Tour de France 2015 Stage 2 Utrecht - Zelande *contains unmasked spoilers*

Darkglasses

Our first road stage of the 2015 Tour is flat as a pancake, although the difficulty for tomorrow will be climactic. Rain is expected for at least the start of the stage, and cross-winds are almost certain to make an appearance. The final kilometres are also littered with no less than 6 roundabouts, with the final ride-in being surrounded by the sea. This will rip the legs off anyone who is without a solid sprint train, or unable to hitch a ride on one.

A team effort is likely to be needed throughout, and so Mark Cavendish and his sprint oriented Etixx-Quickstep team find themselves favourite for tomorrow. Greipel should also feature highly, along with anyone opportunistic enough to hitch a ride onto a sprint train that is not used to it's fullest *cough*DEGENKOLB*cough*

Oddschecker: Cavendish 5/4, Kristoff 17/4, Greipel 17/4, Degenkolb 9/1, Sagan 15/1, Bouhanni 18/1

Jude13

Alexander Kristoff

Trying to stream in online but didn't get to see the first stage. I will be glued to this after work

MPFG

Peter Sagan

Looks like lots of thunderstrorms Therefore almost certain to be crashes
Wind strong too so most likely there will be splits

Is this the area Johnny Hoogerland is from ?

pajor

Peter Sagan

MPFG wrote: »

Looks like lots of thunderstrorms Therefore almost certain to be crashes
Wind strong too so most likely there will be splits

Is this the area Johnny Hoogerland is from ?

Yeah, Hoogerland is from around there.

Weather is to be rough later alright. Strong winds, thunder, rain and even hail are forecast for the south of the country in the late afternoon.

MPFG

Peter Sagan

Funny feeling it may not be a sprinter today but a strong rouler

Spins

Where's the best each way odds on Bennett?

omri

Alexander Kristoff

What time does it start on Eurosport ? Can it be watched on demand without commercials ?

pelevin

Alexander Kristoff

How many wheels are they allowed on their bikes?

Zzippy

Even in Holland they have the obligatory chateau aerial shot... :rolleyes:

Jude13

Alexander Kristoff

I'm bloody jealous. Stuck in work and no access to watching it when I get home.

MPFG

Peter Sagan

Jude13 wrote: »

I'm bloody jealous. Stuck in work and no access to watching it when I get home.

Have you not got a computer ?

Highlights are usually up on You tube in the evening
Live streams are also available if you know where to look

RobFowl

Michael "Bling" Matthews

Sam is your man for today

snollup

I know this is asked every year but are there any pubs in Dublin showing TDF?

Arrow in the Knee

Michael "Bling" Matthews

snollup wrote: »

I know this is asked every year but are there any pubs in Dublin showing TDF?

You can watch it on TG4 or ITV 4.

Personally if I can't hear the commentary like in the pub it's not as interesting IMO.

Jude13

Alexander Kristoff

Ill throw on the vpn and try TG4 this evening.

I can't get eurosport even with my vpn.

pajor

Peter Sagan

NPO 1 all the way. No ads and commentators that don't make me want to throw things at the screen (when I can understand them).

n-dawg

Michael "Bling" Matthews

Getting nervous now... Froome, Nibs and Contador all up near the front. Wind looks like it will make it interesting.

Pudsy33

Alexander Kristoff

The flamme rouge has been dismantled due to high winds. This is going to get dicey.

Darkglasses

Nacer Bouhanni

103km to go, splits are appearing in the winds. Saxo doing damage


Sky are well positioned and are also pitching in, as are EQS

Dr. Bre

a boring flat stage eh.. I love echelons!

Darkglasses

Nacer Bouhanni

Bennett is safely in the first group, as are all the GC riders. I haven't seen any Katusha or Giant jerseys there yet.

n-dawg

Michael "Bling" Matthews

I think all of the big 4 made it to the first split. Not sure about the sprinters

Dr. Bre

I see cannondale jerseys in 2nd group!

AIR-AUSSIE

Dan Martin and krisstoff missing from the front?

Pudsy33

Alexander Kristoff

****ing Garmin getting caught out again by wind.

Darkglasses

Nacer Bouhanni

This looks so good for Sam. Quality riding by Bora, they could have been less cautious as a result of having their man in the break.

Dang, it's coming back together

omri

Alexander Kristoff

Whats that thing they have attached to their saddles?

AIR-AUSSIE

omri wrote: »

Whats that thing they have attached to their saddles?

Check out @thejensie's Tweet: https://twitter.com/thejensie/status/617685128622567424?s=09

Darkglasses

Nacer Bouhanni

omri wrote: »

Whats that thing they have attached to their saddles?

New GPS transponder.

Pudsy33

Alexander Kristoff

omri wrote: »

Whats that thing they have attached to their saddles?

It protects the back of the jerseys from mud splashes.

Edit: nevermind!

AIR-AUSSIE

@letour's Tweet: https://twitter.com/letour/status/617692293768847360?s=09

n-dawg

Michael "Bling" Matthews

Another big split?? Not really sure what happened...

retalivity

Kelderman crashed and sky gunned it at the front....lot of astana riders in the 2nd group

MPFG

Peter Sagan

Lotto Jumbo & Europcar caught out by wind and down on first group already

afatbollix

Seems like most chat online is about Eurosports adds.

Is your favorite the skoda one or the shampoo one.

gordongekko

afatbollix wrote: »

Seems like most chat online is about Eurosports adds.

Is your favorite the skoda one or the shampoo one.

I'm off to Israel. Just booked it on my new Samsung galaxy phone. No idea how it happened.

omri

Alexander Kristoff

afatbollix wrote: »

Seems like most chat online is about Eurosports adds.

Is your favorite the skoda one or the shampoo one.

It has to be the festina and salice ads..,

n-dawg

Michael "Bling" Matthews

Quintana and JC dropped

mhiggy09

lots of splits, lots of people getting dropped especially sky riders. Quintana got caught out in a group now at 34secs behind the peloton

spock.

Much more exciting stage than I was anticipating.

MPFG

Peter Sagan

Reports Nibali crashed

Inquitus

Mad stage, has the potential to frame the race as Froome v Contador, and incentivise Nibali and Quintana to attack.

MPFG

Peter Sagan

Lotto Jumbo, Quintana, Valverde, Mollema, JC Perud all in 2nd group at 40 secs

MPFG

Peter Sagan

Now Nibs & Pinot dropped as well as Dan Martin

Zyzz

Wonder if Froome uses Alpecin shampoo?

MPFG

Peter Sagan

Froome has Stannard & Thomas infront group

Contador has 4 in first group

Talib Fiasco

Nacer Bouhanni

This is a crazy stage. Quintana could lose minutes here. Contador is lucky he has a guy like Sagan on stages like this

MPFG

Peter Sagan

Lotto Soudial & Ettix casued all the damage

mhiggy09

Peraud in the Quintana group. movistar bombing it to get back but making no headway. 1min 3 back now.

Inquitus

Insane, but alot of fun to watch!

AIR-AUSSIE

Zyzz wrote: »

Wonder if Froome uses Alpecin shampoo?

@chrisfroome's Tweet: https://twitter.com/chrisfroome/status/588766512841945088?s=09