Pro-cycling thread

fish and chips yo!

I reckon that will be fun. Enjoy.

loved seeing whitby again having stayed there last year.

gripping finish yesterday.

good little tour this

Pinot dropped Froome Quintana and Mr Nibbles at TDR

And who is now the overall leader? Zakarin who tested positive for steroids as a 19 year old and, like Katusha in general, is having a very good season. Their sponsorship is up for renewal this year.

Froome had no one with him for the last 30k today. He looked like he was going to be dropped but I wonder if he was just bluffing. He got back to the front and was too quick for Nibali to keep up.

Riding sensibly to his power meter I guess, wagering that the attacks couldn't go too far up the road. Looked steep, that road! I could be riding it in July, but it would mean going up the west side of Forclaz, down, up to today's summit, down, back up the Forclaz east side, down, home. So, er.. maybe.
Looked pretty miserable weather to climb in today, anyway. Not as bad as snow, but pretty unpleasant all the same.

You could always get the Mont-Blanc Express (the world's most inappropriately-named train - it's fucking slow) down to Martigny to save riding the Col de Forclaz. But Forclaz is pretty easy, so do both.

I was out today around that area. The weather was indeed pretty miserable, but the climbing wasn't too bad. The descending, on the other hand, was bloody grim, especially as the recent rainfall has meant a whole load of flooding. Some parts of the roads resembled a river or aggregates yard rather than tarmac.

I only vaguely recognise Zakarin's name from his ban. Turns out he's a pretty handy tester so Froome might have a bit to do today.

Sure I read somewhere that Pinot has been working on his time trialling as well.

Yeah, last year when we stayed in Cham we kept meaning to take the train, but always found the will to get up the valley under our own steam. Not done Forclaz yet, can you compare it to any other climbs in the region? We did the climb to lac du Emossin last year on day 1 which was a slight shock to the system. Hopefully will get to do Joux Plane this time round, which will definitely need a train trip home I think. And Pierre Carrée down that way too, that looks fun.

It's nowhere near as hard as Joux Plane, particularly from the Samoens side. I'd say it's more like Col de la Colombiere or the climb from Morzine up to Avoriaz. Forclaz has some steep bits, but it's quite short.

I think Zakarin's mechanical probably helped him in the raised-eyebrows stakes today. I know it's unfair to point fingers with no (current) evidence but still, it all feels too familiar.

He looked like a snake on his bike. Not to say one should take anything from that metaphor; he was just wiggling around in such a weird way.

Also, Froome's not looking all the strong.

Anyway, come on Tommy! #Frenchhousewife

Ha, the last 4km of Colombiere aren't that easy! Think I've beaten myself into far better shape this year at least. I'm getting rather overexcited at the moment anyway.

Incidentally, you seen they're finishing up on Bettex on one of the Daupiné stages this year? That's a punchy beast at the end.

Froome isn't looking at his absolute best, no. Neither is Quintana. I'm not sure Froome has really been consistent since 2013 though he was pretty good in the Vuelta last year.

Zakarin's style is truly horrible.

Far worse than even Froome. Looks like his saddle is too high and he has to dip his hips to reach the bottom of the pedal stroke.

As far as Froome goes, he's got time to ride himself towards form at the Tour. But surprised to see him finish that much back today but he looked good hauling himself back yesterday.

I guess the bugger-all body fat/rubbish immune system makes it so that any illness really knocks you back. I reckon Sky maybe have quietly knocked the out of competition (legal) cortisone use on the head too before it became too much of a scandal potential, so illness affects them more. Perhaps maybe allegedly.

Remember how shit Nibali was all season, then came out fighting for the TDF?

It's May.

True, but at least he was consistently shit. Froome has never recovered the form he had in 2013, like Wiggins never recovered his 2012 form. He will probably be ready in July, it's just not as certain as it once seemed.

Froome looked pretty strong at the beginning of the season. I'm pretty sure I remember a discussion (somewhere) about the era of "riding into form" coming to an end with riders being able to carry condition throughout the season or something.

There's always the possibility that Katusha have someone waiting in the wings.

Good crowds in Yorkshire!

at least he was consistently shit.

It's a winning strategy. I'm training for the tour 2062 and so far it's going great.

T'great t'crowds t'in t'Yorkshire t'this t'afternoon.