[cowboyhat]

Interesting interview with Dave Brailsford

http://audioboo.fm/boos/2311655-stage-4-dave-brailsford-opens-up

[Grubes]

Froome has abandoned
Fell and is injured prior to the first section of cobbles

[rich d]

Froome out, just climbed into the back of the second team car after a second crash before they'd even reached the cobbles. Shame they haven't got a second option as leader.

[north_country_boy]

Froome out, just climbed into the back of the second team car after a second crash before they'd even reached the cobbles. Shame they haven't got a second option as leader.

Gutted for him. Conditions look horrendous today. Time for Ritchie Porte and Gee to step up, both positioned well, along with Mikel Nieve. The list of riders who have gone down today already is incredible...

[mark s]

Watching it now.conditions horrid but makes for good racing.
really think the pro cyclists are the most underrated of top athletes.so fucking fit and tough.
nibali seems to be handling the conditions well.
Spartacus is keeping his head down.keep seeing him up there.sure he will make a go for it as long as he stays up.

[rich d]

Nibs is proper stepping up.

[north_country_boy]

Some fantastic pictures from today's stage, it will be remembered as a classic!
http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/07/tour-de-france-stage-5-in-photos/

[Obi-Wan is lost...]

Amazing, they were going down like skittles. Does anyone know if they change their tyres for wet/muddy conditions?

[rich d]

same tires, just a bit less pressure

[webbo]

Maybe bigger volume tyres.

[Falling Down]

Just watched the highlights... What a brilliant day.  Boom looked SOOOO psyched to cross the line.  Was I right in hearing he's ex cyclocross?  No wonder he won then!

[bigd942]

27c seems to be the norm for tyres but a 27c FMB (hand made tubular tyre for the cobbles) can measure 30mm apparently - tyre pressure 70-80psi depending on rider weight. Traditional spoked wheels (spokes wired and soldered where they crossed) where the norm till about three years ago, carbon wheels seem to dominate cobble now however.

Sad to see Froome go out, glad there wasn't too much of the 'should have brought Wiggins' discussion, but they should have 

[lukeyboy]

Real shame to see Froome out, I'm particularly disappointed we won't see him and Bertie going head to head in the mountains. I was looking forward to seeing whether Froome had the form to blow away the field again.

On a positive note, it was really good to see Nibali come out of this well, and to see Bertie lose 3 minutes. Amazing rider or not, I can't get behind a cheat.

[Stubbs]

Most teams were running 28-30 mm tubs @ 70-80 psi, most had a bit of tread on rather than being slick. Most are also riding different frames to what they ride on the road, i.e. all the Specialised sponsored teams were riding the Tarmac which has a bit of built in suspension, same with the Trek guys who were riding the Domane.

Feel sorry for Froome going out like this, but the Tour de France should be about more than who can maintain the highest VAM for longest, it should be about being able to handle a bike too!

[Will Hunt]

As much as it's a shame to see Froome out I think the race just became so much more interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing if Nibs can stand up to Contrabandador in the hills. As said above, I can't get behind Bertie but would love to see Nibs take it. Should also be a great opportunity for G Thomas and Porte to show what they can do when they're not having to look after CF.

[cofe]

Feel sorry for Froome going out like this, but the Tour de France should be about more than who can maintain the highest VAM for longest, it should be about being able to handle a bike too!

'Tour is an obstacle course, but some treat it like a gym session.'

Sad to see Froome go out like that. I can't say I was behind him, I'd rather have seen those GC boys battle it out until the end. That said, magnificent ride by Mr Nibbles. Brilliant stage.

[gme]

What is it about Froome that makes people not support him. Do all winners have to be "cool cats" like Wiggins. I find this a really British thing when we want to win stuff but we are not allowed to be serious about it. Its a real shame he has retired, he was obviously broken and must be in a hellish place having just dedicated the last 12 months to this race. Everyone felt sorry for Cav but not so Froome. Its tragic when any of them has to retire.

I also don't get the Brailsford/Sky thing either. A really successful, organised, efficient team that a few years ago we loved and now, because he didn't pick the countries favorite Paul Weller impersonator, we all hate him.
I see lots of comment about Sky not being a british team but whilst i am aware that the TDF used to be a nation v nation thing this is a long time ago. Now, like the premiership, the teams are made up of the best riders/players and thee TDF is the champions league not the world cup. British based team but not a British team, it never was.

I think what Brailsford and sky have done is amazing and get a bit pissed off with all the hate that seems focused at him due to him supposedly having no heart.

Anyone think of another team full of very efficient, professional, serious but ultimately boring and characterless members doing well in sport at the minute. Oh sorry we dont like them either do we.

[iain]

Interesting interview with Dave Brailsford

http://audioboo.fm/boos/2311655-stage-4-dave-brailsford-opens-up

Thanks for this, a good listen.


Re: yesterday's stage, that was fantastic racing. Real shame about Froome, I don't want to see anyone go out like that.

Nibali and Astana were great, and G.Thomas in his interview not being able to hide how much he loved riding the stage, "it was my idea to attack, told Porte to get on my wheel and tried to smash it", brilliant (general gist, not verbatim)

It's set things up nicely for the rest of the race. Everyone bar Nibs needs to go on the offensive now.

I think what Brailsford and sky have done is amazing

+1

[cofe]

Sky and Froome are great (Froome was incredible last year), but the whole 'why we're not taking Brad' thing has been a bit tedious:

'There's only one leader, no Plan B'
Froome out of Tour.
'Richie has alway been our Plan B, two leaders in this team'

And Wiggins not picked because of 'form', despite clearly having plenty. While Porte has none this year and the likes of Danny Pate are about 500 years old.

I bet Porte wins it now!

Only five days in and it's been a great Tour. Can't wait for the attacks on Nibali's time to start. Contador has a lot to make up!

[cowboyhat]

What is it about Froome that makes people not support him. Do all winners have to be "cool cats" like Wiggins.

Froome /Wiggins: I like Froomes attacking riding in the mountains but compared to a rider like Nibali he seems a bit one dimensional. The main reason I'm not really a Froome fan is that I don't know him.

So we should all jump to support the best because they win? (insert Man UTD jibe here). Anyone who has watched the Tour will have enjoyed Wiggos solo attacks riding for Cofidis, his steady progression to becoming a GC rider when there were few British riders to cheer for. Here was a guy who said interesting things and had a personality. Struggled with his success, has his demons, call them what you like. Having a journey through life as we all do.

I don't know Chris Froome. He appeared a couple of years ago and on the bike he seems to be a good climber.

I think what Brailsford and sky have done is amazing and get a bit pissed off with all the hate that seems focused at him due to him supposedly having no heart.

Anyone think of another team full of very efficient, professional, serious but ultimately boring and characterless members doing well in sport at the minute. Oh sorry we dont like them either do we.

I think a lot of the Sky negativity is unfair. Not following other sports much I actually can't think 'of very efficient, professional, serious but ultimately boring and characterless members doing well in sport at the minute'

If this is a comparison can you spell it out please.

[gme]

You obviously don't watch the, much bigger on a world stage, event going on in Brazil. German footie team!!

I too preferred Wiggo and his character as entertainment value but its not that people dont like Froome as much as wiggins there seams to be a bunch who actively dislike him.

The little i have seen of him he seems a boring personality but surely an impressive athlete, arguably much better than wiggins.

I have not watched the tour other than the last 5-6 years so maybe my support of sky is a bit like a new Man utd/city/chelski supporter. However my dad has followed it all his life and he thinks what Brailsford has done is without reproach. The french and Italian teams were run like that decades ago, 1 leader and everyone else was there to get him over the line, no plan B.
 I cant see a character like Wiggins having been selected to support Mercx.

[rich d]

For me the Sky Wiggo thing was purely emotional and nothing to do with having the best chance of winning it. I wanted to be able to cheer on Cav as an ex world champ, froome as current TDF champ and Wiggo as previous TDF champ. I was also disappointed at the lack of GB riders in general.
In my opinion Wiggo and Cav are more interesting as personalities off their bikes than Froome. But Froome is a more interesting rider on his bike than Wiggo. And I'm obviously right as I've seen them on TV and twitter and never met any of them
As it turns out having Wiggo in may have been a sensible decision now, it was a lot of the spin the Sky put on the decision that  seemed dodgey, if they'd said Froome is our no. 1 and we don't think Brad can do a domestique role after winning the tour etc then fair enough, but the team will be picked on form stuff was obvious balls.
Nibs is doing a great job, how he'll hold up in the mountains and time trial against Beefy is going to be really interesting. For me I was starting to wonder if Froome and Beefy were again going to concentrate just on each other and give someone else the chance for leader as happened in the tour of Catalunya. Still been a classic so far, looking forward to the mountains.

[rich d]

You obviously don't watch the, much bigger on a world stage, event going on in Brazil. German footie team!!

seven goals against Brazil wasn't boring, in fact most people on here were loving Germany beating Brazil. I was and will be hoping they beat Argentina on Sunday.

[cowboyhat]

You obviously don't watch the, much bigger on a world stage, event going on in Brazil. German footie team!!

seven goals against Brazil wasn't boring, in fact most people on here were loving Germany beating Brazil. I was and will be hoping they beat Argentina on Sunday.

Thats why I didn't know what he was referring to, (first German game I'd managed to see).

[gme]

The germany brazil game wasnt boring but only because you were watching a team implode. The German team is very much like the Sky/Froome team from last year. Efficient, organised and boring personalitys that work together in a way to totally dominate and control the game. Most other teams rely on one or two individuals flair.

The german game was only fun to watch because of brazil falling apart. There has been games where the level of skill and flair of individuals has been far better.

Anyway back on track i am loving the whole thing and would love to see Porte have a go.