Tour de France 2015 Thread

[Azabache]

1st - A. Contador      fully "prepared", just too good and combative on the climbs, TT superb
2nd - C. Froome        wonderful tryer, no disgrace
3rd - N. Quintana      just found wanting
4th - V. Nibali           not quite right

But could all pass to a new generation!

Cavendish wins only a couple of stages (beaten by a couple of beasts always)

[Lowlandbrit]

It would be impressive, but I'm not sure it's really possible to do the Giro/Tour double anymore. There's also pretty much no TT this year, which is going to be interesting.

Anyway, here are the runners and riders: http://www.procyclingstats.com/race/Tour_de_France_2015-startlist
And here are the answers to this year's sponsors quiz:

no cheating!:

[Lowlandbrit]

Did the main teams in the season thread, so here's what the wildcard teams look like:

Bora-Argon 18 (GER)	Bretagne-Séché Environnement (FRA)	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits (FRA)
MTN-Qhubeka (RSA)	Team Europcar (FRA)

And since they're not allowed to ride in as much yellow as they usually do, LottoNL-Jumbo will be wearing this:


while Tinkoff-Saxo have gone for this (no, really):

[Guest]

what this news of astana in some drug storm, hardly surprising from that team.

[spencerclarke]

Good first day. Suprisingly to see quintana so close today. Should be a great tour.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Fancy Degenkolb today - and had a punt on the Irishman Sam Bennett each way, he's been in good form this year

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Well well well - massive cross winds and Nibali/Quintana have been dropped

[Lowlandbrit]

I'm just stunned how many people got caught out. Everyone knew the rain was coming, and there's sod all but wind in Zeeland anyway.

Another one of these scheduled for Thursday too, will be interesting to see how everyone rides then.

[Guest]

Greipal wins

Cancellara in yellow

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Very poor from Cav that went miles too early

[Lowlandbrit]

Stopped sprinting in time to let Cancellara get the bonus time he needed to pass Martin too.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Stopped sprinting in time to let Cancellara get the bonus time he needed to pass Martin too.

Won me £11 on the each way long shot that

[dummy_half]

Should be a good finish today - Ardennes region is characterised by short sharp climbs of which there are 4 in the last 50km, the last of which being the Mur du Huy.

The big question is whether they will race it as hard as in Fleche Wallone, and if they do, will Froome or Contador gain enough time over Fab C. It's a fritghteningly steep climb and in FW leaves the peloton scattered all the way up.

[Guest]

Huge crash, been neutralised & teams not happy. Doumolin, ten dam, Gerrans have all abandoned

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Found Quintana at 50/1 on sky bet pre race - after the time he lost yesterday that was worth a few bob

Rui Costa is my Fav today

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

And of course he crashed....

Ten Dams dislocated his shoulder, popped it back in and carried on racing. Nutter

[dummy_half]

Looks like the Mur delivered - Joaquim Rodriquez taking the win just ahead of Froome, with Froome nicking about 10 seconds from Nibali and 18 from Contador.

Froome into yellow by 1s ahead of Tony Martin

[dummy_half]

Oh, and cobbles tomorrow in Roubaix territory. Wouldn't be surprised if Sky let someone have their head at the front and take the jersey away for a few days.

3 sprinters days after that, then another ramp finish and the TTT before the first proper climbing day. Sky will want a few days of not being the prime chaser this week before the TTT.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Was just about to post similar dummy half - no way sky will want to carry yellow from this far out

[Guest]

I heard that rain is expected tomorrow on the cobbles. Carnage.

[Hammersmith harrier]

Was just about to post similar dummy half - no way sky will want to carry yellow from this far out

It could work, Froome is near impossible to break when he's got a lead to protect but he's a lot more vunerable when he has to start chasing and attacking, he'll attack but without the same usual ferocity.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Was just about to post similar dummy half - no way sky will want to carry yellow from this far out

It could work, Froome is near impossible to break when he's got a lead to protect but he's a lot more vunerable when he has to start chasing and attacking, he'll attack but without the same usual ferocity.

It's a good point HH - one I hadn't considered. 

But tbf it's pretty academic with the cobbles coming tomorrow Froome will lose the yellow jersey considering the likes of Van Avermaet, Sagan and Stybar are all within a minute of him - although if Sky wanted to keep yellow they could let Thomas have a go on the cobbles, but I think he'll be saved for Froome

[dummy_half]

Olly

Sky wont want the jersey anywhere in the team, and GT will spend the day riding one side of Froome with Luke Rowe the other side.

Makes sense to allow someone like Sagan or Stybar to gain enough time in the GC to take the jersey away, as they are quite capable of gaining a minute or two over the cobbles but will not present any challenge later in the race.

For Sky, today is just about keeping Froome out of trouble and not losing any time to the GC contenders.

[seanmichaels]

I'd read Sky wanted stage wins this year hence the selection of Classics specialist Rowe. I also think Thomas will be given a shot today

[dummy_half]

Sean

No way Sky do anything more than protect Froome today, especially given what happened to him on the equivalent stage last year (although iirc, his crash wasn't actually on the cobbles). No point using more resources than needed at this early stage.

Stage wins will come later with Froome and perhaps Porte in the mountains, and if they aren't racing for GC, Thomas getting a chance on the transition stages.

Money on Sagan for today's stage - Stybar's probably slightly better on the cobbles (as would be Cancellara, but he's out with fractured vertebrae for the 2nd time this year) but it is only 7 sectors and 13 km, so Sagan should be able to minimise any gaps on the cobbled sections and then is a better sprinter from a small group.

Be interesting to see if Cav can get across the cobbles - not something he's shown much form at previously, but he claimed that one of the reasons for moving to Ettix was to learn to be a better Classics rider for Flanders and Roubaix, and this would be a good test of that form.

[Guest]

degenkolb or kristoff, for me.

[seanmichaels]

Or king of the mountains Nibali on his favourite cobbles again..... dodgiest thing I have ever seen.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Tony Martin wins solo - so happy for him!

[dummy_half]

Pretty much a perfect day for Sky and Froome. No dramas, no time lost to any of his challengers and the jersey onto the shoulders of a guy that will likely keep it until the first day in the mountains.

[Azabache]

My thoughts after the first few days:

Should we be worrying about Quintana? Will he recover the deficit in the mountains or has he blown it already?

Similar worries about Bertie, but one can never tell how he really is.

Froome seems awesome and the team remind me of US Postal/Discovery-sorry!

Nibali-doesn't seem at his peak but who knows...

Cavendish is shot I'm afraid-the Cannibal's stage record is safe.

Thankful that the cobbles' farce didn't eliminate any top riders-what on earth are these sections doing in a Grand Tour?

[Lowlandbrit]

Not quite finished yet, but there's a website for the live tracking data: http://letour-livetracking.dimensiondata.com/

Thankful that the cobbles' farce didn't eliminate any top riders-what on earth are these sections doing in a Grand Tour?

Rubbish, why shouldn't different kinds of riders get chances in a GT? Different places have different ways to create gaps between riders, wind and cobbles are just as legitimate (and part of French cycling) as mountains.

[Azabache]

I accept your view but I just have this feeling that it risks turning the Tour into a freakshow/lottery. Not sure if it's really about "different kinds of riders" but more about completely random chance of the four major stars being injured and abandoning. Perhaps they'll devise a chicane next between narrowing crash barriers on a 90KPH descent (but only if it's pouring!).

[Lowlandbrit]

We've seen that leaders are actually able to survive pretty easily as long as teams include someone that knows what they're doing to guide them (if they don't themselves), and they may actually make the race safer since the peloton is cut down in size during the stage and it creates GC time gaps that settle everyone down. The massive, nervy peloton is the most dangerous part of the early stages of these races.

[Guest]

Impressive from greipel, had to work hard for that but proving he's the only real top class sprinter in this field. Cav does look a spent force.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Cavendish looks off form - not quite timing his sprints right again went too early today. It'll come with time

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

And the cobbles are just as much of a tour as the mountains. A grand tour is meant to be the ultimate test of a rider over all disciplines and terrains

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

And the cobbles are just as much of a tour as the mountains. A grand tour is meant to be the ultimate test of a rider over all disciplines and terrains

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

And the cobbles are just as much of a tour as the mountains. A grand tour is meant to be the ultimate test of a rider over all disciplines and terrains

[Guest]

Tony Martin abandons tour with broken collarbone

[Lowlandbrit]

That was pretty obvious from the way he finished. Bit harsh to make him go out on the podium after really.

Cunning way to create a diversion so his teammate could win though...

[dummy_half]

That was pretty obvious from the way he finished. Bit harsh to make him go out on the podium after really.

Cunning way to create a diversion so his teammate could win though...

Maybe a little too extreme to be copied by any other team

Good thing there are no ITTs in the race this year, as so far it's been a shocker for the TT specialists. Cancellara fracturing his back again, now Martin doing his collar bone and I believe Dowsett is last in the GC.

[Azabache]

Bizarrely, the cobbles can't be blamed this year!

[Guest]

Perfect timing from Cavendish

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Yep he finally got it right - coming into form nicely and after the mountains he'll have a physical advantage over greipel, sagan and co

[Azabache]

Hope so. Interesting comments on ITV4, yesterday I think, that he's lost a bit of muscle and therefore strength for the sprints. Yes, he needs tp pace through the mountains...

[Lowlandbrit]

Luca Paolini has tested positive for cocaine. First time someone's failed a drug test during the race since 2012.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Hope so. Interesting comments on ITV4, yesterday I think, that he's lost a bit of muscle and therefore strength for the sprints. Yes, he needs tp pace through the mountains...

Maybe - but he's been on good form this year in general. He'll get over the mountains better than the big guys, he always does. That's why he usually picks up more wins towards the latter sprint stages, in particular the Champs Elysees

[Lowlandbrit]

Vuillermoz almost quit after Sojasun team stopped. Ag2r interested but didn't have the budget, so private sponsor paid team to take him

Finished 3rd and 1st on the 'walls'.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Team time trial was fairly meh today

[Guest]

Italian rider Ivan Basso has withdrawn from the Tour de France after revealing he has testicular cancer.

Wish him well in his recovery.

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