If Froome has a good day on Tuesday, and I suspect he will, then this year's TdF will be done & dusted as far as the general classification is concerned.
Cycling 2015 thread.
- Thread starter Mark_GrumpyLion
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Froome was outrageous today. Seemed to be leading his team through the entire course, and almost dropped the rest on the final hill.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/cycling/33509974
Italian rider Ivan Basso has withdrawn from the Tour de France after revealing he has testicular cancer.
"We discovered this two hours ago. I have to stop," the former Giro d'Italia winner, 37, told a shocked news conference on Monday.
Basso was set to be one of Alberto Contador's key lieutenants in the mountains over the next two weeks.
He has complained of pain in his groin and the cancer was discovered in a check-up on the race's first rest day.
Tinkoff-Saxo team-mate Contador was in tears as he sat next to Basso during his announcement.
Basso, who will travel to Italy to undergo surgery as soon as possible, twice finished on the podium during Lance Armstrong's long reign at the Tour and many, including Armstrong, expected him to follow the American on to the top step when he retired in 2005.
But Basso got caught up in the Spanish Operation Puerto doping scandal and eventually admitted to the intention to cheat. He was given a two-year ban in 2007.
The Italian climber, who owns a blueberry farm in Lombardy, has claimed five top-10 finishes in Grand Tours since his return to the sport, including a Giro win in 2010.
He is also one of the friendliest and more relaxed members of the professional peloton so this news will be greeted with considerable dismay.
His diagnosis will also increase the focus on Armstrong's arrival in France next week to ride two stages of the Tour with ex-England footballer Geoff Thomas - a day ahead of the race - to raise money for a cancer charity.
Armstrong recovered from life-threatening testicular cancer earlier in his career to win the seven Tour titles he was eventually stripped of for his doping activities.
Italian rider Ivan Basso has withdrawn from the Tour de France after revealing he has testicular cancer.
"We discovered this two hours ago. I have to stop," the former Giro d'Italia winner, 37, told a shocked news conference on Monday.
Basso was set to be one of Alberto Contador's key lieutenants in the mountains over the next two weeks.
He has complained of pain in his groin and the cancer was discovered in a check-up on the race's first rest day.
Tinkoff-Saxo team-mate Contador was in tears as he sat next to Basso during his announcement.
Basso, who will travel to Italy to undergo surgery as soon as possible, twice finished on the podium during Lance Armstrong's long reign at the Tour and many, including Armstrong, expected him to follow the American on to the top step when he retired in 2005.
But Basso got caught up in the Spanish Operation Puerto doping scandal and eventually admitted to the intention to cheat. He was given a two-year ban in 2007.
The Italian climber, who owns a blueberry farm in Lombardy, has claimed five top-10 finishes in Grand Tours since his return to the sport, including a Giro win in 2010.
He is also one of the friendliest and more relaxed members of the professional peloton so this news will be greeted with considerable dismay.
His diagnosis will also increase the focus on Armstrong's arrival in France next week to ride two stages of the Tour with ex-England footballer Geoff Thomas - a day ahead of the race - to raise money for a cancer charity.
Armstrong recovered from life-threatening testicular cancer earlier in his career to win the seven Tour titles he was eventually stripped of for his doping activities.
Richie Porte setting a pace and froome's off solo.
so reminiscent of 2013
Nairo behind Froome, so similar
Porte setting the pace destroyed Contador. Froome is on a roll now. Dont think Quintana can plug the gap.
I'm having a hard time believing what I'm seeing.
Kudos to Porte.
Team Sky did it perfectly.
The SKY is the limit
Done and dusted. Can't see Froome let this slip now. Magnificent by Team Sky.
how is it so downhill for Nibali
Does anybody here genuinely believe Sky isn't using something "different" or "better" than the others? Their domestiques are beating other team leaders 
I bought the Wiggins story, maybe even Froome. But am struggling to see Geraint Thomas beat other team captains. Hopefully I'm wrong.
I bought the Wiggins story, maybe even Froome. But am struggling to see Geraint Thomas beat other team captains. Hopefully I'm wrong.
They are tipping Geraint Thomas to take over in the future. Both him and Porte doing the work today.
Does anybody here genuinely believe Sky isn't using something "different" or "better" than the others? Their domestiques are beating other team leaders
I bought the Wiggins story, maybe even Froome. But am struggling to see Geraint Thomas beat other team captains. Hopefully I'm wrong.
I'm afraid so.
why does SKY let Porte go??
The Tour touted as the most stacked in years is practically over after it's first mountain stage? Amazing......or however you want to describe marginal gains.
Does anybody here genuinely believe Sky isn't using something "different" or "better" than the others? Their domestiques are beating other team leaders
I bought the Wiggins story, maybe even Froome. But am struggling to see Geraint Thomas beat other team captains. Hopefully I'm wrong.
I'm not having it in any case. Pretty absurd performances and history has taught us that means something's not right.
I'm not accusing Sky and Froome of anything but that was so reminiscent of those Armstrong and US Postal attacks where he would obliterate the field. Is he really that much better than everyone else? I mean Sky's domestiques are keeping up if not beating the other team leaders. What are they doing different that everyone else is not?
I think everybody has the same thought, but is not voicing it. I would say that Sky aren't the only ones doing it - they are just doing it better than anybody else.
The only thing I can't understand is how they are turning donkeys into horses. No other team has that capability
Team Sky, the tennis big four and Usain Bolt.......the doping most wanted list.
I've been cynical ever since Froome did that 'clean' time up the Ventoux. Madness.
I won't say what I think of what Sky are doing, but if something seems too good to be true...
I would however be willing to bet that Porte starts sucking out loud (relative to his current level) once he switches teams, just like Rogers did when he left Sky, after being a part of the train that obliterated the field during the 2012 race.
I would however be willing to bet that Porte starts sucking out loud (relative to his current level) once he switches teams, just like Rogers did when he left Sky, after being a part of the train that obliterated the field during the 2012 race.
PEDs - champions - stripped - another PEDs - champions - stripped...
the "cycle" goes on and on and on
the "cycle" goes on and on and on
This. No fecking way.
Meh. Two dull weeks ahead of us now.
but not sure why only SKY are being whipped here, pretty sure the big guys play that too
Was it the fastest climb on Ventoux?
You're not. But most sports are infected by that. Don't believe that football is an exception.Does anybody here genuinely believe Sky isn't using something "different" or "better" than the others? Their domestiques are beating other team leaders
I bought the Wiggins story, maybe even Froome. But am struggling to see Geraint Thomas beat other team captains. Hopefully I'm wrong.
Froome shouldn't be so evident,his heart is going to explode. Porte better than Quintana who is a specialist? , even Thomas...This reminds me the tour 2 years ago. Sky is the new US Postal.In the third week Froome will have a "bad day" to show that he is human
, even Thomas...This reminds me the tour 2 years ago. Sky is the new US Postal.In the third week Froome will have a "bad day" to show that he is human
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The reality of the situation is that if Froome really is clean, he's one of the best riders of all time. It was his time up the Domaines in 2013 I was referring to earlier. He's in third place. The entire top ten, he aside, are all proven dopers.
When you factor in the money involved and size of Team Sky then you begin to meet the whole thing with scepticism.
When you factor in the money involved and size of Team Sky then you begin to meet the whole thing with scepticism.
Does anybody here genuinely believe Sky isn't using something "different" or "better" than the others? Their domestiques are beating other team leaders
I bought the Wiggins story, maybe even Froome. But am struggling to see Geraint Thomas beat other team captains. Hopefully I'm wrong.
No chance. Have you followed Thomas' progress on the road since he won his olympic gold medals??He could well lead Team SkY in a grand tour and Brailsford has said as much. Fact is there are a few riders in top teams that could lead the teams outright and Thomas is one of those riders. To suggest he's probably on drugs, is really to be ignorant of his abilities and his performances. Which brings me back to my original question. Have you really followed the cycling calendar and watched the rteams race or not????
Come again??? What are your sources - The Sunday Sport? Such bullshit that it hardly warrants a response.
Because he's better as a domestique than a GT leader.
So the 23rd fastest time ever. The really interesting thing is that the rest of the top 25 happened in the notorious doping year that was punctuated as being the era of Lance Armstrong.
Does improvement in technology with the bikes mean that you would expect gradual improvement over the years anyway?
Is his time that suspicious in isolation?
so definitely he should stay?
A brilliant ride by Froomie today. His old dog friend Porte pushing him the mountain, but it was Geraint Thomas' performance that delighted me the most today. A rider who has the respect of riders of the track. the classics, and the mountains now too. What a rider. He's my rider of the tour so far. Froome excepting of course, who during the Vuelta and in races since shown the absolute determination and inner strength that is simply not there in most of elite cyclists.
think you have to compare with the other big guys like Quintana, Contador... that day