Cycling Betting & Discussion.

[Tonji]

How long till the race starts today?

Think it's around 2pm today.

[Tonji]

More on Stage 5:



The GC teams are not interested in the stage win, & are likely to ride defensively, & only attack each other if circumstances arise. So I'm discounting the chances of the likes of Sky's Thomas & Eisel. Movistar, Tinkoff & Astana will be just looking to get through the stage without too much time lost imo.

Stage winner from a team without any real GC objectives.

Prime stand out favourite is Trek's Cancellara. His experience & power is second to none on this parcour. However the shorter distance is not in his favour. “For me, there’s a risk of arriving in a small sprint. I’m not a bad sprinter, but that’s not good for me. The stage is quite short, which is disappointing because it makes for more chaos. I would like to have a longer stage so that there will be more difficulties and more of a chance for the true specialists.”

Some names later after todays stage & bookies release prices...

[Tonji]

The Teams I expect to be prominent tomorrow.

Belkin: Dutch team, with huge experience riding these roads. Mollema is the GC rider, but realistically a top ten contender for the overall. The team may feel that with strong riders like Vanmarcke, Boom & Tankink, they could tactically use the stage to put time into their GC rivals. At just 2 seconds down on Nibali, the yellow jersey is up for grabs.

Alternatively, they may see this as the best opportunity for a stage victory. Vanmarcke would be the prime candidate. His season is to peak for the Classics in March & April & then peak again for the late season races. This year is different, his 8th place on stage 1 of the Tour is signs he may have the Classics form for stage 5. He'll need a solo effort to get a win as he lacks a sprint.

[Tonji]

OPQS: Now without Cav, objectives for the team will have changed. Despite that I'm sure they still have this stage penciled in.

Kwiatowski is nominally for GC, although the team don't have any more expectations for the youngster other than to finish as high as possible.

Tony Martin you'd think should be immense on this type of stage, but actually hates the cobbles & has never ridden any of the cobble classics. Fortunately Terpstra loves them, he won Roubaix this year. He'll be sure to look for a solo break in the closing 20km or so to grab a stage win for the team.

[Tonji]

Giant-Shimano: Will want to continue the stage wins of Kittel. Degenkolb will relish this stage after a fine 2nd in Roubaix. He should have good support from Veelers, Curvers & De Kort, all have experince of riding the cobbles.

[Tonji]

Sagan, is natural no matter what the parcours. Strong, but tactically still making errors, he really should have won stage 2.

[Tonji]

The Belgian team Lotto-Belisol, is packed with strong rouleur riders. Tactically they can ride as a team, especially as GC leader Jurgen van den Broeck will me more comfortable on these roads than many of his rivals. Jurgen Roelandts would look to be the option for a strong stage finish here.

[Tonji]

Plenty of money plowed in for Contador after Froome's crash today. No break, but he'll have another x-ray after the cobble bashing tomorrow, assuming he stays upright!

[vegaslover]

Plenty of money plowed in for Contador after Froome's crash today. No break, but he'll have another x-ray after the cobble bashing tomorrow, assuming he stays upright!

No surprise there obviously, although I think Froome isn't at the top of his form after the previous fall.

Shame Voeckler went solo today, the shorter stage tomorrow might have been a good one to attack, he's also crazy enough to attack the cobbles...lol

[Tonji]

Garmin are the sort of team to use this stage to put some hurt on the GC riders & adopt some risky tactics. Talansky is the sort of gutsy rider willing to ride out of his comfort zone so early in the race. Vansummeren & Langeveld will be charging at the front I'd imagine.

[Tonji]

Plenty of money plowed in for Contador after Froome's crash today. No break, but he'll have another x-ray after the cobble bashing tomorrow, assuming he stays upright!

No surprise there obviously, although I think Froome isn't at the top of his form after the previous fall.

Shame Voeckler went solo today, the shorter stage tomorrow might have been a good one to attack, he's also crazy enough to attack the cobbles...lol

No sure I can take much more of his grimacing!

[Tonji]

Garmin are the sort of team to use this stage to put some hurt on the GC riders & adopt some risky tactics. Talansky is the sort of gutsy rider willing to ride out of his comfort zone so early in the race. Vansummeren & Langeveld will be charging at the front I'd imagine.

http://youtu.be/uM8ZWs2TIQY

[Tonji]

OGE: Quote from Matt White “It’s going to be a very nervous day,...Someone will lose the Tour de France tomorrow. For us, we obviously haven’t got that stress. We will give a couple of our guys, Mat Hayman and (Jens) Keukeleire, an opportunity to get a result tomorrow. I think you are going to see a big variety between the classics specialists and the guys who have never, or very rarely, ridden on cobbles.  It’ll make for great television, but I think the bunch is going to be spread out over a long period.”

[Tonji]

BMC have had a fine start to the Tour with TVG & Greg Van Avermaet both showing strongly. The team are certainly hoping to put Van Avermaet in yellow tomorrow. He has the cobble skills to do some damage, having raced Roubaix six times, often in the top 20 & a best result of 4th in 2013.



Crucially the team car is in good position for punctures & mechanicals.

 

[Tonji]

BMC have had a fine start to the Tour with TVG & Greg Van Avermaet both showing strongly. The team are certainly hoping to put Van Avermaet in yellow tomorrow. He has the cobble skills to do some damage, having raced Roubaix six times, often in the top 20 & a best result of 4th in 2013.



Crucially the team car is in good position for punctures & mechanicals.

 

Team have pretty much hinted GVA will be given a freehand to go for a result, although the main priority is protecting TVG.