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You would have thought they could design bottles and cages that kept the 2 items together when on the bike
They go for stupid lightweight shite that weighs 5g less than conventional cages and saves 1/10th of a second when getting the bottle out.
Result - they bounce out all the bloody time but the riders don't care cos they just whistle up the car and the mobile fridge arrives next to them.
I’m sure your right but you would thought a rideR safety requirement would be imposed on teams
I’m sure your right but you would thought a rideR safety requirement would be imposed on teams
You know all the articles around Paris-Roubaix listing specialist kit, cobble-specific modifications etc?
In all of those, there are pics of bottle cages with bits of grip tape or sandpaper or occasionally bits of bar tape wrapped around them to hold the bottles in tighter. It's all bollocks - any standard cage and bottle works fine. I've never lost a bottle in anything other than a crash including in races like the Three Peaks CX and numerous cobbled city centre circuit races, cobbled sportives etc.
But they insist on using these special light-touch bottle cages that then need extra measures to hold bottles in securely on rough terrain or, on normal roads, will just bounce out on potholes. As usual it's the same "marginal gains" shite that leads teams to using ultralight tyres which save 0.4W or 18g over standard tyres but which puncture far more readily and then require hours of chasing back on. Just utter stupidity and brazen adherence to "marginal gains" and tradition that keep riders using this crap.
the good ol' days!
up and over today

Just utter stupidity and brazen adherence to “marginal gains” and tradition that keep riders using this crap.
Not disagreeing about the silly bottle cages etc. but do wonder if they've done a sort of cost/benefit analysis of the tyre thing, e.g. chances of puncture weighed up against likelihood of a quick repair and tow back into the peloton? How much sillier and lighter are the pro tyres versus a standard production tyre?
I'm still convinced electronic gears are a false economy, who was it on Liege Bastogne Liege drifting to the back frustratedly kicking a rear mech that was in 'crash' mode? 😀
didn't MS do over half of last years TDF without a puncture ? think it worked out @ about 16,000 miles between the 8 riders.
Can anybody remember the old water bottles that had a push-on lid? Apparently the pro peloton preferred those because if you rode over one the lid would pop off and the bottle deformed. With the more modern screw on lids the bottle doesn't deform and the rider is more likely to crash. I don't know if anybody still makes the old push-on lids but the bottles that were scattered on the road were screw on lids.............
Elite bottles apparently offer a 'blow off' which means if you ride over them the bite valve will immediately open.
My experience is that the bite valve is hard to enough to open when riding, which has frequently resulted in my giving myself a cold facial when the valve eventually does pop open and sprays everywhere...
Thomas has abandoned the race. Fractured Hip.
Thomas is out with a fractured hip unfortunately.
Thomas is out with a fractured hip unfortunately.
He has got to be up there with Richie Porte as one of the unluckiest riders ever to set wheel in the peloton.
He has got to be up there with Richie Porte as one of the unluckiest riders ever to set wheel in the peloton.
Yes, but he did get a minor consolation prize a couple of seasons ago.
He has got to be up there with Richie Porte as one of the unluckiest riders ever to set wheel in the peloton.
I don't know, at least G has won the tour.
Re. bottles, certainly the Elite bottles do have a blow-off where they open if you ride on them. For G's crash though it was more that it slid away from under him than it having water in it.
Shit news 🙁
another crash caused by a loose bottle.
Just seen that. wtAf?
Switfy been down too, doesn't look happy.
Really feel for G there - he does seem to have more than his fair share of crashes, but that one was pure bad luck.
Bora want to split the peloton.
oh that all looks a bit greasy!
flipping eck, wet polished basalt flagstone road !!!!!
that was fun 😀
Noooooooo
Sagan beaten by microns !
might have snatched it with a 30 mil tyre ! 😉
lumpy bumpy

Back on the subject of water bottles...
impressive!
Back on the subject of water bottles…
Dr Hutch has suggested camelbacks, the team cars having trailing refuelling hoses a bit like the RAF have for mid-air refuelling............
Ganna may well be the biggest guy I’ve seen win a stage of that sort in a long time.
{quote]Dr Hutch has suggested camelbacks, the team cars having trailing refuelling hoses a bit like the RAF have for mid-air refuelling…………
I'm sure Camelbaks got banned because they were actually more aero. Pop one under a jersey and the bulge in the back irons out the disrupted airflow off the back of the helmet.
However I'm not sure I can be bothered trawling through the UCI's rule book to find out if I'm right or not!
Some TT bikes have tried things like bladders in the frame with a tube coming out the handlebars/stem but they're incredibly fiddly.
Did Quest drop the ball today or was it just my Sky box? Only recorded the last 3km of the stage ☹
worked for me on eurosport
(check yr PMs 🤐 )
Your sky box I reckon, my recording worked.
Pretty impressive stuff from Ganna, so good it almost made Wiggins look interested.
Your Sky box, I think. My Freeview Play box got it all. You can catch up at https://dplay.co.uk/
Any ideas why my freeview channels go from 11 to 13 and miss out Quest? I’ve retuned but it’s not there...
Il Pirata



light relief



gert yer nips out get yer nips out for the....

Stage 6 Results
1 DEMARE, Arnaud (GFC) 4:54:38
2 MATTHEWS, Michael (SUN)
3 FELLINE, Fabio (AST)
4 MOLANO BENAVIDES, Juan (UAD)
5 CIMOLAI, Davide (ISN)
6 VENDRAME, Andrea (ALM)
7 HONORÉ, Mikkel Frølich (DQT)
8 SAGAN, Peter (BOH)
9 BATTAGLIN, Enrico (TBM)
10 NARVAEZ PRADO, Jhonatan (INS)
11 BALLERINI, Davide (DQT)
12 BRAMBILLA, Gianluca (TFS)
13 CLARKE, Simon (EF1)
14 FUGLSANG, Jakob (AST)
15 FIORELLI, Filippo (BCF)
16 ULISSI, Diego (UAD)
17 MAJKA, Rafal (BOH)
18 OOMEN, Sam (SUN)
19 KONRAD, Patrick (BOH)
20 CONSONNI, Simone (COF)
21 GUERREIRO, Ruben (EF1)
22 HAMILTON, Lucas (MTS)
23 BILBAO, Pello (TBM)
24 HINDLEY, Jai (SUN)
25 ALMEIDA, João (DQT)
26 NIBALI, Vincenzo (TFS)
27 POZZOVIVO, Domenico (NTT)
28 KELDERMAN, Wilco (SUN)
29 VALTER, Attila (CCC)
30 MASNADA, Fausto (DQT)
31 VANHOUCKE, Harm (LTS)
32 KRUIJSWIJK, Steven (TJV)
33 SAMITIER SAMITIER, Sergio (MOV)
34 YATES, Simon Philip (MTS)
35 MCNULTY, Brandon (UAD)
36 KNOX, James (DQT)
37 ZAKARIN, Ilnur (CCC)
38 BOUWMAN, Koen (TJV)
39 PERNSTEINER, Hermann (TBM)
40 PARET PEINTRE, Aurélien (ALM)
tomorrows stage looks a damp squib pan flat highway snooze fest....

though there some wind forecast and it will be cross tail on open roads like this....
@40.6009573,17.8766912,3a,75y,55.82h,78.7t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjOErtScW9PbcHaQS8Zj5tw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en">random giro highway
peloton in bits already!
wtaf, you knew it was coming quick step go to the front how the **** do you miss it !
Christ that was a MASSIVE crash. 🙁
Another one of those mid-pack ripple effect ones.