Less than a week till the Grande Depart and still no discussion. And more importantly still no relevant Velo Games to get stuck into. What's going on?
So who's hot and who's not. I admit to only having a casual interest, but enjoy the whole Grand Tour scene immensly and follow them all whenever I can. But my background knowlegdge of the whole racing scene is very limited and I have no great allegiance to any team or rider. Seems to be quite low key this year. Or is that just me not looking hard enough? Maybe it is the lack or Free to View in Europe that is the issue (though I got round that for the Giro with my VPN and watching in New Zealand). Will the same be possible with the Tour?
Maybe it is the lack or Free to View in Europe that is the issue (though I got round that for the Giro with my VPN and watching in New Zealand). Will the same be possible with the Tour?
SBS Australia is your friend.
Decent commentary on there for most races as well.
I haven't currently got a VPN but see that Firefox gives me free 50gb/month vpn. Anyone use it it? Would that work for TdeF?
https://blog.mozilla.org/en/firefox/built-in-vpn/
Velogames does not seem to show TdF yet or an I missing a page?
Can't wait, hope to find some highlights in UK, then actually heading to France on 8th so could go and look but forecast is too hot for fair skin me, so probably watch on live French TV!
I haven't currently got a VPN but see that Firefox gives me free 50gb/month vpn. Anyone use it it? Would that work for TdeF?
To answer my own question... I gather you can't use it to spoof other countries.
Oscar Onley is out 😕
The real question is will it remain a race or just become a pog show?
Away at the moment with only a phone. As @crazy-legs said I started a Grand Tours thread, the velogames league for that remains active all season so it’s those details. I’ll post a link to the thread and reminder of league details when I get chance
Think it will be closer than last year but realistically pog considering how good Del Toro looks.
Seixas will blow in a typical brave but tragic french tradition
Lipowitz looked good in the tour of Slovenia, not much competition there though
Pidcock could be entertaining, but with his bad lead up, lucky to be in top 5
Green jersey is pretty open though
The real question is will it remain a race or just become a pog show?
We'll have to wait and see.
Pidcock could be entertaining, but with his bad lead up, lucky to be in top 5
I think he'll be stage hunting.
Nice to see Fred Wright wearing the stripes again for the Tour. Come on Fred, get than elusive win.
Surely Jonas has to be in with a shout (unless I've missed something and he's not racing)? Still has a decent team, and one of the best ever climbing domestiques in the business supporting him. It could very well be decided, based on recent grand tour history, of who avoids crashes.
Nice to see Fred Wright wearing the stripes again for the Tour. Come on Fred, get than elusive win.
Fred did a class ride in the Nationals yesterday. The final 5 was basically going to be the winning group and the others did their best to get rid of him. They tried putting him out the back, tried attacking individually, tried ganging up on him and he just watched and rode and stayed calm, closed everything down.
Then it split on the final climb with the 3 senior riders distancing the 2 U23 riders and the three all came together into Aberystwyth, a few cat and mouse games but Fred just outdid them in the sprint.
He did such a quality ride to get that win. Well deserved.
Velogames Le Tour is now up https://www.velogames.com
Taken from NBT post;
League Owner: NBT
League Name: STW Grand Tours League 2026
League Code: 613979427
Start planning:)
Technically I'll be about 180km from Tourmalet on 9th July having just landed in France, but forecast of 35 deg' heat and logistics, mean live French TV may have more appeal;)
Flying out to Barcelona tomorrow so will be there for the first 2 stages. Last time I saw it live was on Ditching Beacon in 1994. I got hooked on it in 1985 when channel 4 started showing the highlights. Great that they'll still be some free to air highlights still, felt a little bereft at the thought of it being lost
Great that they'll still be some free to air highlights still, felt a little bereft at the thought of it being lost
On some stages, I'd watch a lot of it live (flipping between ITV4 and Eurosport depending on ad breaks) and then watch the ITV4 highlights show on the evening as well!
They used to have little historical segments, interviews, and all sorts of other great filler content.
Surely Jonas has to be in with a shout (unless I've missed something and he's not racing)? Still has a decent team, and one of the best ever climbing domestiques in the business supporting him. It could very well be decided, based on recent grand tour history, of who avoids crashes.
It's pretty nuts how Visma can lose arguably the best domestique in the peloton (Wout) and still field such a strong team. That said, looking across at UAE there's a Yates, a Wellens and the pretender to Pog's crown (Del Toro) so good luck finding a crack in that armour.
There's a pretty good rundown over on Escape Collective (no paywall til saturday):
https://escapecollective.com/preview-who-can-topple-tadej-pogacar-at-the-2026-tour-de-france/
UAE has had a bit of bad luck with crashes and possibly illness (not sure about that one).
It's so hard to know what will happen with all this young and up and coming talent waiting to pounce. Maybe there will be a shock and someone new will take the Maillot Jaune.
Will be studying the Velogames intently, but it's always tricky getting the correct riders with 100 points and not just plumping for favourites.
Entered. Team looks great on paper.
Shame they're riding on tarmac.
I have entered as well. Currently my league table view shows me as top on zero points. I predict this will be the only time I am top of the table !
Remember to keep checking your team as final line-ups are confirmed. THere are a couple of teams (e.g. Pinarello Q36.5) who didn't have the full rider complement listed, and there are often last minute changes
Remember to keep checking your team as final line-ups are confirmed
An example is that Netcompany Ineos only have six riders listed in Velogames - but Josh Tarling has been confirmed as riding, despite breaking his collarbone recently
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/articles/cze902jrr0wo
Such a shame that Oscar Onley is not able to compete.
So, file this under "I didn't know that...." but the Tour will be broadcast live on the BBC iPlayer this year.
Granted, not all stages and the commentary will be in Welsh....
For The Love Of Cycling oreview "podcast" is up
Does anyone know of an audio-only commentary that one could pair with the S4C feed via iPlayer? Or does anyone have the TDF Roadbook and if so is there details of how to access the world feed?
does anyone have the TDF Roadbook
answering my own question, it's available as an app for android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aso.roadbook
or iOS
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/tdf-espace-suiveurs/id6503944573
username: guest
password: roadbook2026
TG4 are broadcasting the race in Ireland with Irish (Gaelic) language commentary. Can't see any details for a World Feed just yet, but @radiotour_en looks promising in conjunction with S4C images - if I can work out what @radiotour_en refers to...
If nothing else, there will be full coverage on France 2 / France 3 TV
Bump, remember to enter your Velogames teams before the deadline
https://www.velogames.com/velogame/2026/leaguescores.php?league=613979427
I just can't decide...it's a lottery;)
Today's the day! It all kicks off at 16:05 in Barcelona when Caja Rural Seguros roll off the start line of a 20km Team Time Trial, followed by the other teams at five minutes intervals. The is the new world so the teams gets the time of their fastest rider for the stage win, individual times counting for the GC. Fastest 3 riders on each team count for the team classification, fastest time up Montjuic counts for the polka dots, and i think fastest riders at the halfway point gets the green jjersey
Get your velogames team in before 4pm!
https://inrng.com/2026/07/tour-de-france-stage-1/
I just can't decide...it's a lottery;)
Me too. My team looks rubbish on paper, I couldn’t bring myself to spend 36 points on Pog.
OK I'm in, no Pog, that's cheating;) shold have two chances with and without Pog (but no allowed) anyway went with some wildcards more for fun:) Now to find some TV highlights or even try these no fangled podcast thingies.
So who's going for the TT win and yellow jumper, depends on their team but Ganna or Remco or greedy Pog!!
Not very good w fantasy TdF, I lose impetus when my poor picks lead to early poor performance and no chance of closing the gap....I guess I'm just a bit Cofidis, or Picnic PostNL this year
I fear that I am going to have to sign up for a month of discovery tho, as much as I don't want to. But it's the one event of the year I really enjoy and devote time to. if you can all convince me it's just another Pog show I'll not do it. But this year there are at least a few pretenders to the throne, even if UAE look impregnable.
On the uphill section at Montjuic, they've just completed a sighting run , it's hot and windy. Surviving the pollution will be a factor today, it's horrible.
A gust of wind has just sent a 50m section of barrier over into the racing line. No thought of removing the advertising to make it more stable. TdF money trumps safety
And they're away! Good luck to all those riding, watching, and avidly following
What are everyone’s thoughts on spoilers in this thread? I’d personally like a
Ugh, won't let me edit the post up there to make more sense.
If I was worried about spoilers I wouldn't open a thread about the subject on which I wished to remain ignorant 😊
Channel 5 highlights were better than I expected - and no adverts for donkey sanctuaries so they're doing something better than ITVX.
Pity Sean Kelly still gets the commentary gig though
5 highlights.
+ve: not much chat, no magazine/background content therefore more racing
-ve: not much chat, no magazine/background content therefore much less accessible for new or more casual fans
Seems to have been done on a shoestring..
I watched it in the fan park, sat down in the shade made it slightly easier to explain the in and outs of the racing and the jerseys to my partner. We'll find somewhere tomorrow to watch it by the side of the road once they enter the laps of the city. I think priority will again have to be shade.
Mumbojumbovisma is very high up in the league (hope I haven't given anything away).
Are the Ch 5 highlights gonna be available on demand does anyone know? I was probably wearing baggy jeans the last time I watched channel 5 (but y'know, first time round) so it's all new to me. Or are we going to have to watch it in real time like it's 2003 again?
Someone voted for the team TT, be great if they stayed on it;)
Northwind, is it now called My5?
