TdF Stage 5: Cobbles + rain = carnage?

[thwart]

Sounds like rain tomorrow.

Cancellara apparently predicted carnage.

May be epic.

[Admiral Ackbar]

sounds like it should be exciting, might even wake up to watch it live.

got my fingers crossed for OPQS. I'm sure fabs will be out there killing spirits though too

[MattTuck]

Do the GC guys just ride together, letting a break go with Cancellara and people who want to compete for the stage?

Is there a free for all as even the GC riders scramble for every second?

Will the cobbles prove too much for the emaciated GC climbers?

[pbarry]

Do the GC guys just ride together, letting a break go with Cancellara and people who want to compete for the stage?

Is there a free for all as even the GC riders scramble for every second?

Will the cobbles prove too much for the emaciated GC climbers?

No. :)

[enr1co]

FYI - the pave sections for tomorrows stage:


Name / After KM / Secteur Lenght
----------------------------------------------------
Gruson au Carrefour de l'Arbre 87 km 1100 m
Ennevelin à Pont - Thibault 103.5 km 1400 m
Mons-en-Pévèle 110 km 1100 m
Bersée 114.5 km 1400 m
Ochies à Beuvry-la-Forêt 125.5 km 1400 m
Sars-et-Rosières à Tilloy-lez-Marchiennes 131 km 2400 m
Brillon à Warlaing 135 km 1400 m
Wandignies-Hamage à Hornaing 140 km 3700 m
Hélesmes à Wallers 149 km 1600 m


The last three secteurs are nasty.

[bobswire]

Great quote from Cance: "I've already been asked if I'll ask for the stage to be neutralised if it rains but this is different. I know that it’s not a nice stage for Froome, Contador, Nibali and even our GC riders. But my reply is: so why not take out the climbs to make it easier for us? That never happens, so it's only right we race on the cobbles. It’s a risk for everyone, including me, but we've got to live with it and calculate the risks involved."

[Llewellyn]

Great quote from Cance: "I've already been asked if I'll ask for the stage to be neutralised if it rains but this is different. I know that it’s not a nice stage for Froome, Contador, Nibali and even our GC riders. But my reply is: so why not take out the climbs to make it easier for us? That never happens, so it's only right we race on the cobbles. It’s a risk for everyone, including me, but we've got to live with it and calculate the risks involved."


Absolutely :banana:

[rain dogs]

Mons-en-Pévèle is brutal. I'm surprised they had the guts to put that in.

After the Carrefour de l'Arbre (and not this lesser one they have in this Tour stage) and the Arenberg Forest... Mons is one of the toughest of Paris Roubaix.

If it all goes sideways it's as likely there as anywhere tomorrow

[enr1co]

Mons-en-Pévèle is brutal. I'm surprised they had the guts to put that in.

After the Carrefour de l'Arbre (and not this lesser one they have in this Tour stage) and the Arenberg Forest... Mons is one of the toughest of Paris Roubaix.

If it all goes sideways it's as likely there as anywhere tomorrow

Agreed- Mons-en-Pévèle is likely the most nasty of tomorrows secteurs. Wandignies-Hamage à Hornaing is bad because it seems to go on forever.

[zmudshark]

Latest:

Due to bad weather and road conditions, two cobbled sectors have been removed from stage 5. They are sector 7, the 1,000-metres stretch of cobbles at Mons-en-Pévèle, and sector 5, which is the 1,400-metres long portion from Orchies to Beuvry-la-Forêt