavendish and Sagan. Sky and Froome can't close the gap and Froome ends up losing over a minute on the others. With Greipel and Kittel out of the reckoning, Cav easily beats Sagan in a one-on-one sprint for the stage win...
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Post by Paddy on Jul 12, 2013 19:17:36 GMT 1
Froome is still in the hot seat, much better TT then the other around him. He can lose 5 mins in the mountains and still win.
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Elmer
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Post by Elmer on Jul 12, 2013 20:26:58 GMT 1
I think Contador will catch him in the mountains. Only a small TT left and about 4 meaty mountain stages. Sky are in disarray. Will be an exciting last week.
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Post by Shireblogger on Jul 12, 2013 21:56:55 GMT 1
Froome is still in the hot seat, much better TT then the other around him. He can lose 5 mins in the mountains and still win. No he can't.
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Post by Paddy on Jul 12, 2013 23:57:09 GMT 1
He can all but cheatador.
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Post by rubcale on Jul 13, 2013 12:36:26 GMT 1
Nervous times for Chris Froome - is he getting the full support he needs from his team?
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Post by Shireblogger on Jul 13, 2013 14:00:56 GMT 1
Unfortunately not. Sky have been unlucky with injuries (Geraint, EBH). But, as I said before the tour started, the squad is much weaker than the one that supported Brad last year. Porte's inconsistency is a real concern. If he rode for certain other teams, I would have assumed that his hit-and-miss stages were caused by drug use.
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Post by Paddy on Jul 14, 2013 19:27:12 GMT 1
Froome had a very good day today! I still can't see past him, apart from doping, which has won several times this last decade!
Sagan, such a character, has all but won the green jersey, just needs to wheel into Paris!
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Post by Panda on Jul 14, 2013 20:09:07 GMT 1
Nice to see Cheatador getting blown away on the mountain. It's a shame that the choices made by others in the past mean the finger of suspicion is immediately pointed at Froome. His ride today was almost superhuman.
Meanwhile, Quintana has future winner written all over him.
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Post by Shireblogger on Jul 14, 2013 21:31:43 GMT 1
Top class ride by Froome today, with fine support by the rest of his team. Rodriguez could be heading for a top 5 finish.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2013 16:40:45 GMT 1
Nobody's giving Froome much of a challenge, its like they've given up and only concentrating on stage wins or a points jersey. They're making him look better than he actually is.
Funny how everyone is talking about this sport now this kingdom has finally produced somebody who's actually good at it since Chris Bordman gave up. I started watching it in 1996 well before a Brit even won it, but even back then Riis admitted he was doping on that tour a few years ago. Makes the whole sport a total fake, which I find very sad as I used to enjoy it and one year even counted down the days for the 1999 event after the "Tour Du Doping 98" ended. A French media coinage for that years tour when all the drugs scandals first began and have never ended since. Wouldn't suprise me if Team Sly are "Doing a Festina".
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Post by raliverpool on Jul 15, 2013 16:58:29 GMT 1
The thing is Froome climbed the last 15km of the stage up Mont Ventoux on Sunday 3 minutes & 26 seconds SLOWER than a certain American and the late Marco Pantani managed in their epic duel up Mont Ventoux way back in TDF 2000.
And Froome was 1 minutes and 49 seconds slower than a certain American; Cheatador; and Andy Schleck were over the last 15km of the 2009 TDF stage up Mont Ventoux.
When you account for improvements to bike technology; training methods; dieting; etc in the last decade then I think that tells its own story.
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