To put what Chris Froom has done today into perspective, it is not inconceivable that Froome could be going for his 4 th straight Tour De France victory IF not for circumstances. In 2012 when Bradley Wiggins won the Tour and Froome was there simply to help Wiggins up the steep Mountains, it was very apparent to everyone that Froome was easily the better climber. I mentioned it after the tour and sure enough Froome came back the next year and won the Tour in 2013. In 2014, as I mentioned in my last post, it seems very likely Froome would have been tough to beat IF not for the rain on the cobblestones and resulting injuries. This year He looks unbeatable. What I'm saying is that I'm not trying to take away from Wiggins or Nibali's victories as they earned their victories. However from a handicapping point of view... We should look at it as though He could easily have been the best cyclist in the Tour De France for the 4 th consecutive year. That's what I see ! I hate to say it but unless something weird happens, Froome should win easily. GL Another very tough day tomorrow with the famous Col Du Tourmalet coming into play. I see no reason for Froome to risk anything as He has a healthy lead over all the GC contenders. I see him simply staying close but not attacking unless He needs to follow an attack by a GC contender. That's my story and ..........
I have My Money's on Froome so today's stage is one of my main worries. its a very tough Mountain stage but I'm not worried about Chris in the climbs as much as the danger in the descents. Let hope He stays out of danger as his only real obstacle now is a crash. GL
Today's stage went more according to form as the GC contendors were not concerned about the breakaway cyclists as they all were well back in the standings. Rafal Majka went solo for the later part of the race and won the stage. Nibali, last year's winner was the only main contendor to lose any time and I guess We can now quit refering to him as a GC contendor. Tomorrow's stage is more like yesterday's stage with a tough climb at the finish so you might expect some excitement with some attacks ! I see no reason why Froome should feel a need to attack with the nice lead He has. Of course We know he can IF he wants to but it's still a ways to go so why risk it ? Any updated odds and I'll give my thoughts. Any chance to place your wagers on Chris Froome have come and gone JMHO GL
oh no doubt!! Wiggins was the man for Team Sky, and Froome had a job to do as part of the TEAM. In fact some thought Froome crossed the line, INCLUDING Wiggins.
http://road.cc/content/news/93418-s...y-quit-2012-tour-de-france-after-chris-froome
Sir Bradley Wiggins nearly quit the 2012 Tour de France – a race that ended with him becoming the first British winner of the event – after believing team mate Chris Froome had “stabbed him in the back,” according to Sean Yates, Team Sky’s sports director on the race.
The claim, made in Yates’s autobiography, relates to Stage 11 of the race, which finished on the summit of La Toussuire, when Froome rode off ahead of Wiggins around 4km from the end of the stage, only slowing down after Yates ordered him to do so through his radio earpiece.
The incident gave rise to the infamous ‘WAG Wars’ on Twitter in which Wiggins’ wife Cath and Froome’s girlfriend Michelle Cound, now his fiancée, each sought to fight their respective partners’ corner.
According to The Times [£], in his book, Yates reveals that following the stage, Wiggins sent a text message saying, “I think it would be better for everyone if I went home.”
Going into that stage, Wiggins led the race by 2 minutes 3 seconds from Froome, with Liquigas-Cannondale rider Vincenzo Nibali a further 18 seconds back in third place. They would occupy the same positions on the final podium in Paris.
Froome insists that with defending champion Cadel Evans in trouble, and Nibali up the road, he was simply trying to consolidate his second place overall.
Wiggins himself has said that the episode left him shaken and that he considered abandoning the race, and Yates’s recollection of events confirms that was no idle boast after the event, but a very real prospect at the time.
According to The Times, in his book Yates says that it was only thanks to him and team principal Sir Dave Brailsford that Wiggins was dissuaded from leaving the race, adding that he “felt like Froomey had stabbed him in the back.”
Yates, who left Team Sky last October citing health and personal reasons said that before the stage, the team’s tactics envisaged Froome being permitted to attack inside the final half kilometre.
He maintained that Froome continued to seek permission to go on the attack prior to that point in the stage, however, and added that Brailsford, whom he says has a “dislike of confrontation” did not take the day’s events up with Froome after the stage.
Wiggins, of course, would go on to win the race while Froome, runner-up last year, won the 100th edition of the race in July this year. Less than a fortnight after Wiggins’ victory, he would win the time trial at the London Olympics, with Froome taking bronze.
For Wiggins, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year title would follow, as well as a knighthood in the New Year’s Honours List, and he will forever listed in the record books as the first Briton to win the Tour de France.
Earlier this year, despite Sky’s insistence that Froome was the designated leader for the 2013 edition, Wiggins said that he would seek to defend his title and try and become the first man to complete a Giro d’Italia and Tour de France double since the late Marco Pantani in 1998.
Illness forced him out of the Giro halfway through, however, and with almost four weeks remaining until the Tour started on Corsica, Team Sky confirmed he would not be selected for the Tour, citing his recovery from a knee injury – something many viewed as a convenient expedience.
Yates’s departure from Team Sky in October last year coincided with the fallout from the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s publication of its Reasoned Decision in the Lance Armstrong case which saw fellow sports director Stephen De Jongh and race coach Bobby Julich also depart the British WorldTour team.
Speaking to The Times, Yates revealed that he is not impressed with Sky’s current management and that the only member of the team set-up he is still close to is sports director Nicolas Portal.
“Nicolas rings me for advice because I’ve been there, done that,” he explained.
“To be brutally honest, there is no one at Sky who knows much about bike riding.
“In general, this year especially, the guys running the team don’t know enough about bike-riding and a lot of the riders went into the Tour overtired. They are made to race too much, too long, too hard.”
He added that he had been offered a role with another top team, but turned it down partly because he can see Froome dominating the sport for the next few years.
“It was a big team, big money,” he revealed.
“But, in my opinion, Chris Froome is too good for anyone to unsettle him. If there were cracks in his armour, that would be more motivating.”
yup. He has an experienced team around him and he is THE BEST rider out there AND he has a big lead. Only a crash can stop Chris
here`s teammate Thomas after the brilliant stage 10 performance;
Thomas responded to reporters who reminded him that he said Team Sky would ride conservatively ahead of stage 10. "Yeah, we were lying. Nah, seriously, we did go into it to be conservative. We knew Movistar would go at the bottom, so we all just stayed patient. As the group was whittling down we still had numbers. We all felt good. Froomie felt really good, so we were like, ‘Well, stuff it, let’s go.’ Froomie said, ‘Let’s smash it then.’ It was perfect.
"It’s just one mountain stage out of six. So it’s a very good start, unbelievable start, really, but we’re not going to get carried away. We came out of the rest day really well. Some guys might have suffered. Tomorrow could be a different story. We just have to remember ’13, when Froomie was in the front group by himself, and we really messed up. So you can’t take anything for granted. Tomorrow is another day."``
Joaquim Rodriguez won today's stage as the main contendors once again allowed a breakaway to escape since they were well behind in the GC standings. Chris Froome kept his lead as the top riders all tried to attack and gain some time on the final grueling finish. All the main group finished in a pack with only 1 second difference. In summary, it was another great day for Chris Froome ! Now back to Golf !
Stage 13 levels out from the last 3 days but still has some bumps along the way to the finish. Strong Sprinters like Sagan I think can survive as I can't see any real action coming from the GC favorites. I haven't seen any odds posted but the King of the Mountain seems to be the hardest to predict at this point of the race.
BMC's Greg Van Avermaet pulled off what seemed like the impossible as He edged Peter Sagan in a thrilling finish ! It looked like the finish was custom made for Sagan but somehow He couldn't quite overtake Greg. The main GC contendors all finished in a group just 7 seconds back so Chris Froome kept his sizable lead. I have been very impressed with Tejay Van Garderen who is in second place and seems to be riding very comfortable with the leaders on every challenging stage. This guy seems to be in top form and He looks to be in great shape to finish on the podium in Paris ! GL and on to the Open !
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...spectator-punched-mountain-stage-chris-froome
French crowds for the most part aren't Sky fans , but getting physical? Stay classy French
Richie Porte, a key team-mate to the Tour de France leader, Chris Froome, claims he was punched and Team Sky has been subjected to abuse from spectators during the 2015 race.
Porte says he was struck on the first mountain test of this year’s Tour, stage 10 from Tarbes to La Pierre-Saint-Martin on Tuesday, which Froome won to take a lead of two minutes 52 seconds, an advantage which remains following Friday’s 13th stage to Rodez.
Froome, the 2013 winner, has been under scrutiny due to his superiority and has been forced to counter claims of cheating. He insists he rides clean but has been subjected to innuendo and interrogations, which Porte railed against on Friday.
The Australian rider told The Telegraph Cycling Podcast: “I was [punched] in the last 3km. I got a full-on punch. It was the same atmosphere on Alpe d’Huez two years ago. They are so anti whatever we are.
“Do I deserve to be booed? Does Chris Froome deserve all this? I don’t think so. Maybe in 10 years’ time they’re going to see that these victories are legitimate. It’s a disgrace how some of these people carry on.” Porte approached spectators earlier this week after being abused.
He added: “It’s a disgrace they say the same thing to Chris Froome. Just because this team has got its act together. We do everything right. Look at the Tour we are having. You can’t question that we are getting stuck in for Froomey.
“Seven of us at the bottom for him. No other team had that. It’s because we are organised and committed.”
On the armchair critics Porte added: “They all have their opinions and not the right ones. They just sit on their couch and criticise.”
Yet Porte said Froome has a relaxed attitude to the comments: “When they were giving him abuse I heard him laugh about it. He’s got a thick skin and you need that in the yellow jersey
French crowds for the most part aren't Sky fans , but getting physical? Stay classy French
Richie Porte, a key team-mate to the Tour de France leader, Chris Froome, claims he was punched and Team Sky has been subjected to abuse from spectators during the 2015 race.
Porte says he was struck on the first mountain test of this year’s Tour, stage 10 from Tarbes to La Pierre-Saint-Martin on Tuesday, which Froome won to take a lead of two minutes 52 seconds, an advantage which remains following Friday’s 13th stage to Rodez.
Froome, the 2013 winner, has been under scrutiny due to his superiority and has been forced to counter claims of cheating. He insists he rides clean but has been subjected to innuendo and interrogations, which Porte railed against on Friday.
The Australian rider told The Telegraph Cycling Podcast: “I was [punched] in the last 3km. I got a full-on punch. It was the same atmosphere on Alpe d’Huez two years ago. They are so anti whatever we are.
“Do I deserve to be booed? Does Chris Froome deserve all this? I don’t think so. Maybe in 10 years’ time they’re going to see that these victories are legitimate. It’s a disgrace how some of these people carry on.” Porte approached spectators earlier this week after being abused.
He added: “It’s a disgrace they say the same thing to Chris Froome. Just because this team has got its act together. We do everything right. Look at the Tour we are having. You can’t question that we are getting stuck in for Froomey.
“Seven of us at the bottom for him. No other team had that. It’s because we are organised and committed.”
On the armchair critics Porte added: “They all have their opinions and not the right ones. They just sit on their couch and criticise.”
Yet Porte said Froome has a relaxed attitude to the comments: “When they were giving him abuse I heard him laugh about it. He’s got a thick skin and you need that in the yellow jersey
Today is a classic example of why I think the Tour De France presents great values to win some Money as most gamblers have no real idea of what's going on. Today's stage was won by Steve Cummings as the main CG contendors finished far behind. Why ? The breakaway riders were all well back in the standings. However it was another great day for Chris Froome as 5 minutes behind the winner there was an intense battle going on with the real leaders of the Tour. Quintana attacked on the steepest part of the final climb and only Chris Froome was able to respond. Froome edged out perhaps a second advantage on Quintana but Tejay Van Garderen who was in second place in the GC standing finished far back so Quintana now moved into second place but Froome now has over a 3 minute lead and the stages are few for anyone to overtake him barring a crash. Looks like there is a rare weather delay in the Open. I'll take a look at stage 15 and post later today. GL
I've taken a close look at stage 15 and I think it will be a stage won by a sprinter. I think the outcome will depend on whether or not the stronger sprinters can put enough pressure on the group of sprinters that have difficulty with climbs. However in my opinion, the main cat 2 climb is fairly short but also quite far from the finish line. This will allow enough time for the teams to get their sprinters back into contention in time for a final group sprint. I doubt that these teams that have good sprinters will allow any breakaways to escape far enough to win this stage. It should be an easy day for the main GC group but one never knows ! I think this group will gear up for their assaults on the tough Mountains in stages 19 and 20.
Today's stage went strictly according to expectations. Easy day for GC main contenders and the day was a showdown by the top sprinters. Of course this year that top sprinter is Andre Greipel as He won his 3 rd stage in this year's tour already. The only top sprinter missing at the end was Mark Cavendish. Perhaps He's just given up as He has no chance for the green Jersey or perhaps He's saving his efforts for the sprint into Paris.
Ruben Plaza wins today's stage but I think the big story was stole by a very careless rider named Warren Barguil ! He has been involved in 3 crashes already and there is no question He was again at fault in today's potentially very dangerous crash that took out Sky's Geraint Thomas. Thomas has been the big star for Chris Froome's bid to win this year's tour and that scary looking crash might have caused very serious injury to Thomas. I'm not sure how he avoided the pole but thankfully he did manage to avoid a direct hit and with the help of some fans, He rejoined the race and finished close enough to the front peloton to retain his 6 th place standing in the GC. As for the Main GC race, it actually was pretty boring as they all finished in a close group so all finished with the same time ! Tomorrow is the final rest day. I certainly hope that there is some real action among the main contenders as they enter the last mountain stages in the Alps. Stages 19 and 20 are brutal but have the rest of the riders given up ?
As you mentioned, Shit can happen so the race is NOT yet over as tomorrow's stage is a dangerous one. To respond to your statement that Chris Froome should never be left alone at this stage of the race with his sizable lead, I'd like to say that He never has been left alone in this year's Tour. Richie Porte and Thomas have been there for him at the finish part of every stage as it certainly wasn't Geraint Thomas's fault that some careless rider did a left turn and almost ended his Tour. Of course at the very steepest part of a tough mountain top stage, it is almost always up to Froome to finish the battle alone. The exception of course was in 2012 when Bradley Wiggins was simply unable to keep up with his so called HELPER Chris Froome on almost every mountain top finsih.
As for tomorrow's stage, I am certainly not concerned about the climbs for Chris but am very concerned about the descents. Since a crash would appear to be the only obstacle that remains for Froome, I would think he would be content to lose a few seconds on the descent as he could reel in those seconds on the final climb. I see a breakaway winning this stage with a battle for KOM looming. Any odds on this stage would be appreciated and I'll be glad to give my thoughts.
First off since many of the lower odds listed are GC contenders, one must try to figure out whether the race will be won by someone in a breakaway group or IF the main contenders will not let anyone get too big of a lead. Last stage the peleton allowed a breakaway group to get over a 20 minute lead which guaranteed someone in that group would get the stage win. It's just my hunch but I don't think this stage is tough enough as far as the climbs go for anyone to actually gain very much time amongst the GC leaders. Therefor I believe there will again be 2 seperate races and the breakaway win rule the day. With that in mind, I doubt that the Yellow Jersey group will allow anyone in the top 10 of the standings to break away including Nibali. Therefor I would be thinking that Rodriquez, Barden, Pinot, Majka, Roland and Fugslang might be in a group that would be allowed some space in front. My favorite at 10/1 might just be Rodriquez but these type of stages are tough to win with just wagering on 1 rider. GL
