New phase. It was mentioned somewhere that Quintana hinted that he would do Suisse.. please do yourselves that favour and check that route out. It would be awesome, but it is wise? He probably knows best what he is doing. I hope he is going for it, it would be epic.
New phase. It was mentioned somewhere that Quintana hinted that he would do Suisse.. please do yourselves that favour and check that route out. It would be awesome, but it is wise? He probably knows best what he is doing. I hope he is going for it, it would be epic.
I share your concerns - it would be amazing to see Quintana let loose on that route but with Suisse finishing just two weeks before the start of the Tour and it being the extremely tough route that it is I'm not sure it's a good idea preparation-wise either. Especially as training in Colombia plus doing the Route du Sud with its one mountain stage has proved good preparation so far. He could potentially ride Suisse not for GC but just pick a couple of mountain stages to target, but he doesn't strike me as the sort of person who would do that, pretty much all races he enters he's in it to win it.
But then again my concerns are balanced by the prospect of seeing Nairo on the Rettenbachferner
New phase. It was mentioned somewhere that Quintana hinted that he would do Suisse.. please do yourselves that favour and check that route out. It would be awesome, but it is wise? He probably knows best what he is doing. I hope he is going for it, it would be epic.
I share your concerns - it would be amazing to see Quintana let loose on that route but with Suisse finishing just two weeks before the start of the Tour and it being the extremely tough route that it is I'm not sure it's a good idea preparation-wise either. Especially as training in Colombia plus doing the Route du Sud with its one mountain stage has proved good preparation so far. He could potentially ride Suisse not for GC but just pick a couple of mountain stages to target, but he doesn't strike me as the sort of person who would do that, pretty much all races he enters he's in it to win it.
But then again my concerns are balanced by the prospect of seeing Nairo on the Rettenbachferner
Just to make it clear to everyone, we have 3 MTFs in a row. I don't expect these numbers to be 100% correct, but its something like this: 12 km at 8%, 10 km at 9% and freaking 12 km at almost 11%, the Rettenbachferner. Mind, its not your usual Vuelta-profile either apart from Rettenbach, but that doesnt really matter now, does it? Last two days consists of an ITT and again a hard mountain stage, this time finishing downhill.These are the 5 last days in the race. Unbalanced, heck yeah, but I love it.
He has lacked some early power in 2013 (debatable) and in 2015, IMO. He could try to fix it by riding Suisse, but I say its risky after his superb spring and the relative many race days at high level throughout. But thats Quintana, he is very similar to Contador on that account, isn't he? The Pyrenees are tricky to figure out, Sky COULD go retard here, but they will probably wait to Andorra Arcalis and thats no PSM. Add to that, you have the Massif Central on stage 5 and two downhill finishes before Arcaslis. Thats a lot more climbing to get the diesel going compared to 2015.
I just want him to be as good as possible, as close to 100% throughout the 3 weeks. The Olympics and the Vuelta are only bonuses, its the Tour that matters this year. If thats includes doing Suisse, that will be extremely awesome, but if it doesn't, race Sud or nothing like in 2013. The Tour will be over at Emisson, mark my words, Stromeon, you know a lot more about climbs like me, but aren't Forclaz and Emosson one of the absolutely best 1-2 punch in the world considering the little respite between them? Its surely better than the epic stage in 2009 in the Alps, but I dont remember the climbs on that occasion.
"I was glad to see all the Colombians happy for what I did this week, both those at home and the ones joining us here in Switzerland. This passion and excitement we always put at everything we do is a way to show the beautiful side of our country. This victory is a tribute to all of them. Now I'm heading home to stay with my family for some weeks and train in Colombia before the Tour. Later on, we will decide which race suits me best for the month of June. Why not riding the Tour de Suisse? I like this country, they've always treated me well here. I've still not decided what to do, though. What is clear to me is we've got a goal, we know how to work for it and we don't have to worry about what others do. We'll do our thing as good as we can so we can reach the start of the Tour in the best possible condition.”
New phase. It was mentioned somewhere that Quintana hinted that he would do Suisse.. please do yourselves that favour and check that route out. It would be awesome, but it is wise? He probably knows best what he is doing. I hope he is going for it, it would be epic.
I share your concerns - it would be amazing to see Quintana let loose on that route but with Suisse finishing just two weeks before the start of the Tour and it being the extremely tough route that it is I'm not sure it's a good idea preparation-wise either. Especially as training in Colombia plus doing the Route du Sud with its one mountain stage has proved good preparation so far. He could potentially ride Suisse not for GC but just pick a couple of mountain stages to target, but he doesn't strike me as the sort of person who would do that, pretty much all races he enters he's in it to win it.
But then again my concerns are balanced by the prospect of seeing Nairo on the Rettenbachferner
Just to make it clear to everyone, we have 3 MTFs in a row. I don't expect these numbers to be 100% correct, but its something like this: 12 km at 8%, 10 km at 9% and freaking 12 km at almost 11%, the Rettenbachferner. Mind, its not your usual Vuelta-profile either apart from Rettenbach, but that doesnt really matter now, does it? Last two days consists of an ITT and again a hard mountain stage, this time finishing downhill.These are the 5 last days in the race. Unbalanced, heck yeah, but I love it.
He has lacked some early power in 2013 (debatable) and in 2015, IMO. He could try to fix it by riding Suisse, but I say its risky after his superb spring and the relative many race days at high level throughout. But thats Quintana, he is very similar to Contador on that account, isn't he? The Pyrenees are tricky to figure out, Sky COULD go retard here, but they will probably wait to Andorra Arcalis and thats no PSM. Add to that, you have the Massif Central on stage 5 and two downhill finishes before Arcaslis. Thats a lot more climbing to get the diesel going compared to 2015.
I just want him to be as good as possible, as close to 100% throughout the 3 weeks. The Olympics and the Vuelta are only bonuses, its the Tour that matters this year. If thats includes doing Suisse, that will be extremely awesome, but if it doesn't, race Sud or nothing like in 2013. The Tour will be over at Emisson, mark my words, Stromeon, you know a lot more about climbs like me, but aren't Forclaz and Emosson one of the absolutely best 1-2 punch in the world considering the little respite between them? Its surely better than the epic stage in 2009 in the Alps, but I dont remember the climbs on that occasion.
The 1-2 punch in Alps 2009 was Romme-Colombiere with the finish at Le Grand Bornand after a downhill where Schlecks and Contador put 2 mins to the rest with Frank Schleck winning the stage,one of the best stages designed and raced in the Tour.Probably the best stage Prudhomme designed.
Yep, Forclaz + Finhaut is one heck of a combination - 13km @ 7.9% then 7km of descent then 10.4km @ 8.4% - I didn't catch the Dauphiné stage from 2014 but (please correct me if I'm wrong) there weren't big attacks from far out on the combo but it still produced fairly sizeable gaps; if one of the big favourites goes from halfway up Forclaz, say, then it will be absolute madness. Romme + Colombière is a good comparison, 9.3km @ 8.8% then about 7.3km @ 8.7%, so shorter but steeper on the whole. That stage with that combo followed by the downhill finish into Le Grand-Bornand is definitely my favourite Tour stage design, possibly even the best across all Grand Tours (debatable though; I might have to do a thing about my favourite Grand Tour stage designs at some point )
Forclaz for sure is HC. Emosson will probably end up being as well - If I remember correctly, those 2 climbs were only C1, but not that it really matters obviously.
Probably the stage I look forward to the most, or, it is. The rest of the stage is relatively flat, but that final looks so spicy. And no, I think Contador only attacked 2 km out on that occasion, Le Tour will obviously be much, much different.
Last two days consists of an ITT and again a hard mountain stage, this time finishing downhill.These are the 5 last days in the race. 
Unbalanced, heck yeah, but I love it. 
