Tour de France 2018 stage 9: Arras > Roubaix 156,5 km

MPFGLB

So its the big one we have all being waiting for (well me anyways)

Two races tomorrow -
One for the stage and one for the GC





The stage will probably be won by one of Quickstep Floors riders (Terpstra or Gilbert ),or Sagan or GVA ( who has a free role tomorrow and is not minding Porte).

Van Marke and Phinney is on duty with Uran; Diller & Naesen for Bardet ; Moscon & Kwaito for Froome; Hayman&Durbridge for Yates ; Kung & Schar for Porte ,,,Ervitti , Benatti & Rojas for the 3 Movistar leaders

Dan Martin & Zakarin have the least help as has Dumoulin but like Fuglsang who has good support and Niabli should not need it as much as other GC guys

General classification before tomorrow,

1. Greg Van AVERMAET (BMC)
2. Geraint THOMAS (SKY) + 7''
3. Tejay VAN GARDEREN (BMC) + 9''
4. Philippe GILBERT (Quickstep) + 16''
5. Bob JUNGELS (Quickstep) + 22''
6. Rigoberto URAN (EF-ED) + 49''
7. Alejandro VALVERDE (Movistar) + 55''
8. Rafal MAJKA (Bora) + 56''
9. Jakob FUGLSANG (Astana) + 57''
10. Richie PORTE (BMC) + 57''
11. Mikel LANDA (Movistar) + 59''
12. Chris FROOME (SKY) + 1' 06''
13. Adam YATES (MS) + 1' 06''
15. Vincenzo NIBALI (Merida) + 1' 12''
17. Bauke MOLLEMA (Trek) + 1' 22''
19. Tom DUMOULIN (Sunweb) + 1' 27''
20. Steven KRUIJSWIJK (NL-Jumbo) + 1' 30''
22. Romain BARDET (AG2R) + 1' 49''
24. Ilnur ZAKARIN (Katusha) + 2' 06''
26. Nairo QUINTANA (Movistar) + 2' 14''
30. Dan MARTIN (UAE) + 2' 47''


ON ITV4 & ES from 11.30

My tip :Geraint Thomas in yellow tomorrow evening

Lusk_Doyle

My money is on Nibali for this stage.

MPFGLB

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

My money is on Nibali for this stage.

I only hope Nibali goes for it and lights it up....he has to ..this is his big opportunity to get time on Froome,Quintana, Bardet & Porte

07Lapierre

Sky will attack early...Froome in yellow tomorrow evening...you heard it here first.

I predict the cobbles to claim Froome and I think TJVG due to his bad luck .

Hard to know who to back to win as we'll have GC guys needing protection. Given how Sagan won PR I could see him doing the same thing tomorrow with a "cheeky side bet" on niki terpstra

retalivity

Cross posted...


https://www.oddschecker.com/cycling/tour-de-france/tour-de-france-stage-9/winner

Nibs 66/1,
Kwia 80/1,
Vanmarcke 100/1!

I know theyre on the leash but still....circumstances change...

dastardly00

Fingers crossed Dan survives okay.
If his injuries are bad from today, he'll probably lose more time tomorrow

dastardly00

07Lapierre wrote: »

Sky will attack early...Froome in yellow tomorrow evening...you heard it here first.

If you predict Froome in yellow, what happens to Thomas along the way?!

dastardly00

Is the stage finishing in the velodrome?

Lusk_Doyle

dastardly00 wrote: »

If you predict Froome in yellow, what happens to Thomas along the way?!

Froome inhales him to absorb his powers.

lizzylad84

Been looking forward to this stage since it was announced.

irishrover99

I can't see Froome holding on for 15 sectors and Thomas will probably have to drop back to help but that's if they attack on the first sector and really put the pressure on.

Valverde to be top GC contender after tomorrow with GVA still in yellow.

coco0981

I presume he'll be protecting Fulsang but still backed Valgren at 275/1

CrowdedHouse

[Tabloid mode] Dan blames discs [/Tabloid mode]

https://twitter.com/DanMartin86/status/1018396639210409984

jon1981

I really enjoy this stage also. But I can't help thinking how evil it is putting them through that!

jon1981

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

[Tabloid mode] Dan blames discs [/Tabloid mode]

https://twitter.com/DanMartin86/status/1018396639210409984

ooohhhhh ... it begins!

dahat

jon1981 wrote: »

I really enjoy this stage also. But I can't help thinking how evil it is putting them through that!

Agreed, I'm expecting carnage today with big losers on GC at the end, add in a dry dusty day to the mix as well.

funnights74

A few showers would really spice things up, take the predictability out of it.

Dr. Bre

I think it needs to rain for there to be Any significant gaps

dahat

The inexperience of some of the GC riders on this surface is what will contribute to gaps, may not be huge but losing 30 seconds plus on a stage could be very telling at the end.

MPFGLB

dahat wrote: »

The inexperience of some of the GC riders on this surface is what will contribute to gaps, may not be huge but losing 30 seconds plus on a stage could be very telling at the end.

The issue will be crashes and mechanicals

This will cause the gaps...the peloton trying to position before each sector and then squeese onto the pave

The pave itself wont be too bad for GC riders

Dr. Bre

Ah no Porte down and possibly out!

funnights74

Crash. Porte down and holding his arm:eek:

koutoubia

CHUTE
Richie Porte looks out after a crash on the tarmac. Holding his shoulder!

Not looking good.

dahat

Did it look like a spectator was involved? Could be way off.

MPFGLB

Yes a spectator was on the ground

Dr. Bre

dahat wrote: »

Did it look like a spectator was involved? Could be way off.

I saw a spectator down for a bit

retalivity

Yeah was a fan sitting down on the road as well.
Ffs he was going so well, and dint grt to see him in the mountains at all.

and only 10k in, no sign of cobbles yet!

dahat

Hopefully a spectator didn't cause the crash as riders have been expressing concerns on twitter with some being very close.

Astana rider there with jersey shredded and arse out of his bibs.

retalivity

Porte crashed out on Stage 9 of the tour last year as well.
So all BMC GC hopes switch to TJVG - oh god

Lusk_Doyle

God Porte has no luck in GTs at all.

Sprinter Sacre

retalivity wrote: »

Porte crashed out on Stage 9 of the tour last year as well.
So all BMC GC hopes switch to TJVG - oh god

GVA has a better chance of winning the Tour than him!

Dr. Bre

retalivity wrote: »

Porte crashed out on Stage 9 of the tour last year as well.
So all BMC GC hopes switch to TJVG - oh god

Van Avermaet is more likely to win overall than TJ lol..

About 15km to go before the first cobbles I think.

coco0981

That's awful for Porte, really thought he was going to be the main challenge to Froome as well

Puncture already in the breakaway

retalivity

Bardet puncture, everything coming up sky so far today

eagle eye

Kinda fancy Stuyven today. A lot of the big boys for today have gc contenders to look after and it might affect them.

outfox

One of the riders in the breakaway got a puncture on the first cobble stage, but dd not avail of the neutral service. Why was that?

velo.2010

Ridiculous amount of cars and moto's on the road. I thought they had put a cap on the number a few years ago. Seems there are more than ever.

Lusk_Doyle

outfox wrote: »

One of the riders in the breakaway got a puncture on the first cobble stage, but dd not avail of the neutral service. Why was that?

Cos the moto looked at him and didn't even stop!

retalivity

eagle eye wrote: »

Kinda fancy Stuyven today. A lot of the big boys for today have gc contenders to look after and it might affect them.

See also - Julian Vermote

MPFGLB

Sagan wil win today imo

Lusk_Doyle

Gobshi te car driver right there. So dangerous.

dahat

Lotto jumbo rider with his bike snapped at the fork, looked a nasty tumble as well.

Boscoirl

I hope the bike broke as a result of the crash and not the cause of it

Sal Butamol

This is bananas.

retalivity

lol 5 sky lads in the selection

GC being over is a major disappointment.