Le Tour!

[Il Pirate]

If they had Boassen Hagen as their main sprinter, he'd be up there on most of the finishes.




I sincerely hope you don't mean instead of Cav? And if he was the sprinter, he'd be totaly fooked come the windy long flat stages & mountains to come, where his job will be & always has been to protect Wiggins. BH & Froome have one job, to look after the team leader.
And for those who say sprinters can't climb, have you ever stood at the roadside and watched 'em go up a mountain?

[jimbo]

If they had Boassen Hagen as their main sprinter, he'd be up there on most of the finishes.




I sincerely hope you don't mean instead of Cav? And if he was the sprinter, he'd be totaly fooked come the windy long flat stages & mountains to come, where his job will be & always has been to protect Wiggins. BH & Froome have one job, to look after the team leader.
And for those who say sprinters can't climb, have you ever stood at the roadside and watched 'em go up a mountain?

I was referring to the structure of the team. If they really want yellow, the team would be better structured without Cav. BMC don't have a sprinter, but have Gilbert who will contest a few stages but still offer good support to Evans. EBH could do a similar job for Sky, getting up there in some finishes whilst still working predominantly for Wiggans. He also wouldn't need an Eisel type rider as support, which would give another domestique to Wiggans. Effectively Wiggans was in a 7 man team from the start, which is now down to 6. I'd love to see Wiggans in yellow and Cav in green, however I feel the best chance for either of those to happen is if they are both given priority in their own teams.

[jimbo]

Better tactics from Sky today. Completely different approach to the last few days. They were the ones driving it on with most of the riders up front. This is not only better for Cav, but also for Wiggans as there's less chance of him being caught up in crashes. Unfortunately Cav seemed to go a bit early at the end, possibly thrown by the breakaway still being ahead, and as a result didn't have his usual kick and was left behind by Greipel and Goss on the line.

[seanworth]

Better tactics from Sky today. Completely different approach to the last few days. They were the ones driving it on with most of the riders up front. This is not only better for Cav, but also for Wiggans as there's less chance of him being caught up in crashes. Unfortunately Cav seemed to go a bit early at the end, possibly thrown by the breakaway still being ahead, and as a result didn't have his usual kick and was left behind by Greipel and Goss on the line.

Credit to Greipel. Somehow managed to avoid going down in a crash right near the end of the race and still manage to not only get to the front of the peloton but to dominate in the sprint to the finish. Must have been very satisfying win.

[jimbo]

Yeah, Greipel looked really strong at the end. Interesting what would have happened if Sagan had been there at the end, but he came off pretty badly in the crash. Think the thing that did for Cav was a combination of going to early and the gradient. He was really spent at the end. One more go for him tomorrow before Saturday's fun. Have just been having a look at the profile of the finish and it looks brutal. Gradients hit 13% at some points, with the average being around 10% all the way up.

[seanworth]

Hard to imagine that Saturday's stage is being described as a Medium Mountain stage. Looks a pretty nasty to me and I'm sure many riders will be left a long ways back, leaving a much smaller front peloton. This is where strong teams can really help a rider.

[Verbal]

C'mon Frank Schlek

[Il Pirate]

The 'Gorilla' was magnificent today; I'd love to see the stats on how much power he put down in that uphill sprint. Cav well & truly beaten for change.

[jimbo]

These crashes are getting a bit silly now. If it wasn't between Wiggans and Evans already, it is now. Several of the other favourites lost 2-5 minutes on those two today effectively ruining their tour. It's not how you want to see tours won and lost.

[seanworth]

These crashes are getting a bit silly now. If it wasn't between Wiggans and Evans already, it is now. Several of the other favourites lost 2-5 minutes on those two today effectively ruining their tour. It's not how you want to see tours won and lost.

The Canadian lost around 13 minutes I think. A shame with tomorrow being the first real stage that decides this race and several contenders are already out. Anyway that is the way it is during the first week of the Tour De France.

[Il Pirate]

I'm wondering if Sky want the jersey tomorrow? It's still two more saturdays to go after tomorrow and if Wiggo does move into yellow, it's going to be a long hard defence.

[Zulus Thousand of em]

I'm good at falling off bikes. Where do I join?

[jimbo]

I'm wondering if Sky want the jersey tomorrow? It's still two more saturdays to go after tomorrow and if Wiggo does move into yellow, it's going to be a long hard defence.

They may not want it, but I can see them getting it. Cancellara won't be able to hang on to it, and I can see Wiggans or Evans being able to stick with the other if one attacks, so they won't put any time into each other. That would leave Wiggo in yellow.

[Wandering Willy]

I'm good at falling off bikes. Where do I join?

Turn right just after the free needle tent.

[seanworth]

Great stage. Shame the Canadian is out, but still a good race to watch today.

[jimbo]

I felt sick watching that last climb. So steep and horrible in places! Have to Sky were excellent. It's clear to see where they've put their preparation and it paid off. 5 Sky riders up there at the start of the climb driving the pace with just Evans and Nibali from their teams clinging on. Awesome effort from Froome as well. His time will come no doubt, but the time trialling is what lifts Wiggans ahead of him at the moment.

[Il Pirate]

Magnificent showng from sky. Evans had no one around him when he needed them. It doesn't look good for Cadel. And it was a nice touch to see the world champion acting as the water carrier today; that's commitment to the cause.

[seanworth]

Magnificent showng from sky. Evans had no one around him when he needed them. It doesn't look good for Cadel. And it was a nice touch to see the world champion acting as the water carrier today; that's commitment to the cause.

Looks even worse after today for Evans. Great race today. Strangely enough the soldiers for both Wiggins and Evans look the stronger and fresher riders.

[seanworth]

Waste of a day today as some idiot decided to sabotage the race by throwing tacks on the road. There must be enough camera coverage at the summit of the climb to catch on film who threw the tacks. Hope they catch the bastard.

[Bruce Rioja]

Waste of a day today as some idiot decided to sabotage the race by throwing tacks on the road.

Seriously? Why would anyone do that? Someone involved with an ulterior motive or just some knob?