Cards13
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Everything posted by Cards13
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JJ..... what can you say.. the way he pedalled away from the last pack then powered past the riders he was chasing down was so far above anyone else it is not funny. He is being challenged by a 23yr old only at this stage who was able to hold him for some attacks but again the way he powered away was too strong for all. Now as we all know that raises questions in this sport but the flip side is maybe there is just a massive lull in the top riders; Evans, Contador are on the down slope of careers (Contadors looks like he is now off the gear and is just not as good without it). Schleck is probably a year away from being the rider he was after injury, Valverde is not in the top class and Quintana is still a babe in the woods (gee wizz how good will he be in 3-5 years??) and there is not much else on the road at the minute. Froome is either a class above or something I don't think we want to think about as it would be shattering for the sport and fans a like. PS the UCI are weak as water, teams are not allowed to offer feed bags on his or withing 20ks of the end of a stage yet there was Sky all grabbing a feed back within 10ks on the climb... I am in so much awe of these guys, I mean how the hell can you ride for 200 plus kms and then ride up a huge mountain like that?! -
Was a little exciting early on the coverage with the big break away of 18 being held at 40 secs and the peleton chasing hard. The puff went out of it pretty quickly as there were no GC contenders in the break. Was hoping for a similar stage as rhe day before where a team challenged Sky. Conditions were not right for it unfortunately. But now it begins!!! Tonight is the most ridiculous stage I have seen (have only really been following the Tour for 7 or so years). It is the longest stage of the Tour this year yet finishes with one the most punishing Mont Ventoux. The last 21kms go straight up hill, from 300mts to 1,900mtrs!!!! INSANE!!! A few will miss the cut off today I suspect.
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True true Mac, would it to come down to the last mountain stage and someone have to pull out something special to get up and it is the Tour so anything could happen.... Bring on Sunday night!!!
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Like you wouldn't believe, what a [censored]!! The kid had dominated him.
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Good stuff TD, will be very interesting the start of the days play today (tonight). We really need to get the big SAFO pelican out as quick as possible. He can turn the match on it's head again very quickly and as you metnioned it is not a pitch would be wanting to chase over 200 I'd think with our fragile line up and Swan and Jimmy A bowling so bloody well.
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Gee wizz Swannie has become a fantastic tweaker! One of the best offies you'll ever see.
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Highest ever 10th wicket partnership ever as well... Going to be a long day at work tomorrow.
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Highest ever score by an Aussie number 11 too!!!!
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Record for a number 11, the highest runs on debut ever!!!!
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Hmmmmm he just looks a class above this year. Agree things may change and this year you can see the riders are not able to just keep going, ie not on the gear. I think they may need to look at reducing the length of it going fwd if they are tight on the drugs.
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Well that was 1 way traffic for the GC.... Froome adds more time to his lead, 3.25 to his nearest rival. He looks super strong and would be very very very tough to beat from here on out. In fact I think it will take a crash or major issue for him to not win it as I think he is stronger than Valverde, Mollema and Contador. Cadel, well all you can say is great career good sir, you are a champion and love the way you keep fighting. Keep punching towards Paris and see if you can snatch a stage.
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Yup good to see, in the past as you said it was the top guys from the GC and Postal/Discovery at the front before Liar took over. Now it looks like it is a pot luck in a sense. Also you notice there is less of that explosive ability to ride away from the pack on the climbs. They are able to grind but not day after day of explosive ride always. Individual TT tonight, come on Cadel!!! Big one tonight brother!!
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Back to the flat for the rest of the week. Ho hum.... kidding. Looking forward to a few sprint finishes, see if the Manx can take it to another level again now he has had a rest day.
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Yea mate see Macca comments above. 3 massive days in a row in the Alps will test all. Will be so interesting to see day 2 and 3 of that and who has gas in the tank.
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ANother interesting stage Macca, the Sky train struggled mightily. Froome didn't. He was again awesome. Just kept on the wheels he needed to while they dropped everyone else. Monitored who he needed to without killing himself and no one had the gas to really explode to see if they could break him down. Still his to lose. Sky losing a rider is intriguing too. Cadel dropped but came back to hang on but he just doesn't seem to have any gas to provide his own break on a mountain. The desiel engine is running but the power looks to have dropped off for him.
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Froome to win the Tour by a record margin? No one can come close to him/sky.
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Here it is Macca, the first big test for the GC boys. Can Cadel produce? I think he can but will he have enough to counter Froome, I don't think so but fingers crossed he can pull some time back.
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Macca just watched it! BRILLIANT!!!! What a great bloody win!!! Could have been a second quicker too, old mate 5th was slightly off the end of the line. Well done to the GE team, jesus they just won a stage of the Tour and have Gerro in the yellow! BMC as a team looked really average, Cadel looked bloody strong. He pulled some big stinks in the front and finished off leading the team home. He lost a lot of time, they all saying its only 25 seconds, bull dust that is huge at this stage against Froome/Sky!
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Was off work crook yesterday, asleep early... have recorded this and can't wait to watch it tonight!!!
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Great stage. Good lord they just bloody fly on those tight, twisting roads. While note huge hills watching them on the way down is insane. Watching Chavanel fly down the hill last night was brilliant and amazing considering he must have a pair of the biggest brash ones! "Gerro" with the win! Green Edge rode a perfect team race to set him up at the finish. For him to beat Sagan (what an all around machine he is) was exciting to see. Also loved how they cut to Scott McGrory after the race as he is "part" of the Green Edge team for the race, they had informed Scotty the night before that Gerrans was going to lead out for Impy. Obviously as soon as he had turned his back they sniggered and winked at each other as it was the other way around. Love watching this race, so hard to stay awake all night though. I think I had to nippy naps last night, not looking forward to the long mountain stages ahead but soooo looking forward to them. Cadel has been looking "prominant" at the front towards the end of the stages, staying out of any potential trouble. Going to be very interesting to see the team TT tonight, where it puts BMC and setting the team up for the "transition stages" before moving into the hills on stages 8 and 9.
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The driver was Basque, fark you Telegraph journo! Bring on stage 3.
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Does anyone know if the driver was Australian? I would assume he was French, the Telegraph in the UK made it out like it was the Aussies messing with Cav... f logs! As to Contador, I am not sure where he is at, he also took some bark of last night. His knee was an issue last year (besides the drugs) he said he was at 75% during the Giro, and he is at 90% now. I don't think he will get near Froome at only 90% and I think he is not at 90% either.
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A few of the sprinters will struggle if they are sore after yesterdays crashes, Sagan, Cav in particular. Agree it would be amazing, in fact I think one of BMC will finish on podium and it will be a young guy not the elder statesman. Love what Cadel has achieved but just not sure that big diesel can grind it out of 3 weeks as consistantly as it used to. I think Froome and Sky will be doing everything they can to break Cadel (and others) as early as possible. Interested on your thoughts on Andy Schleck? Have not really heard much about him in the build up but he must still be a threat.
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Oh good lord what a finish!! OGE bus no less! Crashes galore, the best sprinters knocked out, everyone given the same time. Amazing start to 3 weeks racing.
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“I’m not as strong as Brad was in the time trials but I’m stronger in the mountains than him. I can accelerate more easily, answering the attacks of the pure climbers. That can change the face of the Tour,” says Froome. “Last year the objective was to stay at the head of the peloton with Brad but this year, without doubt I’m going to try to attack in the mountains.” Watching him last year "waiting" for Wiggins on a couple of the climbs, he seems even more confident this year and to see him stake he will attack on the climbs. Not many will go with him if any I think. PS fark the doper who needs to just go away for good.
