(SPOILER) What, no ToQ thread ?

[Steve H]

Sure will. Greipel seems to be in monstrous form this year and will take some beating.

He looked pretty awesome at the Tour Down Under. His team also seemed to be in good shape for delivering good lead out trains. Looking forward to the first clashes between Cav and Greipel

 

[montage]

Close but he had enough and YH wasn't catching him at the end,
Showdown with Greipel should be interesting.

Indeed....at the moment I would say it is looking better for Greipel, but it is hard to compare. Greipel has destroyed his opposition, whereas cav hasn't been quite as devastating on his batch of 2nd rate competitors (by 2nd rate I mean not one of the top handful, Greipel, Goss, Farrar etc....though where Farrar has been is another story).

 

[rich p]

Indeed....at the moment I would say it is looking better for Greipel, but it is hard to compare. Greipel has destroyed his opposition, whereas cav hasn't been quite as devastating on his batch of 2nd rate competitors (by 2nd rate I mean not one of the top handful, Greipel, Goss, Farrar etc....though where Farrar has been is another story).

...kissing tarmac as usual!

 

[thom]

Indeed....at the moment I would say it is looking better for Greipel, but it is hard to compare. Greipel has destroyed his opposition, whereas cav hasn't been quite as devastating on his batch of 2nd rate competitors (by 2nd rate I mean not one of the top handful, Greipel, Goss, Farrar etc....though where Farrar has been is another story).

Guardini is definitely one for the future and worth beating. When was the last time Goss or Farrar won a sprint ? I mean, did Farrar win any last year ? Did Goss win more than a couple ?
I think Cav is in a good place given the way he wins is ad libbing. This start to the season is I think particularly impressive for him. Greipel against competing trains will find it harder and won't win if the plate isn't passed to him in precisely the right way.

 

[smutchin]

I think Cav is just making his rivals look a lot more ordinary than they are. Hutarovich may be a perennial underachiever but he has beaten Cav before, but yesterday he timed his sprint to perfection and still couldn't get past him. I don't recall Cav ever looking this good at this stage of the season. And he's clearly loving every moment of life at OPQS, which you can tell by things like the way he was unruffled by a rider coming off his line and impeding Cav in the run-in on stage 4. A less contented/confident Cav might have sat up at that point and waved his arms in annoyance, but he just swerved round the offender and took the win convincingly.

Greipel is the only rider out there at the moment who's even in the same league as him. Goss is no slouch but he's second division. Degenkolb likewise. Farrar, I feel sorry for - I don't think his heart is in it any more.

d.

 

[thom]

All of OPQS on the front - 20km or so to go. A stage remarkable for how little is going on !

 

[Radchenister]

I'm watching on Al Jazeera - dull as ditch water; anyone watching it with English commentary? If so, any links please?

 

[raindog]

try this
http://sports-livez.com/channel/ch-5.php

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I'm watching on Al Jazeera - dull as ditch water; anyone watching it with English commentary? If so, any links please?

This is English (but no picture without disabling ad blocking). Aljazeera pic + http://sports-livez.com/channel/ch-5.php for commentary.

 

[Radchenister]

Perfect, sound off one, picture off other - thanks folks !!!

 

[smutchin]

WOW! WOW! WOW!

 

[thom]

Did you see how far back Cav came from !
Ridiculous !

 

[Radchenister]

He's been on the rocket fuel - weight change appears to have worked out well.

 

[raindog]

UNBELIEVABLE!

 

[smutchin]

WOW! WOW! WOW!

UNBELIEVABLE!

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGRedtmJLf4