Chris Froome and Team Sky look like they might dominate the tour again this year - it was an amazing race yesterday and I took great pleasure from seeing C*ntador struggling now he’s not all doped up.
It was amazing to watch Quintana from Colombia saunter up the first peak.
Froome is the top dog, but his team got blown to bits today. He could get put under extreme pressure in the days to come. You would fancy Richie Porte to bounce back though - un jour sans and no mistake. Hopefully he was just knackered and its not the start of an illness or such like.
But a psychological victory for Froome I think. They tried to break him, he was isolated away from his team mates and yet still he hangs on.
It’d be a pretty poor showing if they’d break him right in the first weekend, and I don’t think not being broken right now is that much of a psychological victory tbh.
Froome has looked like he would be the winner since the middle of the race last year. It would be fun to see if Contador can stir things up though.
Yet C*ntador and Cadel Evans and every other major contender were broken on the first weekend. So when he does it to them but the teams fail to return the favour even when he’s isolated without his team, I’d say that’s actually quite a bit more than a psychological victory - it’s a time in the race victory too.
Lots of racing still to go however.
Evans and Contador are both past their best before dates. It’s difficult to even tell who Froome’s chief competition is. I’d thought maybe Teejay or Rolland, but apparently not. Does Quintana have any ITT ability (guessing not).
I’m a BMC fan and Froome has scored a psychological victory over me. Last year Sky was so dominate that it made the GC race kind of boring and it looks like that is how it’s going to go again. It was nice to see that Sky paid a price for smashing the other GC contenders but Froome himself didn’t give any indication that he was going to crack.
Contador is only 30. It’s just that since he got caught doping he’s only been about as good as the other elite riders, as opposed to able to leave them for dead.
Very surprising stage today, last time I remember a flat stage like that Armstrong tried to put Contador behind him when they were teammates in a crosswind split during his comeback. Froome is human after all… or that’s just what he wants us to think. 
Froome layed down the law yesterday, bossing the race in some style. Hard to see anyone pulling things back on him - although the toughest stages still remain (multiple big climbing days) so there’s always a chance.
Yeah, he seems to be the best in the mountains. The only way I see something happening, is if he gets isolated (another bad day for Porte?) and they attack on a descent or the flats in between the mountains… wouldn’t bet on it though. The fight for the podium could become good though.
He’s clearly not human. The attack he laid down after Porte pealed off on the Ventoux was just ridiculous. Makes a person wonder what was in those illegal feed bags at the bottom of the mountain. :dubious:
For a race that was wrapped up the first week, this has been one of the most enjoyable TdF’s to watch in years.
But this was 'effing rich. Contador is upset with Quintana for ‘attacking’ (which he wasn’t) after Contador fell after going too fast trying to attack on the descents.
Pot, kettle, etc etc.
I’m no fan of Contador at all, but I also thought it was odd of Froome to complain that Contador was taking risks and going too fast. This is meant to be a race not a leisurely ride through the French countryside - if you’re not trying to go as fast as you can then you are no longer racing. And Contador didn’t ask Froome to lock onto his back wheel - that’s Froome’s problem.
I’ve haven’t seen the video of Froome’s comments but I didn’t get the impression Froome was complaining that Contador was going to fast in the sense that Froome felt Contador should have gone slower for Froome’s sake. Wasn’t he just meaning that in his view Contador was taking too many risks for his own good: a comment that is hard to fault given that Contador nearly took himself out.
Not sure what he was going on about tbh - maybe just nervous chat about crashing because he knows that’s the only thing likely to stop him winning.
I mean, every cyclist knows that you ride up another man’s ringpiece at your own risk - he can hardly complain if Bert overcooks a corner and he follows him straight off it.
Did Sky get their knuckles rapped at all for that?
I’m kinda new to this, but a few observations:
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I’m not terribly impressed with the commentary. I’ve caught Phil Liggett making a few mistakes. Is he known for that?
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Mark Cavendish strikes me as an ass.
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Changing bikes on the time trial today doesn’t seem very sporting. Not sure how it could be prevented, though. I know the team cars have to follow the riders and replace equipment if something breaks, but to get a whole new bike for a different part of the stage is excessive.