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As he waited for assistance, both of his own UAE Team Emirates-XRG team cars drove past without stopping, apparently because they didn’t see him in time.
The UAE mechanic later picked up a hefty fine for trying to ride IdT's bike back down the course to find him.
This is genuinely amazing! Haha
I enjoyed watching Hannah Walker on channel 5 (a local lass to us) giving a round up of today's race. Looking forward to listening to her over the coming weeks as she's very knowledgeable, let's hope she can cram as much information in as possible to the few minutes allotted to her.
Was she the one doing the piece to camera from the finish area, talking about Pog with the Mexican flag? She was good.
Yes, she's also a great commentator. I feel she's just not given enough time to give more insight, but hey this channel '5' highlights show is better than nothing.
I really hope that 'tnt' replace Sean and/or Carlton with Hannah, but maybe that's just wishful thinking.
I didn't bother with the TV highlights yesterday. Waited for the Never Strays Far podcast and enjoyed 45 mins of Ned and David. All the race details and some local interest pieces too. Like ITV but without the pictures.
Maybe SKY gobbling ITV up will give them the cash to get highlights back on normal telly?
Running a Norton VPN, and SBS working well. Picture quality comes and goes a bit.....but not a major issue
Running a Norton VPN, and SBS working well
On a browser in the laprtop, or via an app on a device (firestick / tablet)?
On a browser in the laprtop, or via an app on a device (firestick / tablet)?
Running it through the Norton360 package on my PC, runs all my internet traffic through the VPN. Watching Swiss TV wasn't quite as slow as SBS, but my Schwietzer Deutsch is a bit rusty
Highlights on Channel 5 at 1900 aren't too bad. If you hate the TNT commentating team you'll hate this too, but hey, actual cycling on my telly.
I don't mind the SBS Cycling commentary. I watch SBSCycling on my iPad via NordVPN. Also works on my Android phone .
Good day for my STW league team with Pedersen getting the points.
Yes a good day in the mini league, should freeze it today;)
Off to Le France to sample their live TV, bit too hot to stand outside!!
Enjoy 🙂
I really hope that 'tnt' replace Sean and/or Carlton with Hannah, but maybe that's just wishful thinking.
Agree wholeheartedly. Hannah is excellent and those two are just repeating the same thing they’ve said every year for decades with the odd new mispronounced name thrown in.
As for the race today, I really enjoyed the fact that so many folk in the break tried to get one over Lidl, despite the fact that they were so strong. It didn’t change the expected result but it really let Lidl show how good they were today.
@cvilla - excellant Velogames team choice yesterday. Enjoy France and send us some photos, if you get near the actual race.
SBS is excellent. Not as good as Ned and co, but better than Sean and Carlton (though I do like the rest of the team there). Plus it’s free, not £32 a month
Flat stage today.
Also - one guy out front?! Poor chap, bet he thought he'd have a group of 3 or 4, instead he gets to slog along in brutal heat all on his own before being predictably reeled in with 10km to go.
Building to a sprint finish, 10km to go
Thrilling finish. Watch the highlights if you haven’t seen the race
Yep, that was good!
Tomorrow's stage looks to be a pretty decisive one as well, the first HC mountain (Tourmalet).
A bit of joy...
and a reminder that they're not commentating, Ned and David are doing a lodcast after each stage to discuss the goings-on
Really felt for the guy out in front all day who had little choice once he’d committed from the off alone. Great effort.
Pity Sean Kelly still gets the commentary gig though
All a bit chaotic this morning. I missed the details but the Commissaires came up alongside the break and told at least one of the riders to hold the bars properly which prompted a bit of an argument and then they effectively gave up.
Now it's all blowing up behind, everyone trying to just make some order out of it but it's fallen to pieces on the run in to the intermediate sprint. Mads Pedersen did a smart move getting up the road with the intermediate sprint so soon.
Pog just beasted everyone there while looking as though he was popping down to the local shop for the paper, while Jonas looked on the verge of death.
Pog just beasted everyone there while looking as though he was popping down to the local shop for the paper, while Jonas looked on the verge of death.
Was just wondering whether to post anything with such massive spoilers but yes - chipped off the front like he was going for a village sprint sign and just rode away from everyone. It's just going to be a procession from here on in. 🙁
I don't wish him any harm but I really hope he has a really really bad day and ends up back in 7th place. Otherwise you may as well fly him to Paris and pop him in a nice hotel room with a bunch of yellow jerseys for the rest of the race.
Looks like he's been honing his downhill skills as well. This is looking ominous
told at least one of the riders to hold the bars properly which prompted a bit of an argument and then they effectively gave up.
ahh, that's what the SBS team were talking about. Must have been Huub Artz, he was in the break at one point then it was down to Pedersen and Campanaerts.
Not seen the end due to meetings, looking forward t watching it later
Bunnyhop, I didn’t make the actual race, logistics and the heat!!
The best I could do is live TV:)
Well. That’s that, then.
It was a masterclass performance from Tadej. Jonas didn't do anything wrong, he just isn't Tadej. The road to Paris is pretty much done on Stage 6.
The battle is on for third spot now. Probably Del Torro.
It was a masterclass performance from Tadej.
I find it really dull. Most attacks like that, you're there thinking "will he hold on?" and "will he make it?". Tadej, once he goes it's a foregone conclusion. 40km out, he's attacked, he'll win. It's robotic and dull. Even Armstrong had the decency to make things look a bit more difficult, and also not to go for every single stage win. Pogacar looks like he's out for a Sunday club run.
Also, if he keeps this up for a couple of years, Cav's outright stage win record will be obliterated. It's not impossible that he becomes the first person to (legitimately) win 6 Tours.
I find it really dull. Most attacks like that, you're there thinking "will he hold on?" and "will he make it?". Tadej, once he goes it's a foregone conclusion. 40km out, he's attacked, he'll win. It's robotic and dull. Even Armstrong had the decency to make things look a bit more difficult, and also not to go for every single stage win. Pogacar looks like he's out for a Sunday club run.
Also, if he keeps this up for a couple of years, Cav's outright stage win record will be obliterated. It's not impossible that he becomes the first person to (legitimately) win 6 Tours.
I understand why people might feel that way, but 'dull' is not how I'd describe Pogacar; his style of riding, and the clear effort he's putting in are incredible. He's (quite) possibly the greatest road cyclist of all time, and considering the competition through the ages, that's remarkable. I'd say his enthusiasm for the win make him more human than most pros we've seen. And he basically gifted a stage to del Toro the other day, anyway.
I didn't see today's win as dull, or robotic. He went out with a plan, the team pulled it off and he wiped the floor against the other generational talents that are his rivals. What's not to enjoy? He can't help it if Visma got their tactics wrong with Campenaerts early in the stage, or if Vingegaard had a bad day, for example.
It could all go wrong tomorrow, or the next day, or the next. That's the jeopardy, but if he stays upright and fit, he probably wins.
But I don't see that as boring.
It's robotic and dull.
I think it's really impressive. it looks like quite a race going on behind for the last step of the podium and I don't think that is a cert for del Torro.
Looks like he's been honing his downhill skills as well. This is looking ominous
TP took time out of everyone on the up and then down.....del Toro had nothing, Seixas had nothing, Ving had nothing...
Didn't even spot Pidcock in the SBS coverage
Pidders came in with others around 8 mins down. He remains in 15th overall. Given his less than ideal lead up to Le Tour I don't think that's bad. In an interview afterwards he said he's hoping to improve as the race goes on. I think he's there for stages.
Not seen much of this tour but managed to have SBS on while I was WFH this afternoon, so picked probably the key stage to watch.
Jonas kept him pegged at 7seconds for a while and I thought he was going to reel him back in but it wasn't to be. Did really well to keep the group behind away, they weren't cooperating much but they were never spread out across the road.
What's not to enjoy?
I think it's perfectly possible to be in awe watching the greatest rider of all time (assuming it's all legit bla bla) and yet find it too predictable as a competitive spectacle. Let's face it, beyond a few mass bunch sprints he could win every other stage. Hell, they've changed the green jersey points system specifically to reduce the chance of him winning that too. It's obviously not his fault he is so brilliant (assuming it's all legit bla bla) but I don't think it makes for the most gripping watch once you've seen what he's capable of half a dozen times.
it looks like quite a race going on behind for the last step of the podium and I don't think that is a cert for del Torro.
Yep I thought Evenapoel had a storming ride to peg back all the actual humans apart from Vingago and he was catching him
Another sprint stage today with a profile very similar to Wednesday's stage into Pau: lightly rolling all day, intermediate sprint about 75% of the way through, then the only categorised climd of the day before a pan flat finish. I wonder if the final kms are as technical as the Pau finish, we don't want to see another crash
https://www.letour.fr/en/stage-7
Torsten Træen broke a rib in the crash yesterday and won't start today apparently
https://inrng.com/2026/07/tour-de-france-stage-7/#more-47914
One thing ive noticed is that each time he's challenged for the sprint (intermediate or final), Biniam Girmay seems to have sat up before crossing the line. Just seems a little odd to me, but maybe my sense of timing (or my eyesight) is a little off.
Either way, today is a day to watch the highlights, i think...
He went out with a plan, the team pulled it off and he wiped the floor against the other generational talents that are his rivals. What's not to enjoy? He can't help it if Visma got their tactics wrong with Campenaerts early in the stage, or if Vingegaard had a bad day, for example.
The plan was exactly the same as almost every win he's had - UAE ride strongly, he attacks* and nobody can stay with him. If UAE didn't ride strongly and the lead bunch was full of Visma I suspect that they still wouldn't be able to live with him. He often even tells everyone exactly where he's going to attack - that's how predictable this is. Visma had some weird tactics with Campenaerts, yes, but Campenaerts was almost certainly not going to be a factor at the point when Pog attacked.
I'm glad your enjoying it but I've seen this too often - if it seems too good then it probably is, and when you have Belgian climbing domestique Tim Wellens shelling actual climbers off the bunch then alarm bells should start ringing.
Belgian climbing domestique Tim Wellens
I think you should check his palmares.
Belgian climbing domestique Tim Wellens
I think you should check his palmares.
Maybe you should look more closely at his palmares - he became a climber after joining UAE. Prior to that he was an excellent classics rider who was very capable on hilly races. The UAE part may be the crucial bit of the puzzle in allowing him to outride almost everyone on Tourmalet. But that's the same for almost every rider in UAE - all excellent riders before joining the team and then they take a step up.
Sadly it looks like visma don't think they can win. Even in Barcelona there was a bit where joonas looks over his shoulder as if to say 'where are my mates?'. Yesterday they try the man up the road tactic, but it's clearly not going to work. It's usually something they try in week 3. Joonas certainly put the effort in trying to follow Pog. Maybe another mistake. In another reality, imagine wout, joonas, and kuss all chasing Pog on the final. That just might have worked. Maybe.
What gets me is that Pog took out a minute on everyone on the descent. No doping does that.
What gets me is that Pog took out a minute on everyone on the descent. No doping does that.
Yeah, I've said that about the occasions when he's crashed badly, lost time and then rides past everyone to win. Whatever he's on, I want some if I can ignore injuries the way he does. 😀
But - what doping will obviously do is allow you to be fresher than others late in the race, for instance on a very fast descent where you'd normally be taking fatigue into account and doing your best to minimise mistakes that fatigue might cause.
Maybe you should look more closely at his palmares - he became a climber after joining UAE. Prior to that he was an excellent classics rider who was very capable on hilly races.
I'm well aware of his palmares. He's a hard man. Let's consider what climbing domestiques do. They don't have to get to the finish line or sometimes to the top of the current climb, they ride themselves to a standstill. Few climbers can go at that pace if they want to get to the finish, so they have to back off to a sustainable pace or simply blow up. Currently UAE have bought the best.
Yeah, I've said that about the occasions when he's crashed badly, lost time and then rides past everyone to win. Whatever he's on, I want some if I can ignore injuries the way he does.
My missus said to me this morning that one thing Pog has done is avoid crashing badly. Ever. Then by pure coincidence an hour or two later Dan Lloyd posted on Twitter:
"Since his first year junior in 2015, he's started 46 UCI ranked stage races, a total of 376 days. Not once has he DNF'd. Not once has he got sick enough or crashed hard enough to withdraw from a stage race in almost 12 years".
"Since his first year junior in 2015, he's started 46 UCI ranked stage races, a total of 376 days. Not once has he DNF'd. Not once has he got sick enough or crashed hard enough to withdraw from a stage race in almost 12 years".
Armstrong had an almost unnatural ability to get lucky with stuff like that too - even on the rare occasions when he did crash, it was never serious.
On the other hand you have riders like Geraint Thomas, Cav, Remco etc who seem / seemed to be far more prone to crashes.
