TDF Stage 12*Warning-contains unmasked spoilers

ednwireland

St-Jean de Maurienne – Annonay Davézieux

Distance: 226km
Highest point: 1,188m
Category: Medium mountains

Morrisseeee

Did Eurosport just say they have the whole stage LIVE !!

deeno1975

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Did Eurosport just say they have the whole stage LIVE !!

Yes, full stage tomorrow...

Watch Sky Postal as they get 1 2 3 on the stage

dougal01

its only medium mountains i think that there will be more people in each group than today!!!!!!!!???????????!!!!!!!

finchkerry

Will this stage suit Roche better than today?

retalivity

jesus its long.
I would guess a bunch finish but not with all the sprinters there. Gilbert (who has done bugger all so far in this tour) to take off in the closing kms and win.

buffalo

retalivity wrote: »

jesus its long.
I would guess a bunch finish but not with all the sprinters there. Gilbert (who has done bugger all so far in this tour) to take off in the closing kms and win.

I was leaning more toward Chavanel. And the all-conquering Sagan has been showing he's not afraid of a bit of climbing in the last few days.

Colonialboy

it will be interesting to see how Wiggins and Evans recover... I think Wiggo has done too much already this season and is suffering a bit of fatigue, likewise Cadel is showing a bit of age and maybe thinks a World Champ and a 1 TDF is enough . I get the feeling their #1 domestiques in Tejay and Froome could probably ride them off their wheels if they were allowed.

Its pissing in Paris today, they arent having a great summer in France, if they get any of this bad weather during one of next mountain stages or even in the ITT it really puts the cat among the pidgeons, anyone remember Ulrich sliding into the roundabouts in the rain trying to catch Lance

Overall I think Wiggins crown if he wins this tour will be tainted , every true cyclist he meets will wonder , did the best man win, or was Froome held back so Brad could win a TDF where there were few other genuine GCs contenders.

I heard Brad was so tired this morning he couldnt go downstairs and have breakfast with the rest of the team , instead he rang reception and asked for Froome service .......

Looking forward to todays stage

Hungrycol

Colonialboy wrote: »

it will be interesting to see how Wiggins and Evans recover... I think Wiggo has done too much already this season and is suffering a bit of fatigue, likewise Cadel is showing a bit of age and maybe thinks a World Champ and a 1 TDF is enough . I get the feeling their #1 domestiques in Tejay and Froome could probably ride them off their wheels if they were allowed.

Its pissing in Paris today, they arent having a great summer in France, if they get any of this bad weather during one of next mountain stages or even in the ITT it really puts the cat among the pidgeons, anyone remember Ulrich sliding into the roundabouts in the rain trying to catch Lance

Overall I think Wiggins crown if he wins this tour will be tainted , every true cyclist he meets will wonder , did the best man win, or was Froome held back so Brad could win a TDF where there were few other genuine GCs contenders.

I heard Brad was so tired this morning he couldnt go downstairs and have breakfast with the rest of the team , instead he rang reception and asked for Froome service .......

Looking forward to todays stage

Get your coat . You were going so well up until then

dastardly00

It's hard to call how this stage will pan out.
Two Cat. 1 climbs in the first 80km, then 146km to go after that. If the tempo is high at the start, then a tonne of riders will be shelled out the back and resigned to the grupetto for the day. Anybody feeling in anyway half-decent, who's not a threat to the GC, will be trying to get in a breakaway up the Col du Grand Cucheron. And then it will depend on what teams in the peloton fancy chasing down the breakaway.

buffalo

dastardly00 wrote: »

It's hard to call how this stage will pan out.
Two Cat. 1 climbs in the first 80km, then 146km to go after that. If the tempo is high at the start, then a tonne of riders will be shelled out the back and resigned to the grupetto for the day. Anybody feeling in anyway half-decent, who's not a threat to the GC, will be trying to get in a breakaway up the Col du Grand Cucheron. And then it will depend on what teams in the peloton fancy chasing down the breakaway.

There's a lot of flat ground for things to come together after the two cols. And if you consider that any early breakaway will be made up of climbers, then I reckon it'll be certain to happen. Whether a counter-break goes then, or up that short climb at the end, that'll be what influences the finish.

</waffle>

deeno1975

And we're off... 222km to go (Ouch!!!)

A day for a break and a neutralised day for the GC.

niceonetom

That profile looks like they're doing a proper mountain stage in reverse.

JRant

niceonetom wrote: »

That profile looks like they're doing a proper mountain stage in reverse.

Was thinking the exact same thing. Whats the point in having the 2 cat 1 climbs followed by 140km of relatively flat terrain? It's all set up for team BradSkyMurdochsMillions to bore the rest of the field into submission.
Could be a good chance for Nico to get in a breakaway, which he hasn't done in a long time.

Morrisseeee

LIVE now on ES, 200km to go ! :cool:

/can I really listen to the musings of Kelly/Harmon until 4/5pm :pac:

dastardly00

Sky and Liquigas seem to fanning out across the road so as to slow down the pace of the peloton in order to stop any other riders from trying to get in the breakaway.

EDIT: well they were trying, but more riders have broken through the 'barriers' and are trying to catch the breakaway.

Morrisseeee

Tyler Farrar dropped...............and it's not 11am yet !!
/it's going to be a long day in the saddle for him

dastardly00

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Tyler Farrar dropped...............and it's not 11am yet !!
/it's going to be a long day in the saddle for him

he must have crashed :pac:

manafana

YEAH long day as the pack is fairly hammering it with rui costa giving it a dig.

Morrisseeee

..............and Contador attacks !!! :eek:





/no wait, it was just a dream :pac:

corny

Sky aren't letting the likes of Horner, Coppel and Costa get away.

Trek1000

Got Costa at 66/1 on Paddy Power this morning. Boom!

manafana

looking at this now break might find it hard to keep away boassen hagen is animal with the pace he is setting for this group, break wil lfraction on climb and so the long flatish finish should be killer.

AG2R

Froome has a huge forehead!


Moncoutie fell and his leg is nasty

JRant

AG2R wrote: »

Froome has a huge forehead!


Moncoutie fell and his leg is nasty

Himself and Wiggins are like 'Pinkie and the Brain'.

dastardly00

The Col du Granier is pretty tough!

AG2R

Moncoutie has abandoned

AstraMonti

Is there any online eurosport radio to hear it? The live feeds don't work today in the office, sucks.

buffalo

Ah ****e - didn't realise Westra had abandoned.

Lumen

JRant wrote: »

Himself and Wiggins are like 'Pinkie and the Brain'.

Someone tweet that to Eurosport. The world needs to know!

DominoDub

AstraMonti wrote: »

Is there any online eurosport radio to hear it? The live feeds don't work today in the office, sucks.

I have downloaded and sigend up for the month to the Eurosport TV iPhone app (€3.99 for the month / 1 Pint !) it is working out great even on 3G.

You can also get ITV 4 on the Film On app..FREE

dastardly00

oh dear god I checked the Boards league on Velogames for the first time since the start of the tour. I'm having a nightmare, I'm 89th out of 99
I'm down to 6 riders: Wiggins, Taarame, Cav, Gilbert, Dan Martin and LL Sanchez.

buffalo

Is there a lovely chart somewhere that shows number of abandons each year at the Tour?

dastardly00

Pinot in big trouble! 1 minute behind the peloton.

Morrisseeee

dastardly00 wrote: »

oh dear god I checked the Boards league on Velogames for the first time since the start of the tour. I'm having a nightmare, I'm 89th out of 99
I'm down to 6 riders: Wiggins, Taarame, Cav, Gilbert, Dan Martin and LL Sanchez.

.

You're having a 'mare' buddy :pac:

dastardly00

Rolland and ROCHE being dropped from the peloton.

full_irish

Roche, Peraud, Rolland, Kessiakof and a few others after coming out he back of the peleton

BQQ

dastardly00 wrote: »

Pinot in big trouble! 1 minute behind the peloton.

Kloden and Rolland dropped too.
C'mon Nico!

Argh, Nico too.

mcgratheoin

full_irish wrote: »

Roche, Peraud, Rolland, Kessiakof and a few others after coming out he back of the peleton

Should be able to regain the group over the top of the climb

mcgratheoin

Finally an attack(ish) from Wiggins

dastardly00

Where the hell are the rest of the AG2R team to help Nico? I know Peraud is in the break. Surely not all of the rest of AG2R team are gone out the back of the peloton and are behind Nico?

Morrisseeee

Wiggins has........................attacked :eek::eek:

JRant

Lumen wrote: »

JRant wrote: »

Himself and Wiggins are like 'Pinkie and the Brain'.

Someone tweet that to Eurosport. The world needs to know!

I would if i was a member of the tweeterati but i really can't abide the thing. Don't think Harmon or Carlton would be well pleased!!

buffalo

dastardly00 wrote: »

Where the hell are the rest of the AG2R team to help Nico? I know Peraud is in the break. Surely not all of the rest of AG2R team are gone out the back of the peloton and are behind Nico?

That's why he's team leader - better able to stay with the big guns.

Decuc500

This stage has Sagan written all over it.

AG2R

JRant wrote: »

I would if i was a member of the tweeterati but i really can't abide the thing. Don't think Harmon or Carlton would be well pleased!!

it was tweeted to them anyways:p

Sarz91

Why did Wiggins attack? Psychologically it shows he's weak. It's like as if he has to prove to Nibali and everyone else that he's still strong. We all saw Froome drop him yesterday. There's still a long way to go especially with stages like stage 16. Show everyone how strong you are then not now. Just seems so foolish.

Colonialboy

All this talk defending wiggins saying his tactics are none different than Lance or Indurain is not true and disrespectful to both those legends.

Indurain won two mountain stage Cauterets '89 and Luz Ardiden 90. He was also second on Hautacam by 2 secs and always rode well in teh mountains grinding that big gear up the HC.
Wiggins has never won a mountain stage will never win a mountain stage not unless Froome gives him a 'crosser' over the line.
Lance had great climbers to help him but he was still out and out the best climber in his team. Plus Lance frequently gave a mountain top stage win to another rider in appreciatio of work they had done. Cant see Brad doing this his missus would have a tweet..

So dont defend Wiggins by comparing him to LA and Big Mig....

Ormus

Colonialboy wrote: »

All this talk defending wiggins saying his tactics are none different than Lance or Indurain is not true and disrespectful to both those legends.

Indurain won two mountain stage Cauterets '89 and Luz Ardiden 90. He was also second on Hautacam by 2 secs and always rode well in teh mountains grinding that big gear up the HC.
Wiggins has never won a mountain stage will never win a mountain stage not unless Froome gives him a 'crosser' over the line.
Lance had great climbers to help him but he was still out and out the best climber in his team. Plus Lance frequently gave a mountain top stage win to another rider in appreciatio of work they had done. Cant see Brad doing this his missus would have a tweet..

So dont defend Wiggins by comparing him to LA and Big Mig....

Indurain never won a mountain stage when he was a contender for the GC. H never attacked when he didn't need to. He ground things out by maintaining a constant punishing pace. Its the best way to reliably win the Tour de France.

Armstrong would be the first to admit he was not a natural climber and it was his major weakness, gradually improving over the years.

There are undeniable similarities and also of course differences. Nobody is saying that Wiggins is as good as either of them or has achieved as much.

niceonetom

Wiggins idolised Indurain. And he's doing a passable impression (which I find dull but so what?). It ain't pretty but it's effective.

The difference was that Indurain set the punishing pace. Twiggy follows it. Or has his team manager tell it to slow down.

He's won a stage, albeit a TT, so he has that, but it would be remarkable for a GC win to get all the way to Paris without ever having to ride on the front himself.

BQQ

Prospects for the break?

I think they'll be caught, but the peloton might slack off after the intrermediate sprint. Can't see many teams with the motivation to chase bar Liquigas