[mp417]

Originally Posted by ebonho

I think its safe to say that Nibali does not have the legs this here. He cracked again yesterday, after the exertions on Tourmalet.

Yes, agree. He cracked again.
Also last year, Froome and Contador were out of tour early due to crashes which might have helped Nibali grab his first tour win.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by mp417

Yes, agree. He cracked again.
Also last year, Froome and Contador were out of tour early due to crashes which might have helped Nibali grab his first tour win.

Rumbles of Froome doping. What do you think? One must admit a certain "super-human" air about his climbing speed.

[NaviRai12]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Rumbles of Froome doping. What do you think? One must admit a certain "super-human" air about his climbing speed.

Chris Froome was always a good climber in both editions of Tour De France (2012/13). When he was the right hand man of Bradley Wiggins in 2012, he used to be the last person to stay with Bradley and pull him over in almost all mountain stages. Infact Bradley beat him only on Individual Time Trials. During one of the mountain stages, he was literally urging Bradley to lift his pace and had deserted him and taken off only to get the team orders to wait for Wiggins.

In 2013, when he won the race, it was again the first mountain stage where he attacked and built a good gap over his contenders. Last year if not for that nasty crash, I seriously doubt if Nibali had a chance.

It is a norm in Tour de France where if a non-French rider wins or shows an exceptional performance, they are doubted of doping. Offcourse history has proved them right in some specific cases as well. Hope Froome comes clean as I really love to see him attack in such a manner in mountain stages.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by NaviRai12

Chris Froome was always a good climber in both editions of Tour De France (2012/13). When he was the right hand man of Bradley Wiggins in 2012, he used to be the last person to stay with Bradley and pull him over in almost all mountain stages. Infact Bradley beat him only on Individual Time Trials. During one of the mountain stages, he was literally urging Bradley to lift his pace and had deserted him and taken off only to get the team orders to wait for Wiggins.

In 2013, when he won the race, it was again the first mountain stage where he attacked and built a good gap over his contenders. Last year if not for that nasty crash, I seriously doubt if Nibali had a chance.

It is a norm in Tour de France where if a non-French rider wins or shows an exceptional performance, they are doubted of doping. Offcourse history has proved them right in some specific cases as well. Hope Froome comes clean as I really love to see him attack in such a manner in mountain stages.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not casting aspersions on him. Frankly in my book, some sports like swimming and cycling (I don't classify bodybuilding as a sport per se) are just impossible to compete at the highest level without some form of doping. Its a big science. I know it pretty well, cause I have been instrumental in the clinical development and global licensure of one of the most commonly abused substances in cycling - EPO.

That said, when a guy blasts up a 6-7% gradient at 40+ kmph, I have a major culture shock.

[mp417]

Stage 12 – 16th July 2015

Stage Profile



Stage Map



Summary of today's stage

Another monster stage awaits the riders. The mountains are not getting over

Start City/Location: Lannemezan, France

End City/Location: Plateau de Beille, France

Local start time: 11:15 am (1:45 pm IST)

Total Distance: 195 kms

Type of stage: Mountain

Km 57.5 - Col de Portet-d'Aspet (1 069 m) - 4.3 kilometre-long climb at 9.7% - category 2
Km 93.0 - Col de la Core (1 389 m) - 14.1 kilometre-long climb at 5.7% - category 1
Km 144.0 - Port de Lers (1 517 m) - 12.9 kilometre-long climb at 6% - category 1
Km 195.0 - PLATEAU DE BEILLE (1 780 m) - 15.8 kilometre-long climb at 7.9% - category H


TV Schedule for India
6:45 pm Live on Ten Sports.

[ebonho]

Wow! 4 killer climbs in one day!!!! And a day after Tourmalet. Each one of these Tour cyclists is superhuman man.

[NaviRai12]

It will be really interesting day today to see if someone can upset Chris Froome on one of these mountain stages. Penultimate climb will be very interesting to watch but final climb should have a lot of attacks and counter attacks.

Seriously hope it will be an exciting race today and if Chris Froome can maintain his momentum as his previous climbs, I dont see anyone having a chance to win this year's tour barring any mishaps in later stages.

[mp417]

Originally Posted by ebonho

Wow! 4 killer climbs in one day!!!! And a day after Tourmalet. Each one of these Tour cyclists is superhuman man.

The issue is we don't get to see entire stage on TV and India broadcast starts late. Yesterday as well majority of the stage was already over.

Originally Posted by NaviRai12

It will be really interesting day today to see if someone can upset Chris Froome on one of these mountain stages. Penultimate climb will be very interesting to watch but final climb should have a lot of attacks and counter attacks.

Seriously hope it will be an exciting race today and if Chris Froome can maintain his momentum as his previous climbs, I dont see anyone having a chance to win this year's tour barring any mishaps in later stages.

I think for Froome it's easier to just sit in the slipstream and not do anything stupid. He has a large buffer on all the rivals. Looking at the previous two stages, none of the contenders were able to attack on the climbs. In fact they just wanted to survive the day

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by mp417

The issue is we don't get to see entire stage on TV and India broadcast starts late. Yesterday as well majority of the stage was already over.

I agree man. I agree I tuned in late, but I never got to see Tourmalet.

[mp417]

Forgot to attach the three monster climb's profile in the original post.

Climb 2



Climb 3



Climb 4 - mother of all climbs for today's stage
15 kms at 8% gradient



I was just wondering how it would feel to ride our bikes on these climbs with all the fans around

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by mp417

I was just wondering how it would feel to ride our bikes on these climbs with all the fans around

Forget the fans. My knees are groaning just looking at the red graphics.

[mp417]

Stage 12 Results

The day was filled with Rain, Hailstorm, Wind, Slippery roads, Climbs after climbs and what not. The conditions were really treacherous for all riders. And then there were attacks and counter attacks and attacks and counter attacks and attacks. This continued till the finish line in the last 16 kilometers monster climb. Thoroughly enjoyed the nail biting finish

Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) claimed his second stage win at the 102nd Tour de France after the Mur de Huy as he soloed to victory with 7.5 kms to go in the ascent to Plateau de Beille. Under the deluge, Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) made the top three while the yellow jersey group crossed the line with a deficit of 6 min 46 sec. Despite a few attacks by his adversaries, Chris Froome (Team Sky) kept the race under control and retained the lead in the overall ranking at the exit of the Pyrenees.

Lone ride by Rodriguez





Nibali tried attacking yellow jersey but brought back by Team Sky



Contador tried attacking yellow jersey but brought back by Team Sky



Valverde attacked multiple times and in the last 100 meters as well



Quintana and Froome at finish line

[ebonho]

Yesterday's final climb showed how difficult it is to attack successfully on a brutal climb where everyone is already screaming over into the red zone of their power outputs.

Something dancing shoes Armstrong used to do regularly. I miss that guy man, whatever anyone else has to say about him. A legend.

[asr245]

Originally Posted by mp417

Stage 12 Results

The day was filled with Rain, Hailstorm, Wind, Slippery roads, Climbs after climbs and what not. The conditions were really treacherous for all riders. And then there were attacks and counter attacks and attacks and counter attacks and attacks. This continued till the finish line in the last 16 kilometers monster climb. Thoroughly enjoyed the nail biting finish

Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) claimed his second stage win at the 102nd Tour de France after the Mur de Huy as he soloed to victory with 7.5 kms to go in the ascent to Plateau de Beille. Under the deluge, Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) and Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) made the top three while the yellow jersey group crossed the line with a deficit of 6 min 46 sec. Despite a few attacks by his adversaries, Chris Froome (Team Sky) kept the race under control and retained the lead in the overall ranking at the exit of the Pyrenees.

Wonderful description. Miss watching the races

Originally Posted by ebonho

Something dancing shoes Armstrong used to do regularly. I miss that guy man, whatever anyone else has to say about him. A legend.

Yes - the BIGGEST CHEAT of all times!!

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by asr245

Yes - the BIGGEST CHEAT of all times!!

If you've been following cycling you would know that EVERYONE dopes.

Why single Armstrong out?

Answer is simple. Because he was the best at it. And was never caught while still actively racing. In fact not till he came forward and came clean.

Let's call a spade a spade.

Go back to the history of the Tour over the past 15 years (the time I've been following it) and tell me who was clean.

I hasten to add that this will be my last post on the subject, as I do not want this wonderful thread to get unnecessarily derailed by unnecessary negativity and tu tu main main.

Cheers.