Over 3 minutes ahead of Valverde now though. That's the race over isn't it? The only hope is that Sky have another awful day or two and people start ganging up on Froome in the mountains.
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Tour De France 2012
- Thread starter davek
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moosed
Player Valuation: £30m
"The time trial.
The test of raw muscle power vs aerodynamic position. Has just been blitzed by a stick figure anorexic with a bad TT position and tall aero-unfriendly figure, who somehow beat all the TT specialists and would even have beaten the world's most dominant time triallist if a 30km/h headwind hadn't risen in the last minutes.
Froome has jumped the shark, it boggles the mind how anyone can defend this out of anything but raging nationalistic bias.
Saturday I was laughing. Now I'm just sighing. I hung on through the Saunier antics, I hung on through 7 years of an EPOed up Armstrong, I hung on through Contador's silly performances and I even hung on through Basso in 2006 shattering all records of mountain climbing powers up very close to an absolutely alien 7 watts/kg. But this is too much.
I've seen things approaching this amount of ridiculous at least 10 times. Every time the excuses were the same: they just train better, or train harder, or have misterious new methods or whatever. Every single one ended in a doping conviction followed by the rider's fans and family exclaiming shock and the rest of the world being bored with the predictability of it all. I've reached the point where I don't care anymore. I'll get a new hobby.
Wiggins once said, back when he was a nobody, that he hoped he could one day win a Tour time trial 'and be a credible winner because I haven't beaten my competitors by two minutes'. Today all the GC contenders were two or more minutes behind Froome, and the time trial was extremely short.
To quote Charly Mottet on french TV today: 'I refuse to watch this work of fiction any more'. "
This pretty much sums up my view, although im not at the point where im going to stop watching.
The test of raw muscle power vs aerodynamic position. Has just been blitzed by a stick figure anorexic with a bad TT position and tall aero-unfriendly figure, who somehow beat all the TT specialists and would even have beaten the world's most dominant time triallist if a 30km/h headwind hadn't risen in the last minutes.
Froome has jumped the shark, it boggles the mind how anyone can defend this out of anything but raging nationalistic bias.
Saturday I was laughing. Now I'm just sighing. I hung on through the Saunier antics, I hung on through 7 years of an EPOed up Armstrong, I hung on through Contador's silly performances and I even hung on through Basso in 2006 shattering all records of mountain climbing powers up very close to an absolutely alien 7 watts/kg. But this is too much.
I've seen things approaching this amount of ridiculous at least 10 times. Every time the excuses were the same: they just train better, or train harder, or have misterious new methods or whatever. Every single one ended in a doping conviction followed by the rider's fans and family exclaiming shock and the rest of the world being bored with the predictability of it all. I've reached the point where I don't care anymore. I'll get a new hobby.
Wiggins once said, back when he was a nobody, that he hoped he could one day win a Tour time trial 'and be a credible winner because I haven't beaten my competitors by two minutes'. Today all the GC contenders were two or more minutes behind Froome, and the time trial was extremely short.
To quote Charly Mottet on french TV today: 'I refuse to watch this work of fiction any more'. "
This pretty much sums up my view, although im not at the point where im going to stop watching.
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EvertruvianMan
Player Valuation: £1.5m
Do the French make good wine out of such sour grapes?
Froome is super skinny so god only knows where he gets his power from, BUT, he's hardly a flash in the pan in time trialling terms. He beat Wiggins in the 2011 Vuelta time trial, and beat some very good people in time trials last year as well, including of course Tony Martin in the Olympic TT.
That's not to say he's without doubt clean because frankly, in cycling, I wouldn't put it past anyone, but it's not like he's simply turned up at this years event and become a time trialler.
That's not to say he's without doubt clean because frankly, in cycling, I wouldn't put it past anyone, but it's not like he's simply turned up at this years event and become a time trialler.
EvertruvianMan
Player Valuation: £1.5m
The nay sayers that have been sharpening up their axes for Froome and cycling again are just heartbroken that he didnt win today so they can point and say "thats evidence right there, haha, told you so".
Martin today came within 0.1km/h of equalling Greg Lemonds 1989 TT ave speed. Interesting man Lemond, perhaps the nay sayers should research him.
Pretty much all of the blokes I watched and admired growing up were on the juice in some way or other, so it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Sky lads were too, but I just don't think Froome has done anything extraordinary in this race thus far that he hasn't done in previous races. People weren't saying he was doping when he was 2nd behind Wiggins in a time trial, so why now he's 2nd behind Martin?
EvertruvianMan
Player Valuation: £1.5m
They have an axe to grind, letthem get on with it, I enjoy the greatest endurance event in the world ever for its sporting endeavor and the drama that comes with - not to be dragged down to a debate about ''smack heads'' and ''dope maniacs''. I'm no saint, I reckon Nadal has at least one bag of blood in that Spanish lab, same with Contador, personally as clean as he is now David Millar should have been ejected for being a former doper etc.
Sporting credibility is a lot like a persons word, once it is sullied it cannot be regained - the funny thing is, a lot of those chastising the sport were never interested until all the gossip and red top headlines were so common. The opposite of 'fair weather friends' the 'bad time bandwagoners'.
moosed
Player Valuation: £30m
you're entitled to your opinion but there is just so much stuff which points towards team sky etc doping, its just so obvious its painful.
give it a few years and it will all come out, im almost certain of it
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EvertruvianMan
Player Valuation: £1.5m
Get your petition in now to strip Wiggins of his Knighthood. Your name could be top of the list. Hell of a scalp to bring down and disgrace ay.
Arteta2391
Player Valuation: £30m
Kittel took this sprinter's stage. I was surprised to see Sagan not going in for the win in the last seconds.
Cavendish has had a stinker of a Tour by his own high standards. Very surprised to see him get beaten fair and square today in a straight up sprint. Are the days of him winning 4-5 stages per Tour over?
Arteta2391
Player Valuation: £30m
Cavendish is 28
Kittel is 25.
both are considered young for competitive cyclists. I think Cavendish was too confident in winning today that he forgot that Kittel was locking in to his wheel and over taking him in the last 10 seconds of the race.
Doesn't seem like the QuickStep train is functioning quite right either, but still, Cavendish would normally have won from that kind of situation in the past. Interesting that he's being seriously challenged by the two Germans this year. The final stage should be interesting as he's dominated that in the past.
EvertruvianMan
Player Valuation: £1.5m
Without a top notch leadout man like Renshaw Cav struggles, Renshaw is awesome because instead of acting like a reverse firing missile when Cav jumps off him, he actually then tries/tried to get Cav's wheel to block anyone else jumping on so easily - the aforementioned 'sweeper' job. Kittel got Cavs wheel too easily today and we didnt see the patented second Cav kick either - perhaps the course caught up with him, or hes carrying a knock or a virus or maybe it was Lance Armstrongs pee that was thrown on him and if he would have won today and been tested he feared he might have got found to have doped. (joking of course)
Another sprint tomorrow and Sagan slowly being reeled in - bit harsh on Greipel today as well.
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