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Tour de France 2011 Thread

KiWiNiNjA

International Coach
Yeah, that was ridiculous. Poor Hoogaland went from top to bottom because of some random idiot in a TV car. Probably wont even get to where the polka dot jersey.
 

Stapel

International Regular
Well, Johnny Hoogerland made it!

But what a freak day! Van den Broeck, Vinokourov, Zabrisky, Willems... all out with broken bones. And then this lunatic taking out Flecha and Hoogerland, the latter ending up as a rolled roast in the barbed wire....

Just saw Johnny at the price ceremony...... In pain and in tears.

NOS Sport - Auto rijdt Johnny prikkeldraad in

Dutch commentary, but who cares......
 

PhoenixFire

International Coach
Just seen the video of what happened today. Am very angry.

The Tour is hard enough as it is without some ****head driver pissing about on the road and knocking people into barbed wire fences. Disgraceful stuff, hopefully he'll get sued by the teams, felt so bad for Hoogerland.
 

Stapel

International Regular
Hoogerland himself was pretty mild, stating that the driver probably did not do this on purpose...

As bad as it is, it does have a side to it. Johnny Hoogerland has been lifted to hero status!

That's what your arse looks like after being smashed into barbed wire at 35 mph:


And that's your face when you HAVE to get to the pricing ceremony first, before you can get to a hospital to get 33 !!! stiches.

 

weeman27bob

International Vice-Captain
Hopefully someone with more knowledge than me can spread some light on this.

But it always strikes me as odd why there aren't more team breakaways.

Say one of the teams without any contenders for GC or any sprinters, someone like AG2r of Confidis. Why don't they send something like 5 or 6 riders out in a breakaway in an effort to get a stage win, rather than sending perhaps one?
 

Magrat Garlick

Rather Mad Witch
Well a breakaway has to be allowed to be formed, basically. If the peloton doesn't like the composition of the breakaway they won't let it go, and any team with 5-6 in front won't be joined by anyone else (they won't have a chance against 5-6 who can attack at different times). Thus it'll be that team vs 19 others.
 

Spikey

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a team like that would probably benefit more if they had 3-4 days in a row with 1-2 in the breakway wouldn't it?
 

Stapel

International Regular
Even a breakaway with two members of one team in a group of 7 is edgy. Never ever will a team be allowed to escape with 5 or 6. They'll simply hunted down in an eye blink.

The way to go is indeed to make sure you've got a man in the break-away group every time.
 

Neil Pickup

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I keep reading talk that Cavendish is headed for Sky next year.

Why on earth would he want to leave HTC when a team rides like that for him?
 

Neil Pickup

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He'd be out of his mind.

Tomorrow looks fun... will be the big guns going head-to-head for the first time, I figure - anyone like to pick the stage winner and the yellow jersey after they've got to Luz-Ardiden?

I'm going to go Evans in yellow, although Sanchez might be able to keep within 40' and hold on. Stage winner... some nutter on a break.
 

Magrat Garlick

Rather Mad Witch
Chavanel for the stage. It's 14 July.

Leopard will yawn their way through for another week, so yeah, Evans in yellow sounds like a decent bet.
 

Magrat Garlick

Rather Mad Witch
:laugh:

Actually meant to credit Thomas there but came off all wrong. Meant to illustrate how far he's come from that stage, probably the best domestique Sky has now.

Pickup on Geraint Thomas ca 2008, for evidence.
 
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