I am preferring Eurosport most of the time, the time i prefer them to ITV4 seems to correspond with when Rob Hatch is commentating with Blythe, McEwan and Dani interjecting, but i then cannot stand Carlton Kirby and Sean "i only talk in generalisations" take over...
Looks like the peloton are sitting up? That second group is huge so surely the winner comes from there? Some technical descending ahead.
You've got to love Tadej
That was chaotic, but what a fabulous stage.
Sean managed to say 'difficult/difficulty in nearly every sentence. I still prefer Ned and David (not enjoying Cadel) even with the dreadful advertisements.
Hey cycling enthusiasts, have you thought about leaving your pet in your will to a cremation company?
no but we're all going to buy a skoda
Man, I've just had the weirdest dream - Victor Campanaerts winning a sprint !!
Well Campanaerts seems like a bloody nice bloke... very honest interview and emotion, hopefully he will get a contract next year..
I made more noise than the neighbours during the football when Campenaerts sprinted. So pleased for him.
He's signed for Visma for next year, so the rumour goes. Robbie McEwen just mentioned it as well.
Happy for Campenaerts - what a gent !!
Happy for Campenaerts – what a gent !!
Second this. Great result!
Campenaerts....blimey it's dusty in here.
I was as pleased for him as I was when kwiatkowski won his stages. They’re both very popular in the peloton. What a lovely final interview. He’s a great guy.
Two big GC stages. Visma will have to flog their team to keep the pace high. Wout will need tomorrow for recovery, so expect a hard ride with UAE setting a brutal pace and Pog to win with an attack. Then Saturday will either be a damp squib as the race is settled, or Remco and Soudal gunning to move up to contest second with the final TT. Which Pog will win.
Tomorrow will be interesting. Part of me thinks that Evenpoel could go pop on a big mountain day, the other part of me thinks that on the evidence of yesterday, maybe we'll see Jonas properly blow up on a climb for the first time.
Tomorrow will be interesting. Part of me thinks that Evenpoel could go pop on a big mountain day, the other part of me thinks that on the evidence of yesterday, maybe we’ll see Jonas properly blow up on a climb for the first time.
Yeah Remco could well pop, but then so could Vingago and Pog all for different reasons!
Pog sits on Jonas’s wheel, Remco attacks, Jonas can’t follow and Pog shrugs his shoulders until the last few hundred meters.
Remco, Pog, Jonas over the line, but Pog has a bigger gap over second.
Pog absolutely has enough of a gap to ride conservatively. Which means the chance of him attacking is reasonably close to 100%.
^ 🙂
I'm super excited for today's stage. Sun is finally out at home, sitting watching a big Alpine stage in the TdF - seems like summer has finally arrived!
And the works IT system is all buggered thanks to Crowdstrike so just going to have to sit and watch the whole Tour stage instead. What a shame.
I think this stage will be brutal.
Tadej will want to win as Isola 2000 is his altitude base so he will want to win 'at home'. He can attack on the final climb and win.
Jonas needs to take big time so I wouldn't be surprised to see him attack on the Cima di Bonnette and then catch Van Aert/Laporte or whoever is in the break from Visma at the top.
Queue a huge fight for the break.
The Intermediate sprint is before the first climb, the Col du Vars, so I think Alpecin will control up to here for Phillipssen to get some points.
Then up the Col du Vars all hell will break loose going for the break. I expect an early grupetto and some sprinters to not make it up the first climb before abandoning (but I reckon Cav will battle on).
UAE won't want to let a break go containing Visma riders for the reasons above. Lots of teams need to get into the break with only two stages to go. I expect a top 10 GC to get into the break. But I reckon this will take ages to form and may only have a small gap over the top of the Col du Vars.
In the words of Adam Blyth, it's going to be a cracker
Only just caught up, was busy yeterday and the highlights weren't available when I got home. Tried to watch full coverage from 30k to go (made me wish I'd seen the whole stage, it seemed as crazy as the day before!) but was just falling asleep I was so tired.
Chuffed to bits for Campanaerts, it was SO lovely to see just how emotional he was, I can totally get that
We don't know these riders, but some really come across as top guys, I'm now putting Campanaerts on my List of lovelies.
Can Sir Cav make it? Fingers and toes crossed.
maybe it happens for everyone but when Vic was on the podium they panned round and it looked like all his team-mates were there to applaud - awww
Today has a bit of climbing in it, then
https://www.cyclingstage.com/tour-de-france-2024-route/stage-19-tdf-2024/
On the Cime de la Bonnette, they climb up then do a 180 and come back down with 100m of the climb, that would be a great point to spectate
maybe it happens for everyone but when Vic was on the podium they panned round and it looked like all his team-mates were there to applaud
ITV coverage showed that and said it was unusual and asigne of how much the team all like Victor. Lovely.
Coverage starts
"Let's welcome Sean Kelly"
"Yes, well, today is going to be a very difficult day"
*screams internally*
This is interesting. Current fastest time up Bonette is held by Robert Millar (Pippa York) set in 1993.
https://twitter.com/pippa_york/status/1814100870667063405
Similar stage to today but with an additional climb to start - the Col D'Izoard.
Not sure why Pippa hasn't been on any coverage this year? Absolutely brilliant pundit imo.
Anyone watching live? I'm forcing myself to work (sad face emoji)
Not sure why Pippa hasn’t been on any coverage this year? Absolutely brilliant pundit imo.
Agreed. I’m trying to not make the obvious assumption.
Agreed. I’m trying to not make the obvious assumption.
I'm being dim here, what's the obvious assumption?
Pogacar in this TdF is the biggest bag of shite I've ever seen.
Turned today's stage off when he made his move, it's truely and absolutely unbelievable, the guys juiced up to the max. Even more fake considering his Giro efforts earlier in the year.
Pogacar in this TdF is the biggest bag of shite I’ve ever seen.
You never watched Lance then?
Yeah I watched / despised plenty of Lance, this is worse.
It's less that... ^^ and more than he's depriving very deserving riders (like Matteo Jorgensen) of a maiden Grand Tour stage win.
He's just winning for the sake of it now; even Armstrong had the good grace not to crush everyone like that.
It's like he's an Elite rider in amongst a 4th Cat race, that's the difference between him and everyone else.
And it's making the racing properly dull.
Pog's doing 26kph up a sustained 6% gradient and no-one is strong enough to draft him for any length of time, despite the fact that he rode past some of the best climbers in the race, and has put multiple efforts in since the start of the TdF and Giro. (And let's not pretend that you can't draft at these speeds - its the same speed as we do on the flat.)
He was taking a second per second off the leader on that final climb for >3min. I want to be impressed but can't help but be skeptical...
And it’s making the racing properly dull.
I said on the Pogacar thread that the Giro was the most boring I've seen for along time because of him, and this is the same. Will he be 'strong' enough to ride the Vuelta? The way he looks I can't see why not.
Agreed. It's honestly like he's brought a motorbike to a scooter race.
I want to be impressed but can’t
+1
He’s just winning for the sake of it now
If he can win, why should he lose for the sake of it?
Vuelta as well? Why not, and win half the stages too.
He’s just winning for the sake of it now; even Armstrong had the good grace not to crush everyone like that.
Don't insult the people Armstrong sought to destroy for trying to expose him with a statement that suggests he has an ounce of grace in his body. Everything he did and continues to do is calculated, cynical and solely in his own interests
Wonder how it must be being a skeptical journo having to use superlatives about his performance.
There's another thread for debating whether or not Pogacar is doping. For those of us here to enjoy the Tour, maybe move the posts above to that one.
I enjoyed today. It was nice to see Carapaz race into the polka dots, and Remco continues to surprise (although not so much that Vingegaard couldn't stick with him. He's clearly not on top form but he's still doing amazingly well).
The BBC comments section is fun - trying to suggest doping opaquely so that they don't remove it.
As above, we need to take the approach that cycling news did, just keep doping chat to one thread, and then the TdF general chatter to this one. Seen the result, but not the coverage, will watch the highlights later. Up until this point I think that it's been quite exciting. All getting a bit inevitable now I suppose, but a mere week ago people were talking about Jonas riding across to Pogacar on a climb and then beating him in a sprint.
Watching the highlights now.....
Vinegard......don't know what it is but aesthetically he's a sponsors worst nightmare. I don't know if it's the radio in his skinsuit on his back that makes him look like the hunchback of Notre-Dame. Don't know if it's the helmet/glasses combo on his face. Don't know if it's just his shoulders and way he sits on his bike. But by god, he looks awful. Clearly I'd give my left nut to be half his speed, but geez.
But by god, he looks awful. Clearly I’d give my left nut to be half his speed, but geez
I think Froome still wins the "fastest rider who looks terrible" award...
