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Tour De France 2014
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John Marwood
I ♥ cryptic crosswords
Nowt so queer as spokes
John Marwood
I ♥ cryptic crosswords
Withnail
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What an incroyable turnout pour le Tour - chapeau Yorkshire.
What about polka-dot Voight? Wunderbar!
Amazed that Cavendish wasn't more hurt than he is reported to be - looked pretty bad to me. Much talk as to whether it was Coquard, Gerrans or Cav at fault for the crash. Quite obviously it was actually the evil machinations of Cancellara
.
Maybe not quite the start les Rosbifs were looking for but a Grand Depart it most certainly was.
What about polka-dot Voight? Wunderbar!
Amazed that Cavendish wasn't more hurt than he is reported to be - looked pretty bad to me. Much talk as to whether it was Coquard, Gerrans or Cav at fault for the crash. Quite obviously it was actually the evil machinations of Cancellara
.Maybe not quite the start les Rosbifs were looking for but a Grand Depart it most certainly was.
Withnail
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In all fairness i think Brailsford made the right choice - 'twas always to be one or t'other, not both - hindsight and all that.
The interesting thing will be what the Sky team do now. Does Thomas ride for Porte? Or Porte for Thomas?
At the moment there are a few seconds between the two - 2 minutes+ between them and Nibali.
Thomas has form in the 'completely fecking it up' front - see Paris-Nice earlier this year - but he was doing very well before he had to withdraw. Porte is undoubtably strong but may not be ready to take upon himself GC contender status. At least GT has some experience of going into a race with the expectation that he will win it - a bad crash took him out of Paris-Nice
If it were up to me i'd promote Thomas to the GC hope with Porte to drag him there - one can only hope that Porte has the same kind of desire to bring GT to the fore as he showed for Froome in 2013. It is in no way an over-statement to say that Froome would not have worn that jersey without the phenomenal support that Porte gave him.
Froome and Porte are good buddies, that much is for sure - would Porte bust such a gut for Geraint?
We shall see.
The interesting thing will be what the Sky team do now. Does Thomas ride for Porte? Or Porte for Thomas?
At the moment there are a few seconds between the two - 2 minutes+ between them and Nibali.
Thomas has form in the 'completely fecking it up' front - see Paris-Nice earlier this year - but he was doing very well before he had to withdraw. Porte is undoubtably strong but may not be ready to take upon himself GC contender status. At least GT has some experience of going into a race with the expectation that he will win it - a bad crash took him out of Paris-Nice
If it were up to me i'd promote Thomas to the GC hope with Porte to drag him there - one can only hope that Porte has the same kind of desire to bring GT to the fore as he showed for Froome in 2013. It is in no way an over-statement to say that Froome would not have worn that jersey without the phenomenal support that Porte gave him.
Froome and Porte are good buddies, that much is for sure - would Porte bust such a gut for Geraint?
We shall see.
proactive
Enjoying a drop of red.
Given the way things are in cycling then I agree he made the right choice. It's just such a pity there there is no way of accomodating both. There are no other sports I can think of where the inclusion of one winner completely precludes another from taking part simply because they are in the same team. It's a shame for the sport and a shame for the fans. Shame there couldn't have been a sort of Sky B team that could have allowed that to happen. Anyway, enough use of the word 'shame'.
Whether BW is fit enough or has enough hunger to win the TdF again is another matter...
Totally agree with your analysis of the Thomas/Porte situation. It is a toughy. On balance it must surely go to Thomas, even though he has fcuked up in the past he is probably the only one with the mental strength to actually get over the finish line, so to speak and Porte needs just that little bit more experience under his belt as t'wer.
Withnail
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Ey up monkey bidness - hast thou been following t'Tour?
That there Nibali is a funny one.
Giro last year he was doing exactly what he did yesterday (or is that the day before?), yet in the Vuelta he had no answer at all when Horner went for it. Did you watch any of the Crit de Dauphine? Same thing - he didn't seem able to react to breaks at all. Perhaps the Giro had knackered him too much for the Vuelta last year (?), and perhaps the Dauphine was 'warm up' and literally nothing else this year - head down, legs stretch, kind of thing? There's a long way to go, and a lot of it up, before champers on the Elysees.
If i were a betting man i'd not be placing any of mine on him just yet. Still going to be hard to beat if he can keep it going, though.
Froome, Contador, Schleck, Cavendish... muchos carnage - onwards and upwards, what?
That there Nibali is a funny one.
Giro last year he was doing exactly what he did yesterday (or is that the day before?), yet in the Vuelta he had no answer at all when Horner went for it. Did you watch any of the Crit de Dauphine? Same thing - he didn't seem able to react to breaks at all. Perhaps the Giro had knackered him too much for the Vuelta last year (?), and perhaps the Dauphine was 'warm up' and literally nothing else this year - head down, legs stretch, kind of thing? There's a long way to go, and a lot of it up, before champers on the Elysees.
If i were a betting man i'd not be placing any of mine on him just yet. Still going to be hard to beat if he can keep it going, though.
Withnail
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Anyone can have a bad day - Mr. Porte told me that - i would, however, be more willing with the shilling after today.
Dare say the odds have shortened somewhat, what?
Can't go through Saint Etienne without a bit of Saint Etienne, can we? Can anyone stop Nibali?
Withnail
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One almost wonders whether Nibali fancies a sprint win demain.
Porte loses another five mins + today, to add to his eight + mins yester - some Plan B! Thomas had to go back to pick him up.
Two more podium places left to fight for now - barring disaster, which always lurks - Bardet and/or Pinot might be popular for those.
Valverde probably less so, on account of being quite demonstrably a ....
What's Castillano for c...?
Porte loses another five mins + today, to add to his eight + mins yester - some Plan B! Thomas had to go back to pick him up.
Two more podium places left to fight for now - barring disaster, which always lurks - Bardet and/or Pinot might be popular for those.
Valverde probably less so, on account of being quite demonstrably a ....
What's Castillano for c...?
Withnail
Well-Known Forumite
You had to feel for the Kiwi fellow today - he'll be playing that last km in his head for some time to come.
Did you see the NBC (?) interview with him afterwards? It was almost like they were pushing for more tears, poor barstard - like he needed that! I'll try and find it and put it up.
Did you see the NBC (?) interview with him afterwards? It was almost like they were pushing for more tears, poor barstard - like he needed that! I'll try and find it and put it up.