Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/20/2017 03:26 PM |
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Over on day 1.
/thread
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 08/20/2017 08:00 PM |
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| 'Well you just sved me a lot of time. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/21/2017 09:44 AM |
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"Salvatore Puccio, not exactly noted as a climber, sets a very brisk tempo on the front of the peloton for Team Sky on the Rabassa"
I'll just leave this out there |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/21/2017 01:10 PM |
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OC, I saw that and my first thought was "the Sky's the limit". (Want to do the impossible? Reach for the Sky.)
Ben |
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Dale
Posts:1767
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| 08/21/2017 06:58 PM |
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Posted By Orange Crush on 08/21/2017 09:44 AM
"Salvatore Puccio, not exactly noted as a climber, sets a very brisk tempo on the front of the peloton for Team Sky on the Rabassa"
I'll just leave this out there
Oh great... another George Hincapie-like climber. |
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Habanero
Posts:257
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| 08/23/2017 01:58 PM |
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| I smell bull$4it.... |
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huckleberry
Posts:824
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| 08/24/2017 10:44 AM |
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What's bull$4it? ; )
You guys are so jaded...
They are all as clean as my pruney little old man @ss. |
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Spud
Posts:525
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| 08/24/2017 10:59 AM |
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| I could have sworn I saw Grigory Rodchenkov, in the crowd :-) |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/24/2017 01:37 PM |
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Back to the racing - good to see 1) this stage that could have been a sleeper, long successful break and the GC guys spending hours studying each other's jerseys being real racing and 2) getting to watch Contador at his best.
Ben |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/24/2017 02:19 PM |
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TJ's hands slipped off the handlebars?
http://www.velonews.com/2017/08/vuelta-a-espana/van-garderen-slips-vuelta-overall-crashes_446506
Anyone see good footage of his first crash? Curious to know if he was in the drops or not. (Caution - old fart here) I was taught in no uncertain words that in any dangerous situation, I was to ride the drops, always; that the tops/hoods were fine IF I knew the path ahead was clear and that I wasn't going to have to take drastic action. Now this was back in the day where if I was on the hoods and I hit that rock I couldn't see because of the rider ahead, well, bikes in those days had that little safety net; the cursed brake housing that we all jammed our thumb crotch into hard more than once.
Now, here - descent from the day's biggest climb. Hanging with the big boys on a big move. A grand tour. Last hour of racing, Everyone is tired. Isn't this drop time? Where you have that wonderful, secure handhold with that big hook your hand cannot slip over.
Now if TJ was in the drops, my apologies. (Though we were also taught that our grip must be firm. Wrists and forearms relaxed to take bumps and elbows from other riders, but grip solid. I remember Chris Carmicheal espousing a relaxed grip to reduce fatigue, then hearing that from lots of other people. Every time I heard that I thought - and still do - the consequences of one crash can easily offset the fatigue factor reduced by that loose grip.
Rant, rant
Ben |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/24/2017 04:02 PM |
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Contador at least showed today that it is possible to isolate Froome so perhaps there's still some hope for this Vuelta.
Interesting how every single GC contender and would-be contender except Froome has had a bad day one way or other and real hard stages have yet to come. Must be signs of a long season. So who knows what can happen.
I am a firm believer in relaxed grip Ben. LOL. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/24/2017 04:23 PM |
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| Good show my Contador today, but fruitless in the end...and he likely just burned matches he will need later on. |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/24/2017 06:26 PM |
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"And then I remembered my colleague, who said something very astute: “Alberto only has one job in this Vuelta; to make sure Chris Froome doesn’t win” … and then it all made sense."
Read more at http://www.velonews.com/2017/08/commentary/roundtable-tejays-crash-ruin-contadors-raid_446542#6c6QbgVUEX5J4Sxr.99 |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/25/2017 11:49 AM |
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Moto knocks Caja Rural rider down at the Vuelta.....guy was in the break and had an (outside) shot at the win.
Biggest race of the year for a Continental team and deprived of a shot at a huge win. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 08/26/2017 04:47 PM |
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History question: If Froome and his skybot army win the Vuelta:
When was the last Tour Vuelta double?
PS: Odds that TJ finishes in the top 3? Top 5? Top 10?
I'll bet: .000001, 25%, 85% |
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Habanero
Posts:257
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| 08/26/2017 05:35 PM |
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Hinault 1973 I believe.
TJ needs to hold his bars if he is to finish, let alone podium. 😉 |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/27/2017 08:41 AM |
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| I'm pretty sure Hinualt is the correct answer, but no one has won the Tour and Vuelta in the same year after the Vuelta moved from May to August. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 08/27/2017 09:40 AM |
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| Maybe Froome's weak spring was intentional to leave more energy for august. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/27/2017 10:31 AM |
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| Oh, I definitely agree with that....I never bought into the whole "Froome isn't as strong this year" narrative. Another reason why he never really went on the attack in the Tour.....not did he not need to do it, but he also was keeping as much in the tank as necessary for August. |
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Habanero
Posts:257
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| 08/28/2017 08:44 AM |
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WTF is up with Cannondale/Drapac and Vaughters? Why is the funding for that team in jeopardy? Seems like this is a semi regular thing for Vaughters and Co.
Bigger question now that the riders are freed from their contracts is where Uran ends up after the year he has had. |
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Nick A
Posts:625
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| 08/28/2017 09:29 AM |
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I was just thinking of starting a Canondale thread, but thought I'd check if someone else brought it up. LOL. The coverage is somewhat vague. They say things like, "the first name is available", and they give numbers of how much funding they have vs what they need. But nowhere have I found who exactly is pulling sponsorship. I'm assuming it's Canondale? I guess the non-mention is contractual?
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/28/2017 11:57 AM |
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No, it is not Cannondale.....Cycling Sports Group (CSG, owner of Cannondale and division of Dorel) are part owners of the team.
They had apparently reached an agreement with a new sponsor, who I guess pulled out at the last minute. No one has reported who that potential sponsor was, but it would appear to have been a new title sponsor. |
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Gonzo Cyclist
Posts:568
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| 08/28/2017 12:39 PM |
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Hard to believe that potential sponsor would pull out after the TDF that Uran had, but, that's business I guess.
so, the next question is: Does SKY have an advantage with an endless budget? I would say yes. They basically can afford to buy up all of the competition
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Habanero
Posts:257
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| 08/28/2017 12:51 PM |
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| I thought his response was funny, but there does need to be a salary cap to prevent teams like Sky vacuuming up all the talent. Makes races like the Tour a snooze fest. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/31/2017 10:42 AM |
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Leave it to the old codger to breathe some life in this Vuelta!
Old codgers rule. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/31/2017 11:37 AM |
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Did any of you see Froome's crash? Why? Looked t me like wide open road with perfect pavement. Did he misjudge the corner and hit the brakes? Brakes that might have been a touch different since he just got this replacement bike.
Ben |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/31/2017 12:00 PM |
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| Contador said as well that descent/corners were tricky/slippery. Froome just looked to enter that corner awkwardly and perhaps a bit too fast with a team car in front and behind him. Contador makes him nervous. Nothing decisive happened today but it does show that Froome can be rattled and plenty of hard stages still to come. Contador and Nibali just need to take turns. And Contador is now within a minute of number 3 spot. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 08/31/2017 12:02 PM |
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“I just slipped. I lost my front wheel in a corner — same for the second one,” Froome said. “Just really dry, slippery corners. I just lost my front wheel.”
Read more at http://www.velonews.com/stages/2017-vuelta-espana-stage-12#msiLCJKlxGkd16EH.99 |
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Gonzo Cyclist
Posts:568
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| 08/31/2017 12:03 PM |
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| Contador's been lighting it up!! Froome remembers last year all to well, wants to keep an eye on him. |
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Nick A
Posts:625
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| 08/31/2017 04:23 PM |
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More audience participation. Yikes.
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 08/31/2017 08:38 PM |
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Not a shining day for Spain. The Irish Team bus burned by am arsonist. A policeman throws a fan across the road, crashing a neutral support moto, a fan pushed a rider off the road and over a fan barrier.
Ironic about the bus. Ireland and Spain have been on good terms for hundreds of years. Both are very "not English". There are Spanish bloodlines all along western Ireland from shipwrecked survivors of the Spanish Armada. Spaniards have been going to southern Ireland for vacation to escape the heat for a long time and there is a long history of active commerce between the two. Maybe things have changed, but that is what I learned when I sailed the Irish southern coast in 1986.
Ben |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 08/31/2017 10:12 PM |
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Just another serial arsonist Ben. It has nothing to do with Irish Spanish relationships. The bus was probably just an easy target.
"statement from Spain’s national police force said they had arrested a 55-year-old man who had allegedly caused four fires in Almería."
I guess old codgers don't always rule. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 09/01/2017 06:50 PM |
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| Sky bus next time please. I've heard that burning drugs create beautiful colored flames. |
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Nick A
Posts:625
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| 09/02/2017 08:47 PM |
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| Or, depending on the drugs you take, the flames look beautiful. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 09/04/2017 07:23 AM |
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| What a boring ass race this is.... |
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| Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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Habanero
Posts:257
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| 09/04/2017 11:41 AM |
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| I just don't get how yesterday didn't completely assplode everything. Those were some of the hardest climbs in professional cycling and I was expecting huge gaps and instead we were treated to a snoozefest. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 09/04/2017 12:31 PM |
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Posted By Hot Habanero on 09/04/2017 11:41 AM
I just don't get how yesterday didn't completely assplode everything. Those were some of the hardest climbs in professional cycling and I was expecting huge gaps and instead we were treated to a snoozefest.
Because Froome. He doesn't need to attack and no one (who so a threat on GC) is willing to attack him. Net-net: snoozefest. |
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Habanero
Posts:257
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| 09/04/2017 12:59 PM |
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| Agreed. I think it's in the nature of these generational GC men who dominate that the racing can be boring. Not always but a fair bit of the time. Indurain was always accused of boring racing because he smothered the fields he raced against. Not sure when or how that will change. |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 09/04/2017 01:06 PM |
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| Not because Froome. Because Sky. Froome alone is beatable but team is just too deep and dominant. |
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Gonzo Cyclist
Posts:568
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| 09/05/2017 04:15 PM |
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"What a boring ass race this is...."
Yup CK, we had the Tour de Snooze in July, and now we have the Vuelta a Dormir Extravaganza..........needed to catch up on my sleep........thanks team sky................. |
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Habanero
Posts:257
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| 09/06/2017 10:35 AM |
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| All of a sudden, not so boring as the froominator battery runs out. |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 09/06/2017 11:22 AM |
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D*** sans jour! (Contador's early on.) Without that one bad day, this would be a race! Even with, Contador shows himself as a rider with true class (at least in my opinion). Never showed the towel. And has been Chris Froome's bad dream for two weeks now.
My wish for a different past - that Contador hadn't served that ban at the height of his career. (He may have been guilty, but even if he was, his penalty vs that of others that slid or were just plan not caught out of UCI incompetence was hardly just.) He made and is still making watching racing fun. I never saw him as a "beautiful" rider (think Anquetil) but his heart and race smarts are in a class above.
Ben |
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Habanero
Posts:257
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| 09/06/2017 12:18 PM |
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| Might still be a race as there are still tough days to come. Watch Contador work with Nibbles to prevent a Froome victory. You heard it hear first! |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 09/06/2017 12:54 PM |
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| So the froominator is just a refrigerator with a lock on the door to prevent the contadors from nibbling froomes? |
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Habanero
Posts:257
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| 09/06/2017 12:58 PM |
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| Exactly! |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 09/06/2017 06:34 PM |
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Told you when it's Froome on his own he's beatable.
The way pro cycling is going that only happens on steep and narrow roads like this.
His TT margins also were not that impressive. |
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Habanero
Posts:257
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| 09/08/2017 07:04 AM |
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Nothing to see here. No nothing at all........
"Not for the first time on this Vuelta, however, Froome's Sky guard laid down an imposing rhythm on the final climb, with Gianni Moscon once again delivering a show of strength that was all the more startling considering he is a 23-year-old Classics specialist in the third week of his debut Grand Tour." |
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Orange Crush
Posts:4499
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| 09/08/2017 12:30 PM |
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| Tomorrow should bring fireworks...incredibly hard finish and two hard climbs before. Short stage. Perfect conditions to isolate Froome. No subsequent stages to hold back for. Bring it on. |
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longslowdistance
Posts:2881
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| 09/09/2017 12:06 PM |
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| Great race today. Worthy winner. |
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Cosmic Kid
Posts:4209
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| 09/10/2017 03:47 AM |
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Posted By Frederick Jones on 09/09/2017 12:06 PM
Great race today. Worthy winner.
Agreed. Only took 3 weeks to get a stage worth watching!  |
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79pmooney
Posts:3180
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| 09/10/2017 10:57 AM |
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I didn't realize until yesterday that apparently Contador was sick the fist week. I don't have any further details.
Again I say, the guy's a class act. We didn't hear excuses. Just watched him come out every day and do his best. And yes, in hindsight, many of his attempts to gain back time were pretty "stupid" and ultimately cost him. But he made the Vuelta a race, he raced from the heart and he put the stamp of a warrior on the race.
I don't know where this fits in Contador's "greatest" days. (My book - his long solo chase in the early cobbled stage of Schleck's famous gear shift Tour is one. So is his impromptu attack 40k(?) out from the finish on the medium mountain stage of the Vuelta(?) when he saw his rival struggling.) But this is up there.
Alberto Contador, carry yourself with that class at everything you do. You're an inspiration. It is with sadness that I watch you race your final stage.
Ben |
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