2017 season thread

[Lowlandbrit]

Big changes for the WorldTour this season, with 10 races added to the calendar (although teams won't be required to enter all of them yet). No Italian teams this year, with Lampre becoming UAE Abu Dhabi.

AG2R La Mondiale (ALM - FRA)	Astana (AST - KAZ)	Bahrain-Merida (TBM - BRN)
BMC (BMC - USA)	BORA-hansgrohe (BOH - GER)	Cannondale Drapac (CDT - USA)
Dimension Data (DDD - RSA)	FDJ (FDJ - FRA)	Katusha-Alpecin (KAT - SUI)
LottoNL-Jumbo (TLJ - NED)	Lotto Soudal (LTS - BEL)	Movistar (MOV - ESP)
Orica-Scott (ORS - AUS)	Quick-Step Floors (QST - BEL)	Sky (SKY - GBR)
Sunweb (SUN - GER)	Trek-Segafredo (TFS - USA)	UAE Abu Dhabi (UAD - UAE)

World Tour races:

[Ozzy3213]

Good win for Richie Porte after his previous second places at the TDU.

[Azabache]

How sad that there are no Italian teams.

And no sign of a Basque (Euskadi).

Disgraceful actually....

[Ozzy3213]

I've just blogged again and this one is solely cycling related...

https://bikesballsandwellbeing.wordpress.com/

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

I'm about to win a ton on Paris Roubaix courtesy of GVA and Stybar

[Lowlandbrit]

I sometimes wonder how much of GVA's success has to do with Boonen's retirement finally coming into view.

[Guest]

Michele Scarponi has died aged 37, following a collision with a van.

RIP

[Lowlandbrit]

What a move by Quick-Step to get Gaviria the stage and pink jersey.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

What a move by Quick-Step to get Gaviria the stage and pink jersey.

Any tips for the Giro? Any outsiders? Looks fairly wide open for the top 10

[Lowlandbrit]

It's probably going to come down to what kind of shape Quintana is in and how much effort he wants to put in before the Tour. Would love to see Kruijswijk and Jungels back up their rides from last year.

[Fernando]

An Angry Frenchman knocked Froome off his bike on a training ride.

[Guest]

Luka Pibernik

[Azabache]

I was delighted to find highlights on Quest (Freeview) channel most nights; it's edited coverage from Eurosport.

(For those of us with long memories going right back to the 1970s who would never, ever pay a penny to Murdoch.)

Nibali is up there, so hopefully no lasting effects from the dreadful crash on that awful Olympic course.

They were calling Quintana the world's best climber; I'm not so sure...anyway, let's see what unfolds...

[Lowlandbrit]

Tom Dumoulin puts on a clinic, and suddenly Quintana needs 2'23 + change before the TT on the final day.

[Guest]

Classification after stage 14

1 - DUMOULIN Tom 0’ 00”
2 - QUINTANA Nairo 02’ 47”
3 - PINOT Thibaut 03’ 25”
4 - NIBALI V 03’ 40”
5 -ZAKARIN Ilnur 04’ 24”

[Azabache]

It's looking like Quintana is another "Eternal Second"; he'll always find a lanky hard nut (e.g. Dumoulin, Froome) quite able to hold him on climbs. Shame-I'd love to see a Latin American win the TdF. But at least he's got one Giro in the bag.

[Ozzy3213]

I want Dumoulin or Mollema to win before it started as I'm not a big fan of Quintana, so I'm well pleased with how Dumoulin is going.

[Azabache]

Dumoulin seems to have it all but I recall him running out of steam last year? He's certainly a very likeable chap which seems to endear him to all. Let's hope he can endure....

[Ozzy3213]

It will be a big week ahead for him. If he comes through and stays the course he'll have earned the win.

[Guest]

'Dumoulin's rivals smell their chance'

Brilliant commentary

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Should the peloton have waited for him? I am inclined to think they should've done...

[Lowlandbrit]

1- Quintana
2- Nibali (0'39)
3- Pinot (0'43)
4- Dumoulin (0'53)
5- Zakarin (1'15)
6- Pozzovivo (1'30)
7- Mollema (3'03)
8- Yates (6'50)
9- Jungels (7'18)

29,3 km left...

[Guest]

Dumoulin wins the Giro by 31 seconds. Quintana second & Nibali in third

[Guest]

Fuglsang wins the Criterium du Dauphine

[Azabache]

Are we going to see him hold it all the way?
Is Contador shot?
Is Quintana shot?
Will Bardet be the surprise?
Will Porte flatter to deceive?
Matthews?
Aru?

[Lowlandbrit]

Aru looked really sharp today, hard to look beyond him as the main challenger. Quintana looks like he divided his energy over the Giro and Tour in the perfect way to be not quite good enough in either.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Will never understand why people try to do both the Giro and Tour nowadays - it simply cannot be done.

[whocares]

I doubt that Aru will keep that form all the way but his win was very impressive today.
I feel that he will be a challenger for the podium with Quintana, Bardet, Yates and possibly Porte who tend to have an off day in the mountains at some point. Will be interesting to see if Thomas is allowed to fight for second place as well because he reminds me a bit of Wiggins.
Thoughts on the Cavendish/Sagan incident? Seems a tad harsh for Sagan in light of previous incidents but this one was quite nasty though. Green jersey is now Demarre to lose.

[dummy_half]

I doubt that Aru will keep that form all the way but his win was very impressive today.
I feel that he will be a challenger for the podium with Quintana, Bardet, Yates and possibly Porte who tend to have an off day in the mountains at some point. Will be interesting to see if Thomas is allowed to fight for second place as well because he reminds me a bit of Wiggins.
Thoughts on the Cavendish/Sagan incident? Seems a tad harsh for Sagan in light of previous incidents but this one was quite nasty though. Green jersey is now Demarre to lose.

The crash was definitely Sagan's fault - Demare went past him on the right with Cav on his wheel, and PS jumped across to try to pick up Demare's wheel (ironically, he could have held his line as Demare moved back left). Cav had nowhere to go but into the barrier. Certainly merited a declassification from the stage and some penalties (fine and loss of points), but from past precedent a DQ looked harsh - I think Sagan's elbow was more defensive than aggressive, so I don't rate it as bad in intent as Renshaw's head butting, even if the consequences were worse.

As for the overall, yesterday only told us that Quintana and Contador are unlikely to be challengers for the top of the podium, and that Froome's form is coming round after a poor start to the season. Aru will now be taken seriously as a contender along with Porte and Bardet. Yates looks nailed on for the white jersey, but it will be interesting to see if he can match his brother's performance from last year.

Stop thinking about Thomas as a GC contender - he's an outstanding domestique for the TdF but is a notch below the elite climbers over these long races with multiple days of multiple climbs. If he does his job well for Sky, he'll end up somewhere between about 8th and 15th. He's a great all round rider, but that's also kind of his weakness - he's not THE best at any one discipline so it's difficult for him to win many races, even if he places in the top 5-10 throughout the season.

[Azabache]

I love LLB's comment on Quintana that "...he divided his energy over the Giro and Tour in the perfect way to be not quite good enough in either..". Priceless!

[dummy_half]

I love LLB's comment on Quintana that "...he divided his energy over the Giro and Tour in the perfect way to be not quite good enough in either..". Priceless!

Obviously there is still a long way to go, but if yesterday's weakness is indicative of NQ's condition, this looks like an excellent summation. Wasn't strong enough to be ultra-aggressive in the Giro and put Dumoulin in sufficient trouble in the high mountains, but took too much out of himself to be a front line challenger here.

[Azabache]

My wife-who comes from a neighbouring country to Quintana's-has a view that he will never win the Tour for two fundamental reasons:
* he will always get beaten by "big beasts" on flat stages, TTs
* on long climbs-his speciality-he will always find a tougher, more tenacious climber, either a "rat" (think of Pantani, Virenque, Contador...) or a long, lanky freak (currently Froome); at the end of the day it will boil down to sheer will-to-win.

I hope she is wrong, have pointed out his successes in the Giro and Vuelta, but she's adamant that it
ain't ever gonna happen!

[Big]

dummy_half - agree that Sagan's DQ seems harsh given historic penalties. Reckless rather than malicious - and the cynic in me says you probably need to be very careful how you behave when your disqualification opens up the path for a French rider...

Azabache - I like Quintana but fear your wife is right on point 1 alone. Stating the obvious really but with less emphasis on the mountain top finishes than the Vuelta and Giro I just don't think he has the all round ability to win the Tour.

[Azabache]

Sentimentally (forgetting logic), I'd like to see a Frenchman win-after such a long break since the Badger's exploits-and why not Bardet eh?

[whocares]

Very tough stage today with both Thomas and Porte crashing while Quintana and Contador are losing time.

[Guest]

Fantastic stage. Been a quiet tour up to date, but exciting stuff today. Wish a speedy recovery to Porte, seems just a concussion & no fractures. Also an excellent win for Uran, given that company

Standings

Froome
Aru +18 sec
Bardet +51 sec
Uran +55 sec
Fuglsang +1m:37 sec
Martin +1m:44 sec

[whocares]

Slightly disappointed by the two Astanas that decided to run for Froome towards the end and catch Bardet. I don't see the logic unless they are already giving up on the victory and just want to settle for a podium. If Froome is not being attacked and also helped by other contenders he will have a very easy TDF this year (bar injuries).

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

I too was a bit surprised by that whocares - I suppose maybe they thought Aru wouldn't be able to outlast Froome on the flat, so thought that catching Bardet was the main aim?

Does anyone know if Demare has been kicked out? Time cut was like 39 minutes, and Demare came in at 58 minutes (groupetto came in at 36 minutes) Would be a bit of a farce if he is kept in tbh

[whocares]

Yes Demarre is out (along with his two teammates). He was already showing signs of weakness yesterday so should have just given up today in my opinion.

[Mad for Chelsea]

Cracking stage yesterday. Real shame about Porte who looked pretty good. Glad he's OK, as that was a really nasty fall. Also feel for Thomas, who's had no luck at all this year.

Aru and Astana working with Froome might have been not wanting to let Bardet get ahead of them in the GC. Certainly they couldn't have got away from Froome on the flat, and they did let him do the work on the climb and most of the descent. Maybe they also fancied a shot at a stage win and the bonus seconds that go with it (though they made a complete mess of that one!).

Maybe Froome told them "Work with me, and I won't make an issue of you attacking when I had my mechanical"? I love a conspiracy theory .

[Mad for Chelsea]

Kittel with another fairly straightforward win. With Cavendish, Sagan and Demare out he's by far the strongest sprinter left in the race, and it's showing. Not sure why the other sprint teams were helping wheel back in the breakaway at the end TBH...

[dummy_half]

MfC

I don't think Cav (after missing a lot of racing pre-tour) or Sagan would have the absolute speed to challenge Kittel in this sort of form. Demare possibly, but obviously he got sick.

Agree that tactically it makes no sense for any of the other sprint teams to help pull back the breaks, and indeed if I were their DS, I'd be encouraging them to get a guy or two into the break instead of working towards the sprint (unless they are keen on competing for 2nd...).

Have to say Kittel's sprint yesterday was very impressive - started about 10th wheel and won by 2-3 lengths with his hands in the air. However, 10 seconds of exciting racing after a 5 hour stage is not really worthwhile. Much preferred the stage Calmejane won in the Jura with the great solo ride

[whocares]

Kittel is pretty untouchable on flat stage - he also benefits from a great train and has a guy whose sole job in the peloton is to make sure the breakaways are under control. Another sprinter said the only way to catch him would be to try to be behind his wheel as long as possible but easier said than done!

anyway thoughts about today long and tough stage? expect AG2R to try to put someone in the early breakaway and then attack in the port of Bales descent. Given the climbs are not all very steep I still reckon Froome might win the stage.

[dummy_half]

whocares

My understanding is that the last few hundred metres of the stage is really steep (up to 20%), which would favour Dan Martin if there's a small GC group at the finish - probably the best uphill sprinter in the peloton now Valverde is missing. Froome will have a chance, but possibly better tomorrow where the stage finishes after a descent.

Will be interesting to see how / if the GC gets shaken up these two days - still close at the top. Difficult for Astana to do much to help Aru now with Cataldo out and Fuglsang getting a bit banged up in the same crash yesterday (and being too close on GC to be useful up the road). AG2R are in a better position to pull this trick, with Latour and Vuillermoz being a bit further back but very capable climbers - the question is whether Bardet is willing to lose by trying to win.

[Guest]

Bardet wins stage

Aru in yellow

[Mad for Chelsea]

Brutal last few hundred meters. Not surprised to see Froome struggling a bit, he's never been the best at the highest percentages, but it was surprising to see him struggle just so much. Great win for Bardet, and we have a four way scrap for yellow!

[Guest]

Aru
Froome +6
Bardet +25
Uran +35

[whocares]

didn't realize how steep were those last 500m and it was clearly a proper climber stage. showing that Froome is human after all.

[Guest]

Barguil wins on Bastille day

[Guest]

Michael Matthews wins stage 14, with Froome back in yellow

After stage 14

Froome
Aru + 19
Bardet + 23
Uran + 29

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