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TdF Stage 16
Just thought i'd start this early so someone dont go stealing my title this time 
So whats your thoughts of the stage on Tuesday? I think a few guys may drop out tomorrow, mainly the sprinters who are doing nowt and not able to help their teams through the Alps
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try deleting cookies and re-logging in. That worked for me (I also changed passwords so both site and fantasy passwords were still identical....
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95 comments
Cadel EVANS
Ben SWIFT
Rigoberto URAN URAN
Philippe GILBERT
Thomas VOECKLER
Arnold JEANNESSON
Vincent JEROME
Jérémy ROY
Jelle VANENDERT
Going for it........fingers crossed!!!
Forgive me if i'm wrong, but i always thought, the narrower the tyres the less contact with the road surface, so yes, more speed, but less traction in the corners, therefore more chance of going down?
If i had the ability to descend at the speed the pros do on my bike, then i'd rather have a larger width of tyre, but maybe thats me getting it all wrong?
I can ditch Frank Schleck and put Gilbert in with my one remaining transfer. Thoughts?
Its only a Cat 2 climb...So it will be a day for an all rounder and not an out and out climber...11km to the finish and its a really technical descent...Dont be surprised if Cadel,Tommy,Sammy and Contador try and leave the Schleckies on the way down...They will make it hard on the way up so that Cancellara cannot lead the Schleckies down...
I did put Roy back on my team. He's attacked so much, he at least seems good for a few intermediate sprint points. I'm hoping he'll have a "stomach of anger" and really go for tomorrow's stage. It's the last chance for all of the breakaway guys.
The first person I kicked out of my team was Mr Gilbert. I'm now beginning to wonder whether to put him back in. But I need Voeckler and Gilbert is v. pricey.
That climb is one heck of a climb and my instinct is that whoever gains an advantage on the way up is likely to keep it. A good descender might only gain a few seconds on the way down but a good climber could be looking at a 5 minute lead to the top.
Tough stage to predict....So many possible outcomes...Gilbert and a couple of Norwegians have great chances if the GC contenders dont want to play ball...I just have a feeling that Contador,Evans and Tommy V,might attack the Schleckies on the run in....Frank in particular is not a great bike handler and may get dropped if the pace is scary....Sammy Sanchez also seems to be hitting form and he can descend fast....
Well I got this pretty much right today....
Well I only used 2 out of my 4 transfers,bringing in THOR and EBH.....Happy days...
Damnit! You're my main GC target, guess I'll have to have a rethink!
Hushovd, Gilbert and Boasson Hagen could all do well, but it's a lot of points and none of them have many 'bankable' points or will do well in the Alps. Will prob. go with one of them, but no more.
What chance Roy or Delage will go on another break? Delage seems to want to win green on int. points but one day the peloton might let him stay out (and no I didn't have him today).
Worried about Frank Schleck, he was recently voted worst descender in the bunch. There's one or 2 very good descenders in the AR and leader class but don't really want to risk 9 points for em. Cancellara is supposed to be the best beside Hushovd but they'd need a big break to get to the top to work their magic.
@Hill I'm tempted by Gilbert as well as he seems to be on a kamikaze mission to get points and this is one stage he can claw some back on Cav.
@Squiggle Basso got 15 stitches in his face descending Mt Etna recently, but I'm loath to ditch Evans even though he'll play it safe. I think he'll stay near the front just to be safe ditto Voeckler who looks pretty good in that dept as well
Izagirre is an outside bet as he went well downhill on Sunday and this time he doesn't have to keep going far to win.
I reckon Gilbert may win on Tuesday, but I can't afford him, as I want to keep my dead cert ARs.
I can accelerate at 10 m/s going down, on a bike . . .
. . ..
. . . .
out of the back of a plane
Stage 16 looks all uphill and there will be plenty of teams desperate to get a result.
Packing team with climbers and attacking DS!
de Weert is the highest ranking DS I believe. but is it worth swapping him for the lanterne rouge? I must admit that Im very tempted.
Gkam - I think mine are 23mm and I have done 40mph on mine. I admit, it was pretty scary. Especially when you consider that Thor was doing 69mph the other day.
Mine are 23c aswell n on a long straight decent i have hit nearly 50mph, but there was no corners, its not so much the decent speed, its the angels, lean and power they put through the corners that would have me sh*tting bricks, a tiny bit to much lean or speed and you could be off the side of a mountain
Look at Voigt when he landed in the bushes, if that had been a pure drop off, he's a goner
Thinking of ditching my lanterne rouge for a higher potential scoring Domestique. anyone got any thoughts on that?
surely they are all good at descending? even im good at descending and im not a pro......
At what speed and width of tyres tho? you aint going 50mph on 19-23c
@Gkam Why not ? I've done 89km/h (55 mph) on 23mm tyres.
Surely bigger tyres would have greater rolling resistance and be less likely to reach greater speed.
If you had read a bit further down you would have seen why
I bet you weren't doing that sort of speeds through corners tho?
That doesn't explain the tyre width comment. Don't see what that's got to do with it.
Not surprisingly I imagine I hit the top speed not in a corner but actually it was a descent with corners - nice wide ones with good sight lines - and I wasn't braking. I have to admit I wasn't looking at the speed through the corners though.
AbudabiChris go and find two rubber erasers, a big fat one and a small one. Put them both on a flat surface and drag them sideways towards you with equal downwards pressure. Now which one took the least effort to pull?
Narrower tyres offer less cornering grip. As there is less rubber in contact with the road it takes less sideways force to exceed the stress at which the tyre loses grip. After which point you're doing 50mph on your ass!
The better descenders have a better feel for the limits of their tyres and/or an amazing bottle for testing the limits. They are just more skilled at chosing the correct line through corners and weight distribution between the wheels to stay just on the inside of those limits whereas other riders bottle it, and take off too much speed with the brakes. A great descender can take minutes off others on a technical alpine descent.
Didn't mean to post that twice.
anyone reckon thor?
I've got only 2 guys i want to switch out, just wish i could "bank" the other 2 transfers
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