Time to take a breather! This 208 km stage is completely devoid of any real difficulties and, on paper at least, should smile upon the sprinters. However, I am betting on a lone rider to take it, a brave one who has still got something in the tank and manages to sneak away from a mammoth breakaway. Think of Rui Costa last year. He hit the bullseye twice in the final week. With the time trial and the Champs-Élysées, two specialist affairs where surprises are few and far between, looming on the horizon, this stage is last chance saloon for breakaway specialists.

Well I did say I’d like to see Nibali and Majka duel it out on the Hautacam, and we nearly got it, but not quite. Still though, great racing from all involved. Nibali has really dominated all the difficult stages of this tour, and it’s a very well deserved win. For those wondering, his time up the Hautacam was something like 37 minutes 20 seconds, roughly a 6 W/kg average, putting him in 26th place here, not what I’d call a suspicious ride.

I feel bad for Nieve, he’s tried so hard. Also in case you missed it, Rojas did get DQ’d for holding on to a team car, and I’ve heard that Movistar have also had one of their two team cars banned from the rest of the race, so they’re down to one vehicle, which will severely restrict their options of getting someone in a break today.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zmDU0DYbII[/video]

Photos from stage 18.

Please god, let it be Sagan today. Please??

Not sure about Kittel, think he’s going to be a bit trashed after the last few days. Griepel or Kristoff have good chances. It is worth noting that the final climb is actually fairly tough.

Do remember that this is the Tour, and Nibali could still crash out at any point. It’s still a long way till Paris.

A few useful links

Live Cycling News Text Updates
Steephill
Official Tour Live Feed App
Classifications
Withdrawals
Fantasy League Standings
Loser League Standings

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/incycle-video-meet-super-fan-didi-the-devil – apparently he doesn’t smell great

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wiggins-happy-with-return-to-track-at-commonwealth-games – not really TdF, but still

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/vasseur-we-now-have-the-best-french-riders-of-the-last-20-years

http://road.cc/content/news/124730-michael-albasini-insists-he%E2%80%99s-not-racist-apologises-europcar%E2%80%99s-k%C3%A9vin-r%C3%A9za – I can believe his side of things, but I just hope we don’t have to hear about this again

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q8OeCdU3XA[/video]

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgPiM4c3Ovc[/video]

RealMan – Member
Nibali has really dominated all the difficult stages of this tour, and it’s a very well deserved win. For those wondering, his time up the Hautacam was something like 37 minutes 20 seconds, roughly a 6 W/kg average, putting him in 26th place here, not what I’d call a suspicious ride.

Boom.

Would like to see Sagan win this one too.

RealMan – Member
Nibali has really dominated all the difficult stages of this tour, and it’s a very well deserved win. For those wondering, his time up the Hautacam was something like 37 minutes 20 seconds, roughly a 6 W/kg average, putting him in 26th place here, not what I’d call a suspicious ride.

Boom.

looks like the ‘marginal gains’ and hard training blocks etc must have almost caught up with the best times of old.
interesting to see the most recent better time appears to have been by a certain texan in 2000.

Don’t want to sidetrack this thread, but… interesting link. Don’t know how that works with a 78kg standard, where Nibali is closer to 65kg right now. As you say, not an amazingly quick time, just jumped at the right time then rode his own tempo while the rest fought it out.

interesting to see the most recent better time appears to have been by a certain texan in 2000.

Only been climbed once, in 2008, since 2000 I think. So not many recent benchmarks to compare. Though the (slower) times in 2008 are by a pair of rather dubious characters!

This bloke clearly upset the Gendarmes;

It’s all explained on the website,

http://www.chronoswatts.com/img/mag/P_138-141_Science_en.pdf

Basically 78kg is an average weight for rider and bike.

Great find wwaswas, I missed that one. Do you know if it was from yesterday or from the protests earlier on?

The more I look at the names on the list in the link, the more uneasy I get 😕 Probably not helped by the lack of accents in recent times.

Please god, let it be Sagan today. Please??

+1

Just so it will be easier to explain to my Slovak Fiancée how amazing the ride by Peter has been this year.

I do hope so, otherwise he may be the unhappiest bloke ever to win the green jersey!

Edit… And no link to Tejay’s bike? Saw the stem and thought RealMan would approve.

Strange that when Riis, Pantani, Armstrong etc were going suspiciously quickly it was considered OK.
But when Nibali is the quickest of the modern era it is considered suspicious to be fast.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BtUdt1YIUAAatPY.png:large

aye, marginal gains, modern training, massive dauphine block etc. all catching up.

with no other GC big hitters in the race it looks exceptional, but Bertie and Froome would no doubt have also been up there within a minute of Lance’s best time, or even quicker.
apparently.

Edit… And no link to Tejay’s bike? Saw the stem and thought RealMan would approve.

I have looked at it several times, and it is very nice, but I couldn’t remember if I’d already linked to it on a previous day..

The break has gone…

Thibaut Pinot (Fdj.fr) also tried to get in a move despite being second overall. However he was quickly chased down and the quartet has quickly gained a minute.

Cheeky 🙂

But when Nibali is the quickest of the modern era it is considered suspicious to be fast

I guess it might look “suspiciously fast” but is that not coz 2 main contenders weren’t there for a bit of comparison…?

I don’t think that’s cheeky just a daft, waste of energy. He won’t have won himself any friends with the guys trying to establish the break, bet there were a few choice words.

The #TDF's passed safely into the town of Condom. No splits in the 5-man break who are sharing the load. 2:33 ahead. http://t.co/zZqBDVjgrA

— Team INEOS (@TeamINEOS) July 25, 2014

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCqHqyxTajc[/video]

RealMan – excellent, they should have said “slipped” into or perhaps even “eased”

By the way the livefeed says there are many punctures due to the weather (rain) – I assume this is because they are running lower tyre pressures ?

And the rain washing road side detritus on to the road.

In one of Boardman’s pieces the other day, he also reckoned the water acted as a lubricant on the debris and potentially made it easier for stuff to penetrate the tyre.

In one of Boardman’s pieces the other day, he also reckoned the water acted as a lubricant on the debris and potentially made it easier for stuff to penetrate the tyre.

Just because Sky do it doesn’t mean you have to as well… 😉

Liked that finish a lot 🙂

Valverde drops to 4th

Can’t believe Sagan came down. He looked completely forlorn wandering around in the road. I don’t think it was his anyway. Can’t imagine him winning on the Champs Elysees. But still greens a good result.

Well timed by Navardauskas.

jambalaya – Member
Valverde drops to 4th

Wasn’t that yesterday?
Back up to 2nd tomorrow though.

@slowoldman – I’m a day late and a dollar short as usual 😳