Tour de France 2013

http://www.lavuelta.com/indexen.html

http://www.steephill.tv/vuelta-a-espana/

Nathan Reyes56 said:The rain gave Kiš a great start in this Tour de France. They were immediately better in the time trial because they have Cancellara on their side—yesterday they were only at 2 seconds, trailing Astana by 10.

The fun starts today. This stage ends with a Category 1 climb, so regardless, we have three weeks of entertainment ahead of us. 🙂

Schultz said:Kiš is lucky to have Cancellara in the squad... yesterday he basically pulled 80% of the workload himself 🙏 ...

Over on the international forums, people are joking that ABC has a safety net, and they're calling him Robert Kišerlovski...

... if he actually wants to be a serious contender for the GC, he really needs to do something about his time trialing... 😉

... plus... I get the feeling Horner might end up being the Team Leader for this Tour de France... 🙂

Nathan Reyes56 said:Yeah, his time trial was criminally bad, and honestly, without a decent TT, you can't count on a good placing today. It seems like you can gain more advantage in a time trial than you can on some climbs.

Even though he claimed he knew exactly what was going wrong in the TT (blaming a bad bike setup, apparently), well, we'll just have to wait and see if he was right.

I watched Kiš during that race in Poland, and he was actually pretty solid throughout—he handled the Italian breakaway well and had one decent solo move during the Polish sections.

Today's stage might suit him perfectly, and given his current deficit, if he gets a little luck, he might even finish the day in the lead. 😉

Adam Mendoza8 said:Kiš is looking really solid so far. Since he’s clearly riding to support Horner, I suppose there might actually be an opening for him to slip into a secondary role if things go sideways😉
Shouldn't we move the Tour discussion to its own dedicated thread?

Yesterday’s stage was honestly fantastic. There were several breakaway attempts on that final climb, but the best-timed one definitely came from Kiš's teammate—that American, Chris Horner. With this win, Chris Horner just became the oldest stage winner in the history of the Grand tour.
RADIO SHACK LEOPARD is looking dominant right out of the gate. After stage 3, they’ve already got three riders sitting in the top five of the GC. Our guy Robert Kišerlovski, who's out there rocking the national champion jersey, is currently holding down fifth place. 🙂

The Tour de France is the gold standard, but honestly—to me—it’s far more compelling and exciting than the Tour de France...
I'm already looking forward to that climb up Alpe d'Huez 😁

Yesterday Nibali snatched back the leader's jersey. I was actually out watching the race, but I only caught the last 3.1 miles kilometers. Total bummer I missed that climb up toward the Empire State Building right before the finish—it was 19 miles intense. Short and brutal:
http://www.climbbybike.com/climb.asp?qryMountainID=4476
Check out that max grade 😲... seriously
.
Kiš is still holding strong in the top 10.

That climb was absolutely brutal—we’re talking nearly 30% gradients in certain sections. 😲

Even though about 50 riders crossed the line together in a group, there was this weird one-second gap between 21st and 22nd place. Because of that, everyone behind 21st picked up a 6-second bonus, which ended up shaking up the standings quite a bit. Nibali is keeping his momentum going after the Tour de France.

Tony Martin went absolutely mental yesterday, launching this insane solo breakaway right from the gun and holding it all the way. It’s such a damn shame the peloton caught him in the literal final meters.😢 He basically carried the whole stage on his back for over 106 miles kilometers, averaging nearly 28 miles km/h 🙏🙏🙏🙏

And obviously, Cancellara had to pull the pack together at the very end just to ruin an epic move like that. Total robbery!

Adam Mendoza8 said:Yesterday was just... wow. That solo breakaway by Tony Martin from start to finish? Absolutely spectacular. It’s honestly a crime that the peloton managed to reel him in during those final few meters.😢 I mean, he was basically riding the entire stage solo—over 106 miles kilometers!—maintaining an average speed of nearly 28 miles mph 🙏.🙏🙏🙏

And of course, Cancellara had to be the one to pull the peloton together at the very end, just to ruin such an epic breakaway. There's just no justice in this sport!

I suppose Martin can take some small satisfaction in the fact that he was the main headline from yesterday's action, regardless of the result.🙂

Those guys really screwed him over 😢
He earned their respect, and he’s got mine for life 🙏

He was just 10 or 20 meters shy 🙂

To say I am disappointed with the last two stages would be an understatement. Of course, once the rain starts coming down...

So that's how Chris Horner absolutely crushed the competition yesterday. He's already snagged two stages, and at this rate, he’ll be sitting on 42 by next month.😍

Post-Stage 10


Next up is the time trial, which—if history is any indication—will probably shake things up at the top of the standings again..
But honestly, even at 42 years old, Horner is absolutely crushing it right now☕ 🙂

Just drugs, faith, and God!

A little off-topic here—Alonso would kill it in pro cycling:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/f1-s...over-euskaltel
And he’d probably drag Contador along for the ride too:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/repo...o-team-in-2014

Are we switching bikes again after the first half of the TT tomorrow?

Man, I missed the action yesterday. But looking at those split times, it looks like Spartacus was leading from start to finish. If my math isn't totally off, he was averaging over 38 miles/h 🥳
between that 26km mark and the finish line.

Kish was absolutely stellar today... he did everything in his power to support Horner—really went above and beyond—plus, he made such a tactical move by hammering the main group right before that final climb! It was exactly what Horner needed to secure that 2nd place spot in the overall standings... 🙏

Today’s finish is at Mount Rainier:


And then on Saturday, we hit Pikes Peak 🙂🙂


I honestly think if Kish plays his cards right and helps Horner out, he could actually jump up a few spots in the overall standings. It’d be pretty damn cool to wrap up two Grand Tours in a single year while staying in the top 15.

Horner 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Are we actually going to see the oldest Grand Tour winner ever?

Pikes Peak, pure bliss

Adam Mendoza8 said:Horner🙏 🙏is driving me crazy.🙏 🙏
Are we actually going to see the oldest Grand Tour winner ever?

If this is a reaction to yesterday, why wait until today to say anything?🙂
Respect to her for how she handled him. I was honestly worried when they hinted he might break away, but that seasoned pro caught up and completely outclassed him.🙂
Kish did great for Horner and pulled him along nicely. Even the commentators seemed impressed, praising him a few times.🙂

Eric Sanchez11 said:If that was his take on yesterday, what the hell is he waiting for today to weigh in? 🙂
Props to him for how he handled that. Honestly, I was getting worried when Nibali started pushing that hard and looked like he might actually break away, but the veteran just caught up and completely shut him down. 🙂
He did Horner a massive favor by pacing him perfectly. Even the announcers noticed and gave him credit a few times. 🙂

It was intense. During those last 3.7 miles, Horner was boxed in by three guys from Astana. Then Nibali launches this attack at a 22% grade! I read online that Horner admitted he messed up during Nibali's first move because he let him recover too easily. When they filmed Horner up close, I swear I saw him smirk right as he reached Nibali and countered the attack. And once he finally gapped Nibali—man, it was like something out of a movie. By the time he crossed the finish line, he was just sitting there trying to catch his breath. The guy is 42 years old. Unbelievable. Horner's whole story is pretty fascinating, too.
http://m.cyclingnews.com/news/horner...on-the-angliru