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I'll be glad to admit I'm wrong is Sagan takes the Green.
The primary competition of the Tour has always been the elapsed overall time, the yellow jersey. As the Tour evolved, different competitions like the green jersey (points for finish placings) and the polka dot jersey (mountain top points) were added to create competition and draw in more sponsorship. There is also the team classification, which the time accumulation of a team's 3 best riders overall. And the white jersey for best young rider, which is top rider 25 or younger on overall time.
You are correct in that watching a stage is actually very tedious and boring. I've not been to the Tour (yet) but I have been to the Vuelta a Espana and I will say that a circuit race like the World Championships is much more exciting. I've been to Hamilton in 2003 and Richmond in 2015, plus the World Tour races in Montreal and Quebec City and they are very spectator worthy. Quebec City is a great day, the race winds through old Quebec and you can watch, drink, eat, walk around.
The Shop
sagan is not a pure sprinter. so if you see him finishing 1st, 2nd or 3rd in a bunch sprint, that is just crazy strong because he is so all around strong that none of the other big name sprinters can hang with him as soon as the road points up. I know we are used to see him competing always for bunch sprints but that's not were he makes his damage.
he's won the green jersey even without a single stage win. but he was top 5 in 11 stages out of 21. that's huge points! than you count in intermediate sprints that make up some 100+ points in his case and to top it off all the top 15 finishes at the medium stages. to me, gaviria won't be able to pull that off. the guy is the best sprinter out there at the moment but that's exactly what will hinder him winning the green jersey in my opinion.
He usually rides well in ITT's for a sprinter and the classics and should not be like him to be dropped in a TTT pace line.
He won the ITT in the Tour of California a few years ago as well as the Slovak - Czech TT.
And you really believe Jungels to be a GC contender for QS?
Again...I can admit if I turn out to be wrong.
I know jungels won't content for the gc win, but the plan of the team was to bring him up in the standings.
anyways, we shall see.
I don't enjoy visiting a 'flat' stage where after waiting for hours the peleton passes in 10 seconds.
However i really enjoy visiting a mountain stage, where a typical day during a week at the tour looks like:
* roadtrip with a bunch of friends of a week
* breakfast together in the French sun
* pack you bikes and some drinks and food, and climb the mountain yourself (depending on the mountain 1 to 2 hours of quite intense sporting)
* At the top regroup with your pals, have something to eat and find a nice spot on the mountaint to watch the stage
* chill in the sun, watch the race on tv for a while
* After the tour caravan the tour comes along, and on the mountain at the end of the stage the whole peloton is smashed in small groups. Very exciting 30-45 minutes
* go downhill, jumpi n the car and have a 1-2 hour ride to the next stage
* when arrived it's another bbq and some beers with your mates
* next day same process again
Obviously not something everybody enjoys, however it is a full days out and not just 15 seconds
Yes, the TTT is different. You're in the slipstream of 8 other riders and teams against the length of your pull on the front based on your ability!
Gaviria being dropped means nothing in this discussion. Your reasoning was Sagan will easily win the Green because he's better all around, so he'll be getting points in the mountains and break aways...which I'd normally agree with but his form seems off.
Gaviria is a pure sprinter with a great team lead out. I don't expect him to do well in an ITT or TTT, but I do expect him to be at the front of most sprints from the sprint points out on the course as well as the stage finish.
But I agree that we shall see...only time will tell.
I was at the UCI World Championship in Richmond, Virginia, in 2015, which, of course, Sagan won. He dropped the field on the three sharp climbs -- Libbie Hill, 17th Street and Governor Street -- near the end of the final lap. Here he is on Governor Street just before the finish ...
peter sagan 1st
fernando gaviria 117th
Sagan team lost water bottles early on a bump,aero bottles bounce out.that was why he popped.
Stage 9 is the one to watch,cobbles and somewhere it goes from 3 lanes to 1 with a house and a ditch on the sides.
The top tube aero move gets someone killed but I'd do it to just go see if it's me.
And,to think lance won 7 in a row,don't cars what he doped, 7 without crashing out of getting sick is amazing. Granted after the first 2 they controlled the pelton a bit but the first and second ones had to be insane.
If you want anyone but Froome because you're under the illusion the others don't cheat, well you'd be wrong. They all cheat. haha
Not a a Froome fan-boy either. Really hoping to see Richie Porte win.
Pit Row
He rode well today!
I’d like to see a classic in Belgium one day. Tour of Flanders = Bucket List item.
* Oxygen vector drugs (EPO)
* After the wall fell there was a proliferation in the West of Eastern Europe’s state sponsored PED techniques. Hey, those East German doping scientists must have loved capitalism! ?
Before then it was mostly run of the mill PEDS like steroids and amphetamines. Good stuff but nothing like the effects of EPO or professional programs managed by specialized doctors. Lemond quit the sport presumably because he didn’t want to use the new gear. Of course the 1984 US Men’s cycling team had some members blood doping but that wasn’t even illegal at the time.
I hope for the good of the sport that I’m wrong and motors will never be used to cheat in big time pro racing.
The one on Marco sets the stage on how the uci of whoever ran things didn't care about dope but one guy winning to much and getting all the tv time.
Then lance gets all the tv time but they liked the money he brought.
I'd love to have had epo to take and hit Loretta ,I'd had my blood so thick it would been like lard.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OZB-pf7piV4
Marco Patani was one of my favorite cyclist. Talk about a race animator! It’s sad how he died broke and alone after being a national hero loved many.
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