Well, what a week we’ve had.”Boring” sprint stages, explosive climbs, crashes, attacks, it’s been a hell of a ride.

So, as much out of habit of writing these threads as anything else, I ask for your thoughts on the week gone. Who’s stood out? Who’s had a ‘mare? The hero’s and villains, and ultimately, who will be in the jersey’s in Paris?

And, as is normal, below are a few pics from yesterday.

I was really impressed by AG2R yesterday, they may not have won but they rode very well indeed.

Nails, these boys are nails. Lutzenko on the bike and continued on, though others weren’t so fortunate.

Off the Grand Columbier.

Text book hills pic.

A bunch sprint with the most unlikely bunch of sprinters. I’ve always liked Uran so was chuffed to see the guy riding a dingle speed winning too.

Pretty damn solid ride from Froome, his descending particularly was very good indeed.

Will get the obvious ‘mares out of the way first:

G
Porte
Cav
Sagan
Demare
FDJ
Valverde

More quietly though (seemingly almost missed by everyone?) Chaves is absolutely nowhere 🙁 Guessing he isn’t quite as ready to get going as hoped

Very difficult to look past Froome for Paris

AG2R rode well but their compatriot team’s (FDJ) Tour is basically done now with Pinot seemingly just stage hunting, but doing it badly and Demare and 3 others outside the time limit.

Don’t get the FDJ tactics at all, yes, for the first half you work to get Demare through but at half way I could see he was stuffed. At that point maybe leave 1 guy with him but the rest have to go and stay in the race. Maybe they were praying for some leniency from the commissaires?

Have they been officially booted?

Local sentiment says it was good to see Porte climbing well, steering clear of trouble and leading the wind your neck in aru yesterday.
As for Paris, aru will have no friends out there now, Martin an outside bet if he stays out of trouble he could well be on the podium.
The loss of G will be a blow to sky but as they have just lost their biggest climbing rival not so much of a threat.

I’ve got some comments but works getting in the way !

Back soon.

I thought Martin has been riding very well so a real shame to see him lose time due to the Porte crash yesterday, however given the way things are going for GC he could still do well.

I thought Froome has been looking good, especially yesterday.

At least G has a sense of humour 🙂

“Jersey for sale… Only worn once, slight signs of use. Might need a wash.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BWWrVk0gn5x/

I’ve seen very little this week (mainly just highlights) so not much of value to add (no change there then 😉 )

Major downer to see so many names out so early.

Seems like a crash is Froome’s biggest risk too. PR headache for Tour after trying to set it up for a new winner and now it looks a little bit “no contest”

Last year I watched the French coverage and despite understanding only a portion I enjoyed it more than ITV4, the commentators get a bit more animated and it has that “French feel” which fits the event. ITV4 is bland by comparison – what I have seen anyway

The crashes are the obvious negatives.
The positives though.. Talk about attacking racing. Ag2r yesterday, numerous other examples, some heroic efforts in breakaways.

Just glad that with all the crashes no one has been more hurt.

The other thing i am enjoying is the Itv4 coverage, David millar is getting better and better

Some amazing riding….plus French countryside which I never tire of looking at.

Porte’s crash was horrendous, was he trying to replicate Froome’s inside line overtaking manoeuvre from the Dauphine?

Great to see Uran win a stage

Last year I watched the French coverage and despite understanding only a portion I enjoyed it more than ITV4, the commentators get a bit more animated and it has that “French feel” which fits the event. ITV4 is bland by comparison – what I have seen anyway

And they draw cartoons of the riders as they talk about them on the highlights / review show.

To me, Froome doesn’t look as strong as in previous years, but nor does anyone else who is still rubber side down.

Aru possibly a bit of a threat but more in the climbs than anywhere else and I’m not convinced he’s got quite enough.

Overall the tarmac seems to have been the strongest rival to anyone’s chances this year.

Well then:

Yes Sprints are dull, I’m pretty sure the ASO filled this years Tour with them to just cull the Bunch, and they’ve been highly successful. No need to go over old ground but it has left the filed open for other Teams to have a go, Cobrelli has been riding well, McLay too and Yates.. But Sprints nullify the whole days stage IMO, nothing happens until 200mtrs to go then BAM a crash. Thank God for the French countryside..
Climbing, so far we’ve had three stages where we’ve been treated to the prospect of some punt off the front and its been nice to see. Crashes aside the climbs and routes chosen have been inspired, a decent mix of rolling bumps and steep sections, more of this needed please.

But my overall feeling so far is just how dull SKY are. They have taken the mantel of being the Bunches bully boys. Rolling roadblocks sat at 275watts and a forcefield of frowns and elbows. I’m not a fan, go play on Zwift if you want to sit in a sterile environment. One AG2r guy rode off the front to say Hi to his family and got one helluva telling off by Kwiack for taking the audacity of shuving a wheel out front. I’m not condoning the crashes, they’re awful, but at least SKY are now thinner on the ground which gives the opportunity for other teams to control or intimidate (dear God). BMC had a day of it, pointless and fruitless and thank God they’ve ditched the idea now, killing off your decent riders to control what? Nothing, you just burn them all out and they’ll not want to help out again.

Ahh Wanty, oh well done. But please, sit at the back now. You’ve had you 5mins of fame.

We’ve still got two more weeks, I think already there are a lot of guys wishing it was over. It was a hard week mentally and physically. A few key riders out, which means opportunities for other teams to shine.

Predictions? More AG2r out front, Fortuneo to take a stage, Orica to send Yates up and almost get there, Cofidis ought to pull their fingers out and warrant a place in the Tour, Movistar to shine in a breakaway (can’t believe I’ve written that, but Quinty has had it which means its free for all and they’ve got some excellent riders who’ve been suppressed so far) Degenkolb, poor John, to take a stage and a well deserved one too. More Lotto please, Rollandts, Benoot, De Ghent and Gallopin out front and in a break. QuickStep still have PhilGil and Brambilla to burn off.. ripe for a breakaway I reckon. UAE have yet to fully flourish so they’re a surprise in waiting, Merida too have some great riders yet to shine, Bole and Bozic are both solid breakaway riders lets see if they can hold one off.
Highlights? Calmajane has been ACE, Pollits punts, (Tony) Martins shere power, (Dan) Martins upbeat attitude and skills and never say Die attitude (despite having literally no support from his team..which I find really bloody annoying, it’s not like QS have anyone to help out is it? Oh, yeah Sprints is where its at, sorry) EBH actually up there and fighting for a Win, it’s been a very long time since we’ve seen him at the sharp end, but DD have been up there and thats a surprise, lets see Cummings take a punt please.
The French countryside.. as always this is spectacular.
Kirby and Kelly, after a good few years at it this years commentary has been hilarious, almost on par with the Harman/Kelly era.
Discs, only one person sponsored to ride them, only one bloke riding them.

Looking forward to the next two weeks where I hope we see more breakaways, less SKY controlling mechanisms, more Aru, more breakaways, less crashes.

Am I allowed to want a route with equal amounts of climbing and costal sidewinds riding? Not necessarily on the same day.

I was a little surprised that Froome didn’t put some distance between him and the group on the last mountain – but I can’t see past him still. Although Quintana usually has one good mountain stage and he didn’t lose too much time so he *may* claw his way back up the leaderboard.

Discs, only one person sponsored to ride them, only one bloke riding them.

Almost every team has disc and non-disc framesets available (there’s no F10-disc for Sky though) so I’d imagine Kittel is sold on discs whether he’s getting some extra cash or not, given that sprints are decided by the tiniest margins.

So “Brailsford refuses to talk” halfway down…

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-froome-survives-chaos-of-chambery-stage-but-rues-loss-of-thomas/

What’s his beef with cyclingnews?

Rolling roadblocks sat at 275watts and a forcefield of frowns and elbows.

275W wouldn’t even keep up with Demare.

Aru possibly a bit of a threat but more in the climbs than anywhere else and I’m not convinced he’s got quite enough.

Aru is going to have to do something mighty impressive on the Izoard stage to put himself clear of Froome for the TT.

The main problem is that the 2 remaining MT finishes don’t have crazy hard stages where Sky can be put under major pressure before the final climb, and the stage to Serre Chevalier has a very long, and not that steep descent to the finish.

Whilst yesterday was ace, I struggle to remain remotely interested in the sprint stages.

I also don’t really like the idea of the climbs being followed by a substantial drag to the finish. What’s the point of trying to put time into your rivals on the final climb of the day knowing that you’ll have to try to tt the final 12 k on your own whilst your rivals reel you in.

Either stick the finish at the top, or at the bottom of the descent to encourage some of the leaders to attack.

Aru is going to have to do something mighty impressive on the Izoard stage to put himself clear of Froome for the TT.

How much time do we think he’ll need? Last TT is only 22k so will be less than 25 mins probably. Aru lost about 40 seconds over the 14k of stage 1. So maybe 60 seconds and it could go either way, 90 seconds and he’d be safe.

So maybe 60 seconds and it could go either way, 90 seconds and he’d be safe.

Which I would venture to suggest is unlikely.

275W wouldn’t even keep up with Demare.

Depends how much you weigh doesn’t it. If you’re built like Quintana then if have thought 275W(4.66W/Kg) probably isn’t far off for grinding out a long climb mid stage climb at tempo.
Obviously much more when the racing is really on.

Maybe if they’re not really racing. I don’t think anyone in the front group would’ve < 5 on any of the climbs yesterday.

Burghart did 313 up the Colombier, and he finished in the bus. So, yes, maybe Nairo doing 275 would keep up with Demare. 🙂

Here are some of the climbs from yesterday

Biche – https://www.strava.com/segments/1932327?filter=overall
Grand Colombier – https://www.strava.com/segments/1084413?filter=overall
Chat – https://www.strava.com/segments/1413639?filter=overall

Emanuel Buchmann was up near the front on all the climbs and is about 60Kg. So the front group would need in the region of 5 – 5.5 – 6 on the final 3 climbs.

LeTour.fr confirms that Demare is out

Withdrawals.
<snip>
[list]
[*]118 SAGAN Juraj BOH outside the time limit[/*]
[*]108 TRENTIN Matteo QST outside the time limit[/*]
[*]97 RENSHAW Mark DDD outside the time limit[/*]
[*]75 KONOVALOVAS Ignatas FDJ outside the time limit[/*]
[*]74 GUARNIERI Jacopo FDJ outside the time limit[/*]
[*]73 DELAGE Mickaël FDJ outside the time limit[/*]
[*]71 DEMARE Arnaud FDJ outside the time limit[/*]
[/list]
<snip>

Maybe if they’re not really racing. I don’t think anyone in the front group would’ve < 5 on any of the climbs yesterday.

So, yes, maybe Nairo doing 275 would keep up with Demare.

Did some digging on Strava (busy afternoon i’m having)
Mostly you are right. Most guys at the pointy end (that had power available to view) were doing ~330W for around 5W/kg on the climbs.

Geschke did 275W up the final climb – suspect that was him ‘rolling in’. Also suspect it was a good bit quicker than Demare.

Both Bardet and Aru were close to being dropped yesterday, certainly dangling off the back on more than one occasion. I think they’re more likely to be trying to hang on on the Izoard stage than putting time into Froome.

Aru looked a threat the other day but only because there wasn’t anybody willing to chase him down as he wasn’t considered a big GC threat.

I also don’t really like the idea of the climbs being followed by a substantial drag to the finish. What’s the point of trying to put time into your rivals on the final climb of the day knowing that you’ll have to try to tt the final 12 k on your own whilst your rivals reel you in.

100% agree

But nobody did try to put time into Froome on the climb (this was obviously due, in part, to the Froome bike change and everyone waiting at what was probably the most opportune time to be attacking – tin-foil hat time!!) Bardet only got a gap on the descent.

I think this sort of stage is perfectly legit as part of a balanced parcours.

So “Brailsford refuses to talk” halfway down…

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-froome-survives-chaos-of-chambery-stage-but-rues-loss-of-thomas/

What’s his beef with cyclingnews?

Cycling News seems to spend a lot of time rehashing the BC/Wiggo/Sky cluster **** (I assume as clickbait) and maybe he’d just decided he didn’t want to get into it with them. You can be sure if Sky had had a doping positive like Trek did, he’d have been hounded to the ends of the earth yet I’m pretty sure Luca Guercilena hasn’t had that sort of treatment.

Of course he may just think it’s a shitty website. He should give an interview to Cycling Maven, that’d irritate CN 🙂

“I’m very aware of that, of course,” Bardet said. “I know we’ve been waiting for a successor in France for Bernard Hinault since 1985. When he won the Tour, though, I hadn’t been born, it doesn’t form part of my own story.”

Yeah. Cheers mate. Make me feel old, why don’t ya. 🙄

Of course he may just think it’s a shitty website.

And he would, of course, be right.

Sure, it’s a good place to get results, updates, and photos quickly. But the standard of journalism is pretty crap.

Just watching the ITV4 rest-day wrapup… when Aru attacks Froome and the elite bunch neutralise it, it looks an awful lot like Quintana spits towards Aru. Wonder if that was intentional.

Highly doubt it – it’s exactly the sort of tactic Quintana employs.