kiddy Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 (edited) 1.45 from the Landa, he was given 2 secs to the winning group, dicks. Edited July 14, 2017 by kiddy 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 (edited) There was absoloutely no need for Froome/Kwiatowski to chase Uran/Martin & Yates. Their sole target was covering Aru & Bardet. Let them defend their places, Sky had a man in the lead group, who was a threat to yellow at one point! Landa had a lead of 2.34 when Froome attacked on the last climb. Edited July 14, 2017 by kiddy 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 Brian Smith, on Eurosport, struggling to explain Sky's tactics as a DS himself. Truly bizzare. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvo Montalbano Posted July 14, 2017 Share Posted July 14, 2017 A great stage, showing that you don't need crazy long stages or killer climbs to make a bike race. Utterly baffled with the Sky tactics as well. OK maybe Froome using Kwiatokowski once as a lead out to try and break Aru and claw back the race lead made sense, but once was enough to see that Aru was in complete control and that as long as Bardet didn't attack, the overall result could have been Landa up into the podium positions or even race lead with Froome within a handful of seconds and a TT still to come - surely that would have been a perfect scenario for Sky only bettered by having Thomas still in the race and up there too? Some of their "tactics" seem to be based on just showing how strong their riders are rathet than any tactical nous at all. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highlandcowden Posted July 15, 2017 Share Posted July 15, 2017 anyone see the helicopter footage where froome put in a ferocious attack,Aru naturally followed immediately and a sky domestique swerved across the road and nearly put him off the road.sagan was dq'd for less. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 15, 2017 Share Posted July 15, 2017 4 hours ago, highlandcowden said: anyone see the helicopter footage where froome put in a ferocious attack,Aru naturally followed immediately and a sky domestique swerved across the road and nearly put him off the road.sagan was dq'd for less. Just watched that again, nah. Nowhere near as close as the Sagan/Cav incident. Cav had an angled barrier one side, Sagan moving in the other, whilst trying to hold Demare's wheel. That Sagan also had to try & keep his balance, showed the fine lines the sprinters tread. I said at the time, relegation & a fine would have been the right outcome & I still stand by that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted July 15, 2017 Share Posted July 15, 2017 Aru manages to ship the yellow jersey on a stage that all he had to do was stick next to Froome. Managed to get himself separated and way down the peloton, Froome came in 6th and 1 second behind winner Michael Matthews, Aru was 26 seconds behind. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highlandcowden Posted July 15, 2017 Share Posted July 15, 2017 aye,amateur hour from Aru 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
printer Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Disappointing that Aru gave up so many seconds to Froome on what should have been a nothing GC stage. Froome a strong favourite now for yellow in Paris.Cracking win for Matthews a la Sagan. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Disappointing that Aru gave up so many seconds to Froome on what should have been a nothing GC stage. Froome a strong favourite now for yellow in Paris.Cracking win for Matthews a la Sagan. I couldn't believe it watching it live that he got himself in such a bad position, lack of experience or teammates? Whatever the reason, it was madness not to be near the front of the peloton.Only 29 seconds between 1st and 4th so the podium places are still all up for grabs, Sky's tactics have been baffling at times but with the strongest team by far then you have to fancy Froome.A lumpy looking stage today, but it will be a surprise if there are any big changes to the GC standings. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Sky caught out by AG2R. Froome losing yellow at the moment but still 36k to go. Froome punctured, and in another moment of madness it was Kwiatowski who gave him a wheel. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Jo Jo Junior Shabadoo Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 A lot of St Mirren fans on this climb. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvo Montalbano Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 What. A. Stage. If you haven't seen it, catch the highlights show. Tremendous entertainment. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnash Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Unbelievable that AG2R didn't take advantage by attacking again as Froome was getting back to the group. Why give him a minute to recover? If they gone just before he made the junction that would have been really dispiriting and they had a great chance of getting away again. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Unbelievable that AG2R didn't take advantage by attacking again as Froome was getting back to the group. Why give him a minute to recover? If they gone just before he made the junction that would have been really dispiriting and they had a great chance of getting away again. Couldn't understand that myself, they must have known that Froome only had Landa left with him and they used a lot of energy to get back on.Delighted for Mollema, timed his break perfectly. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvo Montalbano Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 David Millar was screaming for them to do just that in the commentary. Had they went over the top even 30 seconds ahead and let Bardet go down the descent in his usual mental way he could have been in yellow going into the rest day. Now Sky get a day to regroup, they can defend in the ladt mountain stages and as long as Froome is within 40-60 seconds going into the TT he should win. It's a shame because AG2R had been one of the standout teams (along with Quick-Step, who also had a great Giro). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
printer Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 Another cracking stage. Agree that AG2R missed sn opportunity to put the boot into Froome when he was down, but credit to him and Sky for the effort to get back on. Landa once again did an immense job. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvo Montalbano Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 I wonder if Sky have promised Landa a lead role at one of the grand tours next year? I know he was nominal co-leader at the Giro but you get the impression they were trying to set up Thomas. He surely won't ride all three? And Froome has said he's targeting the Tour-Vuelta double this year (and he's been close before - I can see him doing it if the team around him are strong enough). If he managed that, I'd love Froome to take on next year's Giro to try and hold all three grand tour titles at the same time. A long, long, long way off but that would be incredible. Then give Landa or Thomas a go on the real big stage. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomohawk Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 4 minutes ago, Salvo Montalbano said: I wonder if Sky have promised Landa a lead role at one of the grand tours next year? I know he was nominal co-leader at the Giro but you get the impression they were trying to set up Thomas. He surely won't ride all three? And Froome has said he's targeting the Tour-Vuelta double this year (and he's been close before - I can see him doing it if the team around him are strong enough). If he managed that, I'd love Froome to take on next year's Giro to try and hold all three grand tour titles at the same time. A long, long, long way off but that would be incredible. Then give Landa or Thomas a go on the real big stage. Landa is supposedly off to Movistar next year which, if true, makes his inclusion in Sky's Tour squad quite baffling. Regardless, as long as Froome is with Sky, no one other than he will be the leader at the Tour for the next few years provided that he is fit. G has proved that he is more than capable physically of competing at the biggest events but I don't know whether he is capable of staying upright for long enough. I know that a number of the crashes that he has suffered this year have not been his fault (the Giro was particularly unlucky) but it's strange that the top riders have a habit of being 'lucky' and generally avoiding significant incidents. I'd personally like to see Wout Poels given more of an opportunity and I don't know whether Brailsford sees Kwiatkowski as a future Grand Tour rider - he's certainly slimmed down a lot in the past couple of seasons since winning the World Championships. He's a strong time triallist and one-day racer and is showing that he's very useful in the hills as well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvo Montalbano Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 I'd imagine Pouls will be one of the top domestiques in the Vuelta given he's not at the Tour. Kwiatokowski has been superb in this race though. It a telling that he's often the man looking after Froome the most and he seems to have a good all round game. Didn't know that about Landa but it makes sense with Valverde possibly retiring (although had he not crashed in the TT who knows given his season so far). The next few years could be really interesting with Aru, Landa, Dumoulin, Froome, Barguil, Bardet and Porte all looking for the big wins. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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