No he attached at the top of the last climb. It was unexpected as Quintana was caught off guard and was simply thinking Froome was going for the points and Quitana was taking a water bottle. Off went Chris and nobody could catch him. Look for a battle tomorrow as Quintana can't afford a repeat of today's results or race is over early. Team Sky looks strong !
thank you. Last year I think Quintana was nearly two minutes behind before the mountains, no? Different story this year; level going to the mountains. Ideal for Quintana!! Now or never for him, he has plenty of time. Far from over. .....froome is a freak
Yeah, Team Sky is becoming a behemoth;
Team Sky 2016 squad
<section class="article-content" style="margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 20px; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background: transparent;">
Team Principal Sir Dave Brailsford has confirmed the full Team Sky squad for the 2016 season.
In addition to the seven new arrivals recently announced, 10 riders have also seen their contracts renewed while six riders will be leaving the team.
Brailsford is confident the roster will see Team Sky go from strength to strength during their seventh season in the peloton, and believes it contains an ideal mix of youth and experience.
He said: "January 2015 marked the start of the next chapter for Team Sky with our ambition to be indisputably the best team in the world by 2020. We have taken the first steps on that path and I am proud of what we have achieved this season. However we can never be complacent and must always look forward.
"Today I am announcing the full Team Sky line up for 2016. It's a strong team - led by Chris Froome - that will ensure that we can be even more competitive in all the major races - from Grand Tours to Classics.
"We have recruited some of the best young talent from around the world in Michal Kwiatkowski and Mikel Landa, for example. At the same time we have been able to keep the nucleus of this year's successful team together by re-signing riders of the calibre of Vasil Kiryienka - the new time trial world champion.
"Cycling is a global sport and Team Sky will always look to recruit the best riders from around the world. But we remain a British team with a strong British core. I'm pleased that the five British riders who were such a big part of this year's successful Tour de France team will all be riding for us again in 2016 - along with new signing Alex Peters.
"Britain has become a cycling nation over the last decade. We want more and more people to love the bike and Team Sky will continue to play its part in this cycling revolution.
"Of course some riders will be leaving us. They have all made a massive contribution to the team on and off the bike. We will miss them and look forward to the opportunity of thanking them properly later this year for everything they have done for Team Sky."
</section>
hope to catch action tomorrow.....want Quintana to win!!
Yeah, Team Sky is becoming a behemoth;
Team Sky 2016 squad
<section class="article-content" style="margin: 0px 0px 32px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 20px; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background: transparent;">
Team Principal Sir Dave Brailsford has confirmed the full Team Sky squad for the 2016 season.
In addition to the seven new arrivals recently announced, 10 riders have also seen their contracts renewed while six riders will be leaving the team.
Brailsford is confident the roster will see Team Sky go from strength to strength during their seventh season in the peloton, and believes it contains an ideal mix of youth and experience.
He said: "January 2015 marked the start of the next chapter for Team Sky with our ambition to be indisputably the best team in the world by 2020. We have taken the first steps on that path and I am proud of what we have achieved this season. However we can never be complacent and must always look forward.
"Today I am announcing the full Team Sky line up for 2016. It's a strong team - led by Chris Froome - that will ensure that we can be even more competitive in all the major races - from Grand Tours to Classics.
"We have recruited some of the best young talent from around the world in Michal Kwiatkowski and Mikel Landa, for example. At the same time we have been able to keep the nucleus of this year's successful team together by re-signing riders of the calibre of Vasil Kiryienka - the new time trial world champion.
"Cycling is a global sport and Team Sky will always look to recruit the best riders from around the world. But we remain a British team with a strong British core. I'm pleased that the five British riders who were such a big part of this year's successful Tour de France team will all be riding for us again in 2016 - along with new signing Alex Peters.
"Britain has become a cycling nation over the last decade. We want more and more people to love the bike and Team Sky will continue to play its part in this cycling revolution.
"Of course some riders will be leaving us. They have all made a massive contribution to the team on and off the bike. We will miss them and look forward to the opportunity of thanking them properly later this year for everything they have done for Team Sky."
</section>
hope to catch action tomorrow.....want Quintana to win!!
If you go back a few posts, you will see my early picks for this years Tour that I made right after last year's victory by Chris Froome. I picked Quintana over Froome for 2 reasons..... He is younger and he needed to avoid some of the mental mistakes he made in the 2015 Tour. Well fast forward to today's stage and Quintana made a very careless mistake ! Couple that with the strength of the Sky Team and Froome is in great shape ! Long way to go but tomorrow becomes huge ! I think Froome was,going for the 10 second bonus today for winning the stage but didn't expect the 13 second gap to make it a 23 second gain !
I'm not sure what kind of strategy Team Moviestar had in mind but it played perfectly for Froome ! First off by making no attempt to win the stage, they nullified any chance of gaining the 10 second time bonus should Quintana have been able to win the stage. I thought all along that it was to Froome and Team Sky advantage to allow the breakaway to escape and someone besides Quintana to win the stage. This all adds up to a great day for Chris Froome and a lousy day for the rest of the GC contenders. What a boring day really ! Either Quintana is giving up or he thinks there's better stages ahead. I think this mountain top finish after 9 straight days of racing was the perfect day to make his move. Does he have a move ? 23 seconds is plenty of time as we must recall how Lance protected a 7 second advantage to a victory !
i will have to take another look at the remaining stages to try to see what Quintana's plan might be. This sure looked like the stage where he needed to make a move and like you said ..... He did nothing. He's unlikely to make up any time on the Time trial as Team Sky and Froome excel there also. I don't get it ! Like you said he looked fine. Lots of racing left but today was a stage that is now in the books.i don't get it either . Of the riders in that late pack containing Martin, Porte, Froome , Quintana, the guy who looked the least stressed was Quintana--he looked fresh. Yet he made no attempt to attack. Again, i'm assuming he's got a plan and stage 9 was to stay with froome and he did.
post stage 9;
Froome:
"I've said it a few times coming into the race that this is going to be the biggest battle of my career. That's what it's turning out to be. By no means did I expect this to be easier, that I would ride away from everyone. I felt that the level is higher and that I'll need to fight for every second that I can," Froome said in his post-stage press conference.
"In the back of my mind I was waiting for his (Quintana) attack," he said when asked about the Movistar leader.
"All the way up to the last kilometre and into the last kilometre I felt that he might be saving it for one big move but that never came. I'd like to think that he was on his limit. It was a tough day out there but it looks like he stuck to my wheel like glue out there.
"That was a tough stage and the weather made it even tougher. At one stage we were pouring ice and water over our heads and the next minute we had ice falling from the sky with the hailstones and the temperature dropping. It was from one extreme to another."
here's the brutally demanding stage 9 winner....dutchman Tom Dumoulin
"It was an incredible day. The whole day, queen stage, it was really hard, and I did it.
"It's very very special. I’m a time trial specialist but today I showed I can do more, and I showed it last year at the Vuelta. I’m so so happy, it’s incredible."
Froome:
"I've said it a few times coming into the race that this is going to be the biggest battle of my career. That's what it's turning out to be. By no means did I expect this to be easier, that I would ride away from everyone. I felt that the level is higher and that I'll need to fight for every second that I can," Froome said in his post-stage press conference.
"In the back of my mind I was waiting for his (Quintana) attack," he said when asked about the Movistar leader.
"All the way up to the last kilometre and into the last kilometre I felt that he might be saving it for one big move but that never came. I'd like to think that he was on his limit. It was a tough day out there but it looks like he stuck to my wheel like glue out there.
"That was a tough stage and the weather made it even tougher. At one stage we were pouring ice and water over our heads and the next minute we had ice falling from the sky with the hailstones and the temperature dropping. It was from one extreme to another."
here's the brutally demanding stage 9 winner....dutchman Tom Dumoulin
"It was an incredible day. The whole day, queen stage, it was really hard, and I did it.
"It's very very special. I’m a time trial specialist but today I showed I can do more, and I showed it last year at the Vuelta. I’m so so happy, it’s incredible."
