TDF Stage 17
 

Rodriguez is back in the Polka Dot Jersey on the road. This is the only real competition remaining in the TDF.

Well, Majka wins stage and gets Climbers Jersey back. Also, looking even more certain that Valverde will be second overall. Only question now is which Frenchman will be third.

Huh. Looked to me like Majka was riding the stage in the polka dot jersey today. In fact he took it back yesterday in stage 16 by 1 point. And there is still plenty of competition for the remaining podium places.

He lost it briefly on the road, but regained it and extended his lead by winning the stage.

Interestingly TJ just said its crazy that Nibali keeps attacking, not impressed with it at all.

Presumably he would prefer that everyone wait for him, so we can have the usual TDF where everyone spends the entire race marking each other and the winner is decided by the ITT.

David Brailsford has let us all down. Not a single Sky stage win.

21st Century Fox is now known as 21st Century "DROPPED".


My dog skidding his bum across the carpet this morning could have had better chances at a stage win then Team Sky.

Eddy Merckx should teach TJ a lesson :) Funnily enough, during rest day Kwiatkowski said: "Well, so what if TJ finishes in top 10 and I don't, it's hard to notice that he's in this race" (quoting from memory)/

I'm really happy about Majka though.

Funny that Tejay would think Nibali is attacking him, when Valverde was obviously the one Nibali wanted some extra buffer on.

Also, maybe Tejay is starting to make excuses already for his upcoming disappointment in the TT.

I don't think TJ thinks Nibali cares about him. He's just whining because Nibali is making it harder for him to stay in contention for third place on the podium by Paris. Nibali is racing like a champion, and showing everyone that he's truly deserving of the overall victory.

Nibali always attacks whether in the lead or not, whether he is the strongest or not, it's part of what makes him entertaining as opposed to just following wheels, making "little attacks" and waiting for the time trial.

Let's not all forget that it was less than a year ago that Nibali lost a grand tour by 37 seconds. He probably looks back at that and thinks there were probably opportunities where he could have taken time out of Horner earlier in the race before Horner started winning every finishing climb.

I'm more than a little conflicted about Contador but if he was still in the Tour he would be attacking whether he was in the lead or trying to overcome Nibali.

I'm not sure if Talansky would have been bold enough to try an attack if he was protecting a top ten position in the Tour like he did in Dauphine but he seems more likely than TJ.

I don't want to bash TJ because he has to ride his race and follow his team's instructions and plan but the Tour does get boring when everyone rides for position. There only seems to be a few riders every year willing to throw caution into the wind.

One of the reasons from a sporting point of view the Vuelta is more interesting is that riders are more interested in gambling a little rather than protecting their position.

Unfortunately Contador tweeted earlier today that he won't make the Vuelta.

The podium race interests me since you actually have three Frenchmen competing for it this year.

I personally don't think Tejay is in the running for a podium place any longer. I think 37 year old Peraud has the best shot at it myself as he's only 8 seconds off of Pinot now and Pinot and Bardet are going to bleed some time in the TT.

I saw the interview. He didn't say Nibali was attacking HIM. He said he didn't understand why Nibali was attacking.

More interesting was the three interviewing Tinkoff. Roll asked if he had any names of proposed riders he was going after. Tinkoff responded that he wasn't permitted to do that, then he said his intention next year was to complete in the one day races, the monuments, the yellow jersey and the green jersey. Roll picked up on it immediately and visibly reacted..but didn't follow up; it was enough. It seems clear Tinkoff is gloing after Sagan.

Rich

From my comfortable armchair quarterback position, it's frustrating as a fan to see TJ not attacking or being aggressive. Maybe he is truly whipped and just trying to muster the strength to Paris? He was in a position to step on the podium but it appears he's happy with 6th place. I'm speculating but, darn, unleash the inner beast and make a statement.

TJ can't attack because he doesn't have the legs to attack Nibali, Valverde, Pinot, Bardet. He has tried, he threw in a couple of accelerations today, and in the Alps, but he wasn't able to make them stick.

TJ could have attacked. It might fail and he could lose his position in the overall but that is the point. If Contador or Nibali were in fifth they would not ride to consolidate their position, they would "invent" something like attacking on a downhill (ala Bardet this year, Contador last year, Nibali in 2012) or from a lot farther out. As Contador said last year he is not interested in podiums.

The point is there are riders that ride to win period, and others that ride for position.

I watched the recording last night and saw TJ's commenst and was completely befuddled. Was he not there last year, or maybe he wasn't near the front then, when Froome attacked evrrytime he could on the uphills?

He must have watched Lance attack on every finishing climb during his run.

And for those of you that watched the coverage you saw Roche mention the bonuses that Rodgers and Majka added to the kitty. Typically the team shares these winnings so that is a nice bump for the team riders. When Nibali wins a stage he wins money for his teammates.

^^It's not just about GC position, it's also about time difference. TJ is just too far off the podium on time with strong riders ahead. What's the point of attacking if you're just dragging a stronger rider up the hill who's 3-4 minutes ahead on the road?

Contador OK, but he's an explosive type rider when on form, who can drop a group dead.

^^True and I understand TJ's tactics, just don't complain about other riders when they attack.

I absolutely agree with you that TJ shouldn't be complaining about Nibali or other riders attacking. But at the same time I don't think fans should be complaining about TJ not attacking. Another good ride by him today to Hautacam.