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Post by Phil on Sept 17, 2013 9:04:37 GMT
Cav finished in 47th place and 47 seconds behind the leader. Really wished he could have done something smashing today. Sad it seems as if both him and Wiggins are past their prime. What are you talking about!? He doesn't win a couple of stages, one of which has a nasty climb in, that we know Cav doesn't do well, finishing on a steep incline and he's past his best… Likewise, Wiggins has a bad year after an amazing one and again he's past his best… Wiggins didn't "shine" yesterday because he was involved in the crash at about 50km, remained uninjured thankfully, and is still 12th in the GC going in to his best discipline today. It's widely expected that he will be in Gold at the end of today or 2nd if Dowsett has a brilliant TT as he did in the Giro. Don't forget Wiggins has had a year like this before (2011) and then the following year he won Le Tour…
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Post by phred1812 on Sept 17, 2013 9:36:22 GMT
Really wished he could have done something smashing today. Sad it seems as if both him and Wiggins are past their prime. What are you talking about!? He doesn't win a couple of stages, one of which has a nasty climb in, that we know Cav doesn't do well, finishing on a steep incline and he's past his best… Likewise, Wiggins has a bad year after an amazing one and again he's past his best… Wiggins didn't "shine" yesterday because he was involved in the crash at about 50km, remained uninjured thankfully, and is still 12th in the GC going in to his best discipline today. It's widely expected that he will be in Gold at the end of today or 2nd if Dowsett has a brilliant TT as he did in the Giro. Don't forget Wiggins has had a year like this before (2011) and then the following year he won Le Tour… I couldn't agree more. I don't suppose Cav was expecting to compete yesterday. It was not his type of stage and he's not a GC contender. The little flurry at the front was for the benefit of the TV camera and his sponsors no doubt. Likewise Brad was only aiming to stay in touch and not lose time as he will hope to make it up in the TT. Whether he can win overall however I am not sure. He may need to build a good margin today over the likes of climbers like Quintana and then hope he can limit his losses later.
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Post by captslog on Sept 17, 2013 11:07:54 GMT
I'm going to watch tomorrow. I have the day off and sons plus a mate are heading out to the far side of Stoke, namely Whitchurch unless we see somewhere else on the way that looks a good viewing point.
There was talk on here of a club ride to the start but this seems to have fallen by the wayside.
I've not seen any coverage on TV, where is it? It seems odd that we have so much of the TDf but our own race gets nothing. (a quick search shows ITV4, but I couldn't find it in a guide last night)
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Post by Radchenister on Sept 17, 2013 11:34:28 GMT
Just tried to book myself a bike space via phone on the train to Merthyr Tydfil!
Now ... here we go, are we sitting comfortably? ... another tale of how useless we are the UK:
Nice Indian chap comes on, we run through route and time options before the guy can press the search ... he then pushes search and wonders why he can't reserve a bike space, then goes off for two minutes while I'm on hold; comes back and tells me it's non-reservable.
Apparently, I can contact the station itself and do it there - 'right' says me, 'no problem, what's their number?' ... 'unfortunately sir they're non contactable'.
'OK' says I ... 'it's only a small station just over in Wales, I'll try the main one at Bristol Parkway' ... 'sorry sir, none of the stations have phone numbers for bookings' ... 'ah right, that's useless, so the only way you can do this is by cycling either 12 miles the right way, or 9 miles the wrong way and risking it?' ... 'yes sir, I'm afraid so' ... 'I'll have to get there early enough and wing it, leaving myself 3 & 1/2 hrs just in case I need to get there under my own steam' ... 'yes sir, sorry about that' ... 'OK thanks anyway, not your fault but you might want to mention it to someone, it's not very user friendly!'
Sigh!
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Post by Phil on Sept 17, 2013 11:35:10 GMT
It's on ITV4 and Eurosport live and highlights are on ITV4 at 7pm.
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Post by Radchenister on Sept 17, 2013 11:38:45 GMT
Also on ITV Player, accessible anytime on PC for free; now also available via an app for androids released just this month since let out of contract from exclusive Samsung deal - good it is too!!!
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Post by Phil on Sept 17, 2013 11:42:39 GMT
Also on iOS ITV Player app, although you now have to pay if you wish to stream ITV4 live the catchup is free.
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Post by captslog on Sept 17, 2013 11:49:59 GMT
A question.
How far do they go "neutralised" in a stage before they put the hammer down? Where will that happen on Stage 4?
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Post by Radchenister on Sept 17, 2013 11:56:57 GMT
Depends - usually gets them out of towns safely.
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Post by Radchenister on Sept 17, 2013 12:10:33 GMT
Looking at the race guide, it's listed as 15 mins each day but with a fixed point as the actual start so the times might vary a bit.
Stage 4 - Stoke-on-Trent to Llanberis Start Neutralised - The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery ST1 3DW - 10:45 Start Proper - Barlaston Old Road after Barrington Drive, lampost 23 - 11:00
They don't always boot it from the start but sometimes in races, there's loads of breakaways that we never get to see, as the TV coverage kicks in later.
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Post by Radchenister on Sept 17, 2013 12:53:37 GMT
Looking a bit past his best pft !
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Post by phred1812 on Sept 17, 2013 12:56:42 GMT
Looking a bit past his best pft ! You beat me to it Rad. Impressive ride by Brad.
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Post by Phil on Sept 17, 2013 13:16:38 GMT
Both of you beat me to it… Stunning ride!
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Post by Radchenister on Sept 17, 2013 13:22:43 GMT
Remembering that Alex Dowsett is no slouch at the mo' and they're all heading into the World's, this is part of the build up.
No disrespect to Whitestar but a cyclist's form will be related to their training program, where they peak and how much they're going for it - motivation also being a major factor, being up for it and on the simmer, staying with it and then building up to the boil.
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Post by Phil on Sept 17, 2013 13:49:39 GMT
Absolutely Rad, I didn't mean to come across as having a go at Whitestar in my post up top.
The World TT is looking exciting, Brad has to be favourite when you take in to account his recent performance in the Tour de Pologne when he put over a minute in to Fabian Cancellera and then his performance today. The World TT is flat as a pancake as well which will suit Brad although I don't know how technical it is. It certainly seems that he is coming in to form at just the right time and that he is up for it as well.
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