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2017 Le Grand Boucle Rides again

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  • #16
    Excellent stage today. I just finished watching and it's nice to have some drama finally after Froome's domination. I was giong to post three days ago that I think Aru might have a shot but of course I didn't and now I don't look like the savant that I could have looked like . I'm no real fan of any particular cyclist so it's nice to have the top 4 riders within 35 seconds of each other and Aru really does look strong. Froome cracked pretty bad at the end and lost those 20 seconds but like RC said, it's crazy that Sky had two guys with Froome up until the end and Landa even beat Froome by a good 15 seconds. Contador looks old, but of course he's also a bit banged up. Nairo looks like he just rode a grand tour recently, which he did. Bardet is giving the French some false hope.

    Mostly just hilly or flat stages until Wednesday when they have a HC climb to a downhill finish. Then Thursday is another mountain top finish. If Aru wants a chance, he's going to have to put more time into Froome given the 23km relatively flat time trial on stage 20.
    "Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. Uchtdorf

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    • #17
      Originally posted by Moliere View Post
      Mostly just hilly or flat stages until Wednesday when they have a HC climb to a downhill finish. Then Thursday is another mountain top finish. If Aru wants a chance, he's going to have to put more time into Froome given the 23km relatively flat time trial on stage 20.
      Boy was I wrong. Friday was a fantastic stage. Contador decided to attack early and Nairo decided to join him. It's crazy that they put 2 mins into the yellow group, but probably won't make a difference regardless. But the stage was fun to watch. Then today, on a fairly benign stage, Aru somehow loses 20+ seconds and also loses the yellow jersey. I have no idea what he was doing so far back in the peloton but it cost him big time. Maybe he had an off day or maybe he's saving it for tomorrow, which is a pretty crazy stage with some decent climbs but a longer downhill finish. I do wonder if any GC guys will attack early given the lack of flats they could hold the lead if they get some help.

      Kudos to whomever setup this years route. It's been fun and well thought out so far.
      "Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. Uchtdorf

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      • #18
        Originally posted by Moliere View Post
        Boy was I wrong. Friday was a fantastic stage. Contador decided to attack early and Nairo decided to join him. It's crazy that they put 2 mins into the yellow group, but probably won't make a difference regardless. But the stage was fun to watch. Then today, on a fairly benign stage, Aru somehow loses 20+ seconds and also loses the yellow jersey. I have no idea what he was doing so far back in the peloton but it cost him big time. Maybe he had an off day or maybe he's saving it for tomorrow, which is a pretty crazy stage with some decent climbs but a longer downhill finish. I do wonder if any GC guys will attack early given the lack of flats they could hold the lead if they get some help.

        Kudos to whomever setup this years route. It's been fun and well thought out so far.
        Aru lost 2 big-time teammates who were supposed to help him in the climbing stages. Cataldo and Fuglsang crashed out. Still, he had a teammate who was trying to keep him clear and toward the front yesterday, but said that he looked back and Aru wasn't there anymore. The teammate sounded pretty disgusted that Aru didn't follow him. But without Cataldo and Fuglsang, he probably didn't have much of a chance for yellow in Paris anyway.

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        • #19
          Today was an enjoyable stage. I don't think I've ever seen a tour rider serpentine up a climb before until this stage. These 15 to 20 percent short climbs are causing some havoc.

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          • #20
            There have been some interesting stages with surprising results. I'm still ignorant about many of the elements and subtleties of pro cycling, though. This year's tour planners said they wanted to make it more interesting with more surprises, and the commentators have been talking about that and how going into each stage there would be a lot of unpredictablity. How do they know this? I understand why some routes favor climbers and flat routes favor sprinters, of course, but I'm lost on how they know that specific routes favor some climbers others, and sprinters over other sprinters. I guess one really needs to understand the specific strengths and weakness of each rider, as to which I'm hopeless.

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            • #21
              Originally posted by PaloAltoCougar View Post
              There have been some interesting stages with surprising results. I'm still ignorant about many of the elements and subtleties of pro cycling, though. This year's tour planners said they wanted to make it more interesting with more surprises, and the commentators have been talking about that and how going into each stage there would be a lot of unpredictablity. How do they know this? I understand why some routes favor climbers and flat routes favor sprinters, of course, but I'm lost on how they know that specific routes favor some climbers others, and sprinters over other sprinters. I guess one really needs to understand the specific strengths and weakness of each rider, as to which I'm hopeless.
              Some of the climbers are good at short steep climbs, while other master long steady climbs.

              Sprinters that are accustomed to truly flat sprints as opposed to those that have some modest climbs is how I interpret it.
              "Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr Epstein."

              Upon rejecting the Beatles, Dick Rowe told Brian Epstein of the January 1, 1962 audition for Decca, which signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.

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