This has been my favourite ever grand tour. Great (almost) achievement by Froome. Tomorrow is a formality, but what a race, lit up by Yates' old school attacking style, and again by Froome with his old school attacks yesterday.
Froome is too far down on Dumoulin to have any say in the standings. Even if he has a mare of a TT, Dumoulin is still probably going to beat Froome on current form and evidence - and he's got almost 2 minutes on him on GC. He could always crash, of course, but barring that, the only way Froome could make time up on him is if he catches him on a bad day and the skybots isolate him then put the hammer down. Dumoulin rode a very smart stage today and looked quietly impressive - despite the understandable animation about Froome's great win. Don't see him losing enough time on the rest of the mountains to make up for the minutes he'll put into Yates in the TT
'France's Thibaut Pinot blew a chance for a place on the podium. Having been in third place at the start of Saturday's stage, he was left behind on the second climb up Col de St-Pantaleon.'
'France's Thibaut Pinot blew a chance for a place on the podium. Having been in third place at the start of Saturday's stage, he was left behind on the second climb up Col de St-Pantaleon.'
Damn, there goes my each way bet :-(
He went too far yesterday, screwed him completely.
Intriguing to think that if Froome hadn’t had the couple of crashes at the beginning, and had managed to take control of the race from the start, we would never have seen his brilliant ride on Friday.
And perhaps even he would never have known he had the potential to do it.
Adversity can sometimes bring out the best in a person.
Either that or he left it as late as possible to take the Pink Jersey so he wasnt the target of attacks all race...
I cant imagine the time gap being part of the plan yet wonder if he planned to leave it late in the race so his energy wasnt used up ahead of the TdF meaning he's got more time to recover
Either that or he left it as late as possible to take the Pink Jersey so he wasnt the target of attacks all race...
I cant imagine the time gap being part of the plan yet wonder if he planned to leave it late in the race so his energy wasnt used up ahead of the TdF meaning he's got more time to recover
Pretty certain it's a 'no' to that.
Probable yes to the second bit. If he'd started the Giro bang in form the chances are we would have been cooked by the third week of the TdeF. And in the third week of the Giro he was coming into form while everyone else was knackered.
Certainly been the most exciting Tour for a while. Like a good murder mystery, no one guessed who done it ( or was gonna win it ) until the end! Who would have thought it after the end of the 2nd week? Never saw it coming.
Kimmage has got a lot of opinions. Not many on Kelly and Roche though, funnily enough...
Absolutely amazing ride by Froome. Interesting to see that even with his solo attack, it was still the slowest ascent of the Finestre there's ever been. Shows how much cleaner the sport is now. Best sight was him putting 40 seconds into the rest in the descent off the Finestre. Absolutely brilliant descender - not quite up there with Nibali, but definitely one of the best. Massive set of bollocks on those corners, especially on a shit surface, with standing water on them
Feel sorry for Yates, clearly put too much into the TT and showed cracks yesterday
You always say this about Kimmage and Walsh but you're wrong. Kimmage often avoided writing about cycling until the mid noughties because of the crap he got from Roche and the legal threats he made on him. Whilst Rough Ride didn't criticise Roche, from memory the epilogue has an article by Walsh about he and a pre-pro Kimmage seeing a great Irish cyclist at a classic with pills rattling away at the start line: pretty clear which Irish classic rider they were seeing .
Walsh called out Roche over the Conconni files/investigation, which were ruled by various judges to prove the Gweiss teams systemic use of EPO. Roche used The Late Show, as he did against Kimmage after Rough Ride, to attack Walsh. As Walsh said there was definitive evidence to prove Roche doped. The Italian judge who investigated the Conconni files categorically found Roche doped. Maybe you weren't following cycling in the early noughties but Walsh was on record with regards to Roche's proven EPO use.
Kimmage when he started commenting on it in recent years, states there should be a re-assessment of Roche's triple crown. Roche was one of his best friends, whom he grew up with and idolised. It took years but he questions why Roche and Kelly are Irish heroes, but Michelle De Bruin is a pariah.
I've followed cycling for thirty years. Whilst Kimmage is on record as being critical of Roche, it's nothing like the rabid fever with which he pursued Armstrong (rightly) and the endless poking at Sky (dubious) and Froome (tedious). He's said almost nothing about Kelly - despite him being a walking pharmacy in the eighties.
I get it, to an extent. Different eras and all that - it was ridiculous in the eighties and nineties, but he's made a career out of writing about doping (not cycling) and has blind spots. Walsh is just as bad.
Really good article here describing from Team SKY how they played that epic day when Froome took the lead of the Giro - I guess they've had to make a statement like this to counter any doubts from people... Of course it could all be a load of rubbish to hide what really happened yet the amount of planning they put into that stage, its very believable!!
Really good article here describing from Team SKY how they played that epic day when Froome took the lead of the Giro - I guess they've had to make a statement like this to counter any doubts from people... Of course it could all be a load of rubbish to hide what really happened yet the amount of planning they put into that stage, its very believable!!
Reckon that Dumoulin could be a serious one to watch in 2019 or 2020 - If teams can sort a tactic out against SKY he'd be my favourite to benefit from it
A new rumour that Thomas might be st the Giro after all.
“In four months, Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas (Sky) could line up for the 2019 Giro d’Italia in Bologna.
A report overnight in Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport suggested Thomas’s spring schedule is not yet set in stone. Instead of solely targeting the Tour de France as he previously said, the Giro d’Italia — which runs from May 11 to June 2 — could come as a delicious antipasto.
Chris Froome’s successful 2018 season largely came thanks to the same decision last winter. Froome failed to win a fifth Tour title, instead placing third and helping Thomas win. However, Froome won the Giro with a massive, 80.3-kilometer solo move in stage 19 over the Finestre climb. That Giro title and his starring supporting Tour role equalled a five-star 2018 campaign.
Froome has made it clear that for him, the 2019 Tour comes first as he is on a quest to win five titles and join the greats. Thomas already said he wants to race the Tour with the No. 1 bib on his back, but he could find more opportunities in Italy.
The Giro route includes three individual time trials: one at the start in Bologna and one at the end in Verona, with a longer one to San Marino mid-race. The total of 58.5km plus the mountain stages would suit Thomas’s skill set.
Given the 2019 route, Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) decided on a Giro focus in 2019. Afterward, he will line up for the Tour in France. Last year, Dumoulin placed second in both races. He became the first Dutchman to win the Giro in 2017.
If Thomas does race both the Giro and Tour, he would join Dumoulin as well as Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida).
“An official decision will be made in the next days,” wrote La Gazzetta dello Sport in its article. Team Sky did not comment when asked about the possibility of Thomas racing in Bologna on May 11.
The decision is expected by January 24, when Thomas is due to attend a race-related event in Piedmont, Italy, with Froome and Nibali.
Thomas would race the Giro as captain with backup options Egan Bernal and Gianni Moscon.”
Comments
Great (almost) achievement by Froome. Tomorrow is a formality, but what a race, lit up by Yates' old school attacking style, and again by Froome with his old school attacks yesterday. What the hell do you know eh!? ;-)
Damn, there goes my each way bet :-(
And perhaps even he would never have known he had the potential to do it.
Adversity can sometimes bring out the best in a person.
And it made for amazing viewing.
I cant imagine the time gap being part of the plan yet wonder if he planned to leave it late in the race so his energy wasnt used up ahead of the TdF meaning he's got more time to recover
Probable yes to the second bit. If he'd started the Giro bang in form the chances are we would have been cooked by the third week of the TdeF. And in the third week of the Giro he was coming into form while everyone else was knackered.
Guess he still has his TUE for it though given he can need it for medical reasons, otherwise wouldn’t have got one in the first place.
He put a load of time into Demoulin on the downhill as well. It was a great ride, be nice if we thought it was clean.
Walsh called out Roche over the Conconni files/investigation, which were ruled by various judges to prove the Gweiss teams systemic use of EPO. Roche used The Late Show, as he did against Kimmage after Rough Ride, to attack Walsh. As Walsh said there was definitive evidence to prove Roche doped. The Italian judge who investigated the Conconni files categorically found Roche doped. Maybe you weren't following cycling in the early noughties but Walsh was on record with regards to Roche's proven EPO use.
Kimmage when he started commenting on it in recent years, states there should be a re-assessment of Roche's triple crown. Roche was one of his best friends, whom he grew up with and idolised. It took years but he questions why Roche and Kelly are Irish heroes, but Michelle De Bruin is a pariah.
I get it, to an extent. Different eras and all that - it was ridiculous in the eighties and nineties, but he's made a career out of writing about doping (not cycling) and has blind spots. Walsh is just as bad.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44372328
Froome and Thomas concentrating on the Tour - no real surprise.
“In four months, Tour de France champion Geraint Thomas (Sky) could line up for the 2019 Giro d’Italia in Bologna.
A report overnight in Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport suggested Thomas’s spring schedule is not yet set in stone. Instead of solely targeting the Tour de France as he previously said, the Giro d’Italia — which runs from May 11 to June 2 — could come as a delicious antipasto.
Chris Froome’s successful 2018 season largely came thanks to the same decision last winter. Froome failed to win a fifth Tour title, instead placing third and helping Thomas win. However, Froome won the Giro with a massive, 80.3-kilometer solo move in stage 19 over the Finestre climb. That Giro title and his starring supporting Tour role equalled a five-star 2018 campaign.
Froome has made it clear that for him, the 2019 Tour comes first as he is on a quest to win five titles and join the greats. Thomas already said he wants to race the Tour with the No. 1 bib on his back, but he could find more opportunities in Italy.
The Giro route includes three individual time trials: one at the start in Bologna and one at the end in Verona, with a longer one to San Marino mid-race. The total of 58.5km plus the mountain stages would suit Thomas’s skill set.
Given the 2019 route, Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) decided on a Giro focus in 2019. Afterward, he will line up for the Tour in France. Last year, Dumoulin placed second in both races. He became the first Dutchman to win the Giro in 2017.
If Thomas does race both the Giro and Tour, he would join Dumoulin as well as Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida).
“An official decision will be made in the next days,” wrote La Gazzetta dello Sport in its article. Team Sky did not comment when asked about the possibility of Thomas racing in Bologna on May 11.
The decision is expected by January 24, when Thomas is due to attend a race-related event in Piedmont, Italy, with Froome and Nibali.
Thomas would race the Giro as captain with backup options Egan Bernal and Gianni Moscon.”
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/brailsford-discusses-possibility-of-colombian-backing-for-team-sky/