TDF spolier alert .. dont read etc stage 10

Been a tough day Contador out !!
smart money on Nibali to now win?

 

With no Evans or Wiggins, and Froome, Contador and Schlek out, no previous winners of the Tour are still in the race

My money is still on Nibbles, but anything can happen.

 

Sky have admitted Wiggins was not fit enough having not trained for a grand tour for 2 years. He couldn't finish the tour of Switzerland before the TDF so it was always a non-starter.
Richie Porte looks a much stronger bet now especially as he can time trial a lot better than Nibali

 

Wiggins started the Giro last year, so he training for a grand tour in that time. He pulled out of Switzerland due to illness.

 

Wiggins started the Giro but dropped out after being unable to go down hill other than on his rear end. Wiggins has had no grand tour form for a while and this Tour is not suited to him with only one time trial and some high gradient hills (he prefers the longer less steep ones)

 

Got a few quid E/W on Bardet, looking a decent bet !! 80/1

 

I used to fancy her when I worra lad.
<img src ="http://blogs.loughboroughecho.net/gamesandgizmos/2012/01/26/Brigitte-Bardot.jpg">

 

Same here, I liked riding bikes anall ararnd same time.

 

Bikes have never interested me, old mate, unless they were reinforced and had a set of sturdy stabilisers fitted!

 

The mountain that finished the stage today, the one where Nibali rode away from everyone, the relatively short ascent with the steep gradient, it's only been used in the Tour once before. That was two years ago. Wiggins beat Nibali up it. Wiggins beat Nibali up every mountain in the whole tour as it happens, or finished on the same time as him.

 

Looks like your favourite has blown it after today Mark. Mine too as I am supporting Pierre Rolland since Froome retired.

 

True but that was Wiggins in the best form of his life and a very strong team vs Nibali in reasonable form with a team not totally focused around him (they had Basso and Sagan with aspirations). This year Wiggins has no grand tour form and Nibali has a team focused on him. This tour also plays into his great bike handling skills and weaker time trailing (one only).

Also remind me what happened in the Giro last year as this is the best indicator as to what might have happened as they were both team leaders in it?

 

Looks like a cracking bet that.

I looked at Bardet & Peraud before the tour but couldn't see them finishing above Froome, Contador, Nibali, Valverde, Rui Costa, Van den Broeck, Mollema & Talansky. Things are looking a lot different now.

I had Aru at 50/1 each way for the podium in the giro so had one lucky bet come in.

 

Glad to see Contador out. In my mind he should be banned for life.

Nibali's got the tour wrapped up for me, I felt he'd win even before Contador crashed out. He looks the strongest rider anyway but even if he has a bad day he's still a brilliant descender & has a fantastic team around him & even though Porte & Van Garderen may beat him in the time trial it'll be by seconds rather than minutes

 

I may be wrong about this, but you dont like Wiggins do you ?
What you are doing is ignoring anything that you dont like and coming back with something totally different !

 

I do like Wiggins and what he did 2 years ago was immense. Him being the first lead out for Cav on the Champs a Lise is one of my favourite moments in cycling. The fact is that was 2 years ago and everything was perfect for Wiggins. Sky put in one of the best team performances ever, the tour had a load of time trials and Wiggins main competitor was his team mate. Now it's different, other teams are stronger, the tour has only one time trial and most importantly Wiggins hasn't got the form. People seem to forget the facts and say that Wiggins could win just because it's Wiggins. He couldn't but if you don't believe me ask Dave Brailsford.

One thing is for sure, we're going to have a cracking Vuelta with potentially Froome and Contador in it. Providing his fractured Fibia mends

 

I don't think Wiggins should have been team leader. That should have been Froome. Wiggins should have been there to help him and take over should something unfortunate happen to Froome.

I don't see why the last Giro he rode should be any better indicator than the last tour de France he rode.

You appear to be concentrating on Wiggins' failures, when this year alone he won the tour of California, the national time trial championships and was just 20 seconds off the winner in the Paris-Roubaix. A tour win, a time trial victory and a very respectable position in a one day classic. He's fit and raring to go. I'm not saying he would have won the Tour had he been entered and given the chance once Froome had to withdraw, but he would have been a lot better option than many on the sky team who, other than riding for Froome, offer next to nothing. Not only would Wiggins have provided a back-up option, he would have also lasted far longer in the mountains than many of the domestiques selected in his stead if Froome hadn't crashed out.

I realise I'm questioning Dave Brailsford, who is probably the best team leader any sport in our country has ever had, but I don't believe the decision to drop Wiggins made any sense. If Froome and Wiggins were close friends I think the decision would have been different, so I find it difficult to accept. On any other tour it wouldn't have mattered so much, but in my opinion we denied our greatest ever sportsman the chance to ride the Tour de France for three days through his home country. I don't think he should have been included just for sentiment, sport doesn't work that way, but I believe he was excluded because of that reason. Wiggins is a better bike rider than many who were picked before him.