2015 - Le Tour (de France) (1 Viewer)

[Nick Vermeil]

Boy, was I wrong on Sagan this year

The guy is amazing. Best thing to happen to cycling in years. Until he fails a test.

 

[Sinn Fein]

Took my third stage win, and a podium finish is looking likely....

If I can pick up another 300+ points on Vermeil tomorrow, I can make this close in the end....

Probably too little too late though...

I haven't seen what happened today yet. But I need a Greipel win in Paris to secure the finish I think.

I have a bunch of hidden points in the overall GC - with the top-3, plus one more in the top 10. But its not nearly enough to overcome Sagan.

 

[Nick Vermeil]

Took my third stage win, and a podium finish is looking likely....

If I can pick up another 300+ points on Vermeil tomorrow, I can make this close in the end....

Probably too little too late though...

I haven't seen what happened today yet. But I need a Greipel win in Paris to secure the finish I think.

I have a bunch of hidden points in the overall GC - with the top-3, plus one more in the top 10. But its not nearly enough to overcome Sagan.

I thought I would have all the jersey winners that count but Rodriguez has punted the King of the Mountains. Looking forward to tomorrows stage all the same.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Tip of the hat to Quintana today. Interesting that Sky weakened over the last week.

 

[Sinn Fein]

Tip of the hat to Quintana today. Interesting that Sky weakened over the last week.

cut back on their doping....

 

[Sinn Fein]

Had my best day, but just could not close the gap enough - sort of like Quintana

 

[grateful zed]

• Tokes `n Spokes
  
  Nick Vermeil
  
• 
  
  5370 points
  
  Spurs
  
  Sean C
  

5215 points

Patersbier

Jaysus

4943 points

Barking Doxies

barkingdoxie

4689 points

grateful zed

zmanzzzz

4670 points

armstrong`s needle

da raiders

4156 points

disposed doping needles

Mason Thompson

4017 points

Corporation

FBG Corp

3980 points

Tricycles for 2

Cheeseypoof

3932 points

micro-dosers

Harris

3613 points

Niboli`s EPO

Sand

3070 points

Pedalling Squares

Battles

3006 points

BassNBrew

Fisher

2892 points

Sammy3469

Sammy3469

 

[tommyboy]

Need more dope

 

[Nick Vermeil]

!!! Team tokes!

 

[Sinn Fein]

!!! Team tokes!

Congrats!

At least I know in the end my strategy was sound, I just failed in the execution of not finding room for Sagan...17 stages in, and I thought I made a really bad strategy decision.

 

[BassNBrew]

!!! Team tokes!

Congrats. Top 200 overall to boot. Very well done.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

well done! i let my dislike of froome dissuade me from taking him. but it's more fun rooting for the guys i like gonna try and make it to france next summer. a buddy of mine had a sweet pic of him on the champs d'elysee today with a yellow umbrella and the whole bit. envious!

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Could Sagan drop some weight and make a run at the Grand Tours?

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Could Sagan drop some weight and make a run at the Grand Tours?

i wondered the same thing watching this years tour

 

[tommyboy]

countdown on the Chris Froome doping investigation

 

[proninja]

countdown on the Chris Froome all the top cyclists doping investigation

Fixed

 

[culdeus]

Could Sagan drop some weight and make a run at the Grand Tours?

Froome is freakishly skinny in the upper body. Almost enough to think he has found a way to atophy certain tissues selectively....

 

[cheeseypoof]

!!! Team tokes!

Congrats. Top 200 overall to boot. Very well done.

Nice job. I liked the fantasy aspect to the TdF this added. Did okay for not knowing how it worked. Enjoyed following/rooting for my riders. Hopefully I'll do better next time.

 

[Nick Vermeil]

well done! i let my dislike of froome dissuade me from taking him. but it's more fun rooting for the guys i like gonna try and make it to france next summer. a buddy of mine had a sweet pic of him on the champs d'elysee today with a yellow umbrella and the whole bit. envious!

He was kind of the throwaway pick his year. You kind of needed to have him just to offset all the other teams. The GC was particularly boring this year but I really enjoyed the points race and the sprint finishes. I'll be back for more next year even after a handful of these jokers get caught doping. I'm not sure why but I love watching it.

 

[AAABatteries]

Ok - I'm sure I'm about to ask a dumb question but here it goes anyway.

I watched the final 3 stages today and that last mountain stage was really exciting. The most exciting race I've watched which tells you I don't watch much and don't know what I'm talking about.

So, when Quintana was out ahead of Froome and got to about a minute or so ahead there was only about 60-90 seconds between them. Valverde was right there with Froome. Could Valverde not have helped slow down Froome or is that just a complete no-no and/or against the rules? Seems like he could have gotten in front of Froome and just not set as high a pace and force Froome to go around him. Or kind of zig-zag with Froome on his back wheel.

It just seems like that was so close that it could have helped.

 

[culdeus]

Ok - I'm sure I'm about to ask a dumb question but here it goes anyway.

I watched the final 3 stages today and that last mountain stage was really exciting. The most exciting race I've watched which tells you I don't watch much and don't know what I'm talking about.

So, when Quintana was out ahead of Froome and got to about a minute or so ahead there was only about 60-90 seconds between them. Valverde was right there with Froome. Could Valverde not have helped slow down Froome or is that just a complete no-no and/or against the rules? Seems like he could have gotten in front of Froome and just not set as high a pace and force Froome to go around him. Or kind of zig-zag with Froome on his back wheel.

It just seems like that was so close that it could have helped.

It's called giving a dead wheel. You don't often see that happen except on sprint finish.

You usually see someone in that situation just not even attempt to help at all.

 

[AAABatteries]

Ok - I'm sure I'm about to ask a dumb question but here it goes anyway.

I watched the final 3 stages today and that last mountain stage was really exciting. The most exciting race I've watched which tells you I don't watch much and don't know what I'm talking about.

So, when Quintana was out ahead of Froome and got to about a minute or so ahead there was only about 60-90 seconds between them. Valverde was right there with Froome. Could Valverde not have helped slow down Froome or is that just a complete no-no and/or against the rules? Seems like he could have gotten in front of Froome and just not set as high a pace and force Froome to go around him. Or kind of zig-zag with Froome on his back wheel.

It just seems like that was so close that it could have helped.

It's called giving a dead wheel. You don't often see that happen except on sprint finish.

You usually see someone in that situation just not even attempt to help at all.

I completely get the idea of not helping but it just seems like if he had actively tried to slow him down some that things could have gotten real interesting.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Ok - I'm sure I'm about to ask a dumb question but here it goes anyway.

I watched the final 3 stages today and that last mountain stage was really exciting. The most exciting race I've watched which tells you I don't watch much and don't know what I'm talking about.

So, when Quintana was out ahead of Froome and got to about a minute or so ahead there was only about 60-90 seconds between them. Valverde was right there with Froome. Could Valverde not have helped slow down Froome or is that just a complete no-no and/or against the rules? Seems like he could have gotten in front of Froome and just not set as high a pace and force Froome to go around him. Or kind of zig-zag with Froome on his back wheel.

It just seems like that was so close that it could have helped.

It's called giving a dead wheel. You don't often see that happen except on sprint finish.

You usually see someone in that situation just not even attempt to help at all.

I completely get the idea of not helping but it just seems like if he had actively tried to slow him down some that things could have gotten real interesting.

blocking his path or some such thing just doesn't happen. getting in front and maintaining your line and pedaling slower is possible, but the guy in the back will just pull around you.

 

[AAABatteries]

I won't belabor the point as I readily admit that I have no idea what I'm talking about. Just figured it could help to run a little interference.

Let me ask another potentially dumb question. How big a deal is what Nibali did when Froome had trouble? If Quintana had done it and somehow taken yellow would it have been a huge controversy?

 

[Sammy3469]

I won't belabor the point as I readily admit that I have no idea what I'm talking about. Just figured it could help to run a little interference.

Let me ask another potentially dumb question. How big a deal is what Nibali did when Froome had trouble? If Quintana had done it and somehow taken yellow would it have been a huge controversy?

Could Valverde do that sure. But it's bad form and frankly wouldn't do much in the end. If the road was flat or a downhill, it's both appropriate and done (more likely you just don't pedal hard when you hit the front on your turn through the echelon). Going uphill, it would work for 3 seconds then Froome would just put in a little effort and drop him anyway. Plus, my guess is he's giving reports on how Froome is doing which may be more important anyway.

If Quintana had done what Nibali did it would have been a huge controversy in the media, but frankly it's done all the time (if memory serves it happened a couple of times in the Giro and either on one of the windy first stages or cobbles in the Tour this year). At keys points in the stage/race, guys attack anytime they see weakness so unless its a crash (and even then they'll attack), they won't take much flak long-term.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Contador basically won the Tour a few years ago by attacking Andy Schleck when he slipped a chain. Was a bit controversial but Contador still got the W.

 

[Jaysus]

I don't care what anyone says... I enjoyed this tour as much as any other.

 

[culdeus]

Contador basically won the Tour a few years ago by attacking Andy Schleck when he slipped a chain. Was a bit controversial but Contador still got the W.

This is still one of the funniest characterizations in cycling history. Schleck missed a shift, hardly a chain slip. Rookie move and he should have lost for it, but the color of Contador as a villain and the Schlecks as angels (despite they all ultimately popped for doping later as well) when the Schlecks were really no talent ### clowns and doped to the gills.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Contador basically won the Tour a few years ago by attacking Andy Schleck when he slipped a chain. Was a bit controversial but Contador still got the W.

that was the tour i went to! we were watching on the huge screen they erected in la mongie. the crowd was rather aghast. it's bush league. they always claim they didn't notice, in the contador incident there's no way he didn't know.

i think with nibali so far back, no one really cared.

 

[Harris]

Contador basically won the Tour a few years ago by attacking Andy Schleck when he slipped a chain. Was a bit controversial but Contador still got the W.

This is still one of the funniest characterizations in cycling history. Schleck missed a shift, hardly a chain slip. Rookie move and he should have lost for it, but the color of Contador as a villain and the Schlecks as angels (despite they all ultimately popped for doping later as well) when the Schlecks were really no talent ### clowns and doped to the gills.

Not saying he wasn't but I don't think Andy was ever popped for doping, just Frank.

 

[Harris]

Contador basically won the Tour a few years ago by attacking Andy Schleck when he slipped a chain. Was a bit controversial but Contador still got the W.

that was the tour i went to! we were watching on the huge screen they erected in la mongie. the crowd was rather aghast. it's bush league. they always claim they didn't notice, in the contador incident there's no way he didn't know.

i think with nibali so far back, no one really cared.

Normally if you drop a chain though, it's because you f'd up. It's not like a puncture where it's just bad luck on the road.

 

[cheeseypoof]

Signed up for the Fantasy Volta a Portugal game at Velogames. Should be interesting as I've never heard of any of the riders. Also plan on doing the Fantasy Vuelta a Espana if they offer it.

 

[grateful zed]

Signed up for the Fantasy Volta a Portugal game at Velogames. Should be interesting as I've never heard of any of the riders. Also plan on doing the Fantasy Vuelta a Espana if they offer it.

careful cheesy, fantasy sports can become addicting.

 

[cheeseypoof]

True. I'll go all in for a while then burn out. LOL But I'm to cheap to do it for money, more of a distraction.

 

[Dinsy Ejotuz]

Sagan solos to win the road race at the world championships.

 

[Sand]

Lost track of this as I was on travel during the Tour. Hey - I wasn't last!

 

[proninja]

Sagan solos to win the road race at the world championships.

Sagan is a ####### bike rider

 

[DA RAIDERS]

this tour is weird. the 'flat' stages have provided much more drama than the mountain stages. they've been by far the most interesting to watch.

and my man crush on sagan only grows.

 

[Sand]

Sagan solos to win the road race at the world championships.

Sagan is a ####### bike rider

At the end of Worlds I noticed he's seriously leaned out. Dude looked angular and mean. If he stays that way over the winter he could crush #### next year.