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On July 07 2018 22:43 Gjhc wrote: Wow, can't believe the damage this stage already did. Quintana may very well be out of contention already. Quickstep on the other hand dominated the finish and Gaviria finished it off perfectly.
Edit: Ok, Quintana not totally out but lost 1:15. Froome, Porte (lol), Yates all lost 51s.
I don't know what to say. This guy is either just obscenly, almost cruel joke unlucky or he does some weird shit with his racing to have all these things happen to him.
The good news is that almost all of the major players took a hit. Froome, Porte, Quintana, Yates. The only other top contender that didn't lose time are Landa and Bardet
Nibali, Roglic, Kruijswijk (not sure if he is supporting Roglic or not), Dumoulin, Uran also didn't lose time; but all of those guys in my mind would have to seriously surprise to be in contention to win the thing even with a free 1:00.
If Landa or Bardet (worried about cobbles for him) are properly prepared they are now serious threats. Vintage either one of those guys could be difficult to take back 1:00 on. Watching carefully for stages 5 and 9 now.
FUCK I'm so pissed it was Bernal and not Thomas that got caught out. Bernal as a Froome back up is a million times more interesting than Thomas, but now there is almost no chance they turn him lose unless it's to stage hunt or something. Grrr....
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Sagan just doesn't crash. Dude's impressive.
Dunno why Gaviria was in like 15th-20th wheel there, but it cost him. Looks like he got up quick, but he did hit is shoulder. We shall have to see if it affects his form.
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Impressive from Colbrelli, almost had it!
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Yea the kick by Colbrelli at the end was impressive. Thought he might eke it out at the end there
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My prediction for the TTT: 1. BMC 2. SKY 3. MICHELTON 4. SUNWEB 5. QUICKSTEP
Movistar and Bora may also be close to top5.
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I say SUNWEB will win.
edit: Happy cakeday and wow, nice prediction. ^^
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Go Porte! Go BMC!
Crazy to see that both Froome and Porte are 33. Time flies.
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Quickstep destroyed your perfect prediction. :D
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Haha, damn Quickstep, you were supposed to do 5s slower! It was incredibly close between top5, any could have won. Also big surprise EF lost so little.
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Huge ride for EF. Especially Craddock. That dude is one tough SOB.
Sagan looked really poor today. Perhaps battling illness?
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Gaviria and Sagan seem to be the top sprinters, but I think Greipel is going to win one eventually.
Katusha..... let their leader lose 1 min..... ridiculous, especially for a team that has had no results. I'd be furious and questioning continuity on that team if I was Zakarin.
Edit: It seems the team didn't know Zakarin was held in the crash and that he didn't tell them either.
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On July 11 2018 04:42 Gjhc wrote: Gaviria and Sagan seem to be the top sprinters, but I think Greipel is going to win one eventually.
Katusha..... let their leader lose 1 min..... ridiculous, especially for a team that has had no results. I'd be furious and questioning continuity on that team if I was Zakarin.
Edit: It seems the team didn't know Zakarin was held in the crash and that he didn't tell them either.
LOL wat?!
If that's true I can only be smh. I realize it might be the FIRST thing you think about, but after you've got one guy back there and you're smashing it to try and get towards the peleton you're going to be screaming for help.
In fairness though, I don't know if they have the manpower since I'm sure several of their guys are committed to Kittel. Speaking of which...what is up with that dude. No crashes, no known injuries, somehow how goes from utterly dominant to two mediocre stage wins this entire season and irrelevant so far here. Yea being part of QS train is a ridiculous advantage...but Kittel is almost massively better physically than every other sprinter in the peleton. I guess his lack of confidence and bike handling just f*cks him over to bad and it's being exposed now that he doesn't have god tier leadout train.
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On July 11 2018 05:09 L_Master wrote:Show nested quote +On July 11 2018 04:42 Gjhc wrote: Gaviria and Sagan seem to be the top sprinters, but I think Greipel is going to win one eventually.
Katusha..... let their leader lose 1 min..... ridiculous, especially for a team that has had no results. I'd be furious and questioning continuity on that team if I was Zakarin.
Edit: It seems the team didn't know Zakarin was held in the crash and that he didn't tell them either. LOL wat?! If that's true I can only be smh. I realize it might be the FIRST thing you think about, but after you've got one guy back there and you're smashing it to try and get towards the peleton you're going to be screaming for help. In fairness though, I don't know if they have the manpower since I'm sure several of their guys are committed to Kittel. Speaking of which...what is up with that dude. No crashes, no known injuries, somehow how goes from utterly dominant to two mediocre stage wins this entire season and irrelevant so far here. Yea being part of QS train is a ridiculous advantage...but Kittel is almost massively better physically than every other sprinter in the peleton. I guess his lack of confidence and bike handling just f*cks him over to bad and it's being exposed now that he doesn't have god tier leadout train.
Thing is I can see it being true. Zakarin is extremely shy, and although everyone says he's an excelent guy he seems to have 0 leadership and maybe even uncomfortable/afraid to ask anything. Still, the team HAD to make sure where he was after a big crash and not seeing him in the peloton.
Kittel, yea he suffers more than anyone without a perfect train. That and for some reason not achieving top form is really hurting his results, because he is defintitly the guy with the most speed if things go right for him. He is completely the opposite of Sagan.
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Great sprint today. Really thought Greipel had that after starting the sprint from out of nowhere. It was impressive to see him from the aerial view.
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Excited for tomorrows stage. Can't tell exactly how hard it is, but I hope it's classics esque difficulty and gets raced that way. Could definitely cause some nice splits. Would be very much in Valverde and Nibali's favor is it went that way.
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Wow, Michael Matthews already out due to sickness? I didn't pick him at Fantasy but I expect some people did as he was pretty good last time! (yes Fantasy is death this time, I know)
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Sagan blew everyone away today. Yikes
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Wow, no comments today. Light so far in general. Suprising for what is well set to potentially be one of the best, most competitive TdFs in a long time!
Garbage luck for Dumoulin today. Normally he would be one for a top 5 on a stage like today, but mechanical with 6km to go or w.e. it was is GGNORE. Rough for Bardet as well. Froome was maybe a bit weak, but usually these super punchy stages aren't his domain. Two thoughts on Dan Martin. First, he was damn impressive today. Porte tried to pull him back, then peeled off and Thomas tried, neither of them got anywhere. Good to see him back in form after being TAN last TdF and finishing with a freakin broken back! Secondly, damn what happened to this guy. He's not very attractive to begin with, but man watching that podium presentation his skin and appearance looked legit 45.
Not sure if anyone was watching yesterday...but Bernal was REALLY impressive. He did a huge pull from like 2km to 1km at the front of the peleton, and then still finished more or less with the group on the little punch to the finish. Was up there today after working too. This guy has almost a stupid amount of raw talent.
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It's hard not to like a Dan Martin win. His acceleration was fantastic, and he kept that insane pace for 1.2km with the best peloton the WT has to offer chasing and still made it, amazing!
It's funny how most gc candidates are separated by so few seconds because almost everyone lost time due to bad luck. And the Roubaix stage is yet to come!
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