Tour de France

Grater

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Didn't drop down too many places. Stayed around the same. So it's good, it means that no one really had many of those riders that filled the top 10.
 

Rupert

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Nice little video of Adam Hansen loading up on water bottles for his teammates.
What a bloke.
 
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keffa

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That's awesome @Rupert. The life of a domestique hey! I remember Matt Wilson (now a director with OGE) 'complaining' that (when they were teammates) he had to do everything for Cookie, including wipe his arse! Not literally of course, but you get the idea.

Sounds like Cookie might have tipped Matthews win last night? He was crowing about it on Facebook.
 

Rupert

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Hansen is a legend.
Apparently only 32, or is it 39, blokes have ever ridden in all 3 grand tours in the same year and Hansen is now on his 15th consecutive one.
He says he will only keep riding them as long as he contributes. He doesn't just want to be part of the furniture.
He is also quite handy in other ways. He writes the software which manages his team's logistics and designs his own bike racing shoes.

And, yeah, domestiques do it all.
 
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Rupert

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@keffa
Does Baden Cooke happen to manage Matthews?
 

Rupert

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@Grater
Thanks for those.
I've brought in Quintana, Porte and Pinot - for Ventoux and the TT.
I'm not sure about Pinot but it is Bastille Day and I think at least one Frenchman will figure in the finish. Plus, according to reports, Pinot is much improved in the TT and won the French TT.
 

Rupert

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Some interesting cycling podcasts I've found:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02pcb42/episodes/downloads - daily reviews of each stage plus a couple of fascinating specials, the one on Cav and sprinting especially.

https://audioboom.com/channel/thecy...137021825&mc_cid=aa330e7a0c&mc_eid=a4e92b27b5
[Bit long that address, isn't it?]
Again, daily reviews that are OK but I find the "kilometre 0" ones more interesting. The "kilometre 0 - Zone Technique" is great. It is basically an interview with a Dutch guy who drives the equipment used by NBC sports which details his typical day during the tour: the equipment he carries, the dawn-midnight routine etc.
 
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keffa

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Rupert

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keffa

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Good idea, keffa. I should have thought of that.
Could be why he was crowing about the win?
I took the crowing to mean that he was happy he'd tipped the win in his online preview, but in hindsight, he must be happy as his manager
 
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Prospector

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@Grater
Thanks for those.
I've brought in Quintana, Porte and Pinot - for Ventoux and the TT.
I'm not sure about Pinot but it is Bastille Day and I think at least one Frenchman will figure in the finish. Plus, according to reports, Pinot is much improved in the TT and won the French TT.
Bastille day and a Frenchie always a good bet, Rupert!
 

Grater

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Pinot won't top 20 the time trial, but I could be wrong.

Glad the break took this stage though. A lot of people used it as their bonus. And with what happened to Froome and Porte, a lot would have had them in their team.
 

Rupert

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As I have both Froome and Porte I slipped further down the ladder.

Glad to see they negated most of the effects of the accident but I think Froome, Porte and Mollema still suffered from it. They were riding away from the others and probably would have made even more time on them.
 

doddy2731

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I didn't watch last night what happened?
As for my last few days i am really struggling, can't seem to pick anyone that can score me point's.
 

Grater

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I had Froome and Porte too but I still managed to move up from 150 odd to 119 and now am just over 400 behind.
 

Rupert

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I didn't watch last night what happened?
As for my last few days i am really struggling, can't seem to pick anyone that can score me point's.
It was a farce.
The top of Ventoux is bare and very exposed and with the high winds expected they moved the finish line 10km down the mountain. So the crowd crammed into a shorter climb and were all over the road.
A break away got clear and went to the finish with little trouble.
However, the main contenders were gapped by Froome, Porte and Mollema when disaster!. The motorbike leading these 3 through the crowd stopped suddenly - due to the crowd getting in the way - and Porte ploughed into it with Froome running into Porte and Mollema into Froome. Mollema recovered OK but still lost his momentum and time. Porte got going later but lost even more time. Frome's bike was wrecked and he had to use a neutral bike while waiting for his team car to bring his own bike up. He went from being 19sec ahead of the main group to over a minute behind them.
Thankfully, the tour organisers set the finishing times for the stage as they were at the accident. So Mollema, Porte and Froome were all given 5.05 behind compared to the group's 5.24. But the way they were riding they would have, should have, picked up even more time.
On-bike video of the crash:

As for scoring in fantasy: I'm going slowly backwards. It's the trouble with mtn stages - who will be in the breakaway? Get that right and you can do well.
 
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Rupert

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http://cyclesportnews.com/index.php...e-france-stage-13-preview&catid=18&Itemid=101

http://cyclingquotes.com/news/2016_tour_de_france_stage_13_preview/

I'm having a hard time working out whether to bring in Cancellara or not. He hasn't impressed but one site reckons he'll win and one site reckons he'll find it tough.
If I had a spare trade I'd go for Dennis. The course suits him as much as Cancellara and, as one site says, they are both similarly fatigued.
As it is I've got Froome, Porte, T Martin, Dumoulin and Pinot - who got dropped before the mtn yesterday!