Tour de France 2013

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magnumpti Sep 2013 10:09am, 30 Sep 2013 132 posts	0 magnumpti So you disagree that we are a bunch of girls blouses who don't like riding in the rain or when there is no chance of winning?
mulbs Sep 2013 10:14am, 30 Sep 2013 9,589 posts	0 mulbs *baffled as to riders from a country where it rains more than Noah experienced are outperformed by those who are from countries as dry as a dry thing . . . . thought (from what I read on the updates) that Cav bust a gut to do his stint but had no intention of staying to the end, given he had no wet weather gear with him at the start. assume that somewhere between Brad's TdF and the Giro he's had a bloody nasty experience in the wet because there seems to be a radical change in his confidence/skills. Think lack of radio contact had a big impact on all teams, no way to know if a rider is truly isolated or not because no feedback. Think our riders just thought "fuck it, I'm wet and cold" - can't say I'd have thought any differently but then I'm not an elite cyclist
magnumpti Sep 2013 10:17am, 30 Sep 2013 133 posts	0 magnumpti And surely those in 2nd, 3rd and 4th places would be described as GT riders rather than Classics riders. Even Rui Costa won two stages in the TDF this year so the Worlds must have suited that type of rider?
SPR Sep 2013 10:40am, 30 Sep 2013 18,796 posts	0 SPR Winning stages is different from winning a GT (see Cav), however you are right that this WC it was one more suited to GT riders. They didn't have it on the day for what ever reason, which I'm sure they'll look into. Tbh, I don't care that they dropped out once they were out of contention. Not many people finished the race, so they weren't alone.
The Teaboy Sep 2013 10:41am, 30 Sep 2013 10,029 posts	0 The Teaboy I would have thought that given Froome's punchy style, he could have been able to go with Purito on those last two climbs if he had been there. But then our GC riders don't have much one-day experience. Grand Tours aren't as fluid as a one day race where all hell breaks loose most of the time. In a 3-week event, riders have to conserve their energy over the duration, not let it all hang out for death or glory in a single burst. As a result Sky can calculate and control what is usually quite predictable racing. There is the odd blip, but for the most part, the last two TdFs have been pretty processional.
Dai Bank Sep 2013 11:21am, 30 Sep 2013 3,734 posts	0 Dai Bank Thanks Paul,I hadn't realised that Costa was on his way to Lampre-that renders my theory a load of tosh. If I read the runes right Cav's job was to sit on the front until they arrived at the Florence circuit,maybe do one or two laps but then climb off it would then be up to the others to shepherd Froome to the finish. I reckon the fact that JTL having the letter, Wiggo again suffering with the yips as he had in the Giro, Cummings puncture all conspired to seriously affect morale and nothing that Ellingworth could say or do during the event was going to change that. 10 years or so ago that would be a normal sort of Worlds experience for GB but the level of expectation from the british public fed a diet of track and road success since 2002 has had a bit of a reversal from this event. Sober reflection will still have UK Trade Teams high in the stage race arena but sustaining poorer results in one-day races in 2013.
mulbs Sep 2013 12:08pm, 30 Sep 2013 9,590 posts	0 mulbs Nice summation DB what does Brad do about his yips?
The Teaboy Sep 2013 12:12pm, 30 Sep 2013 10,033 posts	0 The Teaboy Go back to the track.
mulbs Sep 2013 12:15pm, 30 Sep 2013 9,592 posts	0 mulbs I think you're right - such a shame that he didn't go back to the track on a high though, although I guess in work terms iot's the equivalent of having being promoted to your level of incompetence . . . watched the London stage of the tour of Britain from the embankment last weekend and it was absolutely fantastic, they're machines
Velociraptor Sep 2013 12:29pm, 30 Sep 2013 27,457 posts	0 Velociraptor Having watched the Honister section of the ToB, I can testify that some of them are not machines