UKC

So, is Froome going to show his hand and will it be four aces or a pair of two's?

In reply to Removed User:

I can't see him risking anything for what is essentially a warm up race. I missed yesterday's stage but looking forward to catching the highlights later on Eurosport player.

Friday's stage comes just a few KMs from our house as it climbs up to the Col de Grimone (a spectacular ride) so work phone calls and weather (we've had ridiculous afternoon thunderstorms lately including golf ball sized hail on Saturday) then I will run or pedal up to take a look.

In reply to Removed User:


Looked like he started showing it yesterday, but was beaten to the draw

In reply to nufkin:

Great ride yesterday by Bardet - great descending... I was wincing as he pedalled round the bends expecting a pedal strike at any moment.

In reply to Removed User:

Been too busy riding to watch any of it, but yesterday sounded like a great stage and today sounds even better. Great to hear the big names are attacking early rather than waiting for the final climb

And before anyone has a go at me for spoiling - the bad news is that apparently it all happened before the coverage started !

In reply to Removed User:
To be honest I was ever so slightly disappointed with Fromme yesterday and with the apparent ease that Tejay reeled him back in at the end of the race.
I would have thought he would be going all out to win and lay down a marker for the tour and to remind Contador of who his main rivals are going to be.

In reply to Gone for good:

I'm not sure, I reckon Froome is pretty happy. Van Garderen was very impressive yes, but we have no idea how far in the red he was going at the end - getting the leaders jersey at this point is bigger achievement for him than for Froome. I'm reasonably sure Froome stuck exactly to his prescribed power levels in order to stay fresh for the next couple of days.

I was more disappointed with Nibali - I know he has a history of liking to hold back in the Dauphiné, but it rather insults the race if he treats it so obviously as a glorified training session.

I'm pleased for Van Garderen though, he deserves a good result and seems like a good egg. Hopefully he can keep the jersey til the end.

In reply to Gone for good: Today looked like a meta-cock up from Sky - letting Mr Nibbles, Martin, Rui Costa etc disappear up the road so early on. But what about Simon Yates, eh?

In reply to andy:

Best bike race for ages.

In reply to Guy:

Glad you said that, I haven't been hooked on anything this year - even the Giro seemed very dull

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Great ride by nibbles and Costa. An exercise in damage limitation for Froome but what the hell happened to Team Sky? Froome won't get anywhere on the Tour if his team can't keep up.

In reply to Gone for good:

dont think this is the tour team... richie porte et al are resting after the giro

In reply to balmybaldwin:
And G is leading the Tour de Suisse team, so not here either.

In reply to Removed User:

Will be very interesting to see how today pans out. Will nibbles et all pay for their monumental efforts yesterday? Or will that be negated by the amount of work Froome had to do to limit his losses. I wouldn't say it was a massive cock-up by Sky. It's not often a combine of that strength comes together and works together but when they do you have a very powerful TTT machine. Even if Sky and BMC were working flat out they couldnt match it, which then means the rest of the peloton fractures and everyone is working as hard as the leaders.

Another big day today - and I might actually get to watch some of it

In reply to Removed User:

i thought astana had trouble getting a license to race this year. nibali is a strange one.one day he is a broken man,the next he is flying.surely this must raise questions ,personally i dont care what they do as it makes for good tv.

In reply to mark s:
I have to admit to similar thoughts, but then is the dauphine worth doping to win?

In reply to mark s:
You do get the feeling that something might be going - read the secret pro on cycling tips and there are many in the peloton who feel the same. Especially when it's Astana and katusha being so strong. But on the other hand that was no ordinary break yesterday - a road world champ, a TT world champ, one of the few people ever to win all 3 grand tours, a TDF stage winner and I can't remember the other two but they weren't mugs either. Took advantage of wet roads and a disorganised peloton. May well have been that nibbles and martin had the same plan - long training ride at high pace - and Nibbles suddenly realised he could take the race lead

In reply to Chris the Tall:

Superb ride by Froome and the Sky team. Picked up big time after yesterday. Best performance by Froome this year.

In reply to Gone for good:

Classic Froome today! Hope he can maintain and improve for the tour...

In reply to Removed User:

I take it we are feeling that things are looking a bit more human after today, and I'm not just saying that because 2 English speakers are leading the GC. The guys who made the big efforts yesterday paid for it today, the guys who are pacing themselves for the week have done just that and risen to the top. All set up for another interesting day tomorrow

In reply to Chris the Tall:
Ned B said as much in commentary - there's a bunch of lads who gave it massive beans yesterday hoping to get enough of a gap to win - and it wasn't enough. Froome (and Sky) and Tejay basically hoovered up today.

In reply to Removed User:
Should be a great final stage...

In reply to dale1968:

And so it was a fabulous finale. Special mention for Simon Yates. A star in the making.

In reply to Gone for good:


Did they say it's only his second year as a pro?

In reply to andy: > Did they say it's only his second year as a pro?

Do you remember the hoo-hah when he and his brother thumbed their noses at Sky?

In reply to Mike Highbury:



I remember a lot of people saying it was a sensible decision - that OGE would be a better place to develop given that sky's priorities were somewhat higher and more immediate

In reply to Chris the Tall:


I thought that at the time but lots of folks accused them of arrogance.

In reply to DaveHK:

Best to ignore such people!

Cracking finish to the race. Somewhat expected, but nonetheless it all came down to that final kilometre

In reply to Removed User:

One of the best races I've seen. Quality racing every day.

Really looking forward to the tour... 4 major contenders (Contador, Nibbles, Quintana, Froome) and several pretenders (Valverde, Martin, Bardot, TJ, Hesjedal etc)

In reply to Gone for good:
Great to see two UJs in the results

In reply to Removed User:

I have a horrible feeling the Tour wont live up to that. Best stage race in ages.

In reply to balmybaldwin:


Dan Martin? Really? Stages maybe but not much pedigree as an overall contender.

In reply to DaveHK:


He seems to be pushing up the order with a few top 10 GC finishes... not a contender as I would have put him in the top group, but someone that can cause some doubts in the others' heads

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/dan-martin-targets-ardennes-classics-an...

In reply to balmybaldwin:


TvD looked like he might well be a bit more than a pretender.

I suppose a lot was down to the time-trial - but he did have a good go at Froome on some of the hills

In reply to nufkin:
He's coming on well, but I think this year is a bit early... but you never know they could start dropping like flies again