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Professional Cycling => 2017 Race Archives => Race Archives => Road Races => Tour de France 2017 => Topic started by: Leadbelly on June 22, 2017, 19:34

Title: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: Leadbelly on June 22, 2017, 19:34
Tour de France Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km

(http://upl.stack.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/The-Hardest-Plank-of-All-Time_STACK.jpg)
After yesterday's boring/most bodacious (delete as appropriate) sprint, we get our first MTF of the Tour and as there aren't many of them, us and the riders better make the most of it.

It doesn't seem that long since we were last here at the Planche des Belles Filles. I seem to remember they purposefully built the road to host the Tour, so you can understand them wanting to get their money's worth with multiple visits, but three times since 2012 is rather over-egging the pudding. Time to give somewhere else a chance, no?

Speaking of previous visits....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbRxKUm1WSM

1h19m33 for the start of the climb. Be amazed at the wondrous demonstration of teamwork and smart riding from Radioshack.

I rather annoyingly can't find the equivalent of a broadcast from 2014, but the one above is good enough for you to see how the climb looks.

The entire profile of the stage is much more similar to the first visit anyway. The second time it hosted the finish there was a lot, lot more climbing before they got to the bottom.

(http://www.letour.fr/PHOTOS/TDF/2017/500/CARTE.jpg)

I'll leave any Vittel jokes for whoever does stage 4, they need all the material they can get.

(http://www.letour.fr/PHOTOS/TDF/2017/500/PROFIL.png)

(http://www.letour.fr/PHOTOS/TDF/2017/500/PROFILCOLSCOTES_1.png)

So who could be leading when we get to the fifth stage? Tony, Primoz or Stefan? Maybe Sagan or Bling? Valverde, GVA or Phil? The other alternative is that a break is successful on stage 3 and then it's anyone's guess.
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: Leadbelly on June 22, 2017, 19:57
 :onfire1 :onfire1 :onfire1

Porte
Valverde

If it comes just down to legs then I think it's between these two. Despite his near sprint victory at the Dauphine, it doesn't need saying that Porte would probably need to arrive at the line solo. Alejandro just needs to follow wheels.

 :onfire1 :onfire1

Aru
Froome
Fuglsang
Martin

2017 Froome isn't the force of yesteryear, but a win here doesn't take much imagination. I was going to give the Astana duo one stars, but they did look really strong at the Dauphine.

 :onfire1

Bardet
Contador
Majka
Pinot
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: Leadbelly on July 04, 2017, 19:06
Quote from: Leadbelly on June 22, 2017, 19:34
I rather annoyingly can't find the equivalent of a broadcast from 2014, but the one above is good enough for you to see how the climb looks.

Found (a partial) one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAGEEJNTxNg

Quote
So who could be leading when we get to the fifth stage? Tony, Primoz or Stefan? Maybe Sagan or Bling? Valverde, GVA or Phil? The other alternative is that a break is successful on stage 3 and then it's anyone's guess.

Eight guesses and none of them right.

RiderDeficit
Thomas
Froome12s
Latour25s
Buchmann40s
Martin43s
Yates45s
Porte47s
Quintana48s
Majka49s
Bardet51s
Aru52s
Contador54s
Fuglsang54s
Uran1m03
Meintjes1m12
Chaves1m13

Froome the big danger to Thomas. He has a decent cushion to the rest, maybe only Porte (all things being equal) could find enough time on such a short climb.

Don't think I would change my star ratings for the stage win too much from the other week (apart from the obvious). Pinot I'd drop from one down to zero, I think he might be looking for opportunities later in the race.
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: M Gee on July 04, 2017, 20:16
Quote from: Leadbelly on July 04, 2017, 19:06


Eight guesses and none of them right.

 . . .
:lol Punking yourself now? You know what they say about answering yourself, eh?  Cheers!
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: just some guy on July 04, 2017, 21:27
The climb of the pretty ladies :win

Hope I can watch
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: Carlo Algatrensig on July 04, 2017, 21:32
My guess for tomorrow is that they get to the final climb Porte attacks and Froome follows. They finish about 20 to 30 seconds ahead of a group of most of the other GC contenders.
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: Mellow Velo on July 05, 2017, 09:19
It's going to get hot, hopefully more than just the weather.

(http://www.letour.fr/PHOTOS/TDF/2017/etape_5.gif)
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: just some guy on July 05, 2017, 16:24
Aru looking splendid FTW
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: Leadbelly on July 05, 2017, 20:54


BOTD: Jan Bakelants (AG2R-La Mondiale), Mickaël Delage (FDJ), Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data), Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Thomas Voeckler (Direct Energie), Dylan Van Baarle (Cannondale-Drapac) and Pierre-Luc Périchon (Fortuneo-Oscaro).

Delage and TDG had disappeared when the replay I was watching started. De Gendt's legs are obviously not quite there yet.

Matthews won the intermediate sprint from the peloton. No Sagan = a big chance for someone to win the green jersey in Paris, but Demare has a nice cushion already.

I haven't seen any times for the climb in comparison to previous years, but to me it didn't look as quick as 2012. GC contenders certainly weren't being spat out within the first 500m of the climb.

Aru very strong, but next time will he be allowed that sort of leeway? Of the rest, when push came to shove only three could follow Froome - Martin, Porte and Bardet. They started fannying around which allowed the others to come back to them, but on the final section those four pulled away again. Draw what you will from that.
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: M Gee on July 05, 2017, 21:40
Quote from: Leadbelly on July 05, 2017, 20:54
. . .
Aru very strong, but next time will he be allowed that sort of leeway? Of the rest, when push came to shove only three could follow Froome - Martin, Porte and Bardet. They started fannying around which allowed the others to come back to them, but on the final section those four pulled away again. Draw what you will from that.
Hmmmm - Aru being "allowed"? Looked to me like he ambushed the lot of them. Porte/Froome/Martin looked pretty equal - and none of them had the legs to follow. Nor did Fuglsang. Well, I'm glad Fuglsang got his win and the palmares - and the "co-leader" title, but it looks to me like Aru has just taken the 'leader' merit badge.

After stages 8 and 9, we will know a lot more about how things are shaping up. For now, BMC didn't get mugged as badly as I thought they would - working on the front all day. Sky doms fell off pretty quickly once they took the reins.

Quintana and Contador, "poof!" and they are gone, I'm thinking. Oh, yeah, we could see a challenge, but it will take a stage like stage 15 at the Vuelta last year, or like the final day of the 2014 Dauphine, when Talansky took the overall with a legendary break powered by Hesjedal.

Geraint has had  #yellow for a few days, but his time near the top of the leaderboard is now measured. It was obvious today that he won't have the climbing legs to follow what remains of the GC leaders (Froome, Porte, Martin, Aru) when we hit the slopes again.
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: M Gee on July 05, 2017, 21:43
Quote from: Leadbelly on June 22, 2017, 19:34
Tour de France Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km

(http://upl.stack.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/The-Hardest-Plank-of-All-Time_STACK.jpg)
After yesterday's boring/most bodacious (delete as appropriate) sprint, we get our first MTF of the Tour and as there aren't many of them, us and the riders better make the most of it.

 . . .

You got the "pick one" part right, but there weren't enough choices, eh? Judging from the twittersphere, I'd say "gutted" was the word you were looking for. ;)
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: AG on July 05, 2017, 23:01
TDG dropped from the break about 40 km from home or do ... he knew the break wasn't going to make it so he sat up.

 Am disappointed for phil that bmc chased all day as he would have had a very good chance at winning the stage and asking yellow on his birthday ... but that is bike racing


Bmc - I giv  them a bit of credit for actually trying something ... someone has to do something or froome will just sail away with this.  If they left sky on the front for a training ride to the final climb.... there isn't much chance of testing things, so all kudos to them. I hope they keep mixing things up and giving it a go
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: Leadbelly on July 06, 2017, 05:39
http://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_104653.htm

Quote from: Froome
"It was a minor mistake for us, Aru drove a big race, he attacked at the right moment just before the last climb, and we did not go very fast at that time. I think we will not give Aru such an advantage again, because he is in a good shape, he showed it today, "

According to Jens Attacks, the ascent was 12 seconds quicker than 2012. The group of favourites didn't really start thinning out till much higher on the climb though, so either the 2012 field was full of has beens or the 2017 one is a much more homogenous group ..... or both could be true.
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: Mellow Velo on July 06, 2017, 07:53
Quote from: Leadbelly on July 06, 2017, 05:39
http://www.radsport-news.com/sport/sportnews_104653.htm

According to Jens Attacks, the ascent was 12 seconds quicker than 2012. The group of favourites didn't really start thinning out till much higher on the climb though, so either the 2012 field was full of has beens or the 2017 one is a much more homogenous group ..... or both could be true.

Here you go:-

http://www.climbing-records.com/2017/07/aru-sets-new-record-on-belles-filles.html

Mucho watts. The Twitter power brigade are not too impressed. :D
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: Capt_Cavman on July 06, 2017, 08:49
2012 - Wiggins was just behind Froome on a climb that didn't suit him at all and there wasn't much competition Taaramae and Zubeldia  were 5th & 6th.
2014 - Nibali won in the rain over no-one great and already comfortably up on gc.

While I've got little faith in Aru,  these aren't benchmarks I'd draw many conclusions from.
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: M Gee on July 06, 2017, 15:22
Quote from: AG on July 05, 2017, 23:01
. . .

Bmc - I giv  them a bit of credit for actually trying something ... someone has to do something or froome will just sail away with this.  If they left sky on the front for a training ride to the final climb.... there isn't much chance of testing things, so all kudos to them. I hope they keep mixing things up and giving it a go

Yur right on that - good to see somebody intending to attack. And now Porte has said he thought things would go better when they hit the final slopes. But they didn't go better, and they didn't go badly, either. He and Martin equaled Froome, and Sky didn't have the overpowering squad that we've seen in the past. I'm happy for the moment, as I'm thinking we will see a good race this year.
Title: Re: Stage 5 - Vittel › La Planche des Belles Filles 160km
Post by: Leadbelly on July 06, 2017, 18:23
No it wasn't a rat tail.

http://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20170706_02959556