UKTexans Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 Froome vs Thomas for yellow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mse326 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 Long way from this, but do/can Sky actually tell Thomas to get off the back of the peleton so Froome can win? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TedLavie Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 The Sky domination is getting a bit ridiculous imho. Although Bardet, Quintana, Roglic and Nibali digged their own grave by not working together once Martin attacked. They lost almost a minute on Froome/Martin because they were too scared to being counter attacked by the others, even though the 3 best TT (aside from Roglic) were in front. Plain dumb. Much love to Dumoulin. Glad to see someone who took a shot getting something out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted July 18, 2018 Author Share Posted July 18, 2018 1 hour ago, mse326 said: Long way from this, but do/can Sky actually tell Thomas to get off the back of the peleton so Froome can win? No, that's obviously not an option ha. It's going to be an interesting situation, because Thomas is absolutely a main contender. They could probably tell Thomas not to attack, if it came to it. Looking like the Wiggins v Froome situation again. So long as Dumoulin is still a legit threat they will back both of them. I see Thomas losing time on todays stage. If Sky loses some of it's train earlier in the stage, Thomas may be forced to work for Froome, imo. I think Froome will also launch a big attack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle21121 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 6 hours ago, kempus said: No, that's obviously not an option ha. It's going to be an interesting situation, because Thomas is absolutely a main contender. They could probably tell Thomas not to attack, if it came to it. Looking like the Wiggins v Froome situation again. So long as Dumoulin is still a legit threat they will back both of them. I see Thomas losing time on todays stage. If Sky loses some of it's train earlier in the stage, Thomas may be forced to work for Froome, imo. I think Froome will also launch a big attack. Imagine if it’s an Lemond/Hinault situation? Cant wait for today’s stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 58 minutes ago, kyle21121 said: Imagine if it’s an Lemond/Hinault situation? Cant wait for today’s stage. I was also thinking about that. I doubt it comes to that though. Yeah, this is the Queen stage of this tour imo. Should be awesome. I expect a lot of attacks because there are only 2 other mountian finishes afters todays stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edge Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 (edited) 11 hours ago, TedLavie said: The Sky domination is getting a bit ridiculous imho. Although Bardet, Quintana, Roglic and Nibali digged their own grave by not working together once Martin attacked. They lost almost a minute on Froome/Martin because they were too scared to being counter attacked by the others, even though the 3 best TT (aside from Roglic) were in front. Plain dumb. Much love to Dumoulin. Glad to see someone who took a shot getting something out of it. I have to agree with the Sky domination. They are looking like a cat playing with her toys those last years. And the non punishment for Froome adds a very bitter taste to that. But i'm happy the others tried it at least. Valverde with a balsy attack, that didn't paid off, but it was worth a try. I was surprised that they let him take a gap of 2 minutes. Then Nibali and Bahrain-Merida made the stupid move to close the gap to 1 minute. Maybe they wanted to launch an attack downhill, since Nibali is a pretty good rider in such a situation, but they still helped Sky massively by reducing the gap. So alltogether a pretty dumb move by them. Also as u said i really liked what Dumoulin did. It didn't paid off with any time gain to Froome, besides the 2 bonus second he got in the finish, but it was a move that put more pressure on Sky and that keeps Dumoulin in contention. Unfortunately i think, that this attack will hurt Dumoulin today. I hope i'm wrong, but i fear that he won't be able to hold the back wheel of Froome/Thomas today. As it seems it will be a fight between Thomas, Froome and Dumoulin. Obviously i'm rooting hard for Dumoulin to win it all. Edited July 19, 2018 by Edge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 Sky plan everything down to the slightest detail. The rider data they released of Froome at the Giro was astonishing. Sky have the best and strongest team, that's without question. But, a lot of their stars were developed with the team. Froome, Thomas, Porte, Landa etc. Sky are very shrewd with their transfer business, even if they have the biggest budget. They're the best run team with the best cyclist. Froome also proved he can do it without his team grinding everyone into the ground, at the Giro. It's up to everyone else to beat them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 I'm amazed that that stage finished with a 5 man sprint among the favourites. I would never have predicted that. Thomas looks like the strongest rider out there, he's the favourite at this point. Dumoulin also looks very strong and we know how well he can TT. I'm not sure about Froome. He's been far from out of sorts, but not dominant, imo. I have a feeling his training block was designed to get him in top shape for the final week or so, same as what they did with the Giro. Or, he doesn't have as much in the tank because of the Giro. Will be very interesting to see. I'm very happy for Thomas. He always comes across as a genuine and friendly guy. His interview after winning the stage was great. I don't see any further GC changes until next Tuesday or Wednesday, unless something crazy happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TedLavie Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 6 hours ago, kempus said: Sky plan everything down to the slightest detail. The rider data they released of Froome at the Giro was astonishing. Sky have the best and strongest team, that's without question. But, a lot of their stars were developed with the team. Froome, Thomas, Porte, Landa etc. Sky are very shrewd with their transfer business, even if they have the biggest budget. They're the best run team with the best cyclist. Froome also proved he can do it without his team grinding everyone into the ground, at the Giro. It's up to everyone else to beat them. We heard the same stuff with US Postal. Also Landa wasn't developed by Sky. He already had a podium in the Giro (I think) when he was with Euskaltel (I think). Same with Kwiatow, who was already a monster before Sky. Today is one the first days in a long time when you can't blame the big guys for not trying. Lotto Jumbo did its best. Quintana tried. Bardet tried. Nibali tried. Sky is just too strong. Apparently Froome was hit by a spectator in Alpe D'Huez. I'm not a SKY fan at all but that's a shame. Also what's up with the mountain stages on weekdays? That's stupid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mse326 Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Really exciting stage. Thomas looks unbeatable right now. Second straight day Dumoulin beat Froome at the line. That doesn't bode well for Froome unless he is holding back a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKTexans Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 3 hours ago, mse326 said: Really exciting stage. Thomas looks unbeatable right now. Second straight day Dumoulin beat Froome at the line. That doesn't bode well for Froome unless he is holding back a bit. Go Thomas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 5 hours ago, TedLavie said: We heard the same stuff with US Postal. Also Landa wasn't developed by Sky. He already had a podium in the Giro (I think) when he was with Euskaltel (I think). Same with Kwiatow, who was already a monster before Sky. You're correct about Landa. He had the Giro podium just before he went to Sky, when he was on Astana. Indeed, hence why I didn't mention Kwiatkowski as an example. Kwiatkowski, Wiggins and Cav are the thee examples of Sky going out and getting a massive name. The point is still relevant, though. It's not like they're Movistar going out and buying 3 GT contenders for the same race. There will always be sceptics, because of the nature of cycling. If one day they're found to be cheating, I will hold my hands up. Until that day, innocence must be assumed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted July 19, 2018 Author Share Posted July 19, 2018 5 hours ago, mse326 said: Really exciting stage. Thomas looks unbeatable right now. Second straight day Dumoulin beat Froome at the line. That doesn't bode well for Froome unless he is holding back a bit. Doubt he's holding anything back, but as I mentioned, he may be aiming to hit peak condition in the last week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted July 20, 2018 Author Share Posted July 20, 2018 Nibali out of the tour due to that crash. Massive shame to see another big dog bow out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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