Cyclism... Shave your legs before posting !

by **Moralspain** » Fri, 06 Jul 2012 14:03

SlicerITST wrote:
TomBs wrote:Btw, as far as I know the leg shaving is just to make sliding over the asphalt a little more pleasant, as any aerodynamic advantage will be really small..

True, an open wound and hair on your legs is not a good combination.

i do because shaved legs are easier to massage

by **SlicerITST** » Fri, 06 Jul 2012 16:19

If it wasnt a battle between Evans and Wiggins before then it is now. Massive crash...

by **Moralspain** » Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:11

Cancellara fighting, much respect

by **Moralspain** » Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:14

Chris Froome :shock:

awesome

by **C4iLL** » Sat, 07 Jul 2012 16:26

Where does this Wiggins come from ? Last year he wasn't a candidate for the win, and this year he is... How many products he took to change his statute ?

And Voeckler, what a joke, last year he beat Contador, and this year, he's completely out surely because he takes no more products...

by **SlicerITST** » Sat, 07 Jul 2012 20:25

C4iLL wrote:Where does this Wiggins come from ? Last year he wasn't a candidate for the win, and this year he is... How many products he took to change his statute ?

And Voeckler, what a joke, last year he beat Contador, and this year, he's completely out surely because he takes no more products...

Pff... Wiggins fell in stage 4 last year. He went on to do very well in the Vuelta. And two years ago he was fourth in the TdF. It is well known he is a very good time trail rider with good climbing skills suited for everything besides the toughest mountains (like the angliru in the Vuelta last year).

Last year Voeckler got ahead in the GC because he was in a breakaway. He did very well in the remaining stages but every mountain stage he lost a little bit of time. He has gone into this TdF with a serious knee injury. He's probably not fit enough to challenge but he is hoping he will be able to in the third week. Again in a breakaway. Contador came out of the Giro and while he is the best GC rider out there riding two big tours is notably hard for even the top riders. Hence he did not do as well as he would normally do.

Criticize something you have knowledge of please.

by **Amazing Matheja** » Sun, 08 Jul 2012 09:08

Wow !... I won't say anything ! I want to wait for really long and big mountain stages to confirm my doubts... Maybe the Sky surprised the other teams who weren't expecting to attack the last 5 km at this speed but... I've had a bad feeling when I watched the stage yesterday night (replay of the last 30 km)...

by **SlicerITST** » Sun, 08 Jul 2012 10:12

Why? Nothing out of the ordinary happened yesterday. I guess you mean the dominance of the Sky team on the last mountain? That is hardly a new strategy. Armstrong started it with his team and since then its been pretty common. Guys like Knees and Boasson Hagen up the tempo towards the climb. Then Porte and Rogers give it 150% for 2 km or so each. Both have had top 10 classifications in either the Giro or the TdF. So its not out of nothing they are able to do this. This mountain was only tough on the last kilometer or so. And thats where the group broke up in the favorites and the ones just behind that.

My expectation is that on a longer and tougher climb the Sky team would not have been able to keep the tempo high for the entire duration of the climb. If the tempo drops both Wiggins and Evans have a problem. There would be a lot of attacks from different riders. Both Wiggins and Evans would have a tough time getting back every attack then.

The problem is that there are no HC mountain finishes this year. The other favorites will have to change their usual strategy and attack on an earlier climb`s to avoid the same scenario as yesterday. I doubt that will happen though.

by **Amazing Matheja** » Sun, 08 Jul 2012 11:13

Yeah... The "Blue train" (US Postal) during the "years of steel"... Well... I hated this... I'm not stupid...
What surprised me is Rogers giving 150% but who finishes not that far away from the win (1') when they usually "park" themselves after such effort, and Froome... Giving its 150% during the last 2 kms, but still able to sprint when it's 20% ??? C'mon... I'm ok to acept a lot of things in sports, but this...
Ok Garmin "helped" Sky before the climbing, ok Sky did surprise the others (who weren't expecting such a speed to attack the high percentage)**, ok it was a short climbing, but...

Well... As I said it's too soon to conclude anything, that's why I wish to wait and see how it goes in next stages... But this one was like "back to the futur" for me, when I thought cyclism was going "better"...

EDIT :

SlicerITST wrote:...
The problem is that there are no HC mountain finishes this year. The other favorites will have to change their usual strategy and attack on an earlier climb`s to avoid the same scenario as yesterday. I doubt that will happen though.

That's indeed another problem... What the hell was the guy who designed the Tour thinking about ?... And... I more than 200% agree with your doubts... ^^

** : Well they should have expected this, since that's what we saw during the Dauphiné-Libéré race...

by **Amazing Matheja** » Sun, 08 Jul 2012 19:11

Tomorrow, Wiggins to earn two more minutes (Like on the Tour of Romandie, and like on the Dauphiné) ? ^^
There are 4 stages of moutain left... The challengers (Evans, Nibali, Menchov,...) will have to be very creative and offensive if they want to disturb the "Sky express"...

I didnt see the today's stage... just heard it was quite a nice one ! Evans attacked in the end ? Nice to hear... He will have to do it again and again ! But is he already alone (abandoned by his team) ?

by **SlicerITST** » Sun, 08 Jul 2012 19:45

Was a good one yes. Lots of things happened. Both Kessiakoff and Pinot where pretty impressive during the stage.

Van den Broeck attacked, Evans responded. Van den Broeck seems in really good shape. Too bad he lost two minutes yesterday due to a flat tire 5km before the finish. Nibali attacked in the downhill section of the last climb. Only got a few seconds though. Later Evans attacked but it was near the finish line. Not really spectacular. Im guessing he wanted to grab the yellow jersey before the time trail. So he could ride behind Wiggins instead of the other way around. His team was gone in the last climb after van den Broeck's attack but so was the Sky team.

by **SlicerITST** » Mon, 09 Jul 2012 16:37

Time to wrap up this year's TdF. Ill be following it again next year. :lol:

Wiggins does seem to be a bit of a dick doesnt he?

by **Amazing Matheja** » Mon, 09 Jul 2012 20:55

Ahhh ! 2 minutes ! Like I said ! ^^ (So far Wiggins does more or less the exact same thing he did in the Dauphiné...).
If they're real men, real fighters, Evans and Nibali will have to attack non-stop !!! So it can still be very entertaining to watch !

So Froom is also a Time-Trial specialist ?...

by **SlicerITST** » Mon, 09 Jul 2012 21:04

Apparantly.... By the way, did you know that Froome suffered from bilharzia for nearly two years before his last Vuelta? Its similar to malaria and it pretty much made it impossible for him to race. Hence is why we all might not have heard from him before the Vuelta. Cause before that sick period he was just an upcoming talent.

by **Amazing Matheja** » Mon, 09 Jul 2012 21:10

Ah... Didn't know that... I must admit that I'm really surprised... (Just saw he ended 2nd at T.T. British championship in 2010... Since the Brit' are often good at T.T., I'll admit that he must be good at it...)
So if Brad' falls or something, Sky has a 2nd arrow... They must be quite confident now at Sky's offices ! ^^

Cyclism... Shave your legs before posting !

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