Pro Cycling Discussion 2017

[touch]

Sky did more work than they should have in that finish I think. Given Landa had a bit of a telling off yesterday you have to wonder if they didn't want him in yellow...

He might not have the yellow jersey but this is still Froome's race to lose. He was losing time to both Nairo Quintana and Dan Martin so they had to ride hard.
IMO there was never any consideration of where Landa was or the time gap - they were purely focused on keeping their main GC contender high on GC.

 

[topgun06]

Very exciting stage there. Glad to see Alberto and Quintana finishing high up in the standings.

 

[zophiel]

i think thats the case that froome doesnt like the competition from his own team. He closed down so many attacks which kept the time at about 2 mins to Landa

They commented in the commentary, wondering why froome kept closing the gaps back to Martin and Yates when he should have been letting aru chase them down.

Sky did more work than they should have in that finish I think. Given Landa had a bit of a telling off yesterday you have to wonder if they didn't want him in yellow...

 

[cheesyboy]

Great stage, this.

As a point of discussion, for those who are much more knowledgeable than I:

In the 'post doping' era, should the Tour look to shorter stages in general to encourage exciting racing? The riders aren't the turbocharged machines they were even just 10 years ago. The long stages seem only to neutralise attacks, and allow for Sky in particular to just control the races

 

[One More Solo]

Yes to shorter stages but the reason the race in the mountains is boring is Sky came in to it with a ridiculously strong team including three riders that could probably win this Tour (Froome, Landa, Thomas). Today was only exciting because one of said team decided they were tired of riding tempo up every mountain.

 

[#Chri5#]

I had it ruined by British Cycling email! So frustrating.

The RoadCyclingUK e-mails newsletter gave away one of the stages last week as well They should know a lot of people will avoid the sports news until they've watched the ITV highlights slot!

 

[Bear]

Great finish to the race, bet he didn't expect that on a rolling sprint stage.

 

[physichull]

Yes to shorter stages but the reason the race in the mountains is boring is Sky came in to it with a ridiculously strong team including three riders that could probably win this Tour (Froome, Landa, Thomas). Today was only exciting because one of said team decided they were tired of riding tempo up every mountain.

I know what you mean, but is it not down to other teams to bring it to Sky, as Boulting once said "out-Sky Sky".

 

[zophiel]

Great finish to the race, bet he didn't expect that on a rolling sprint stage.

was a good stage. how did aru mess that up so badly.

 

[One More Solo]

I know what you mean, but is it not down to other teams to bring it to Sky, as Boulting once said "out-Sky Sky".

Bit hard to out-Sky them when they have the money to pay their domestiques more than other team's leaders, and cycling is definitely a sport where you can throw money at a problem to solve it.

 

[Nursie]

The RoadCyclingUK e-mails newsletter gave away one of the stages last week as well They should know a lot of people will avoid the sports news until they've watched the ITV highlights slot!

Was at the test match today, had the stage result ruined by a notification for a SIS email.

 

[#Chri5#]

Was at the test match today, had the stage result ruined by a notification for a SIS email.

I got that as well - have moaned at SIS on Twitter. RCUK couldn't be assed to reply - see if SIS can be bothered...

 

[PlacidCasual]

Quite a surprising result yesterday. I was amazed to see Aru so far back. It just goes to show what influence crosswinds make if you don't have the support. Really smart stuff from Sky, it's still tight though been an interesting tour so far some great attacks along the way too.

 

[Bear]

Holy moly, what an incredible recovery. How he managed to get back on to the group when AG2R were going flat out and burning team mates up, amazing.

 

[#Chri5#]

I'd love to see the power outputs from Frome, Nieve and Landa on that climb, what a fight back to the GC group.

 

[PlacidCasual]

Very impressive, after the mechanical I wondered if that was why he'd been having difficulty staying with the group beforehand. At first like the commentators I thought he was just suffering but the way he came back makes me wonder if the mechanical issue was building hence why he kept getting gapped.

I'm loving this tour, tight going into the final week, still a chance for a few mountain attacks then the time trial very nervy.

 

[SoliD]

Another good day, this tour reminds me of the one year before last where the day can be innocuous on the route profile, but provides all sorts of drama. I've been really surprised by how strong AG2R have looked throughout, always in the right places for Bardet and creating some alternative strategies to put the pressure on. their DS is doing a great job and this final week will have everyone on their toes.

 

[booyaka]

should be a good week - no team sky running away with this one. The short stages are superb, loads of action, drama etc.

Stages 17/18 will be full of drama I think as Sky are struggling to maintain their normal iron grip on the peleton.

Props to Froome yesterday battling back into that one.

 

[SoliD]

Just seen Tim Wellens withdrew as he didn't want a TUE for Cortisone. Wonder if he'd have made that same decision if he was in the fight for any of the jerseys.

 

[PermaBanned]

Hutch had an interesting take on it;

https://twitter.com/Doctor_Hutch/status/886867828145618944