Cycling - Tour de France 2015

[Keatoboy]

Hi all!

On Saturday night, the 2015 Tour de France began in Utrecht, Netherlands. The individual time trial was won by Adelaide boy and former world hour record holder Rohan Dennis.

Dennis held the yellow jersey for 1 stage, sacrificing it for BMC's team plans for Tejay van Garderen as the peloton was split more than once on a windy day from Utrecht to Zeland. In the final, the front group contained 3 sprinters. Mark Cavendish began his sprint way too early, allowing Andre Greipel to sit on his wheel until Peter Sagan opened up his sprint. As Sagan went, Greipel overpowered them both taking the win, leaving Sagan 2nd, and suprisingly, Fabian Cancellara in 3rd as he snuck past Mark Cavendish!

Stage 3 saw the peloton move over to Belgium, starting in Anvers and finishing on top of the Mur de Huy, in Huy. The stage seemed pretty standard until they hit around 55km to go. FDJ's William Bonet clipped a wheel in front of him and went skidding along the ground for 30m, bring down around 35 riders, including yellow jersey holder Fabian Cancellara. Just 500m up the road, another crash occurred with the same effect, ultimately compelling the race director to neutralise the race. There was a bit of confusion before the race director eventually stopped all the riders, having to wait for the stragglers catching on. They neutralised the race for the next 5km before sending them back into full on racing. All the main GC teams took control of the peloton, as the wounded formed a group more than 70 strong off the back. Andre Greipel took the intermediate sprint to keep the green jersey, and then dropped back to the stragglers as they approached the Mur de Huy. As the peloton hit the foot of the Mur de Huy, all of the domestiques had done their work, and the stage contenders were left to work for themselves. Purito Rodriguez attacked and Tony Gallopin tried to go with him but couldn't match his power as Chris Froome came past picking up 2nd behind Purito, and taking the yellow jersey with a lead of 1 second! The wounded group crossed the line around 5 minutes later, and then 21 minutes after the winner crossed the line, Michael Matthews rounded out the results!

The first 3 days have been extremely enthralling and action packed, here's hoping for some more entertainment! However I must say, I had a very odd feeling watching the peloton grind to a halt, this was something I had never seen before, and I could hear in the voices of Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwen that they weren't quite sure what to do either!

Jersey Holders after first 3 stages:
Yellow - Chris Froome
Green - André Greipel
Polka Dot - Joaquin Rodriguez
White - Peter Sagan
Teams - BMC

Abandoned riders:
Tom Dumoulin - Giant Alpecin - Involved in stage 3 crash
Simon Gerrans - Orica GreenEdge - Broken wrist in stage 3 crash
William Bonet - FDJ - Taken to hospital in neck brace following stage 3 crash
Dmitry Kozontchuk - Katusha - Involved in stage 3 crash

Top 10 GC Standings

1. Chris Froome
2. Tony Martin +0:01
3. Tejay van Garderen +0:13
4. Tony Gallopin +0:26
5. Greg Van Avermaet +0:28
6. Peter Sagan +0:31
7. Rigoberto Uran +0:34
8. Alberto Contador +0:36
9. Geraint Thomas +1:03
10. Zdenek Stybar +1:04

I will be looking to update this thread with stage reviews every few nights so stay tuned!

Also, I got bored so I made this on Photoshop before

Cheers for looking guys and once again, stay tuned!

 

[Matty76]

Bravo sir, bravo. Bear in mind - as I am not a cycling enthusiast - that I have absolutely no idea what any of that means. However, my Mum and Stepdad are right in to the Tour De France and also the cycling thingo that goes through the Adelaide Hills...the Tour Down Under!!

You have obviously put an enormous amount of effort into your post mate, great job!!

 

[Keatoboy]

Stages 4-5 Update

Stage 4 of this year's Tour de France saw a return to the cobbled roads of Paris-Roubaix. Beginning in Seraing and finishing in Cambrai, the stage covered 7 sectors of cobblestone roads, or 13km. This stage was also the longest of the 2015 Tour, weighing in at a whopping 223.5km!! The race was fairly normal, covering 1 sector of cobbles in Belgium before crossing the border in to France, where the riders endured the last 6 sectors of pavé. There was nothing out of the ordinary, with Team Sky protecting Christopher Froome up the front in the Yellow Jersey, but things quickly started to look grim for team FDJ's GC hopes in Thibaut Pinot. Already a few minutes down on the top GC contenders, Pinot had a problem with his gears on the cobbles, forcing him to stop and wait for the team car. The car arrived and he took a new bike and set off to try and catch the peloton, but merely 10 minutes later, he had a mechanical failure again. He jumped of the bike and violently hit it on the ground. A team mate offered to give him his bike but it was 10cm too big. Back in the peloton, Vincenzo Nibali was having a red hot go at trying to crack the likes of Froome and Contador but they both held on. Ettix Quickstep had been close to the front all day, with their hopes resting on the back of Tony Martin. Martin, a time trial specialist, had missed the yellow jersey by 1 second for two days in a row and he was starting to get fed up. It looked like his hopes were dashed too when he had a puncture, but his team brought him back, resulting in the attack of Tony Martin with 5km to go. Martin, being a time trial specialist, could not be caught, taking the stage victory and the Yellow Jersey with him. Froome wasn't too fussed though, realising that Martin doesn't have what it takes in the mountains.

Stage 5 was very well planned, passing 4 or 5 war memorials, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. Orica GreenEdge riders wore special armbands to commemorate it, whilst an 'Aussie Fan Corner' had been planned right next to the Australian war memorial at 18km to go. With the peloton setting off from Arras and finishing up in Amiens, everyone knew that this was a day for the sprinters. However 10km in and one sprinter had already been ruled out. Nacer Bouhanni of Team Cofidis was involved in a crash forcing him to abandon the race. He did not break any bones, however did aggravate some injuries he sustained from his crash in the French National Championships. The stage then continued as usual until somewhere around the 90km to go mark, when a large crash occurred at the back of the peloton due to the slippery roads. Michael Albasini of Orica GreenEdge had scans after the stage which revealed he had a broken arm, and Jack Bauer of Cannondale Garmin has a broken hip, meaning they both have to abandon the race. It looked quite dangerous at the front of the pack for a period of time, with GC teams and sprinters teams jossling for the best positions in the peloton. As they edged closer to their final destination, the wind picked up at the finish, AND it was an extremely strong headwind. Ettix Quickstep were starting their leadout for Mark Cavendish, Alexander Kristoff was jumping from wheel to wheel, and André Greipel was in the slipstream of his team mates Marcel Sieberg and Tony Gallopin. He would usually be tucked in behind Greg Henderson and the rest of his team, however he was injured in the stage 3 crash, meaning Greipel had to rely on the not so strong of his team. It was all looking good until about 400m to go. Mark Cavendish lost the wheel of his number 1 leadout man Mark Renshaw, and Greipel jumped out of his line of team mates and looked to open up his sprint in the next 200m. However the sprinters there had pretty much spread out right across the width of the road, meaning Greipel couldn't break through. He looked like he had given up until he noticed a gap to the far left. He clicked up a few gears and went for it. He overpowered everyone in his path and managed to win the stage! A classic enactment of the saying 'Don't give up until you reach the finishing line'

STAGE 6 UPDATE AND CURRENT RESULTS COMING SOON

Cheers

 

[mounteverest]

Well done young fellow you obviously have a interest in a lot of sports
Keep up the good work

 

[Shaunao1983]

Well done on the thread , love le tour. Watch it , year in, year out.
On ya Froomey, keep it goin you legend!

 

[Keatoboy]

Stages 6-9 Update

Stage 6 followed the peloton from Abbeville to Le Havre. With the stage encasing 3 Category 4 climbs and a punchy 1km climb to the finish, it was no wonder the commentators were baffled as to why it was categorised as a bunch sprint stage. 3 riders went clear of the bunch in the opening kilometers, one of which was Eritrean rider Daniel Teklehaimanot representing the first ever African team in the TdF, MTN-Qhubeka. Teklehaimanot took all 3 King of the Mountain points, moving him into 1st place in the KOM competition, making him the first ever African wearer of the Polka Dot jersey! As the race edged closer to the finish, it was evident that punchy powered climbers would be attempting to win this stage, with none of the top sprinters contending, instead working for the team mate who they had their hopes set on. The race hit the bottom of the climb and it looked like someone would have to attack to take this stage and then BANG. Tony Martin (Yellow jersey holder) clipped a wheel in front of him, swerved to his right and stacked it, taking down Vincenzo Nibali in the process. Thankfully for Nibali it was inside the last 3km so he would get the same time as everyone else, however the situation for Tony Martin looked a lot worse as he cradled his left arm. After 5 minutes he jumped back on his bike and with help from his team mates, rode to the finish, whilst Zdenek Stybar took the stage win for Martin's team. Untraditionally, Martin was the last onto the podium for the yellow jersey presentation, and looked to be in some pain. It was later confirmed that he broke his collarbone in multiple places, and it even pierced the skin in one place. A sad end to the tour for Tony Martin, but he showed some true courage.

With the forced abandon of Tony Martin, no one wore the yellow jersey for Stage 7 between Livarot and Fougeres as technically, Tony Martin still held it. With one KOM at 12.5km in, the stage was one for the sprinters, and the last for a while. Very stock standard stage this one, no crashes so I will skip right to the finish. The pace really picked up into the final kilometer as Lotto Soudal and Ettix Quickstep took the front for their sprinters André Greipel and Mark Cavendish respectively. Greipel dropped in behind Peter Sagan for 50m and then went for it with 200m to go. Greipel appeared to have underestimated the short little kick in the road at the sprint and overworked himself allowing Mark Cavendish to come out from behind him at 150m to go and take the victory by half a bike length. Peter Sagan shot through but too late once again, finishing in 3rd place. The completion of this stage saw Chris Froome take the Yellow Jersey, Teklehaimanot kept his hold on the Polka Dot jersey and Greipel retain the Green jersey, but only by a slim margin.

Stage 8 from Rennes to Mur de Bretagne was the last stage before the team time trial, followed by a rest day. This stage was the first time that the Tour had visited the Mur de Bretagne since 2011, when Australian Cadel Evans won the stage, and the overall race. Once again, nothing too eventful happened until the last 10 or so kilometers so I will take you to the finish. The main contenders along with a few lesser known riders were assembled at the front of the peloton, ready for the 90 degree right hander on to the foot of the climb. As they started to head up a few riders tried to break free but were quickly brought back before the frenchman of AG2R La Mondiale Alexis Vuillermoz attacked. He is not a GC threat so no one went with him except Dan Martin, and his response was too late, giving a frenchman the win!

Stage 9, a team time trial, and the last day of racing before a well deserved rest day for all the riders. Orica GreenEdge were the first out of the blocks with only 6 men, and finished last, and you can't blame them after the week they've had. Movistar looked to have taken a convincing lead in the TTT until BMC came through and beat their time by 4 seconds. Team Sky looked like they would just beat BMC, but in the finale, Team Sky's 5th man Nicolas Roche cracked, meaning Team Sky lost by 1 second! But Chris Froome kept the yellow jersey for another day as Quintana gained 20 seconds on Contador and Van Garderen gained 1 second on Froome.

REST DAY - I wasn't planning on putting this segment in but when I heard about this I knew I had to put it in. On Stage 5, Ivan Basso of Tinkoff Saxo slid off of his saddle when a crash happened ahead of him and Basso sustained an injury to his testicle. They got to the rest day and he still had some pain so he went to have scans done to see what the problem was. Whilst they were doing the scans, they found a small lump on one of his testicles. Later that day at the Tinkoff Saxo team press conference, Basso announced that he has testicular cancer and will be returning home to undergo treatment. Get well soon Ivan!

Stage 10 from Tarbes to La Pierre Saint Martin was the first of 3 tough mountain top finishes. Early on in the stage, Pierrick Fredrigo of Bretagne Seche and Kenneth Van Bilsen embarked on a 2 man breakaway. The peloton knew they would bring them back on the final climb, and at one point the breakaway had a mammoth lead of 14 minutes! It wasn't until around the 50km that the peloton really started to work on bringing them back. All eyes were on Peter Sagan at 37km to go as the peloton approached the intermediate sprint. However André Greipel powered over the top of them all leaving Peter Sagan in 5th place at the sprint and giving Greipel his lead back in the Green Jersey competition, gaining 3 points on Sagan. As the peloton edged closer to the foot of the climb, the gradient started to slowly increase on the false flat, before they really hit the 15km climb. Riders started to drop off the back of the peloton like flies. And before you knew it, some of the contenders were starting to drop off too. First Thibaut Pinot, then Jean Christophe-Peraud and then...... Vincenzo Nibali! With about 10km to go, a group of 10 or so riders was left on the front, containing Chris Froome, Contador, Quintana and Van Garderen. The first to crack was Contador who lost 2m50s on Froome today, and then Van Garderen who lost 2m32s. This left Froome, Porte and Quintana on the front, it was just a question of who would attack first. And then it happened. At 6.3km to go, Chris Froome jumped from them! Quintana tried to latch on but couldn't. Froome powered on all the way to the finish line to take the win. Porte managed to catch Quintana too and made it a 1-2 finish for Team Sky, with Quintana losing 1m04s on Froome. Chris Froome holds onto the Yellow jersey for another day, with Tejay van Garderen in 2nd place 2m52s behind. It looks like Chris Froome may have the TdF all wrapped up and we are only 10 stages in!

Jersey Holders
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - André Greipel
Polka Dot Jersey - Chris Froome
White Jersey - Nairo Quintana
Teams - Team Sky

Riders who have abandoned since Stage 3
Fabian Cancellara - Trek Factory Racing - 2 fractured vertebrae sustained from the Stage 3 crash
Daryl Impey - Orica GreenEdge - Broken collarbone sustained in Stage 3 crash
Andreas Schillinger - Bora Argon 18 - Infection
Jack Bauer - Cannondale Garmin - Broke his hip in Stage 5 crash
Nacer Bouhanni - Cofidis - No fractures, but an aggravation of injuries sustained in the French National Championships 1 week before
Michael Albasini - Orica GreenEdge - Broken arm, sustained in Stage 5 crash
Greg Henderson - Lotto Soudal - 2 broken ribs, bruised lung and 7 stitches in hip, sustained injuries in Stage 3 crash
Tony Martin - Broken collarbone, sustained injury in Stage 6 crash
Luca Paolini - Katusha - Suspended by UCI for a dope test turning back positive results for recreational drug Cocaine
Ivan Basso - Tinkoff Saxo - Diagnosed with testicular cancer
Lars Boom - Astana - Fever and aching body

Top 10 GC Standings
1. Chris Froome
2. Tejay van Garderen +2:52
3. Nairo Quintana +3:09
4. Alejandro Valverde +4:01
5. Geraint Thomas +4:03
6. Alberto Contador +4:04
7. Tony Gallopin +4:33
8. Robert Gesink +4:35
9. Warren Barguil +6:12
10. Vincenzo Nibali +6:57

Cheers for reading and there will be another update soon!