Tour De France 2013

[Shands]

As expected Quintana proved he's a big star for the future. Honourable mention to Mollema too. If Pinot can sort his head, Kwiatowski improve his climbing and Kennaugh work on his TT we could have some very special tour's to come.

!

Do you think Kwiatowski needs to move teams. With OPQS so focused on Cav he got next to no help on any climb. Good call on Kennaugh too, a star of the future for sure. And Quintana is amazing.

Sean Kelly was saying today that Movistar are maybe moving to a licence in Luxembourg and that Quintana and Costa are out of contract.

I'd read Costa could be on the move, Quintana though I thought had agreed a new deal and that Movistar are going to sign his younger brother. I'd be amazed if they let Nairo go anywhere else without an almighty fight and I'm not sure he'd want to go elsewhere as Movistar is a good fit for him.

Good question regarding Kwiatowski. First and foremost I guess that will depend on how he sees himself developing. He's shown this year that he can climb pretty well, mix it in sprints, TT with the best, perform on the cobbles and be a puncheur for the Ardennes, which at any age, never mind 22, is hugely impressive. Does he want to sacrifice some of those attributes to focus on becoming a proper GC rider or would he prefer to be a Sagan type and have a career hoovering up plenty of stages/one day races? The answer to that may dictate whether he moves or not.

I'm not sure what OPQS' plan is to be honest. It seems accepted that they're signing Uran as a GC contender, but they're also bringing in Renshaw too. Presumably for the next Tour Cav will want Renshaw, Terpstra and Steegmans with him, then you have Chavanel and Martin who should be certainties, which doesn't leave much in the way of domestiques for Uran, possibly Kwiatowski and one other. It's a very strong team, but one that could be a bit muddled in it's identity (that's without throwing in Boonen)

We'll see though, there should be plenty of changes in the winter anyway if Vacansoleil and Euskatel both cease to be, and Leopard Trek have a makeover.

 

[Rascal]

As expected Quintana proved he's a big star for the future. Honourable mention to Mollema too. If Pinot can sort his head, Kwiatowski improve his climbing and Kennaugh work on his TT we could have some very special tour's to come.

!

Do you think Kwiatowski needs to move teams. With OPQS so focused on Cav he got next to no help on any climb. Good call on Kennaugh too, a star of the future for sure. And Quintana is amazing.

Sean Kelly was saying today that Movistar are maybe moving to a licence in Luxembourg and that Quintana and Costa are out of contract.

I'd read Costa could be on the move, Quintana though I thought had agreed a new deal and that Movistar are going to sign his younger brother. I'd be amazed if they let Nairo go anywhere else without an almighty fight and I'm not sure he'd want to go elsewhere as Movistar is a good fit for him.

Good question regarding Kwiatowski. First and foremost I guess that will depend on how he sees himself developing. He's shown this year that he can climb pretty well, mix it in sprints, TT with the best, perform on the cobbles and be a puncheur for the Ardennes, which at any age, never mind 22, is hugely impressive. Does he want to sacrifice some of those attributes to focus on becoming a proper GC rider or would he prefer to be a Sagan type and have a career hoovering up plenty of stages/one day races? The answer to that may dictate whether he moves or not.

I'm not sure what OPQS' plan is to be honest. It seems accepted that they're signing Uran as a GC contender, but they're also bringing in Renshaw too. Presumably for the next Tour Cav will want Renshaw, Terpstra and Steegmans with him, then you have Chavanel and Martin who should be certainties, which doesn't leave much in the way of domestiques for Uran, possibly Kwiatowski and one other. It's a very strong team, but one that could be a bit muddled in it's identity (that's without throwing in Boonen)

We'll see though, there should be plenty of changes in the winter anyway if Vacansoleil and Euskatel both cease to be, and Leopard Trek have a makeover.

That was what i was going to ask. If Uran goes to OPQS where does that leave Kwiatoski? and Uran for that matter if he goes there. As they are based around Cav almost 100% it seems and im sure Cav would not want a repeat of his TdF last year where at times he seemed almost an afterthought.


And one more question has a Yellow jersey wearer in modern times ever lost it on the Champs? I know Lemond won it on a TT but in an actual race?

 

[Shands]

Do you think Kwiatowski needs to move teams. With OPQS so focused on Cav he got next to no help on any climb. Good call on Kennaugh too, a star of the future for sure. And Quintana is amazing.

Sean Kelly was saying today that Movistar are maybe moving to a licence in Luxembourg and that Quintana and Costa are out of contract.

I'd read Costa could be on the move, Quintana though I thought had agreed a new deal and that Movistar are going to sign his younger brother. I'd be amazed if they let Nairo go anywhere else without an almighty fight and I'm not sure he'd want to go elsewhere as Movistar is a good fit for him.

Good question regarding Kwiatowski. First and foremost I guess that will depend on how he sees himself developing. He's shown this year that he can climb pretty well, mix it in sprints, TT with the best, perform on the cobbles and be a puncheur for the Ardennes, which at any age, never mind 22, is hugely impressive. Does he want to sacrifice some of those attributes to focus on becoming a proper GC rider or would he prefer to be a Sagan type and have a career hoovering up plenty of stages/one day races? The answer to that may dictate whether he moves or not.

I'm not sure what OPQS' plan is to be honest. It seems accepted that they're signing Uran as a GC contender, but they're also bringing in Renshaw too. Presumably for the next Tour Cav will want Renshaw, Terpstra and Steegmans with him, then you have Chavanel and Martin who should be certainties, which doesn't leave much in the way of domestiques for Uran, possibly Kwiatowski and one other. It's a very strong team, but one that could be a bit muddled in it's identity (that's without throwing in Boonen)

We'll see though, there should be plenty of changes in the winter anyway if Vacansoleil and Euskatel both cease to be, and Leopard Trek have a makeover.

That was what i was going to ask. If Uran goes to OPQS where does that leave Kwiatoski? and Uran for that matter if he goes there. As they are based around Cav almost 100% it seems and im sure Cav would not want a repeat of his TdF last year where at times he seemed almost an afterthought.


And one more question has a Yellow jersey wearer in modern times ever lost it on the Champs? I know Lemond won it on a TT but in an actual race?

Not that I can remember Rascal, it might have happened but i'm not aware of it.

Regarding Kwiatowski he's still very young so Uran arriving may be no bad thing from his point of view. If he wants to target Grand Tours he could still build up experience at the Giro or Vuelta, presuming that Uran wants the to be the main man for the Tour. It'll take a little pressure off him certainly and if and when he's confident in being a team leader he's not got a load of others on his team vying for that role (unlike Sky for example). From Uran's point of view though, how much support he'll get is questionable, maybe he feels he wont need it.

 

[manchester blue]

It was mentioned that it had been lost only four times in the history of the tour on Eurosport on the last day. And that was when the gap going into the final day was measured in seconds not minutes.

 

[Paul Lake's Left Knee]

It was mentioned that it had been lost only four times in the history of the tour on Eurosport on the last day. And that was when the gap going into the final day was measured in seconds not minutes.

I'm fairly sure they were early on, since the champs elysees has been a sprint stage, its been uncontested by the GC contenders. Greg Lemond won it on the final stage but in a TT, that was by 7 seconds.

 

[crooky]

Well this last day looks rather easy, riders smoking cigars to top things off.

 

[Paul Lake's Left Knee]

Well this last day looks rather easy, riders smoking cigars to top things off.

Well they were in the neutral zone, so werent allowed to race even if they wanted to!! As you can see nothing has changed even though the race has now started. They wont start racing until they are in Paris.

 

[Shands]

Well this last day looks rather easy, riders smoking cigars to top things off.

That's Rodriguez, who has the nickname 'Little Cigar'.

 

[Paul Lake's Left Knee]

Well this last day looks rather easy, riders smoking cigars to top things off.

That's Rodriguez, who has the nickname 'Little Cigar'.

I thought it was Burito not Purito for a while!!!

 

[crooky]

Well this last day looks rather easy, riders smoking cigars to top things off.

Well they were in the neutral zone, so werent allowed to race even if they wanted to!! As you can see nothing has changed even though the race has now started. They wont start racing until they are in Paris.

Ah makes sense. I was starting to think we'd see a midnight finish not a twilight finish!