2016 Tour de France - Page 3
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Saechiis
Netherlands4989 Posts
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FueledUpAndReadyToGo
Netherlands30538 Posts
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FiWiFaKi
Canada9858 Posts
On July 03 2016 01:12 FueledUpAndReadyToGo wrote: I hope Contador is ok to continue. He fell pretty darn hard on that concrete curb. Lost a lot of skin at least. Yeah, his shoulder/back looked pretty gross from it, but it looks like it is mostly skin given he could get back up and keep with the pace (phew). On July 03 2016 00:42 Saechiis wrote: Damn I missed the boat on this, no fantasy tour for me to obsess over, rip. I even tried to keep the thread plenty active in order to let people view it in the sidebar before the race started On July 03 2016 00:37 TzaTzers wrote: Yea Sagan looked great there! Kittel looked a little worn by the end but I don't know if it was the lack of good positioning coming into the last straight or the overall great positioning by Cavendish. It was unfortunate positioning by Sagan, since he had to make his way from like 8-9th place into first without having a wheel to ride behind, and in the process he made life very easy for Cavendish. Hard for me to read too much into the sprint besides Kittel and Sagan being in superb form. Also I love the passion from cycling commentators (sprint starts at 16 minutes~): http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/dailymotion/?title=Last 15 Km of Stage 1&dashboard=tour-de-france&id=x4jfvlx&yr=2016 (video courtesy of Eurosport and steephill.tv doing their own online coverage. On July 02 2016 23:54 L_Master wrote: Fuck me. Apparently Gesink withdrew like a week and a half ago. I assumed they'd take guys that have withdrawn off the damn selection list. So much for my team, and missed a small 4pt pick that also withdrew. So...guess I get to start with 6. Lame. Probably should have combed the start lists a little more thoroughly, the day before, but I'm still pissed. Why would you list a guy that has withdrawn from the race as a pickable candidate?! That sucks What they do is if you picked someone and then they aren't on the roster or get removed, you're not able to find them in the list and pick them again, however if you have them chosen, they remain there. Ideally, the most logical way to do it in my eyes is that it'd deselect your previous rider. I had that Movistar rider myself. | ||
L_Master
United States7946 Posts
Glad that Contador (seems to have) got through that crash without structural damage. For sure the road rash will be annoying and a bit disruptive, but a crash like that could have easily ended his Tour. Word on the street and from him seems to be he doesn't think that will be the case. That crash in the final few hundred meters was downright scary. They really ought to do something about fans being able to lean in, as well as the barrier feet being clippable by pedals. Easily could have been another crash like the awful one early last year that took out Spartacus and others before the Mur de Huy. Major kudos to Cav. I thought he had largely slipped from the form needed to contest sprints with the top big boys, but he certainly threw that notion out the door. Not really a Cav fan (not an anti fan either) but that was a nice one to see him win and get the opportunity to wear yellow. A man that has 27 wins deserves that at least once in my book. Kittel didn't look bad, but was out way to early compared to Cav who just sat and slipstreamed and could get a nice jump. Sagan also looked very good to be up there with those guys, better timing and he might have had a chance at a victory. Going to be shocked if Sagan doesn't get a win or two this year. | ||
L_Master
United States7946 Posts
Mountains Challenge For anyone interested that rides bikes and feels inspired watching the best do their thing, I'd challenge everyone to get out and do an epic ride in the hills (or on the flats if you have no hills) and post them up. I'll say the challenge opens on the 15th and closes on the 19th. There will be three categories for: 1) Longest Duration 2) Most Elevation Gain 3) Highest VAM on a climb greater than 300m in elevation change (A 4-6 min climb will be accepted in lieu of a 300m+ climb, but with a 10% reduction to account for the shorter duration) So even if you don't have hours of time you can take a stab at number 3. Go out, grab your phone or GPS, and post em up to strava. Small prizes TBA will be associated with each category. | ||
FueledUpAndReadyToGo
Netherlands30538 Posts
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FiWiFaKi
Canada9858 Posts
On July 03 2016 08:23 FueledUpAndReadyToGo wrote: Stage 2 so hard to guess who will win. I guess Sagan is main candidate but other than that it could be anything from GC riders like Daniel Martin and Kelderman to sprinters like Kristoff and Hagen Yeah, Sagan definitely has a lot of motivation to do well, as if Sagan gets first he will have the yellow jersey as long as Cav is out of top 3 (there's zero chance that Cavendish can to that uphill and still have legs for a sprint). This is definitely one of those Valverde, Purito, Van Avermaet, Dan Martin, Sagan stages. I would also be very happy if Kristoff and Hagen did well as I have them in my fantasy. That said, it's not a Mur de Huy type of climb, with the last 2km averaging like 5%, so like you said, might be open to some of the non-pure sprinters. I think it'll be another one of those stages where I'll come to watch the last 20-30 minutes. | ||
FiWiFaKi
Canada9858 Posts
On July 03 2016 06:05 L_Master wrote: Mountains Challenge For anyone interested that rides bikes and feels inspired watching the best do their thing, I'd challenge everyone to get out and do an epic ride in the hills (or on the flats if you have no hills) and post them up. I'll say the challenge opens on the 15th and closes on the 19th. There will be three categories for: 1) Longest Duration 2) Most Elevation Gain 3) Highest VAM on a climb greater than 300m in elevation change (A 4-6 min climb will be accepted in lieu of a 300m+ climb, but with a 10% reduction to account for the shorter duration) So even if you don't have hours of time you can take a stab at number 3. Go out, grab your phone or GPS, and post em up to strava. Small prizes TBA will be associated with each category. Cool, thanks for doing this. I've never used Strava, I don't need data/signal when I'm cycling in the mountains, do I? As those data fees would destroy me, even though I have unlimited within city limits (I'm wanting to use an Android phone). I spent like 2 hours today getting dirty and fixing my front derailleur, I can finally use the big ring again. So now that all my gear is ready, I think I should have the longest duration category in the bag. | ||
L_Master
United States7946 Posts
On July 03 2016 08:59 FiWiFaKi wrote: Cool, thanks for doing this. I've never used Strava, I don't need data/signal when I'm cycling in the mountains, do I? As those data fees would destroy me, even though I have unlimited within city limits (I'm wanting to use an Android phone). I spent like 2 hours today getting dirty and fixing my front derailleur, I can finally use the big ring again. So now that all my gear is ready, I think I should have the longest duration category in the bag. Yea, I don't have plans to challenge 10 hours. Watch someone go nuts and pop a 24 hour ride on us or something :p As for strava, it doesn't use any data while cycling as far as I know because I can record the ride with strava with mobile data and wireless turned off (locations services needs to be on) and then upload the data when I have a connection. I'm surprised you haven't used it since you ride a decent amount, it's great for tracking everything you do, even if you're not interested in being competitive or doing deep analysis. | ||
L_Master
United States7946 Posts
On July 03 2016 08:52 FiWiFaKi wrote: Yeah, Sagan definitely has a lot of motivation to do well, as if Sagan gets first he will have the yellow jersey as long as Cav is out of top 3 (there's zero chance that Cavendish can to that uphill and still have legs for a sprint). This is definitely one of those Valverde, Purito, Van Avermaet, Dan Martin, Sagan stages. I would also be very happy if Kristoff and Hagen did well as I have them in my fantasy. That said, it's not a Mur de Huy type of climb, with the last 2km averaging like 5%, so like you said, might be open to some of the non-pure sprinters. I think it'll be another one of those stages where I'll come to watch the last 20-30 minutes. I'm a junkie, so I'll probably watch most of the 4 hours like I usually do for the tour. I almost always watch at least the last hour. Oftentimes it's tranquil till for most of the last hour even but I enjoy seeing what's been unfolding. Dan Martin are Sagan going 1-2 would be very nice. Need dem points! | ||
FiWiFaKi
Canada9858 Posts
On July 03 2016 12:40 L_Master wrote: Yea, I don't have plans to challenge 10 hours. Watch someone go nuts and pop a 24 hour ride on us or something :p As for strava, it doesn't use any data while cycling as far as I know because I can record the ride with strava with mobile data and wireless turned off (locations services needs to be on) and then upload the data when I have a connection. I'm surprised you haven't used it since you ride a decent amount, it's great for tracking everything you do, even if you're not interested in being competitive or doing deep analysis. Thanks for the info, I suppose I'll see how I like it when using it for this event. I think I've mentioned it in the past, but initially I got into cycling because when I wanted to go for a cigarette break and I didn't want my parents to know, it was an easy out, and getting a bit of exercise too was a nice mix. Then it became something I'd do for peace, nothing quite like doing a loop around this lake in the city, without a single artificial light within 1km of you at any time and going through the forest, hearing crickets, owls, rustling of leaves at 2am in the morning. I really should record of it sometime, I'm not sure how well the atmosphere would transfer to video, but it's a very meditating experience for me. Then I think it was near the end of my high school when my social studies teacher would always rant about how people get cars to save time, but are you really saving time by having to work to pay for the car/insurance/gas? As a high school or university student, working part time, that's like 30-50% of your salary no problem, my little brother recently purchased a car and almost all his money goes towards it. So that kind of stuck with, and then when I realized I could travel anywhere in the city on a bike than public transit, I fell in love (not to mention saving $6 on a roundtrip commute adds up when you try to budget $400-$500 a month). So I suppose I've always been about the practical aspects, and not that the Froome mentality of looking at your cadence and power meter is bad, it's too robotic for my liking. I like using my sensory feedback, and I don't get discouraged if I go too hard on some climb and my legs feel like jello for the next 10-20km. And since air resistance accounts for like 70-80% of your losses when exerting 300W, and since velocity is proportional to roughly power cubed (w.r.t. air resistance), I have never felt the need to go buy some expensive bicycle, or fancy gear that will let me shave off 1-2 minutes off of an hour ride... Since at the end of the day, I'm pushing myself equally hard regardless of how quickly I'm going. Anyway, that's my perspective on a lot of it (which I know is different from yours), and my justification for not worrying about the numbers too much, all too often people overcomplicate cycling, when they'd improve much more if they just made sure to go out. That's the mistake I made in the past with going to the gym, trying to make myself some fancy regimen and diet, and it just being too difficult to stick to. Maybe once I get to the point of being consistent enough in going out to do it I'd change my mentality, but currently I still go through phases where I get motivated and cycle a lot, and then phases where I get interested in something else and cycling goes to the backburner. | ||
FiWiFaKi
Canada9858 Posts
On July 03 2016 12:42 L_Master wrote: I'm a junkie, so I'll probably watch most of the 4 hours like I usually do for the tour. I almost always watch at least the last hour. Oftentimes it's tranquil till for most of the last hour even but I enjoy seeing what's been unfolding. Dan Martin are Sagan going 1-2 would be very nice. Need dem points! Well you must be very diligent in keeping a good sleeping schedule then. It's can be very difficult for me to wake up at 5am or whatever it is haha. I think we're in the same time zone too, but once the mountain stages roll around, I usually watch 2-3 hours. It's just a lot of time to invest, though if I wake up early, I'll leave it open on my computer and just listen to the audio while doing something else. Yeah, Dan Martin should do well, seems like he was a very popular choice. I suppose the fact that he's a very likeable guy and on-form is a good combination. And man, I was really considering picking Sagan, but I just couldn't bring myself to it, even though he's by far my favorite rider. Like I won on the back of him last year, but the choice here would have been 20 on Sagan and 4 on a no-name who will get like 200 points, versus... Boasson Hagen + Kristoff, which is only 18 points, and then having 6 more points to pick a GC/climber. Last year Sagan had 1967 points, which I considered a very good scenario if he could repeat, so those 24 points would get me 2200 points. Versus Boasson Hagen + Kristoff, which seeing their form, I think 700 each is realistic, and 6 extra points is like the difference between Pinot/Aru or Rolland kind of level, which is an easy 500 points extra imo. So yeah, I dunno, I didn't want to take the risk on one rider like that (a fuckin' legend nonetheless), but lets see how it works out! | ||
Skynx
Turkey7150 Posts
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Agathon
France1505 Posts
On July 03 2016 19:18 Skynx wrote: I have a feeling its gona be a Van Avermaat day I don't think so. 41km, 5'18''. One of the 4 men have a good chance to win the stage now. Usually, a small group loses 1min/10km against a chasing peloton. We'll see but I've the feeling the winner will be unexpected. | ||
bluzi
4703 Posts
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bluzi
4703 Posts
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amazingxkcd
GRAND OLD AMERICA16375 Posts
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Agathon
France1505 Posts
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Saechiis
Netherlands4989 Posts
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Skynx
Turkey7150 Posts
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