Cycling

[bennydorano]

Best prices available via oddschecker
Froome 2/1
Quintana 5/2
Contador 5/1
Nibali 11/2

Thibaut Pinot next in the betting at big odds.

I think it's  Froome's to lose tbh, Contador's odds are scarily big but the Giro efforts could be too much to overcome, Quintana has had a very quiet year with this his sole focus so is obviously  a huge danger & Nibali's odds are probably a bit insulting & he could surprise  again!

I fancy a big showing from Teejay Van Garderen at 40/1. He'd a blinder at the Dauphine and Froome mugged him on the last day to win, cant see him winning, but with the attrition rate in Le Tour he could be a very good EW bet - if he doesn't succumb to bad luck himself!

Roche @ Sky (Diegnan didn't make cut)
Dan Martin @ Cannondale

[gerry]

you forgot about sam benny, a top 10 tomorrow for him hopefully.

[JimStynes]

DNF La Marmotte lads.
Mechanical after about 75 mile after some dick ran into my bike at a food stop, could only use the big ring so had to walk 6 mile to the mavic van and then fucked up my cleats. The rear derailleur got pushed in and when I put it in the small chain ring it started to catch between the spokes. I can't believe I walked near 6 mile and not one service van passed! My cleats were totally shot and wouldnt clip into the pedals. Too dangerous to descend Croix De Fer with my feet slipping off the pedals.

Done most of the hard work as well ffs. All I had was a small climb out of the Glandon and all down hill to alp dheuz. Gutted but wasn't to be. To be honest though there wasn't a hope I got up alpe dheuz at the end. It's 45 degrees on the way up. Out of 7500 that started over half didn't finish apparently. Driving up the Alp yesterday was complete carnage, it was unbelievable. People crying on the side of the road. People lying sprawled out all over the place, literally lying on their backs. A few fellas in the chalet beside us are currently in grenoble hospital, in the La Marmotte wing   . Ive never seen anything like it. It's some sportive though, the bikes and quality of cyclists is unreal. Just going to have to try again next year!!

I climbed the Alp this morning in 1hr 22mins so it nearly confirmed that I wouldn't have got up the Alp yesterday if I had of reached the bottom. Took a few photos and that sort of thing on the way up so not sure what time I could do it in if I pushed it. It is a nice climb tbf, though not as hard as some of the climbs yesterday. You nearly have to pinch yourself at times when you cycle past the famous parts of the climb that you see on TV all the time. First few hairpins are steep and then it gets easier but then the legs get more fatigued as you go as well. With 100mile in the legs and in 45 degrees it would have been out of my depth yesterday I reckon.

[gerry]

thats a pity jim but what an experience. you staying to see a bit of the tour now

[bennydorano]

Hard luck Jim, not much u can do with luck like that.

[JimStynes]

No home tomorrow but I could stay longer no problem at all. Would love to come back and see the tour then do a few more of the climbs. The crowd I went with now offer a TDF package. Looks amazing.

Some experience alright. I rode the Mollard, Croix De Fer, Lacets de Montvernier, Glandon and Alp D'Heuz.

It terms of how tough this sportive is. If I compared the likes of Wicklow 200 to La Marmotte on a scale of 1-10. Marmotte would be 10 and Wicklow would be about 4! It's ridiculously tough. The heatwave was out of the ordinary though so that made it much harder. The scenery and everything else is spectacular! Anyone who is into cycling and hasn't been before needs to come and actually try some of the climbs.

[bennydorano]

Did u hire a bike or take the Bianchi? What gearing did u have 4 it?

[JimStynes]

Hired a bike from a shop in Alp D'Heuz. A Wilier 2015 GTC i think with 50/34 11/32. I would def recommend going 11/32. It's better looking at it than looking for it and all that. I would probably even go triple next time. A load of the locals were riding triples and they were flying up the climbs.

[Boycey]

Nasty smash on The Tour today


https://vine.co/v/enbPM0QQF11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMGahKyAlv0

[Orior]

Nasty smash on The Tour today

https://vine.co/v/enbPM0QQF11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMGahKyAlv0

My Dutch isn't great. What was happening at the end with the official car and the guy doing a bird impression?

[SHEEDY]

Fabian cancellara out of the tour de France after breaking bones in his back in that crash today. He still managed to ride the final 55km with the broken back and finish the stage, any wonder his nickname is Spartacus.

[bennydorano]

Only seeing bits & pieces atm, Cancellara broke bones in his back just b4 the Spring Classics as well, i'd say he's one pissed off dude, cud force his retirement.

Go TJ

[JimStynes]

They are tight men! First thing I thought when I saw the crash was if they wrecked their £20k bikes.

[Linkbox]

Nasty smash on The Tour today

https://vine.co/v/enbPM0QQF11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMGahKyAlv0

My Dutch isn't great. What was happening at the end with the official car and the guy doing a bird impression?

They stopped the race for ten minutes, Orior. That's the referee in the red car so he was telling them to go at a controlled pace until the doctor has seen to everyone in the crash.

Some of them (Astana in light blue) seemed to be keen to keep going but the other lad (Movistar in darker blue) was telling him to slow the fcuk down. That's my take on it anyway.

[majestic]

What exactly happened here, I'm not 100% sure! Did the guy to go down first just lose it or was he clipped by the rider going past him to his right?  Who is at fault?