Tour de France 2013

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Emptyone

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This year is the 100th edition of the Tour de France.

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Here is a quick summary of the race from the Inner Ring
Inrng
The old formula is gone. The 2013 route has a mix of sprints and climbs to start the first week before a quick visit to the Pyrenees. After flying north the second week that looks more predictable with flat stages for sprinters and only the Mont-St-Michel time trial to spice things up even if a flat time trial rarely makes for live drama. The more the race heads south the better the racing should get with a lively finish in Lyon and then the giant Ventoux stage.

The final week is more vital than ever. The time trial is hard and then come a trio of Alpine stages. Each of the final three stages has its unique style. Alpe d’Huez climbed twice is like ordering the same dish in a restaurant twice because you like it that much, it’s good but traditional. The stage to Grand Bornand is the Queen Stage where a long range attack could pay big whilst the final Alpine stage to the Semnoz mountain above Annecy is, after three weeks, a short and sharp effort. All this before the magic of the Champs Elysées at sunset.
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So as far as the overall win goes, it seems to be contested between Chris Froome and Alberto Contador, returning from his suspension. Bradley Wiggins fell ill at the Giro Italia and didn't make the Sky tour team, but Sky is still the strongest team in the peleton, so it is Froome's race to lose on spring form.

Cavendish gets the chance for 6 stages this tour, with form coming into the Tour winning the Nationa Road Race Championship last weekend, but has to be wary of Peter Sagan, who the green jersey last year, as well as Andrei Greipel and riders such as Degenkolb and Marcel Kittel.

Hope this thread serves as a discussion forum for the race, and I'll do my best to update it day by day with the relevant information and rankings.
 
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After the 15th Stage (Mountains):

General Classification:
1st - Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 61:11:43
2nd - Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:04:14
3rd - Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 0:04:25

Green Jersey:
1st - Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling 377pts
2nd - Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 278pts
3rd - André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol 223pts

Mountains Jersey:
1st - Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 83pts
2nd - Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 66pts
3rd - Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 53pts

Young Rider:
1st - Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 61:17:30
2nd - Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 0:02:11
3rd - Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp 0:06:45

Froome dominated Mont Ventoux, extending his overall lead.
 
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So far, the Tour de France race is shaping up to be quite interesting:tup:

Orica GreenEdge bus gets stuck on the Finish Line

A few tense minutes with the road nearly blocked with the peleton only 15 minutes away!

I'm glad they were able to back the bus up, as otherwise, it would have probably been a disaster.

Enjoy the racing!
GTsail
 
The drivers facepalm as he hits the gantry is hilarious :lol: though almost ruined the race finish, and definitely caused the nerves in the peloton that ended up with the crash.

Race is going to plan for Froome, but not for Cav, caught up in the crash on Sunday, and dropped both yesterday and today due to the Corsican hills, so is already 49 points back in the points competition! Tomorrow should be a good shake up of the GC, as it's a Team Time Trial, with a chance for David Millar to grab the yellow with a strong Garmin team behind him.

Loved yesterday's stage finish, good race so far.
 
Bring on the mountains!!!

Actually abit disappointing, no Tourmelet or other famous peaks appearing, however they do gotta go up Alpe d'Huez... TWICE... on the same day.
 
I don't know, they have a monster stage of 235km including Mont Ventoux, which will definitely be a deciding day. The last week is also peppered with climbing almost everyday, even if they aren't visiting all the most famous Pyreneean cols. The penultimate stage also finishes with a HC climb, so climbing enough for all.

That double climb of Alpe d'Huez though :eek: sort the men from the boys that will.
 
Emptyone
I don't know, they have a monster stage of 235km including Mont Ventoux, which will definitely be a deciding day.
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After Froome and Porte's performance today, the 1st mountain stage, the Tour is over. Sky will finish 1-2 at a canter.

The final climb of today's stage was the most dominant performance I have seen since the Armstrong days.
 
Stotty
After Froome and Porte's performance today, the 1st mountain stage, the Tour is over. Sky will finish 1-2 at a canter.

The final climb of today's stage was the most dominant performance I have seen since the Armstrong days.
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Don't forget the two Dutch guys who are now 4th and 5th! It was one of the better days for spectators today. Contador, Evans and all those other high class riders who went down the drain today. 👍
 
The first of 4 cols and the entire Sky team has been ripped to pieces. Only Froome can keep up.

If you have the time, watch this stage. You will see people turn grey and ride their bike up side down to get to the finish.
 
I think this year's Tour is pretty much over. Porte and Froome are several leagues beyond anyone else right now. Froome should've gotten the chance to win last year's Tour since he completely outclassed Wiggins, but that is just my opinion.
 
Bram Turismo
I think this year's Tour is pretty much over. Porte and Froome are several leagues beyond anyone else right now. Froome should've gotten the chance to win last year's Tour since he completely outclassed Wiggins, but that is just my opinion.
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Porte is now more than 3 minutes behind. Froome has no team mates anymore. I doubt that the Tour is already over.
 
Dennisch
Porte is now more than 3 minutes behind. Froome has no team mates anymore. I doubt that the Tour is already over.
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It might end up being 10 minutes at this rate, as he's losing buckets of time on the climb. Movistar also destroyed the Sky train today. A good indication for the Alps later on in the Tour. Quintana looking good too.

I was busy at the weekend, I'll update regularly again this week.
 
Dennisch
Porte is now more than 3 minutes behind. Froome has no team mates anymore. I doubt that the Tour is already over.
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Of course it is over. Froome will nearly at least double Valverde's gap during the TT. All Froome has to do is follow everyone. No one can actually knock him out of a wheel.

If anything Froome is his own enemy now, but unless he falls and injures himself, Froome has no competition. It'll be a matter of seconds, but taking back minutes on Froome? No sorry, aint gonna happen.
 
So we've reached the first rest day, and whilst Froome is leading, it isn't working out how it was supposed to for Sky, with Porte losing 18 minutes, and Kiriyenka missing the time cut. Top 10 is all still within 3 minutes, with Movistar showing yesterday Froome can be isolated and potentially beaten.

Stotty
After Froome and Porte's performance today, the 1st mountain stage, the Tour is over. Sky will finish 1-2 at a canter.

The final climb of today's stage was the most dominant performance I have seen since the Armstrong days.
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Just goes to show how much one day can change everything, this race isn't as obvious as last year thankfully.

I'll leave a little video summary curtesy of Cyclocosm of the first 9 stages as well:





This next week is a tad flat and dull aside from the time trial, but then it gets interesting with the Alps ...
 
Somehow missed this thread. :dopey:

Well didn't the last two days throw up some interest. Looked like Sky were going to walk it in a canter but after the last stage things have changed a bit.
I still think it's Froome's to lose but anything can happen and Sky don't have a backup anymore after Porte's self destruction in the last stage.

Fair effort from Geraint Thomas to keep riding. 👍

I thought Movistar could have taken a bit more advantage when they had Froome isolated though. Credit to Froome, he's strong in the mountains and I think with another time trial coming in a couple of days the gap will only widen more before anyone may have a chance to peg him back a bit.

Good to see Green Edge doing well and getting some publicity (including the bus :lol:) in the first week.

Still, it's going to be another two weeks of late nights for myself no matter what happens.
 
Individual time trial today, with Froome getting suprisingly close to beating Tony Martin, albeit Martin was carrying injuries. Valverde put on a good show to hold onto second place overall, though lost a hefty chunk of time to Froome, holding off Bauke Mollema. Contador moved up into 4th, with 2nd-6th being covered by just 40s. Quintana and Rodriguez lost lots of time, being pure climbers, though might recoup some in the race's final week.

Unfortunately after yesterday, Cavendish was jeered by the crowds, and even had urine thrown at him 👎

Linky
 
What a couple of days. First time roadside at the Tour. Managed to make it to the Cote de Dinan yesterday, was about 50 m down from the 4th cat classification point.

Westra, first man over.


Rest of the break.


And the peleton.


And today myself the wife and 6 yr old daughter headed of to Juilley to watch the caravan come past and managed to see the first 20 riders or so before the little one got bored and we headed off to the beach. It was unbelievable how many people showed up and the atmosphere was great.



Riders warming up before the stage started.






And a handful of pics once the stage got under way.





It really was a great experience and I can't wait for Yorkshire next year now. Should make it to Fougeres tomorrow morning for the Depart so will try and take some more pics.
 
Awesome pics 👍

Emptyone
Unfortunately after yesterday, Cavendish was jeered by the crowds, and even had urine thrown at him 👎
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Chris Froome has condemned the behaviour of the spectator responsible. He added, somewhat unfortunately "It leaves a bad taste in the mouth." :crazy:
 
Don't forget that it is 30+ degrees out there. The Mont Ventoux is such an evil looking mountain. There will be a lot of pale faces today. :D


Holy crap. 7km to go and Froome just found another gear on his bike. Contador looked like he was parked on the road.

Good day for the Netherlands, Mollema still second and ten Dam still fifth. Contador broke on the last few kms giving them the chance to get back. 👍
 
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Pale faces galore, Quintana looked absolutely exhausted!

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Though nothing can beat Degenkolb at the Giro :lol:

Looks like GC is all over sadly, with Froome dominating every climb, Contador is not the man he used to be, which is a good thing! Though we still have a frankly horrendous week in the Alps to come after today, so maybe there is still life left in this race. Quintana has been brilliant, great young rider.

Oh, and I'm going to the Pyrenees (too late for the race :dunce:) so no more second post updates. At least I'll get my hands on l'Equipe again 👍
 
I was in the US on holiday for most fo the Tour, but managed to catch the highlights most evenings.

What a dominant performance by Chris Froome. Even when Richie had a bad day and he lost the rest of his team he easily managed the situation on his own. His performances on AX3 and Ventoux were incredible (hopefully not too incredible ;)).

Also great to see a new talent emerge - Qunitana looks like a really good bet for a TDF win in the future... as long as Froome has either retired or is injured, that is. If Froome stays fit he should win another 2 or 3 at least.
 
Congrats Chris Froome! They should do more dusk finishes, Paris looks beautiful at night. Can't wait for next year, the peloton will be riding on some of the roads I cycle on for stage 3, would be amazing to be there.
 

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