Tour de France

[Fishy]

Sky needed the British guy to win that year - that's why they sunk their cash into the deal. Froome was never going to get a green light.

Some terrible news - Phinney wrecked into a road barrier today. Compound fracture of his lower leg - surgery and likely the end of his season.

 

[junglehusky]

.... and Quintana grabs the Maglia Rosa on a stage with 14% gradients. He destroyed the field on stage 16. Hesjedal probably had an on-the-road agreement with Quintana for the stage win, but he just could not hang on the gradients on the final k.

Look at this profile. LOOK AT IT!!!

 

[ZooCougar]

Sky needed the British guy to win that year - that's why they sunk their cash into the deal. Froome was never going to get a green light.

Some terrible news - Phinney wrecked into a road barrier today. Compound fracture of his lower leg - surgery and likely the end of his season.

I know. That sucks! I think he had a good chance to really light it up this summer. Or at least take some monster pulls at the Tour for Teejay. I read on Velonews that his crash may have involved one of the race motorcycles. That wouldn't surprise me, Taylor is just too good of a descender.

I caught the last few kilometers of the US Pro Championships yesterday. That was actually a pretty entertaining finale. Loved how the chase group waited until the absolute last 500 meters to catch the the 4 leaders.

Josph Schmalz who races for the Hincapie Devolpment Team had a good showing in that race yesterday. He's from Lawrence and grew up racing in some of the same races I do here and he even comes back once or twice a year for the Tour of Lawrence and cyclocross. That's another cool thing about this sport.

 

[ZooCougar]

.... and Quintana grabs the Maglia Rosa on a stage with 14% gradients. He destroyed the field on stage 16. Hesjedal probably had an on-the-road agreement with Quintana for the stage win, but he just could not hang on the gradients on the final k.

Look at this profile. LOOK AT IT!!!

I heard there was some controversy about one of the descents being neutralized due to snow.

It's good to see Ryder going well, he would be a virtual podium lock if not for the TTT debacle. I think he should dial it back and keep his powder dry for the Tour. He might be able to make up some more time, but that seems like a waste to me given that he has already won the Giro before.

 

[junglehusky]

With his Giro win, Quintana becomes an instant contender for next year's Tour. (Although one could say let's at least wait to see the profile and how he would fare in a long time trial set by the English Channel or the Atlantic coast). Among other interesting postrace tidbits: I didn't realize that not only were there no Italian Maglia Rossa wearers in this year's Giro, there were no European wearers - it was a Canadian, two Aussies and two Columbians.

 

[junglehusky]

Crazy finish to the Criterium Dauphine, which along with the Tour de Suisse is the traditional Tour de France warm-up. Froome and Contador within a minute of each other at the last stage, Froome suffering from crash injuries and could not hang. Contador isolated from his teammates and was unable to track down American Andrew Talansky who made the early break and held on for the overall victory. You don't often see weeklong stage races blow up like that. Though maybe in the post-PED-Postal era a guy like Contador isn't able to surround himself with domestiques doped to the gills. In any case, the #SkyDrama leading up to the tour will be very interesting -- will Wiggo be added to their squad, will he hold true to his pledge to support Froome if Froome isn't recovered?

And big congrats to Talansky. Hope Vaughters can keep him from signing with a euro team, he may be getting contract offers at the end of the year. Here's a Miami Herald piece on Talansky from last year's Tour.

 

[ZooCougar]

I still am amazed that they let Talansky into that break. I think a top 5 is realistic for him.

No Wiggins in the Tour and Sky looks down. I think we see a very active Contador.

 

[SixRings]

I still am amazed that they let Talansky into that break. I think a top 5 is realistic for him.

No Wiggins in the Tour and Sky looks down. I think we see a very active Contador.

Agreed. Froome lost Hagen too. Contador has an opportunity. Too bad Quintana is not racing Le Tour this year. That could have been an epic climbing battle.

 

[ZooCougar]

Agreed. Froome lost Hagen too. Contador has an opportunity. Too bad Quintana is not racing Le Tour this year. That could have been an epic climbing battle.

Favorites:

Contador
Froome
Nibali
Valverde
Andy Schleck


Just kidding about Schleck.

 

[SixRings]

Favorites:

Contador
Froome
Nibali
Valverde
Andy Schleck


Just kidding about Schleck.

Hopeful Tejay has a healthy hip and can be in that group and lead BMC.

Going to wear my BMC jersey tonight for an epic, work night climbing ride. 32 miles and ~5,000 ft of climbing - in the heat.

 

[ZooCougar]

Hopeful Tejay has a healthy hip and can be in that group and lead BMC.

Going to wear my BMC jersey tonight for an epic, work night climbing ride. 32 miles and ~5,000 ft of climbing - in the heat.

Sounds good. We have a practice crit tonight and two real races this weekend.

I could be wrong, but Teejay hasn't looked that hot this season. I don't expect him to be in the Top 10.

 

[SixRings]

Sounds good. We have a practice crit tonight and two real races this weekend.

I could be wrong, but Teejay hasn't looked that hot this season. I don't expect him to be in the Top 10.

He had a fractured hip. He had to take it easy before Dauphine and was not ready to really race aggressively during it. I don't have a lot of hope he can crack the top 5 but it would be great if was doing a little posturing prior and is now really ready for the TDF. He's only 26 so he has some years ahead of himself. Too bad for him Quintana is like 24 or so.

You race those crazy crits? So dangerous. So many crashes. I'll stick to training with you racers and do my tri's.

 

[ZooCougar]

He had a fractured hip. He had to take it easy before Dauphine and was not ready to really race aggressively during it. I don't have a lot of hope he can crack the top 5 but it would be great if was doing a little posturing prior and is now really ready for the TDF. He's only 26 so he has some years ahead of himself. Too bad for him Quintana is like 24 or so.

You race those crazy crits? So dangerous. So many crashes. I'll stick to training with you racers and do my tri's.

I have only had one crash in about 40 races. The main thing was getting out of Category 5 as soon as possible. My races seem to be about the same 40-50 guys and we all kind of "know" each other. I like road races much better and they suit my style a little more. Circuit Races, can be even better since you get the whole road like a crit but the races are a little longer than crits.

One problem that we have had lately in the local Road Races is that since we have so many dudes who are waiting to Cat up to 3 is that the 4 fields have gotten larger and faster. In two races this year we caught the Masters race and the 3 race since they were only 5 and 10 minutes between us respectively. Things get pretty hairy passing one peloton through another with only one lane.

 

[junglehusky]

Opening the Tour in Yorkshire makes for some beautiful TV, and the crowds are massive.

 

[ZooCougar]

Opening the Tour in Yorkshire makes for some beautiful TV, and the crowds are massive.

Nice sprint at the end. But the rest was a bit of a snooze.

 

[SixRings]

Liked today's ride. That 25% grade at the end made for an interesting finish. Nibali broke at the right time. They almost got him. Thought Contador was climbing in the wrong gear but he, Tejay and Froome looked good.

 

[ZooCougar]

Liked today's ride. That 25% grade at the end made for an interesting finish. Nibali broke at the right time. They almost got him. Thought Contador was climbing in the wrong gear but he, Tejay and Froome looked good.

I really think Talansky is going to do something special this year. I like how his team took control at the right time and he looked he still had plenty of juice at the finish while not wasting any energy like Froome did.

 

[junglehusky]

Andy Schleck abandoning due to knee issue. The cycling world collectively shrugs.

 

[ZooCougar]

Andy Schleck abandoning due to knee issue. The cycling world collectively shrugs.

I saw a funny tweet today by NYVelocity, "Andy must must laughing at this while he is eating his Happy Meal".

In other news, bad day for UK Postal. It's too bad, because I was looking forward to seeing Contador attack the hell out of him.

Good day for Talansky, if not for that Lotto Belisol rider crashing him, he finishes with the Cancellara Group at least. But at least he put a few seconds into Teejay, which who his true competition is.

Froome? He's probably on the hot sauce anyways, but it just goes to show that he is a terrible bike handler compared to the rest of Peloton, that or he staring at his power meter too much again.

 

[SixRings]

Surprised Froome is out. Better for Talansky and Van Garderen anyway. Didn't see the race today across the cobbles but understand Nibali had an excellent ride.

 

[SixRings]

The more I read about today the more I think that Froome is just a pouty . He fell today. So did nearly everyone else. So he lost some time. Be a man and make it up in the mountains.

 

[junglehusky]

The word "epic" is over-used in cycling, but it was appropriate for this stage. The cobbles were the main course for the day but it was the rain that did in Froome (along with yesterday's wrist injury) and exacerbated Contador's losses. I wouldn't have predicted Nibali doing as well as he did, but the really big surprise was team Astana being so solid on the muddy cobbles. Will be interesting to see how Richie Porte handles the leadership role with Froome out and, controversially, no Wiggo on the squad. Porte himself was sporting some road rash, I noticed.

 

[junglehusky]

The more I read about today the more I think that Froome is just a pouty . He fell today. So did nearly everyone else. So he lost some time. Be a man and make it up in the mountains.

After his last crash he looked like he had something broken for sure.

 

[ZooCougar]

The word "epic" is over-used in cycling, but it was appropriate for this stage. The cobbles were the main course for the day but it was the rain that did in Froome (along with yesterday's wrist injury) and exacerbated Contador's losses. I wouldn't have predicted Nibali doing as well as he did, but the really big surprise was team Astana being so solid on the muddy cobbles. Will be interesting to see how Richie Porte handles the leadership role with Froome out and, controversially, no Wiggo on the squad. Porte himself was sporting some road rash, I noticed.

Today was the first time Cancellara raced on cobbles in the wet. I don't think he was too comfortable either.

Nibali was a man possessed, he deserves to win after today. His ride just about overshadowed Lars Boom's stage victory.

 

[SixRings]

I got a chance to catch up on the crashes that happened this week. Looks like Froome was really hurt. Bad week of crashes. Looking forward to race finish this morning. Tejay has some time to make up now. He has got to try to get in a break away or something. Talansky is in a good position.