An interesting and highly objective review of the TT helmets over at escape collective https://escapecollective.com/tour-de-france-time-trial-helmets-ranked-by-how-little-i-would-like-to-be-in-them/
https://inrng.com/2024/07/tour-de-france-stage-8-preview-colombey/#more-44745
Today's stage. Lumpy little thing, that's a fair chunk of climbing for a supposedly flat day.
would be a breakaway stage in old-fashioned racing - guess we'll see
looks like thursday with enough of crosswind and a few open sections to make the peloton nervous but not enough to break up the race.
anyway some random imagery from yesterdays tt
the gc going into todays stage....
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 27hrs 16mins 23secs
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) +33secs
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 15secs
4. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1mins 36secs
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 16secs
6. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 17secs
7. Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +2mins 31secs
8. Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-Quick Step) +3mins 35secs
9. Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) 4mins 03secs
10. Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus/Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe) +4mins 46secs
the "what a lovely neck of the woods" section
Today looks like it might be deceptively hard. There was a time when I’d unquestioningly go along with the ‘break or sprint’ narrative. With todays GC guys* I can’t expel the thought that there might be some SHENANEGANS today.
*I mostly mean tadej
didn't realise it was the "@48.2244831,4.8791931,3a,75y,91.85h,110.73t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipPB4HLQyBU4fHoxf8j-NYZBDHRzcVZUvXv8G3FX!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPB4HLQyBU4fHoxf8j-NYZBDHRzcVZUvXv8G3FX%3Dw900-h600-k-no-pi-20.72643815151892-ya91.85481876575155-ro6.170013427734375-fo90!7i5472!8i2736?hl=en&coh=205410&entry=ttu">Charles de Gaulle died here" stage 😕
An interesting and highly objective review of the TT helmets over at escape collective> https://escapecollective.com/tour-de-france-time-trial-helmets-ranked-by-how-little-i-would-like-to-be-in-them/
Liked the article but if the photo next to the piece is the author, ... 😉
(even with the full enormity of their hair"style" cropped out of shot)
looks much like here damp and miserable
https://twitter.com/bleubourgogne/status/1809508814246301753
wout mobbed @ the finish yesterday
Today looks like it might be deceptively hard. There was a time when I’d unquestioningly go along with the ‘break or sprint’ narrative. With todays GC guys* I can’t expel the thought that there might be some SHENANEGANS today.
*I mostly mean tadej
Thing is, he doesn't need to do anything at all - especially not on a stage like this where it'd be possible to pull moves back if you put the whole team to work. It's a tough stage but it's more a "soften the legs of the sprinters" effect than a day where the GC can be made or broken.
The last couple of sprint stages have been a bit dull without a breakaway to liven things up so maybe today is just about hard enough for a few riders to nip up the road. It's the kind of stage that would suit the likes of Magnus Cort, Søren Kragh Andersen and Matej Mohoric for a decent long-lived breakaway.
missed this one (oh I remember hamster day) a Cav "OK Dad" Selfie from thursdays start 😉
https://twitter.com/LeTour/status/1808827454678573082
why don’t teams have custom doors for the mechanics these days ?
You're not allowed to lean out and fix bikes on the move any more. Partly because it was a very common trick for a rider in distress to fake a mechanical, drop back to the team car and hang on for a bit while the mechanic waved the magic spanner around pretending to fix things - usually, in an incredible coincidence, managing to "fix" it just as the tough climb was coming to an end!
And partly, safety - stuff getting dropped, tangled in the bike etc.
Besides, modern road bikes can't be fixed that way; everything is integrated, the gears need to be put into adjustment mode etc. Easier and quicker to just change the bike.
You’re not allowed to lean out and fix bikes on the move any more.
eh ? seen it more than once on this edition 😕
https://twitter.com/LidlTrek/status/1809517090379809091?t=fq4SwCQHmdX5rkR6gMN3uA&s=19
Mads Pedersen is out.
looks like it's going to be very wet for most of the day
Oh No! Poor Mads. It could have been much worse if the Bunnyhopping incident hadn't come off. Mads is one of the best riders in my Velogames team, so sad to lose him.
There's been a lot of laughing at the TT helmets, but having spent two hours peaking through the top of the original Aerohead visor on Sunday, I'd rather like to try the new one when it becomes available. The front on shots show really very excellent visibility. Ask Stefan Kung why that might be helpful! Given the rest of the attire (skin suit, calf socks, undergarment...), it's a small sartorial step.
Interestingly, testing shows limited differences between helmets that can be very position-dependent. Getting the head out of the wind lends to wider helmets at the base to spread the wind around the shoulders. That said, I'm not wearing a POC. I have my standards 😀
And Bernard was 61st yesterday, perhaps I should stop mid-race for a kiss as well, seems to work on a negative split.
The julien bernard fine is just silly. It completely spoils what was otherwise a very joyful moment in an already joyful tour. Loving the Magnus Cort response
https://twitter.com/MagnusCort/status/1809309362923372825
I think the fine was because it was a TIME TRIAL, so go as fast as you can. And hence stopping is bringing the race into disrepute. Not a lot different to a bike change though to be honest. That he was mid-pack despite stopping did not seem to register with the UCI - he wasn't troubling the time cut. There is a long tradition of sending local riders off the front of the peloton to enjoy their fans when they ride through their locale. Just not in TT's. I thought it was fabulous, personally.
remco selfie
could be in Yorkshire !
All kicking off as the climbs start - good little break from EF up the road and then a couple of other EF riders tried to bridge but only succeeded in waking up the peloton. Counter attacks flying!
lovely traction avant parked on someones drive 🙂
also this
https://twitter.com/eurosport/status/1809576138215174147
Like a lot of UCI rules and regulations the one about mechanics on the move was often ignored, however, they are supposed to be clamping down on it more (although it onl applies to the bike, a mechanic can still lean out of the window to adjust a riders cleats), discussion by inner ring here: https://inrng.com/2015/03/no-more-mechanics-on-the-move/
see Sam Bennett just voided the frame warranty 😀
This has got very fast and slightly nervy - through narrow towns on wet roads, everyone fighting for position amidst the threat of crashes and crosswinds, Pogacar slightly isolated, splits appearing in the peloton.
Gap to the lone breakaway (Abrahamsen) falling rapidly now, just coming up to 25km to go.
the UAE enve wheels look fab @ speed!
Philipsen pipped at the post again. Excellent 🙂
Great to see Girmay doing so well. WvA looks a shadow of his usual self, really hasn't recovered from his crash seemingly. He'd have been a favourite for today in years gone by.
Is WvA just working solely for Vingegaard?
Agree about Girmay, he's been knocking on the door of being a truly top notch sprinter for a couple of years now but what he's doing will be huge for the sport. Plus he's a thoroughly likeable guy and it's great to see the team fully behind him.
Not sure what happened with EF's tactics today. Looked good for a bit then kind of shot themselves in the foot and then the last effort fell very short of the mark. Loved the rather "WTF?" look that WvA gave the last EF rider who tried to split the bunch through town only for to be stamped out like a damp squib.
WvA and the whole Visma team have been dealt one blow after another this season. They just seem like any middle ranking team just now. But at least they aren’t competing with UAE as the peloton’s ugliest team - really - were they all hired with jug ears to provide maximum wind protection for Pog ??
Shallow? Moi??
Gravel stage tomorrow!!
https://www.rouleur.cc/blogs/the-rouleur-journal/the-making-of-the-tours-first-gravel-stage
Terrible news from the Tour of Austria. 🙁
https://twitter.com/TeamCoopRepsol/status/1809623361225474555?t=tjgPuLvVdn4WjHrMH5wX5A&s=19
@48.2051321,4.2131771,3a,15y,52.24h,79.64t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sgo113ltd4yQicx8GVqzZcQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Dgo113ltd4yQicx8GVqzZcQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D52.23968946964685%26pitch%3D10.358993445031388%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&coh=205410&entry=ttu">quite rough in places
this is going to be mental tomorrow looking how narrow the sections are if you have a mechanical and don't have a team mates bike to take you're going to be ****ed because the team car aint getting to you. Think I'd be using team motorcycles 😕
@48.2366765,4.174409,3a,73.8y,154.05h,65.45t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1smYK4m79_E3Bi9K3-VZpXHg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DmYK4m79_E3Bi9K3-VZpXHg%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D154.05013488249065%26pitch%3D24.54627317878473%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&coh=205410&entry=ttu">another section close to the finish
@48.259811,4.1861464,3a,65.1y,266.36h,77.44t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sL9VbxzF06eLq5yWBeQTddw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DL9VbxzF06eLq5yWBeQTddw%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.share%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26yaw%3D266.3647009187482%26pitch%3D12.559821139029424%26thumbfov%3D90!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&coh=205410&entry=ttu">might be some nettle rash in the peloton
As an aside from all the racing, I have to say the caravan is coming up top tat this year. Here's todays haul, including 11 hats (after we gave some away), drinks, socks, 3 t-shirts, 6 sleep masks, Sweatbands, olive oil, mini sausages, haribo, multiple keyrings. Cos that's what it's all about really ?
