Attention all Velominati. The Tour VSP is going on line and it should be a good one. Sure, between Froomy and Bertie a person could hedge their bets but Moviestar is all in for Valverde, BMC for TeeJay, Astana for the Shark and Garmin is finally committing to a team leader in Talansky. Some other teams (ahem…Trek Factory Racing for one) have resigned themselves to hunting stage wins. The Tour swings through the Yorkshire Dales, everyone but the riders can enjoy some excellent ales. As the Tour continues to Lille, Norther France and Belgium, the quality pints continue. Yes, it’s hot and the VSP generator has beer on its mind.
The route, the sprints, the climbing and even the final time trial should make this a decent Tour. Here is a start list. Everyone will have a vial in their jersey pocket, but don’t worry, it’s legal.
It is still not too late to win the overall 2014 VSP and we have made it worth your while.
Refer to the VSP page for details concerning scoring and rest day swaps. If you want to call yourself Pedro Delgado, you will only have yourself to blame. The VSP banner on the homepage has the countdown clock, refresh your browser and don’t be late. Good luck and good picking.
[vsp_results id=”30275″/]
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View Comments
@Mikael Liddy
Hell yeah, much more impressive than the bunt in the green on Saturday.
What a race, G pulls Porte back and gains some time on Bertie, they are both going to have to go some and take it to Nibbles to get back that time, quite big for so early in the race. What is the record for the longest run in yellow?
Bint, not bunt!
Dammit! Missed the last 10k but it sure was epic what I saw. Sad for Froome, but you know, I think there's a big difference between training on cobbles and racing on them. Most of the guys who did well today have raced on the stones. Not surprised at Nibali at all. Good all rounder in GTs and one day races. Known to be a great bike handler. He's also shown himself to be an aggressive and proactive racer - see stage 2 for evidence.
I hate to bring up COTHO, but if he showed one thing in ALL his tours (and I'm including comeback ones) is that you need luck. Some you make, some you don't. Nibali had luck, Froome didn't.
Agreed on Sky - now they're stage hunting - along with many other teams. All their eggs were in the GC basket.
Should cobbles be in the Tour? Yes. Just as mountains, TTs, flat stages, lumpy stages should be. I want an all rounder to win, not some billy goat who limits his losses on the flat. Nibali is an all-rounder. Froome is not.
Contador v Nibble has a lot of potential. Neither one is afraid to actually race. So much better than reducing matters to a a/kg contest.
@Nate
Yeah, and then TJ is bitching today that the Tour shouldn't have cobbles, forgetting that Froome quit before the first secteur. Maybe they should eliminate stages with rain as well?
Stop your bitchin' and make me a sandwich!
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/van-garderen-feels-tour-de-france-should-not-include-cobbled-stages
@Minnesota Expat
Plus one to that. I also understand they extensively tested their gear and practiced with Van Petegem at race pace to really understand how it all worked.
@wiscot
Fabian's point was perfect yesterday; if you can't have cobbles, then why have climbs? Any one of those riders (cough! TJ cough!) who complains about it is dangerously close to emulating the Grimplette.
Video is good, but sometimes stills are better. Check these pictures out for what an epic stage just happened. Look at the faces. The one of Porte and Thomas is especially great.
http://www.steephill.tv/2014/tour-de-france/photos/stage-05/
One more thing. Even if Froome had been 100%, I honestly think he'd have finished with Contador at best. Could he have stayed with Nibbles? Hell no. Look at how Thomas and Porte rode when given their freedom - even a fit Froome would have been an anchor in that scenario.
Right now, Prudhomme is thinking "hmmmm, cobbles ever year, I think that could be arranged . . ."
You've got to admit, this is only stage 5 and it's been a great tour so far! Sure beats past years when all the GC guys just rode together until the mountains or first TT.
@Chris
Cruel, funny nonetheless.