the Inner Ring @inrng 47s47 seconds ago Brailsford in French: Froome "will do the Paris Marathon soon"... "we'll sleep well tonight and attack again tomorrow"
Rumour that the result will stand as is. Bound to be recriminations either way, but I can't see how that's fair. On top of that, what should have been the best stage of the race (certainly the one I and everyone else I know was most looking forward to) has been utterly ruined.
interesting to hear Boardman's opinion that the top riders would strike if the result stands
Good they should do... I'd like to know why the others didnt stop themselves, I know its only a Gentlemens Agreement but surely with the Yellow Jersey down there should have been no attacks yet its exactly what Moellema did
I disagree with this. inside 3k, whether there's a 3k rule on the day or not, it should be every man for himself and let the commissaire sort it out
It was a decision the comms had to make. If it was just The leaders crashing, tough, but with the crowd and moto involved, they couldn't let it stand.
Just imagine the potential can of worms opened by effectively saying fans can interfere with the race finish. Ivan imagine some teams putting people up the road to do exactly that if they want to prevent a decisive break.
Watching the Highlights... Brailsford has just said that all the teams agreed that Froome / Porte should have had the same time as Mollema, good to see that they've agreed
Am sure in the Premier League you'd have Mourinho / Wenger moaning that something like that wouldn't be afforded to them!!
Rumour that the result will stand as is. Bound to be recriminations either way, but I can't see how that's fair. On top of that, what should have been the best stage of the race (certainly the one I and everyone else I know was most looking forward to) has been utterly ruined.
interesting to hear Boardman's opinion that the top riders would strike if the result stands
Good they should do... I'd like to know why the others didnt stop themselves, I know its only a Gentlemens Agreement but surely with the Yellow Jersey down there should have been no attacks yet its exactly what Moellema did
If everyone else carries on regardless it's a comparatively easy job for the race officials to adjust the times of the injured parties to bring back some sort of parity. It's not ideal, but it's the best of a bad situation. If other riders don't attack or hold back in someway, where would that leave things? Do you neutralise all race times (never satisfactory as it is unfair to those who would have gone on to finish unhindered) or do you start playing messy guessing games about who might have lost what time?
Add to that the facts that competitors want to compete and spectators want to watch. It is absolutely right that everyone carried on racing. You can't have riders unilaterally making up the rules mid race.
And the later riders weren't there to see the crash so for all they knew Porte and Froome had ridden into each other in which case the race is on.
It took quite a few replays to get the footage where Porte stacked into the back of the motorbike so 23 seconds back the riders would have seen nothing.
Love watching the Tour and have done for years. Like red-murph I am also a novice with regards to understanding some of it.
I've still not forgiven Froome for the stuff with Wiggo a few years back and because of that I don't trust him. It always sounds hollow to me when he goes on and on about how well the team did for him when he gives interviews. In my view he'd stab them all in the back. The other day when he put on a spurt to try and win a mountain stage bit over his team mate (can't remember his name) seemed typical of him when his team mate is going for the king of the mountains.
Would like people who understand FAR more than me where I've gone wrong with him. I so wanted him to come off when he was doing that downhill the other day and I was celebrating when he fell off on the cobbles a couple of years back. My dislike for him is almost up with that of Roland.
Wiggins in a team dynamic is widely reported as being an ass. Not nasty, divisive, selfish or vindictive just that he may be whitty and pithy with his putdowns but when a Grand Tour get's going he withdrew and became a dark personality vacum: He improved 2011/12, partly because before he couldn't win the Tour previously due to training/team/focus.
2012 was Froome's Tour, Wiggins could never have wone it without him, whilst Froome could have won it without him. Wiggins could never have come 4th without Vande Velde in 2009. After he left Garmin he made some pihty shitty comments which pissed off the whole Garmin team. The nature of team dynamics meant Sky told Froome he would have freedom to race, no doubt expecting that when a leader was announced that that would mean everyone to race for the leader. Froome came back for Wiggins, without that he could have wone the Tour, Wiggins would probably have cracked and gone out the back. The next year Wiggins was an ass after pledging to race for Froome, he flipped and became fractious seeking the leadership in a Tour he'd have cracked and fucked up for Sky. Wiggins did not pay out Froome's share of the winnings after the Tour for two years, and never was reported to do so.
If you've seen GTs before them threatening GC, Froome was always a more exciting racer. I don't think it's a case of one being a prat and the other not. There's just no comparison between Wiggins and Froome as Grand Tour racers. At any point in history where two excellent riders are on the same team friction occurred. Armstrong's and Hinault's behaviour was loathsome, Contador and Lemond won as they were the best riders on the Tour. Wiggins won because Froome was the best rider on the Tour. Then Froome won when Sky riders popped with inexperience and mismanagement, and then raced soleley against all the top teams on his own. If you give up a TDF win for a lesser rider it's going to cause problems. If I was Vand Velde I'd have been dead pissed off at helping him save his GC at the expense of mine.
Thank you - things are clearly a lot more complex than I had thought. Also had no idea about the team sharing the winnings.
Chris Froome is waiting in the starting area but seems to have a problem with his front wheel and he calls his mechanic. They have three minutes to fix that.
Never liked the time trial stages of the TofF. I rarely bother watching them. Yet it seems often that the winner of the whole tour is determined by these stages. In my mind the TofF is about sprints, mountains, breakaways and the peloton. Wish they would do away with Time Trials in the tour altogether.
Never liked the time trial stages of the TofF. I rarely bother watching them. Yet it seems often that the winner of the whole tour is determined by these stages. In my mind the TofF is about sprints, mountains, breakaways and the peloton. Wish they would do away with Time Trials in the tour altogether.
Yeah I've always had this feeling (Apart from the Prologue TT they used to have)...
Looks like Froome is going to build a lovely lead tonight, he's ahead of all the other GC's (Nearly a minute between him and Yates now) with about 20km to go... Look set to win £100 after betting on Demoulin to win today though, I would have won more but went for the safe option and put half my money on Froome to win
agree completely about the TTs, not interesting to watch at all
they should however reintroduce the prologue, nice and short so decides nothing but ensures there are time gaps in the GC right from the off which lead to more interesting early tactics
agree completely about the TTs, not interesting to watch at all
they should however reintroduce the prologue, nice and short so decides nothing but ensures there are time gaps in the GC right from the off which lead to more interesting early tactics
At the same time though I could understand why they dropped that prologue as it meant the true Sprinters were never in with a shout of winning the Yellow Jersey even if for a day.
Best way would be to alternate it each year... One year its flat Sprint the next its a classic TT
agree completely about the TTs, not interesting to watch at all
they should however reintroduce the prologue, nice and short so decides nothing but ensures there are time gaps in the GC right from the off which lead to more interesting early tactics
At the same time though I could understand why they dropped that prologue as it meant the true Sprinters were never in with a shout of winning the Yellow Jersey even if for a day.
Best way would be to alternate it each year... One year its flat Sprint the next its a classic TT
yep, that would work well. Seeing Cav take yellow was quite special
agree completely about the TTs, not interesting to watch at all
they should however reintroduce the prologue, nice and short so decides nothing but ensures there are time gaps in the GC right from the off which lead to more interesting early tactics
At the same time though I could understand why they dropped that prologue as it meant the true Sprinters were never in with a shout of winning the Yellow Jersey even if for a day.
Best way would be to alternate it each year... One year its flat Sprint the next its a classic TT
yep, that would work well. Seeing Cav take yellow was quite special
And was Chris Boardman back in the 90s taking Yellow that got me into this amazing event
Etixx have appealed the result... Just fuck off, you wasted the greatest Sprinter in Cycling History for two, yes TWO years now your getting what you deserve!!!
EDIT: Appeal has been rejected it seems, love it... Cavendish: haha he's just jealous I've won four now
Comments
Still no official word from the race organisers...
the Inner Ring @inrng 28s28 seconds ago
RMC radio stays jury still reviewing events
Brailsford in French: Froome "will do the Paris Marathon soon"... "we'll sleep well tonight and attack again tomorrow"
Just imagine the potential can of worms opened by effectively saying fans can interfere with the race finish. Ivan imagine some teams putting people up the road to do exactly that if they want to prevent a decisive break.
Am sure in the Premier League you'd have Mourinho / Wenger moaning that something like that wouldn't be afforded to them!!
Add to that the facts that competitors want to compete and spectators want to watch. It is absolutely right that everyone carried on racing. You can't have riders unilaterally making up the rules mid race.
It took quite a few replays to get the footage where Porte stacked into the back of the motorbike so 23 seconds back the riders would have seen nothing.
FANS THROWS OBJECT
It appears that a fan at the roadside threw something at Porte a few minutes ago. It didn't hit him, but that is scandalous behaviour.
Chris Froome, once again not bothering which a bike today is preparing to swim this stage
Chris Froome is waiting in the starting area but seems to have a problem with his front wheel and he calls his mechanic. They have three minutes to fix that.
Looks like Froome is going to build a lovely lead tonight, he's ahead of all the other GC's (Nearly a minute between him and Yates now) with about 20km to go... Look set to win £100 after betting on Demoulin to win today though, I would have won more but went for the safe option and put half my money on Froome to win
they should however reintroduce the prologue, nice and short so decides nothing but ensures there are time gaps in the GC right from the off which lead to more interesting early tactics
Best way would be to alternate it each year... One year its flat Sprint the next its a classic TT
That was a CLASSIC CAV win, no one else stood a chance!!
Cav is absolutely monstering this tour - that sprint was him in beast mode
Good words from Kristoff, acknowledging he got second yet when chasing someone like Mark Cavendish its impossible
EDIT: Appeal has been rejected it seems, love it... Cavendish: haha he's just jealous I've won four now