Wednesday, 17 July 2013
Tour de France Stage 18 Preview
Thursday, 18 July - stage 18: Gap - Alpe-d'Huez, 172.5km
Stage 18 has been labelled as the most difficult, controversial and discussed stage in this year’s Tour. It begins in Gap, where Rui Costa won a stage on Tuesday, and finishes on the iconic Alpe d’Huez. It is not a long stage at 172km, yet by the time the riders arrive at the finish, they would have climbed the Alpe twice and 6 categorised climbs, 2 of them classified as HC. Another key factor in the stage is the treacherous descent after the 1999m Col de Sarenne. However, there is a strong possibility that the stage will be shortened due to the dangerous descent. As I am writing this blog, there is apparently a risk of cancellation if it rains, and weather forecasts predict it will, but we probably won’t know until hours before the stage.
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2013 Tour de France White Jersey Preview
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What next for Team Sky?
Tour de France Stage 17 Preview
Wednesday, 17 July - stage 17: Embrun - Chorges, 32km individual time trial
Stage 17 sees the riders take on the second of two individual time trials in this year’s tour. The first time trial saw some of Chris Froome’s main contenders in the GC slip up as they struggled to match the Kenyan born Brit’s pace on the pan flat profile. However, despite being of a similar length at just 32 kilometres, stage 17 should prove a different story. Mountain specialist like Quintana and Rodriguez should be able to cut their losses, whilst Contador should be finishing well inside the 2’ 3’’ he managed behind Froome in stage 11.
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So as we approach the midway point of the Tour we have been treated to quite a feast, with the bulk of the climbing still ahead of us we nevertheless got to see all the contenders and their relative strengths over the past two stages.
Sky showed they are immense but not impenetrable, in fact if today's stage was any indication of how things will progress they will surely be worrying and wondering how they will be able to control the 3 stages in the Alps which come all in a row. And with Kiriyenka gone, Thomas injured, Stannard also bearing bruises, Lopez looking poor and Kennaugh crashing today (though he looked fine chasing for Porte) there is more than cause to concern.
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Tour de France Stage 18 Preview
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Tuesday, 9 July 2013
Tour de France 2013 Rest Day 1 Round Up
So as we approach the midway point of the Tour we have been treated to quite a feast, with the bulk of the climbing still ahead of us we nevertheless got to see all the contenders and their relative strengths over the past two stages.
Sky showed they are immense but not impenetrable, in fact if today's stage was any indication of how things will progress they will surely be worrying and wondering how they will be able to control the 3 stages in the Alps which come all in a row. And with Kiriyenka gone, Thomas injured, Stannard also bearing bruises, Lopez looking poor and Kennaugh crashing today (though he looked fine chasing for Porte) there is more than cause to concern.
Read more »
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What next for Team Sky?
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
The GC Contenders
Who will it be?
Well Chris Froome has done everything right so far including eliminating Sir Bradley and now he has sole leadership of Richie Porte. The Sky team seems more vulnerable this year than last year in my opinion. Froome has managed to out do Wiggins by not only winning close to
everything he has ridden this year but also winning with relative style and panache, he seems to be riding within his limits and only time and Ventoux will tell just how strong he really is and whether he can be beaten.
Well Chris Froome has done everything right so far including eliminating Sir Bradley and now he has sole leadership of Richie Porte. The Sky team seems more vulnerable this year than last year in my opinion. Froome has managed to out do Wiggins by not only winning close to
everything he has ridden this year but also winning with relative style and panache, he seems to be riding within his limits and only time and Ventoux will tell just how strong he really is and whether he can be beaten.
Read more »
Saxo Tinkoff announced the team they are sending to the Tour de France today and though the majority are riders we expected there are a couple of rather baffling picks.
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Wednesday, 19 June 2013
Saxo Tinkoff Team Preview
Saxo Tinkoff announced the team they are sending to the Tour de France today and though the majority are riders we expected there are a couple of rather baffling picks.
Read more »
Here is an in depth analysis into Stage 20 of this year's Tour de France, which is the final mountain stage of this year's Tour:
Originally I derided this stage as being unimaginative and plain boring. Having studied it further I actually believe it is a fascinating profile which bucks the general trend, here is why:
I always find a new climb an intriguing prospect, particularly a climb which is atypical and presents a unique challenge. Annency Semnoz is just such a climb with 10.7km at 8.5%, that is shorter than both Ventoux or Le Alpe but crucially it is steeper with a gradient of 8.5%.
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Tuesday, 11 June 2013
2013 Tour de France Stage 20 Preview
Originally I derided this stage as being unimaginative and plain boring. Having studied it further I actually believe it is a fascinating profile which bucks the general trend, here is why:
I always find a new climb an intriguing prospect, particularly a climb which is atypical and presents a unique challenge. Annency Semnoz is just such a climb with 10.7km at 8.5%, that is shorter than both Ventoux or Le Alpe but crucially it is steeper with a gradient of 8.5%.
Read more »
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Tour de France Stage 18 Preview
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Monday, 10 June 2013
2013 Tour de France White Jersey Preview
The White Jersey
The White Jersey has an illustrious list of winners, with a total of 6 of its past 29 winners going onto win the ultimate prize at the Tour de France. But this jersey is not solely an indication of things to come, but rather is a much esteemed competition to win in its own right. What makes the battle for this competition so intriguing is that it is anyone’s for the taking; the young talents competing for the prize have not yet established themselves on the big stage and therefore the Tour provides them with the opportunity to demonstrate what they have to offer and to establish themselves as future household names.
The White Jersey has an illustrious list of winners, with a total of 6 of its past 29 winners going onto win the ultimate prize at the Tour de France. But this jersey is not solely an indication of things to come, but rather is a much esteemed competition to win in its own right. What makes the battle for this competition so intriguing is that it is anyone’s for the taking; the young talents competing for the prize have not yet established themselves on the big stage and therefore the Tour provides them with the opportunity to demonstrate what they have to offer and to establish themselves as future household names.
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