Posted by: froome19« on: July 10, 2012, 17:58 »There is a big difference between descents like on stage 8 and ones like we will see tomorow.
Conversly he did a good job on that descent though he was admittedly a bit all over the place. Posted by: just some guy« on: July 10, 2012, 17:54 »Froome's descending looked good on I think it was the 19th or 18th stage of the Vuelta when he tried to shake off Cobo, it wasnt much of a descent but then again we havent seen much of Froome. he nearly went off the road twice on stage 8 so he makes wiggins look good Posted by: froome19« on: July 10, 2012, 16:38 »Froome's descending looked good on I think it was the 19th or 18th stage of the Vuelta when he tried to shake off Cobo, it wasnt much of a descent but then again we havent seen much of Froome.
Posted by: froome19« on: July 10, 2012, 16:35 »Just a thought; but Roche's hanging around may possibly be down to the fact that there have not been any serious mountains, as I said just a thought.
Posted by: Slow Rider« on: July 10, 2012, 16:34 »Sky biggest problem is Froome. Its known that Wiggins lacks explosiveness, if Nibali attacks, or Evans attacks, and Wiggins cannot follow them but Froome has the legs to, what do they do? I was wondering about that too. I think they will force Froome to stay with Wiggins and keep the SKy-train going for as long as he can. How is Froome's descending by the way? Can he be expected to stay with Evans and Nibali, can he show Wiggins the way downhill or is he as bad as Wiggins himself? Posted by: just some guy« on: July 10, 2012, 16:34 »It'll take someone turning their brain off and just riding like a madman, forgetting about 7th place and instead trying to get 1st. I guess past GT winners might be more likely to have a go Just noticed roche is still hanging around what the. Roche FTW.  Posted by: just some guy« on: July 10, 2012, 16:30 »Sky biggest problem is Froome. Its known that Wiggins lacks explosiveness, if Nibali attacks, or Evans attacks, and Wiggins cannot follow them but Froome has the legs to, what do they do? Froome win would be ok for me if a sky rider wins as Dinz would be happy and he told me I was wrong about froome plus I would not have a stupid wiggo avatar for a full season :-[ me and my big mouth Posted by: froome19« on: July 10, 2012, 16:28 »Indeed the course has been designed brilliantly exactly for a showdown like this and now it is high time the riders deliver, so far with attacks on Stage 8 by VDB and Evans there have been promising signs.
Posted by: froome19« on: July 10, 2012, 16:27 »I would assume that they will let Froome pull Wiggins back up them, their superiority is unquestioned at the moment and there is no need to strain themselves reacting so, rather they throw Cadel's tricks back in his face.
Additionally I would not be surprised if Wiggins actually displayed a level of Levi like acceleration but that is just my guess. Posted by: jobiwan« on: July 10, 2012, 16:24 »It'll take someone turning their brain off and just riding like a madman, forgetting about 7th place and instead trying to get 1st.
Of course, it takes courage. That is why I was so shocked when Andy went for it last year. I was ecstatic, of course, but I can't imagine what it took to convince him to attack earlier than 3 kilometers away!  It'll take something like Andy last year to really get this Tour going. Posted by: Dim« on: July 10, 2012, 16:21 »Sky biggest problem is Froome. Its known that Wiggins lacks explosiveness, if Nibali attacks, or Evans attacks, and Wiggins cannot follow them but Froome has the legs to, what do they do?
Posted by: froome19« on: July 10, 2012, 16:14 »Posted this in the other thread but saw this was probably better:
It is down to everybody but Sky to make this a stage where they can possibly gain time on Sky because 4 minutes or even 6 minutes in VDB's case is a very tall order to overcome and it can only be achieved if they take every opportunity possibly. The key is to squeeze Sky until they are dry because currently the prospects look very bleak for the other contenders. They can achieve such things by either attacking which will force Sky to chase but doing so is risky as it will leave them vulnerable if Froome drags Wiggins up to them and they will be bereft of any energy to take the fight to Wiggins and he will be able to put time into them. Furthermore though it will mean that they will be vulnerable to losing their GC places to their fellow challengers and this is where the co-operation is so vital because if all the challengers are too concerned about their own GC position and attaining a podium rather than going for a win than they all will be too scared to attack, they need to rather have the guts so just go for it and if they all do that and forget their fellow challengers then they will be able to co-operate effectively and they will have the optimum chance to possible put time into Wiggins To sum it up they need to banish the typical RANT approach and go for all or nothing because that is what desperate circumstances have forced on them. Posted by: pedaling squares« on: July 10, 2012, 16:10 »Barring a crash, and let's pray that they get to decide this on the road and not in the ditch, I think we're going to have to see some collaboration between teams as JSG wrote with tactics like Slow Rider suggested. No point in setting up a train only to have the Sky mtn train settle into the draft. And why not try this? Otherwise you are fighting for second place as you aren't likely to gain an advantage that Wiggins cannot take back in the final ITT.
Posted by: Slow Rider« on: July 10, 2012, 14:01 »The race is not over. As the usual cliché goes: Paris is still far away. Crashes can always happen and Wiggins can be involved in one. And if that happens, suddenly the race is wide open again: Froome might be the best of the rest in TT'ing, but he did not look strong on the mountains sunday. Evans and Nibali can break him, I'm quite confident of that.
However even with Wiggins not crashing out, it's not over yet. There are so many people with interests running against those of Team Sky. Evans and Nibali could form a great alliance together, with VDB as one of the most interesting jokers in the race. VDB has been looking very strong, and he has little to lose. He has the pedigree not to be content with anything less than a top-5 finish, so he will take risks and with Vanendert he has the support to back it up. If Evans and/or Nibali can jump with VDB somewhere, Sky will have their hands full trying to minimise losses. And since, as I said, I believe Froome will collapse, that will mean Wiggins will have to do the work himself. Then there's the two weaknesses of Wiggins: Descends and explosiveness. Imagine Evans and Nibali doing a punchy attack just before the top of a climb. Both have shown they can do those attacks. Wiggins can't really match that and will need time (and likely Froome's support) to get back to them. However, once over the top Nibali hits it in the descend with Evans on his wheel. Ideally they'd catch up with an earlier breakaway during or just after the descend (Basso and Van Garderen? Or even VDB after an early launch?) and work together during the final climb. Wiggins would be forced to chase alone since it's unlikely anyone else would help him. He could easily collapse in such a situation, and that could cost him minutes. I know this all is fairly hypothetical, but there are many scenario's like this possible. Evans in his third week TT will not lose as much time to Wiggins as he did yesterday. Nibali will likely lose more, but even he can limit his losses. And Menchov is still a complete unknown: we haven't seen anything of him, positive nor negative. Should he hit top-form, he could match even Wiggins in a TT, and he should be the better climber too. And, of course, there still is the possibility of a complete wild card. What if Zubeldia and/or Monfort manage to get into a breakaway, will Sky do all the chasing? Will other teams support him to ensure their placements? There's so much that could happen in a GT, especially the Tour. It's not over until the riders cross the line in Paris. I agree that Wiggins has been the strongest so far. It will be hard for the others to gain enough time with a TT still coming. But nothing is impossible. This is cycling: heroic attacks, unexpected collapses, terrible crashes, heavy rainfall and even something as simple as forgetting to eat. It could all decide the race and any point. So no, the Tour is far from over, even if Wiggins has a big advantage now. Posted by: Dancing on the Pedals« on: July 10, 2012, 12:59 »Wiggins is certainly in the box seat, but I think it will be possible for the others to put him under pressure in the next 2 weeks. Multiple big mountains are an area where Wiggins hasn't always done brilliantly before, and it will be interesting to see how the Sky train copes. If the other teams can somehow burn a few Sky helpers before they get to the base of the final climb, then it will become more mano a mano and then we'll get to see what Wiggins is made of.
If Nibali was to go for the Hail Mary, then I could see it being 11. Szymd goes nuts and gets rid of the Sky train, Nibs attacks before the top of the Croix de Fer and get a gap, bombs down the descent, short climb up the Mollard, another divebomb descent, and then tt's his way up to La Toussire... Well, it's a possibility at least  I would be amazed if Nibbles and Evans formed an alliance - certainly not until one or the other has lost all hope of a top 3 finish. More realistically, if one attacks, the onus will be on Sky to chase down. Which of course, will cumulatively add up and tire Sky out, giving the others hope. Posted by: BYOP« on: July 10, 2012, 12:01 »I'm waiting to see if Evans and JVDB call a ceasefire for the time being.
Posted by: benotti69« on: July 10, 2012, 12:00 »THe others have no chance to win barring wiggins accident as there is still a long tt to come. are you suggesting the old zefal in the back cosmic :  good idea and it would be great publicity for zefal ;D Posted by: just some guy« on: July 10, 2012, 12:00 »Posted by: thingswelike« on: July 10, 2012, 12:00 »(1st post)
I think the favourites will struggle to make a plan of attack, although I was impressed by Nibali's TT yesterday. They will have to be opportunists. But I think there is always the threat that someone from slightly further down will go on a long break and get back in contention. Someone who Sky will not think an immediate threat. Similar to Westra in P-N and De Gendt in the Giro. You can't mark everyone. Posted by: bicing« on: July 10, 2012, 11:53 »If the 3 week peak is as high as La Planche des Belles Filles, and the 1 week peak is as high as the Col de la Madelaine, then extra swimming may not be enough.I understand what you mean, but the 3 week peak is as high s Madeleine and the 1 week peak is high as Plahce des Billes Felles. The swimming is everything and more. |
Re: Tour of Japan / May 19th-26th / Asia Tour by Dim
[Today at 16:54] Re: The Rás Tailteann - 19th to 26th May by Dim [Today at 16:52] Re: The Music Thread / Velorooms Jukebox by S-Works [Today at 16:49] Re: Tour of Japan / May 19th-26th / Asia Tour by Cam [Today at 16:13] Re: Cricket- RIP CMJ, Greigy and Neil Adcock by Dancing on the Pedals [Today at 14:39] Re: Official prediction game ... season long, or individual races. by Fus87 [Today at 12:34]
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