dstrong 

You'll likely find spoilers in here, so don't click on this if you don't wanna know!

dstrong 

How's about that Bradley Wiggins!

chasm54

Yes, remarkable. Of course, the real fast men had been burned off earlier, but Wiggo looked ridiculously strong. I'm beginning to think he has a real shout in the Tour...

bikerjp

How about the lame coverage. Last 30k is all they can manage out of 180k race. With commercials it worked about to about 40 minutes of coverage.

prettyshady

https://www.steephill.tv/tour-de-romandie/#live

Marauder9

Wiggo seemed to go really early (too early to me) and then i think he realised that he was still in the lead and wondered where the rest of them were, sat up a little then had another go.

Amazing.

Giacomo 1 

Wiggins certainly looks to be one of the favorites for the tour win. I can't stand to watch him on a bike though, he looks really dorky! And his demeanor on the podium is so non-chalant, almost as if those two beautiful girls kissing him aren't even there. Ho hum, just another stage win...

The Americans are looking very good here.

Really, Cav got dropped again? Cmon man, toughen up, you should have been there for the finish today!

chasm54

Dorky? Really? He looks technically near-perfect to me, back as flat as a tea-tray, pushing big gears at a good cadence. As for his demeanour, maybe, like me, he thinks it might be time to abandon the flower-girl routine. It's so 1950s.

Pretty sure Cav's only here for the training. He won't have done much in recent weeks, what with becoming a father and all that.

canam73

Having the strongest win the girls is older than that. Like cave-man old.

And I'm all in.

Giacomo 1 

Nothing wrong with the 1950's IMHO. It was probably the most simple, care-free, prosperous and fun times the Western world has ever known. So please, keep the flower girl routine!



You could be right about that. Seems like the wrong kind of race for a sprinter to enter though...

chasm54

I was born in the fifties, so as a decade it has a lot to recommend it. Your comment is extremely North America-centric, though. In Western Europe most of the 1950s was spent recovering from the destruction wrought by WWII. In the UK, various foodstuffs were still rationed until the mid-fifties. Not entirely "prosperous and fun".

Giacomo 1 

I was born in the fifties also.

My statement was very American-centric in retrospect. We were living large here at the time. My apologies, I should have remembered that Europe was still suffering some...

letitsnow

So... Todays TT will decide the race, correct?

chasm54

Wiggo, despite losing his chain. Phenomenal.

Hiro11

After Paris-Nice and then this performance, I'm becoming a big fan of Wiggins. He's very smart, uses his team wisely and obviously a very strong TT guy. Richie Porte and Danny Pate deserve some serious credit for the win. Wiggins even won that field sprint, which was totally out of character and ended up being the decisive blow in winning the entire race (due to the time bonus). I like his no-nonsense style of interviewing and his Mr. Serious demeanor on the podium, he's the anti-Cav. With that crazy schnoz, "is that a mullet?" hair and slightly slumped shoulders he definitely cuts a bit of a Big Bird-like figure.

I'm not sure what his success portends for the Tour. Romandie had some fairly long climbs but nothing HC and there were no long breaks (in typical April fashion). A lot of the top pros are using these races to get ready for the Giro or the Tour so it might be a bit dangerous to read too much into Wiggin's wins. Lastly, I think Sky was pushed to the limit in the last couple of road stages of Romandie, Wiggins was a bit isolated on occasion. When Omega Pharma, BMC and Radioshack all start peaking in July, we'll see what happens. Still, he's in as good a position as anyone.

Also, hats off to Talansky, awesome final TT. He rode aggressively in the entire race and was always near the front. He also had a sick descent into the finish on the last road stage, he's definitely got guts. That was a seriously hairy descent.

chasm54

Hiro, I'm not sure what this portends either. But I'm guessing Wiggins, just like everyone else, has left something to work on and will expect to improve between now and Tour-time.

As for the Sky team, this was a slightly odd line-up. Thomas just there for the prologue and the training, and anyway will miss the tour in favour of the Olympic team pursuit. Cav just there for fitness pre-Giro. Froome not long back from injury and probably not in top shape. No Boasson-Hagen, Flecha, Stannard and so on. Very difficult to know what line-up they will field in the Tour.

Very impressed with Wiggo, though, I never seriously expected him to turn himself into a genuine GC contender, and he undoubtedly has.

byrnemm

Agreed that Romandie is not necessarily a bellweather for Sky as a whole.

The nature of the race dictated that Sky had the responsibility of shutting down breakaways in a race that was very attack-friendly. In this regard I thought they did extremely well... but it left most of them smoked by the end of the mountain stages.

ultraman6970

BMC sucked big time, it is my idea or evans is overweight??

chasm54

I wish I were that overweight. LOL

I agree, he doesn't look in top shape. Maybe having finally won the Tour he's a bit less hungry in every sense?

ckaspar

Was so pissed. DVR died 2 minutes after Andrew crossed the line. Didn't get to see the end but know the result. Must have been a good finish.

chasm54

Wiggo losing his chain added a bit of suspense. After that, he had to bury himself to win the stage. He was helped off his bike at the finish.

ckaspar

I bet. It looked like he was pumping HARD to make up for it. He looked haggered when the DVR cut out and can only imagine how he felt even further in. Quick recovery for his chain though. Mechanic was right there.

canam73

Well, every sense but one.

ultraman6970

??

900aero

I'm no expert but I reckon he's pretty hungry.