Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2014

Marcel's tan lines are crisp
Marcel’s tan lines are crisp

Attention all Velominati. The Tour VSP is going on line and it should be a good one. Sure, between Froomy and Bertie a person could hedge their bets but Moviestar is all in for Valverde, BMC for TeeJay, Astana for the Shark and Garmin is finally committing to a team leader in Talansky. Some other teams (ahem…Trek Factory Racing for one) have resigned themselves to hunting stage wins. The Tour swings through the Yorkshire Dales, everyone but the riders can enjoy some excellent ales. As the Tour continues to Lille, Norther France and Belgium, the quality pints continue. Yes, it’s hot and the VSP generator has beer on its mind.

The route, the sprints, the climbing and even the final time trial should make this a decent Tour. Here is a start list. Everyone will have a vial in their jersey pocket, but don’t worry, it’s legal.

It is still not too late to win the overall 2014 VSP and we have made it worth your while.

  • First place overall wins a Veloforma Strada iR Velominati Edition frame in addition to the customary VSP winner’s VVorkshop Apron
  • Second place overall wins a set of hand built CR Wheelworks Arenberg wheelset in a custom Velominati paint scheme laced to orange Chris King hubs. (CR Wheelworks is Café Roubaix’s new wheel goods brand.)
  • Third place overall wins a full Velominati V-Kit with accompanying custom orange Bont Vaypor+ road shoes.

Refer to the VSP page for details concerning scoring and rest day swaps. If you want to call yourself Pedro Delgado, you will only have yourself to blame. The VSP banner on the homepage has the countdown clock, refresh your browser and don’t be late. Good luck and good picking.

[vsp_results id=”30275″/]

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850 Replies to “Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2014”

  1. @KW

    @frank

    @KW

    Lots of speculation going on everywhere.

    Simple fact is, it doesn’t matter.

    If you want to win ANY race, you must finish said race.

    Nibali’s (presumed) win shouldn’t be regarded as diminished because Froome and Contador aren’t there, any more than it should because Merckx, Hinault, LeMond, etc. aren’t in the race.

    Froome and Contador had their shot, and they couldn’t stay in. That’s the way racing goes. I, for one, am having a great time watching Nibali crush the race out of pride.

    Froome was bad luck, Contador made a mistake trying to pass a rider at great speed with one hand in his pocket and the other on a handlebar. His own fault he was out, that’s just pure racing. Froome’s accident(s) was racing too, but that was a bit more being unlucky with where he was at that moment for the first crash.

    Agreed, but the Song Remains the Same “…as we go sliding… sliding… sliding through.” Out is out.

    Avoiding crashes is a key part of GT success for the top contenders and their teams. Luck is a factor (good or bad), but as they say in the safety industry…there is no such thing as an unpreventable accident.

  2. @frank

    But somehow, I’m loving this win of his even though it’s largely in the same style. Beauty of being a fan and not having to account for your own irrational behavior while watching the sport! His ride on the Cobbles won the race for him; even if Contador/Froome would have stayed in, they’d have taken time from him maybe but the way he’s riding, not enough. I think he was already nearly 3 min ahead of Bertie by the time he crashed out.

    Easy on the past tense mate, they’re not in Paris yet! What with all the talk on it being Spider and Bertie show before it had even begun, all we need is some over zealous selfie taker numpty to step into Vince, going down and breaking a collar, then it is all on again, haha.

    Nibs has been awesome. Will be interesting to see if the same suspicions are levelled as they were of Froome last year.

  3. Been loitering in the Pyrenees for the last few days…Watched from Pla d’Adet yesterday and the Depart from Pau today. Very cool. I took some pics. Fuglsang nominated for Rule #5 for refusing to abandon, Paulini is a beast, Horner’s socks? Kittel suffered like a bastard, Terpstra rolls to the start in his trainers, the VMH and kids got a nice table in Pau, Boom won the most badass stage of the year – I can see why…etc, etc…It all leaves me wanting more.

  4. @wiscot

    Ok, ok, I’ll keep the debate going:

    1973 Luis Ocana won, Merckx did not start

    1976 Lucien van Impe won, Merckx did not start

    1980 Joop Zoetemelk won, Hinault retired injured

    1983 Laurent Fignon won, Hinault did not start

    We could argue from here to eternity if these winners would have won if Merckx and Hinault had started and been healthy. They didn’t. Every one of these winners deserved to win, no question. They were great riders with great palmares. At the end of three weeks they had ridden skillfully and smartly and finished with the least time elapsed. Froome and Contador started, didn’t finish. End of story. We can debate this forever just like you can so many other situations in other sports. No asterisks on clean wins.

    Agreed – best riders in the world available at the moment, duking it out in the mountains.  There is still plenty of talent, challenges and attacks.  Last man standing wins.

  5. @KW

    @frank

    @KW

    Lots of speculation going on everywhere.

    Simple fact is, it doesn’t matter.

    If you want to win ANY race, you must finish said race.

    Nibali’s (presumed) win shouldn’t be regarded as diminished because Froome and Contador aren’t there, any more than it should because Merckx, Hinault, LeMond, etc. aren’t in the race.

    Froome and Contador had their shot, and they couldn’t stay in. That’s the way racing goes. I, for one, am having a great time watching Nibali crush the race out of pride.

    Froome was bad luck, Contador made a mistake trying to pass a rider at great speed with one hand in his pocket and the other on a handlebar. His own fault he was out, that’s just pure racing. Froome’s accident(s) was racing too, but that was a bit more being unlucky with where he was at that moment for the first crash.

    Agreed, but the Song Remains the Same “…as we go sliding… sliding… sliding through.” Out is out.

    Totally. Must finish to win.

    My favorite part of Nibble’s win is that Astana hired Peter Van Petegem and trained hard on the stones, practiced it extensively, really nailed the details and spent time riding them at race pace. That attention to detail really paid off. Shit, even a cobbles master like Sparty couldn’t match him because he’s not used to riding them in the wet (he’s never raced on cobbles in the wet as far as I know.)

    @wiscot

    Ok, ok, I’ll keep the debate going:

    1973 Luis Ocana won, Merckx did not start

    1976 Lucien van Impe won, Merckx did not start

    1980 Joop Zoetemelk won, Hinault retired injured

    1983 Laurent Fignon won, Hinault did not start

    We could argue from here to eternity if these winners would have won if Merckx and Hinault had started and been healthy. They didn’t. Every one of these winners deserved to win, no question. They were great riders with great palmares. At the end of three weeks they had ridden skillfully and smartly and finished with the least time elapsed. Froome and Contador started, didn’t finish. End of story. We can debate this forever just like you can so many other situations in other sports. No asterisks on clean wins.

    Spot the fuck on. I will note with interest that Fignon was the only one to win another Tour (and come close a third time), not to mention that he nearly pulled off two Giro-Tour doubles.

  6. I wouldn’t even bother to watch this tour if it weren’t for the two Frenchmen beating each other up. I’m bored with the sprints. I like him, but I’m also bored with nibali. I want some real racing. Nibali looks as if he’s attacking a women’s cat 4 group. Nyehh. Just ranting.

  7. @Fausto Crapiz

    I wouldn’t even bother to watch this tour if it weren’t for the two Frenchmen beating each other up. I’m bored with the sprints. I like him, but I’m also bored with nibali. I want some real racing. Nibali looks as if he’s attacking a women’s cat 4 group. Nyehh. Just ranting.

    glad I’m not racing these chicks.

    FRA 2 PINOT, Thibaut (FDJ.fr) + 1:10
    POL 3 MAJKA, Rafal (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 1:12
    FRA 4 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 1:15
    USA 5 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING)
    FRA 6 BARDET, Romain (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 1:53
    NED 7 MOLLEMA, Bauke (BELKIN) + 1:57
    CZE 8 KONIG, Leopold (NETAPP – ENDURA)
    ESP 9 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 1:59

  8. @piwakawaka

    So can TJVG put 2.08 into Bardet in the ITT?

    54k, it’s possible but Bardet either has to be really bad at tt’s or TJVG has to have an amazing ride. If he makes it I will salvage a little of my pathetic VSP Tour…

  9. @Fausto Crapiz

    Why a women’s Cat 4?  You don’t think he could take the men’s?  Or is this a personal insecurity?  There are plenty of women who could crush you…

    Anyway, Nibali’s has been a great ride.  And he was magic attacking in and riding out of the fog on last year’s decisive climb in the Giro.  I’m almost ready to forgive him his whining after this year’s M-SR.

    And I was cheering for Pinot and Peraud when they dropped Valverde yesterday, too.  Especially as Pinot paced the group up the climb with TJVG and also managed not to get done on the line by a wheelsucker.  I really hope Pinot manages to hold his advantage in the TT.  It’d be good for everyone.  Except Valverde, of course, and fuck him.

  10. @frank

    @KW

    @frank

    @KW

    Lots of speculation going on everywhere.

    Simple fact is, it doesn’t matter.

    If you want to win ANY race, you must finish said race.

    Nibali’s (presumed) win shouldn’t be regarded as diminished because Froome and Contador aren’t there, any more than it should because Merckx, Hinault, LeMond, etc. aren’t in the race.

    Froome and Contador had their shot, and they couldn’t stay in. That’s the way racing goes. I, for one, am having a great time watching Nibali crush the race out of pride.

    Froome was bad luck, Contador made a mistake trying to pass a rider at great speed with one hand in his pocket and the other on a handlebar. His own fault he was out, that’s just pure racing. Froome’s accident(s) was racing too, but that was a bit more being unlucky with where he was at that moment for the first crash.

    Agreed, but the Song Remains the Same “…as we go sliding… sliding… sliding through.” Out is out.

    Totally. Must finish to win.

    My favorite part of Nibble’s win is that Astana hired Peter Van Petegem and trained hard on the stones, practiced it extensively, really nailed the details and spent time riding them at race pace. That attention to detail really paid off. Shit, even a cobbles master like Sparty couldn’t match him because he’s not used to riding them in the wet (he’s never raced on cobbles in the wet as far as I know.)

    @wiscot

    Ok, ok, I’ll keep the debate going:

    1973 Luis Ocana won, Merckx did not start

    1976 Lucien van Impe won, Merckx did not start

    1980 Joop Zoetemelk won, Hinault retired injured

    1983 Laurent Fignon won, Hinault did not start

    We could argue from here to eternity if these winners would have won if Merckx and Hinault had started and been healthy. They didn’t. Every one of these winners deserved to win, no question. They were great riders with great palmares. At the end of three weeks they had ridden skillfully and smartly and finished with the least time elapsed. Froome and Contador started, didn’t finish. End of story. We can debate this forever just like you can so many other situations in other sports. No asterisks on clean wins.

    Spot the fuck on. I will note with interest that Fignon was the only one to win another Tour (and come close a third time), not to mention that he nearly pulled off two Giro-Tour doubles.

    It should also be noted that no one, apart from the press at the time, would seriously suggest that Merckx’s 1971 Tour win was diminished by the fact that Ocana crashed out whilst in yellow with a 7 minute lead.

    (Speaking of Ocana, I’ve just picked up Alasdair Fotheringham’s book Reckless – saving it for lazy afternoons in southern France with a cold beer after long dust rides in the Pyrenean foothills)

  11. @andrew I don’t know about you, but there are enough sandbaggers in the cat.4 here that not only would they have a crack at Nibbles but they could save new Orleans from the next hurricane Katrina.

  12. @wiscot

    Ok, ok, I’ll keep the debate going:

    1973 Luis Ocana won, Merckx did not start

    1976 Lucien van Impe won, Merckx did not start

    1980 Joop Zoetemelk won, Hinault retired injured

    1983 Laurent Fignon won, Hinault did not start

    We could argue from here to eternity if these winners would have won if Merckx and Hinault had started and been healthy. They didn’t. Every one of these winners deserved to win, no question. They were great riders with great palmares. At the end of three weeks they had ridden skillfully and smartly and finished with the least time elapsed. Froome and Contador started, didn’t finish. End of story. We can debate this forever just like you can so many other situations in other sports. No asterisks on clean wins.

    Great riders with great palmares.

    Perhaps a bit lost in all this is the fact that should Nibali go on to win this Tour, he will become only the 6th man to win all three GTs in his career. He’ll join the likes of Anquetil, Contador, Gimondi, Hinault, and Merckx. That’s pretty good company if you ask me.

  13. @KW

    @wiscot

    Ok, ok, I’ll keep the debate going:

    1973 Luis Ocana won, Merckx did not start

    1976 Lucien van Impe won, Merckx did not start

    1980 Joop Zoetemelk won, Hinault retired injured

    1983 Laurent Fignon won, Hinault did not start

    We could argue from here to eternity if these winners would have won if Merckx and Hinault had started and been healthy. They didn’t. Every one of these winners deserved to win, no question. They were great riders with great palmares. At the end of three weeks they had ridden skillfully and smartly and finished with the least time elapsed. Froome and Contador started, didn’t finish. End of story. We can debate this forever just like you can so many other situations in other sports. No asterisks on clean wins.

    Great riders with great palmares.

    Perhaps a bit lost in all this is the fact that should Nibali go on to win this Tour, he will become only the 6th man to win all three GTs in his career. He’ll join the likes of Anquetil, Contador, Gimondi, Hinault, and Merckx. That’s pretty good company if you ask me.

    Yes indeed, and a few more GT’s to come I’ll wager.

    Unless, of course, Froome and Contador ride next year when, as we all, know, Nibbles will be lucky to get on the podium because had THEY been riding this year it would have been a two-horse race as they are sooooo superior to everyone else . . . Is there an emoticon for pure sarcasm?

  14. @wiscot

    @KW

    @wiscot

    Ok, ok, I’ll keep the debate going:

    1973 Luis Ocana won, Merckx did not start

    1976 Lucien van Impe won, Merckx did not start

    1980 Joop Zoetemelk won, Hinault retired injured

    1983 Laurent Fignon won, Hinault did not start

    We could argue from here to eternity if these winners would have won if Merckx and Hinault had started and been healthy. They didn’t. Every one of these winners deserved to win, no question. They were great riders with great palmares. At the end of three weeks they had ridden skillfully and smartly and finished with the least time elapsed. Froome and Contador started, didn’t finish. End of story. We can debate this forever just like you can so many other situations in other sports. No asterisks on clean wins.

    Great riders with great palmares.

    Perhaps a bit lost in all this is the fact that should Nibali go on to win this Tour, he will become only the 6th man to win all three GTs in his career. He’ll join the likes of Anquetil, Contador, Gimondi, Hinault, and Merckx. That’s pretty good company if you ask me.

    Yes indeed, and a few more GT’s to come I’ll wager.

    Unless, of course, Froome and Contador ride next year when, as we all, know, Nibbles will be lucky to get on the podium because had THEY been riding this year it would have been a two-horse race as they are sooooo superior to everyone else . . .

    Don’t forget Quintana.

    Is there an emoticon for pure sarcasm?

    Yup.

  15. With the TT tomorrow, I fully expect some major shake-ups in the Top 5. It won’t be enough for my VSP picks to come through, but it will surely be as interesting as the last few weeks. I really did enjoy seeing Horner put in a move yesterday though and TJ seems strong enough to at least move up a bit in the standings. God luck to all.

  16. @Fausto Crapiz

    I wouldn’t even bother to watch this tour if it weren’t for the two Frenchmen beating each other up. I’m bored with the sprints. I like him, but I’m also bored with nibali. I want some real racing. Nibali looks as if he’s attacking a women’s cat 4 group. Nyehh. Just ranting.

    Hold on a minute. Are you off your energy drinks?

  17. @Ron

    @Fausto Crapiz

    I wouldn’t even bother to watch this tour if it weren’t for the two Frenchmen beating each other up. I’m bored with the sprints. I like him, but I’m also bored with nibali. I want some real racing. Nibali looks as if he’s attacking a women’s cat 4 group. Nyehh. Just ranting.

    Hold on a minute. Are you off your energy drinks?

    Bottom bracket short of a full chainset?

  18. @wiscot

    @KW

    @wiscot

    Ok, ok, I’ll keep the debate going:

    1973 Luis Ocana won, Merckx did not start

    1976 Lucien van Impe won, Merckx did not start

    1980 Joop Zoetemelk won, Hinault retired injured

    1983 Laurent Fignon won, Hinault did not start

    We could argue from here to eternity if these winners would have won if Merckx and Hinault had started and been healthy. They didn’t. Every one of these winners deserved to win, no question. They were great riders with great palmares. At the end of three weeks they had ridden skillfully and smartly and finished with the least time elapsed. Froome and Contador started, didn’t finish. End of story. We can debate this forever just like you can so many other situations in other sports. No asterisks on clean wins.

    Great riders with great palmares.

    Perhaps a bit lost in all this is the fact that should Nibali go on to win this Tour, he will become only the 6th man to win all three GTs in his career. He’ll join the likes of Anquetil, Contador, Gimondi, Hinault, and Merckx. That’s pretty good company if you ask me.

    Yes indeed, and a few more GT’s to come I’ll wager.

    Unless, of course, Froome and Contador ride next year when, as we all, know, Nibbles will be lucky to get on the podium because had THEY been riding this year it would have been a two-horse race as they are sooooo superior to everyone else . . . Is there an emoticon for pure sarcasm?

    Yeah baby. During the Dauphine, when Nibbles was not quite peaking it was all about Froomy and Bertie.  With Sky in its present shape, Froomy would be in trouble even if he was healthy. Never having a jour sans really makes you a badass in the Tour, it would have been a real battle and Nibbles might have burned them both anyway.

  19. @Gianni  @Wiscott et al

    I like to think that the GC contenders are getting isolated as showing things are cleaner and it is getting back to mano a mano for the GC contenders.  Would be good to see a 3-4 way slugfest next year.

  20. @KW

    @wiscot

    Ok, ok, I’ll keep the debate going:

    1973 Luis Ocana won, Merckx did not start

    1976 Lucien van Impe won, Merckx did not start

    1980 Joop Zoetemelk won, Hinault retired injured

    1983 Laurent Fignon won, Hinault did not start

    We could argue from here to eternity if these winners would have won if Merckx and Hinault had started and been healthy. They didn’t. Every one of these winners deserved to win, no question. They were great riders with great palmares. At the end of three weeks they had ridden skillfully and smartly and finished with the least time elapsed. Froome and Contador started, didn’t finish. End of story. We can debate this forever just like you can so many other situations in other sports. No asterisks on clean wins.

    Great riders with great palmares.

    Perhaps a bit lost in all this is the fact that should Nibali go on to win this Tour, he will become only the 6th man to win all three GTs in his career. He’ll join the likes of Anquetil, Contador, Gimondi, Hinault, and Merckx. That’s pretty good company if you ask me.

    Damn straight, he’s not there yet tho’….

  21. Goes to show how few of us have the two Frenchmen in our picks; the results are largely unchanged even though they shuffled places!

    Provisional Race Results
    1. NIBALI Vincenzo
    2. PERAUD Jean-Christophe
    3. PINOT Thibaut
    4. VALVERDE Alejandro
    5. VAN GARDEREN Tejay
    Provisional VSP Standings
    1. Two Ball Billy (27 points)
    2. frank (23 points)
    3. Dave R (21 points)
    4. slideorama (20 points)
    5. BaltoSteve (20 points)
    6. oldensteel (18 points)
    7. piwakawaka (17 points)
    8. Rom (17 points)
    9. il muro di manayunk (17 points)
    10. Tobin (17 points)
    163. RHE218 (0 points)
  22. @Two Ball Billy

    It certainly took a solid pair to win this year.

    Hat to you 2BB! Oh wait we’re you talking about Nibbles? He deserves acclaim for making it look easy but is anyone else wondering what’s up with the sausage in his shorts Or is it just me and I should seek professional help?

  23. @Rob

    @Two Ball Billy

    It certainly took a solid pair to win this year.

    Hat to you 2BB! Oh wait we’re you talking about Nibbles? He deserves acclaim for making it look easy but is anyone else wondering what’s up with the sausage in his shorts Or is it just me and I should seek professional help?

    Just you @Rob, just you…

  24. @Teocalli

    @Ron

    @Fausto Crapiz

    I wouldn’t even bother to watch this tour if it weren’t for the two Frenchmen beating each other up. I’m bored with the sprints. I like him, but I’m also bored with nibali. I want some real racing. Nibali looks as if he’s attacking a women’s cat 4 group. Nyehh. Just ranting.

    Hold on a minute. Are you off your energy drinks?

    Bottom bracket short of a full chainset?

    No on both counts. What I’m saying is that Nibbles doesn’t seem to have any real competition. Doesn’t it seem that way to you?

  25. Frank in second place? Mien Gott em Heimmel. He does have a big brain.

    @Two Ball Billy

    It certainly took a solid pair to win this year.

    Chapeau. Few dared to venture beyond the lightbulb fucker and spanish steak-o-matic.

  26. Yeah, strong work, Big Frank! I wonder if he could have pulled off such brilliant picks, Gianni, if he’d had to do it after rejigging the main frame last week. Well, that there is the question: does wrestling the monster add to his madness, or his clarity?

    Darn, so close to some nice points. Valverde slotted into 3, Tejay at 4. I don’t see them both jumping up a slot today.

    Already feelin’ the post-Le Tour postpartum letdown. Always makes it feel like summer is a bit too far gone for my liking. The elation of late June is suddenly transformed into the emptiness of late July.

  27. Frank, so are you guys going to do a VSP for the post tour criteriums? I need to salvage some points.

  28. @Ccos

    Frank, so are you guys going to do a VSP for the post tour criteriums? I need to salvage some points.

    I hope so. Those things are so fixed that even I could get a few right.

    Let’s see . . . if Nibbles starts . . Nibbles wins! If Kittel does one in Germany, he wins. If Bardet or Peraud are the main attraction at one in France, one of them wins.

  29. Well, that does it for this year’s Tour. What a race, I really loved this whole thing soup to nuts.

    As for the VSP GC, lets see what we’ve got here after La Course and Le Tour’s points are added in:

    [vsp_gc year=”2014″/]

  30. Righto, what a fantastic Tour. It was great to see such a variety of stage winners for a change. It was not great to see all the crashes. (Too many). Hooray for the French to finally have to “strong boys ” for the future. Also, Chris Horner is an alien (how does he do it?) While I’m posting any Velominatus out there who has any idea how long it takes to receive “Gear” once ordered. I ordered name plate and decals 0n 7/6. Still nada.

  31. Kittel inhaling wasps on Pla d’Adet. Dropped from the grupetto.

    Durbo and Sveino

    Horner’s socks…

    OPQS roll up to the start in Pau. Terpstra in sneakers.

  32. A fine tour indeed. I was ruminating on it yesterday on my ride. First, chapeau to Nibali. All that pish about  C & F not finishing therefore he wouldn’t have won if they’d stayed in the race is meaningless. They crashed, Nibali didn’t. Want to look at the racing side? N put down his marker on state 2 with a superb win. Stage 5 saw another massive gain. 4th in the TT. Four wins. When did Bertie or Froome win 4 stages in any of their Tour wins? Also, Will Froome win the hat trick of GTs? I doubt it.

    Awesome to see two French riders on French teams on the Podium. A French resurgence can only be good for the sport.

    Kittlel is a superstar. Martin is a superstar. Greipel is a superstar. – 7 wins for the Germans = one third of stages on offer. Every sport needs characters and Kittel has the making of a great one: talented, distinctive, humble, articulate. A battl;e with Cav would have been nice to watch.

    Hopefully Talansky will be back to strength and better luck next year. TJ needs to be more aggressive.  Great ride by Horner.

    Sky need to put more faith in Thomas. When the best part of your Tour is unveiling a stupidly over the top team car, you know your priorities are wrong.

  33. @wiscot

    A fine tour indeed. I was ruminating on it yesterday on my ride. First, chapeau to Nibali. All that pish about C & F not finishing therefore he wouldn’t have won if they’d stayed in the race is meaningless. They crashed, Nibali didn’t. Want to look at the racing side? N put down his marker on state 2 with a superb win. Stage 5 saw another massive gain. 4th in the TT. Four wins. When did Bertie or Froome win 4 stages in any of their Tour wins? Also, Will Froome win the hat trick of GTs? I doubt it.

    Awesome to see two French riders on French teams on the Podium. A French resurgence can only be good for the sport.

    Kittlel is a superstar. Martin is a superstar. Greipel is a superstar. – 7 wins for the Germans = one third of stages on offer. Every sport needs characters and Kittel has the making of a great one: talented, distinctive, humble, articulate. A battl;e with Cav would have been nice to watch.

    Hopefully Talansky will be back to strength and better luck next year. TJ needs to be more aggressive. Great ride by Horner.

    Sky need to put more faith in Thomas. When the best part of your Tour is unveiling a stupidly over the top team car, you know your priorities are wrong.

    I was really impressed with what Thomas did on Stage 5 after Froome abandoned. He literally towed Porte for the rest of the day, and brought him all the way to the front. If Sky were to give him some freedom, I think he could be a real contender, especially in the classics. Seems a really nice guy, too.

  34. @KW

    I was really impressed with what Thomas did on Stage 5 after Froome abandoned. He literally towed Porte for the rest of the day, and brought him all the way to the front. If Sky were to give him some freedom, I think he could be a real contender, especially in the classics. Seems a really nice guy, too.

    I’d partially agree about Thomas. He’s already shown that he’s a very promising classics rider. Himself and Boonen were making all the running in Paris-Roubaix this year, and he was still around at the end too. He had a podium in one of the earlier Belgian classics too I think. However, he has a tendency to fall off the bike too often (I think he hit the deck in every major sping classic he did in 2013). Also, the fact that he took a year off in 2012 to do track has probably harmed his long-term prospect as a GT rider. He hasn’t even really shown that he can dominate a one-week stage race yet (although he did have a stong showing in this year’s Paris-Nice).
    Right now, I’d say Sky’s classics contenders for next year are Stannard and Thomas (with wiggo for P-R if he could be bothered).

  35. @LeoTea

    @KW

    I was really impressed with what Thomas did on Stage 5 after Froome abandoned. He literally towed Porte for the rest of the day, and brought him all the way to the front. If Sky were to give him some freedom, I think he could be a real contender, especially in the classics. Seems a really nice guy, too.

    I’d partially agree about Thomas. He’s already shown that he’s a very promising classics rider. Himself and Boonen were making all the running in Paris-Roubaix this year, and he was still around at the end too. He had a podium in one of the earlier Belgian classics too I think. However, he has a tendency to fall off the bike too often (I think he hit the deck in every major sping classic he did in 2013). Also, the fact that he took a year off in 2012 to do track has probably harmed his long-term prospect as a GT rider. He hasn’t even really shown that he can dominate a one-week stage race yet (although he did have a stong showing in this year’s Paris-Nice).
    Right now, I’d say Sky’s classics contenders for next year are Stannard and Thomas (with wiggo for P-R if he could be bothered).

    Yes yes. Geraint is a model citizen on a race bike. And remember that Cancellara hits the deck too while racing — and riding recon.

  36. Going into tour withdrawal already. About to cry and suck my thumb. .. or something like that. 

  37. Indeed, Geraint Thomas is my favourite rider, not least for the crappy but entertaining FB postings he comes up with – just a good lad – I particularly loved his teambus doorway comments on Stage 5 when he said it was really tough to lose Froome, and everyone was sliding all over the place and crashing, and it was a horror show on the cobbles, “but it was actually a really good laugh, so let’s get on with it” (complete misquote) – my kind of rider

  38. 4 of my 5 picks abandoned. Missed both rest day swaps. In Canada with no cable so didn’t watch a single stage.

    I feel like I should be scoring negative points on this one, not just the naught.

  39. I’ve just deleted the long rambling post I’d written about this tour.

    In summary; I enjoyed it (a lot). Its left more questions than answers (i’ve no faith in Nibali being clean, what would the race of been like with CF and AC in it?),  green jersey contest was pointless,  good to see French riders doing so well, GT and Porte are great riders but not Grand Tour winners of the future.

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