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Tour de France 2017

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notapatrioticboneinme

Sydney Middleton (9)
Only watch / follow Rugby and road Cycling.
Didn't notice a TTT which is a shame, such a spectacle, but makes it fairer for GC contenders.
Not much sleep for a while, just as well i'm RETIRED!!!!!!!!
 
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antimony.2601

Frank Row (1)
Richie Porte is in good form and has a great chance. Can he prove himself over 3 weeks?

I'd love to see him get the win but with a small amount of ITT and only 3 summit finishes the decisive move can come anywhere on any day. Froome showed last year he can make the most of small irregular chances.

Can't wait!
 
Brumby Runner

Brumby Runner

David Wilson (68)
Huge crowds out tonight in Germany and Belgium. Multiple millions in total I would guess.

Shame that Turbo had to withdraw. Ankle tendon damage from the crash in the ITT.
 
Brumby Runner

Brumby Runner

David Wilson (68)
Porte can win but will need some luck and a huge team effort to cut back on Froome's margin atm.

Matthews now a big chance to get the green jersey after Sagan's expulsion.
 
Brumby Runner

Brumby Runner

David Wilson (68)
No real time to appeal. Missed Stage 5 so no hope of reinstatement.

Richie lost another couple of seconds to Froome on the climb to the finish. Froome now in Yellow.
 
Brumby Runner

Brumby Runner

David Wilson (68)
Sky team looks very strong but Richie when interviewed said he thought they (Sky) weren't as strong as in previous years. There doesn't seem to be much between the Sky and BMC teams this year, and Movistar probably would have been close to terms as well had Valverde not been injured.
 
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antimony.2601

Frank Row (1)
I think its far from a done deal for Sky and Froome this year, sure only 2 summit finishes left but plenty of hard climbing to be done.


Last year was a bit processional as it was only really Froome and Quintana. Everybody kept waiting for Quintana to attack on the climbs but he couldn’t. This year BMC have shown they are up for it as a team to put the pressure on, I’m expecting Astana to provide some interesting racing in the mountains with Aru and Fuglesang in form. You also have Bardet and Martin sniffing around. (although Quickstep are supporting Kittel as well).


I also think the first TT was a bit misleading Porte seemed really put off by watching his team mate crash from the team car just before he raced. He was comfortably better than Froome at the Dauphine. I imagine Froome will want as much of lead as possible going into the final (GC) stage.


If Sky do lose it it may look catastrophic but It will be because of the combined pressure coming from all of these guys.


Personally I think team Sky has a bit of a soft underbelly. They have a lot of very strong guys who are well paid but a lot have their own GC ambitions and are taking the money and biding their time. They are really strong as a unit all doing their roles and following the plan but if they get a little isolated and it doesn’t go according to plan and they have to absolutely bury themselves for Froome they can be a bit soft. Like at the Vuelta last year.
 
Brumby Runner

Brumby Runner

David Wilson (68)
It's an unusual course this year with only three mountain top finishes, so could be opportunities for others to do some damage along the way.

Bardet in particular could benefit from two or three stages that finish with a down hill run after a classified climb late in the stage.
 
mst

mst

Peter Johnson (47)
^^^^ am looking forward to tonight's stage; first real climbers stage. I really enjoyed watching Calmejane tough it out for the breakaway win last night.

IMHO Froome look fragile at times and it could be the team that may end his chances as he is increasingly reliant on them and it will on take one error and we have already seen some close shaves.
 
mst

mst

Peter Johnson (47)
That really could Have been much worse. Watching it live i cringed and was preparing for a pretty bad outcome. Apparently locked his rear wheel and lost breaking traction. Hope he has a speedy recovery.
 
ChargerWA

ChargerWA

Mark Loane (55)
For some reason we lost the feed on SBS in WA so I never saw the Porte crash, I was really looking forward to last night as well.

I was still never convinced Porte could shade Froome. Froome is just too tough, mentally, physically and team wise. To the point where the GC barely interests me because I expect a procession. I watch the tour for the white jersey and the individual stage wins and the great stories that come with that. Having an Aussie (or kiwi, shhhh) in the breakaway are the best stages.
 
Brumby Runner

Brumby Runner

David Wilson (68)
Well, Romain Bardet certainly livened things up on the mountain descents in Stage 9. Just couldn't hold on to his lead in the final 15km flat to win. He is simply the fastest downhill rider in the Tour and could still take some stage wins when the finish line is at or near the bottom of a descent.
 
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antimony.2601

Frank Row (1)
Poor Richie, really feel for the guy. The crash looked awful and he was in such good form. If he doesn't get better in time for the Vuelta he wont get a chance to shake the 3 week stage race monkey from his back until the next TDF.

Surprised Aru/Fuglsang helped Froome out after the decent. Still early days yet I wouldn't be riding to protect second this early. Maybe he felt bad about the early attack during Froome's mechanical, maybe Froome is very persuasive.
 
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