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Tour De France 2014 Pre-race thread
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| TimoCycling |
Posted on 26-06-2014 13:12
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@Shorts: how can you call TVG a safe bet and be afraid Mollema won't get a top 10? He wasn't great in the Dauphine... Whereas Mollema got 3rd in Suisse after coming from a height stage. |
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 26-06-2014 13:17
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Nationalism and fanboyism strikes again.
Suisse and Dauphine has nothing to do with real abilities of the riders. They're just preparational races for Le Tour and therefore no one gives their 100%. Watch last stage of Dauphine, focus on Froome dropping and call me back in a month.
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 17:35
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 26-06-2014 13:26
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How is Bennet not there!
Wow. he's had a tremendous season, but guys like Schillinger get the nod. 
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| ShortsNL |
Posted on 26-06-2014 14:15
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TimoCycling wrote:
@Shorts: how can you call TVG a safe bet and be afraid Mollema won't get a top 10? He wasn't great in the Dauphine... Whereas Mollema got 3rd in Suisse after coming from a height stage.
Good point on TVG. What I didn't realize was that one of the reasons why he got 5th in the 2012 TDF is because it had so many TT km's. This edition is the complete opposite, so I am not so sure about TVG anymore.
Still, that makes it only harder for me 
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| MrUfo87 |
Posted on 26-06-2014 16:29
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Daniel Martin won't start at the Tour, because he thinks he's not in a good shape for it. He'll now focus on the Vuelta.
https://nos.nl/artikel/666685-daniel-m...rance.html (Dutch)
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 26-06-2014 16:31
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Yeah, it was expected. it's a good thing. Vuelta suits him better, though the competition will be high. His initial plan was Giro-Vuelta so he's sticking by that.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 26-06-2014 16:38
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admirschleck wrote:
Nationalism and fanboyism strikes again.
Suisse and Dauphine has nothing to do with real abilities of the riders. They're just preparational races for Le Tour and therefore no one gives their 100%. Watch last stage of Dauphine, focus on Froome dropping and call me back in a month.
Nationalism and fabboyism aside, you can't possible think/say that Van Garderen will be better at the Tour than Mollema.
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 26-06-2014 16:43
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You can never know what Tour brings, especially with this interesting route. I know it suits Mollema better, but only one of these guys finished in Top 5 at Le Tour and surprisingly enough - it's not Bauke.
Mollema is probably better than TVG at the moment, but he's just not a safe to bet. There are two simple reasons: the team he rides in (Crashkin) and his past who mostly tells that he had some stomach/illness problems when it came to decisive moments. We'll see.
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| alexkr00 |
Posted on 26-06-2014 16:57
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admirschleck wrote:
You can never know what Tour brings, especially with this interesting route. I know it suits Mollema better, but only one of these guys finished in Top 5 at Le Tour and surprisingly enough - it's not Bauke.
And except for that top 5 he has done nothing else in a Grand Tour. One hit wonder. Meanwhile, Bauke has been one of the most consistent riders in the past years.
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| TimoCycling |
Posted on 26-06-2014 17:44
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admirschleck wrote:
You can never know what Tour brings, especially with this interesting route. I know it suits Mollema better, but only one of these guys finished in Top 5 at Le Tour and surprisingly enough - it's not Bauke.
Mollema is probably better than TVG at the moment, but he's just not a safe to bet. There are two simple reasons: the team he rides in (Crashkin) and his past who mostly tells that he had some stomach/illness problems when it came to decisive moments. We'll see.
Nothing to do with fanboyism or anything, just pointing out the results the last race before the Tour. It's more likely that Mollema will ride a good Tour than TVG at the moment. |
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| simieon |
Posted on 26-06-2014 18:08
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i agree, bauke is certainly the most consistent of the two, and the one who has shown the best form recently, which also makes the other riders watch him more closely, and makes him less likely to get a stage win.
depending on how points are given, i think it might be worth the risk to gamble on TVG to get a win, or close to, over mollema's string of 5-10'th places. |
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| SSJ2Luigi |
Posted on 26-06-2014 18:29
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admirschleck wrote:
You can never know what Tour brings, especially with this interesting route. I know it suits Mollema better, but only one of these guys finished in Top 5 at Le Tour and surprisingly enough - it's not Bauke.
so Horner is a favorite since he won a GT once 
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| valverde321 |
Posted on 26-06-2014 20:15
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baseballlover312 wrote:
How is Bennet not there!
Wow. he's had a tremendous season, but guys like Schillinger get the nod.
To be fair, I think Barta or Konig have a better chance of getting a victory anyway, and I think they have a team to support Konig who can likely get a Top 15 and possibly stage win if things go well.
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| Shonak |
Posted on 26-06-2014 20:35
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If it comes down to Mollema and TVG, I'd go with Mollema too.
Why not Talansky though? He came 10th last year and is - judging by Dauphine - a real safe bet for another Top 10.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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| TimoCycling |
Posted on 26-06-2014 20:41
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Shonak wrote:
If it comes down to Mollema and TVG, I'd go with Mollema too.
Why not Talansky though? He came 10th last year and is - judging by Dauphine - a real safe bet for another Top 10.
Agree, I think Talansky will surprise some people. Definitely top 10. |
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| baseballlover312 |
Posted on 26-06-2014 20:45
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TimoCycling wrote:
Shonak wrote:
If it comes down to Mollema and TVG, I'd go with Mollema too.
Why not Talansky though? He came 10th last year and is - judging by Dauphine - a real safe bet for another Top 10.
Agree, I think Talansky will surprise some people. Definitely top 10.
Don't think a top 10 for Talansky would be a surprise to anyone.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy |
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| TimoCycling |
Posted on 26-06-2014 20:46
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baseballlover312 wrote:
TimoCycling wrote:
Shonak wrote:
If it comes down to Mollema and TVG, I'd go with Mollema too.
Why not Talansky though? He came 10th last year and is - judging by Dauphine - a real safe bet for another Top 10.
Agree, I think Talansky will surprise some people. Definitely top 10.
Don't think a top 10 for Talansky would be a surprise to anyone.
I know, I mean a surprise will be top 5, but definitely top 10. Should've said it a bit better . |
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| fefj |
Posted on 26-06-2014 22:25
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admirschleck wrote:
Nationalism and fanboyism strikes again.
Suisse and Dauphine has nothing to do with real abilities of the riders. They're just preparational races for Le Tour and therefore no one gives their 100%. Watch last stage of Dauphine, focus on Froome dropping and call me back in a month.
What are you on about? Tour de Suisse and Dauphiné are huge races, some of the biggest and most prestigious stage races on the calendar. If by "real abilities" you mean the ability to fare well in the Tour, then maybe, but you can be sure that a lot of riders are giving everything they have. And that every winner of either race is a great cyclist, with abilities that are very real. You can take Talansky this year as an example. |
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| admirschleck |
Posted on 26-06-2014 22:43
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I'm on my chair, why are you asking?
Suisse and Dauphiné are two huge races, yes, but there's no chance any of favourites and main Tour GC contenders went full, 100% gas there and spent some important energy that they'll surely need later in 2nd and 3rd week of Tour. However, guys like Reichenbach, Talansky, Bardet were on 100% there and tried to show they're good enough and ready to challenge Froome, Conta and friends in Le Tour.
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| Riis123 |
Posted on 26-06-2014 23:18
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I would agree. Mollema would be the safer bet (he is very consistent and looked fine in Suisse), while Van Garderen didnt impress anyone at Dauhpine and is kinda inconsistent. You can almost always be sure Mollema will be up there (5th -8th), but Van Garderen has the higher ceiling, but im not sold on him yet. To be fair, from Dauphine there is 1 month and a week till the first mountain stages, so a lot of work can still be done.
About Talansky, It would even surprise me if he doesnt get in the top-5 yhis year. Definetely a must pick on that team imo. Kwiatkowski would also be good, as he would be a good bet for a stage win or at least some podium places |
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