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37 up front, 20 chasing. Breakaway day, but you can never guarantee anything…
The Chase group have caught the leaders, Pedersen was chasing as Philippsen was in the lead group. Peloton is 7 minutes back now so pretty safe bet it’s a win for the break
The speed of today's stage! 😳
Pidcock is pulling his way up the GC. I want Fred Wright to win though.
Turning into a good stage this one
This is in bits!
Been out all day so I was following it on Letour live feed, only tuned into actual TV about 10 minutes ago.
Wheelie over the line.... classy 😀
Pidcock in virtual 2nd place briefly. Wonder if he is eyeing up alpe duez again
Pidcock in virtual 2nd place briefly. Wonder if he is eyeing up alpe duez again
Looks like he's 4th on GC now. Only a few seconds behind Remco.
A great stage! It’s a shame that the descent wasn’t hard enough to see Pidcock go full send - whether he wins or not it’s still one of the finest spectacles in cycling.
He’s in elevated GC company now. He has a lot more to contend with than at the Vuelta last year - three of the four riders behind him have Grand Tour podiums to their names. The other one is Paul Seixas
Yep, could be an oppotunity here for Pidders, Remco unlikely to do well in the mountains, so Pidcosk just needs to stay close and can then get third
I wonder how much the TT will shake things up? It's really short - 26km - but with a long gradual climb then a descent and a flat run. Should be about 30 minutes but I wonder is that enough to put big gaps into the standings? It's the sort of thing that's tailor made for Remco.
Being 4th on GC is the sort of area where it's impossible to get into a break. Maybe if he loses time and drops down the GC again he can get the chance to go for stage wins. Either way he's in a good position. High GC placing or ships a bit of time (intentionally or not) and gets another chance for a stage win, he's been close a couple of times now.
Either way he's in a good position. High GC placing or ships a bit of time (intentionally or not) and gets another chance for a stage win, he's been close a couple of times now.
On reflection, I think I want him to lose a bunch of time and go for stages. He's too much fun to be a GC guy.
Sadly, I knew the results of this stage waaaaay before I had a chance to watch the highlights as the idiots on Giants marketing team sent out an email titled "Schmid wins Stage 13" shortly after the stage ended. Ruined the enjoyment of the final ~12km of the stage for me but otherwise an excellent result for Tom
It's a wet one!
Seen barely any rain all Tour, today with a huge mountain stage, it's chucking down! Apparently it's better further into the stage, descents could be very treacherous in this weather.
The weather has improved and Tom Pidcock has managed to quietly infiltrate the break.
Looks like his group are just about to get caught. I guess he has to stay with them for a couple days till he gets the chance to distance Evenepoul
chance to distance Evenepoul
He will need to given the ITT for which Remco will be a shoe in. Jonas can match or beat him in the Alps and Remco can gain back any time against the clock. I’d love to see Tom on the podium and second would be truly magnificent. But I don’t think it will happen. Another stage win would be a good outcome, but again I sadly think k unlikely. Top 10 looks nailed on though.
He will need to given the ITT for which Remco will be a shoe in.
Yes, i was just looking at Stage 16 thinking that's gonna be Remco's big day. How good is Pidcock in a time trial?
Yes, i was just looking at Stage 16 thinking that's gonna be Remco's big day. How good is Pidcock in a time trial?
Not bad - if he stays where he is on GC, he'll have the advantage of starting behind Remco and being able to hear the time gaps. It's only short so it probably won't be an opportunity to open up (or gain back) significant amounts of time.
The commentators appear to think that Remco will get back a minute or more on TT. Pidcock is back down to 7th on virtual GC now.
I'm really praying that the break (or the remnants of it) are able to stay away. Don't want yet another Pogacar victory.
I guess he has to stay with them for a couple days till he gets the chance to distance Evenepoul
I'm not gonna win many medals for race strategy I'm afraid - looks like Pidcok lost 3 mins on remco today........🧐
Remco's ability to get dropped and then motorbike back is remarkable
Maybe Pidders should have stayed with the GC group and saved his energy. I really want Fred to win a stage.
Surely a Domestique's job is to pull at the front with the rest of your team and deliver your leader as far up the mountain as you can, then fade graciously...
Oh look, UAE second place too.
Cracking ride by Seixas though.
I got the feeling that Pog would have been happy to let Carapaz have the stage if Vingegaard hadn't attacked.
I can't figure out what Pidcock's strategy was in the stage today. Any break he'd get into would be completely doomed by being chased down by the 5 teams he's a danger to in the GC. He's a smart racer with a decent team behind him so I don't doubt there was method in the madness but I can't think what.
Anyhoo, the race behind Pog was great today. I feel like Del Toro vs Seixas could turn into a great rivalry.
I got the feeling that Pog would have been happy to let Carapaz have the stage if Vingegaard hadn't attacked.
Vingegaard didn't really "attack" as such, he just rode a ferocious pace to try and isolate Pogacar or put him into difficulty. As with pretty much every other time he's tried that, it didn't work and it never will while Pogacar has that afterburner mode where he simply sits on while Vingegaard buries himself then pops round him and rides away.
I get that he has to try but all he did was set Pogacar up for yet another stage win.
It's the Etape du Tour today. Uses Stage 20, Bourg d'Oison to Alpe d'Huez. 170km.and 5400m climbing! 😳
Be interesting to see the fastest amateur time vs the pros.
Oh Jonas.
C'est de la merde.
(Sorry for my earlier screw-up.)
Looks bad. I wonder if he will hang up his wheels - he's had a lot of bad crashes now, and apparently was not in good mental shape recently
That 2am doping control test will no doubt be brought up.
UAE=USPS
Sorry, Simmonds, Sorry Pidcock but you ain’t got the Juice. Remco, have a stage out of the goodness of my heart
Imagine what the tour would be like if people didn’t cheat.
My BIL did the Etape today..... effectively the Marmotte, but finishing up Col de Sarenne instead of usual AdH. He wasn't the fastest amateur.....
Shame about Jonas, 2am doping already being talked about....
Remco looking better on the hills this year, he lost weight specifically for this didn't he.
Shame about Pidcock, he should have taken it easy yday and tried to recover w the main group
Looks like they took the wrong side of the roundabout exit. Pretty shoddy of the organisers to leave the road layout in that state.
Remco has dramatically improved his climbing! And thank **** that Pogacar didn't win today's stage as well!
Poor Jonas. He's going to end up like Chris Froome - a truly exceptional GT rider but better known for horrific crashes. 😥
Tom's been on a bit of a yoyo ride - bouncing up and down the GC rankings but he's clearly strong.
My BIL did the Etape today..... effectively the Marmotte, but finishing up Col de Sarenne instead of usual AdH. He wasn't the fastest amateur.....
It was 10 years ago that I did the Etape (Megeve to Morzine) and I was talking to one of the guys I rode it with today. We were both saying that we'd need several months of proper training to be able to do anything other than scrape around and suffer if we tried to do it again now...
Gutted. Very glad Yates dropped back otherwise...
At least the morale on the Red Bull team bus will be happy for once ! (And yes enjoy your Gift)
What a crying shame. At least Jonas has the Giro under his belt. He has had some back luck, also the team.
Is TP going to win a stage?
For various reasons, I've not been able to tune in to the Channel 5 highlight shows ... I know the yellow jersey is all but sewn up, but would be quite keen to catch up on a few choice episodes ... Which 4 or 5 stages would you recommend catching up on?
I think Piddock just doesn't really want to be in GC contention, he knows he's not good enough at the moment to have a realistic podium chance (well maybe with Jonas gone...) and he's not the sort of rider that just wants to do the daily GC grind for a podium anyway.
I figure he's probably going in breaks now just for something to do and get a bit of a head start before getting dropped on the big climbs late on. If he manages to lose a boat load of time doing that so he's no longer a GC contender then that also allows him more chance to go on the attack for a stage win later on in the race. Possibly his team want him to stay up in GC for now though which is why he just doesn't chill and practice no handed wheelies in the grupetto one day
I’ve just been reading messages on instagram to the effect that doping controls can’t be carried out between 2300 and 0500 in the absence of serious grounds for suspicion, and that in France this would require a judge’s order. Obviously “read on SM” is not the same as “actual law” but I’ll be curious to see how it plays out.
Yeah I'd read similar too, but in the Guardian, so I'm guessing it's factually accurate...which is interesting/worrying in and of itself if true.
Re Pidcock..... firstly...he's just not climbing well enough to place higher than 8th-10th on GC.....and by his own admission, he's likely to lose a chunk of time tomorrow. Secondly, I'm not sure that he's actually climbing well enough to win a stage given it's going to be the mountain stages that he's targeting for a win from the breakaway.
The requirement for a judge to sign off is correct, but it was signed off correctly according to what I read here
https://veloracycling.com/features/tour-de-france-anti-doping-rules
It's ITT day - 26.1 km from Évian-les-Bains to Thonon-les-Bains, starting with a Cat 2 climb over the first 9.7km, cresting at 799m, followed by a descent to the end. It comes down to the TT specialsts vs the climbers who can TT - which suggests that Tadej and Remco will battle for the win, rather than Pippo Ganna. I'll probably have it running in the background but I rater the suspect that highlights will be just fine for today's racing
