That Team Visma “Control Room” van is just another way for DS to shout “get to the front!” and “stay at the front!” to riders…
This is a hugely reductive take of all the important analysis and orchestration they have to do. They also have to shout “eat!”
Brutal forecast for the grande depart 36 with no wind!
Imagine being in the back of a moving van with no window watching all those screens with all that data …I hope they're carrying plenty of sick bags.
the UCI are investigating the visma control room van....
How many days do you think are left on Cummings passport? Brexit bonus for Ineos?
A soigneur friend of mine has to be really careful about that now. If she works the Classics and the early season, she can't work the Tour and the later season and vice versa due to the 90-day rule.
Brexit has been unbelievably costly and disruptive for UK cycling.
They also have to shout “eat!”
very happy sir cav @ the presentation
so poggy was diagnosed with covid 10 days ago 😕
Interesting...
really intrigued as to how you hide the battery with enough ommph to make it worth while 😕
it was quite the backdrop for the rider presentation
https://twitter.com/LeTour/status/1806401181612188018
the italian pop singers not so much
Might not watch this year, what's the point if Pogaca will win it at a canter.
really intrigued as to how you hide the battery with enough ommph to make it worth while 😕
Have a look at the system that Belgian girl was using.
The battery really doesn't need to be that big. At that level, everyone is very close on performance, a couple of % in it at most. So if you have a motor that can give an extra 50W for 2 mins, that's more than enough to put in a race-winning attack. It doesn't need to be like an e-bike; just a tiny supplementary motor to be used at key moments. Even if it "only" gives you 3 attacks at 50W extra for 2 minutes each, that's a huge boost at that level while still looking real.
Commentators will be all "oh he's on fire today!", the rider is still having to put in a shedload of effort, it's just a tiny little turbo.
yeah it's still not a couple of cr2032 or even a couple of 18650's maybe 2.5 - 3 might get you 50 watts
Good training camp article
some images from yesterdays presentation
Le Monde has published the annual "Guide da le sieste" or "Siesta time guide" to show when you can "potentially" have a snooze during each stage
https://twitter.com/inrng/status/1806646448148160575
That Team Visma “Control Room” van is just another way for DS to shout “get to the front!” and “stay at the front!” to riders…
From bits I've heard in various podcasts, it's not much use shouting in to a team radio when the actual radios the riders are using are cheap junk that don't work half the time!
crazy-legsFull Memb https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/27/uci-to-pay-whistleblowers-for-motor-doping-tip-offs-at-tour-de-france
Interesting…
It always feels to me like the UCI isn't so much trying to catch someone, as being seen to be trying to do it. If they ever did come across a concealed motor in elite cycling, I bet they'd be like a springer spaniel that's accidentally caught the squirrel that usually gets away and now has absolutely no idea what to do ...
Can you imagine the reputational damage to cycling if a top rider were busted for motor doping? On balance they'd probably be better off keeping stumm.
Logically, if stuff like this were going on, it'd be very hard to keep secret. Just about the only way it could work would be for an individual rider to somehow modify their own bike secretly, or have a pet, tame mechanic who'd somehow do it for them and then hope that no-one else ever noticed. If it were a team thing, it would basically be an existential risk, with a worrying number of people knowing about it.
Logically, if stuff like this were going on, it’d be very hard to keep secret. Just about the only way it could work would be for an individual rider to somehow modify their own bike secretly, or have a pet, tame mechanic who’d somehow do it for them and then hope that no-one else ever noticed. If it were a team thing, it would basically be an existential risk, with a worrying number of people knowing about it.
Presumably, IF there is mechanical doping going on, there would be some level of investment in R&D into something that is small enough to be concealable/undetectable, whilst being efficient enough to give some kind of advantage. That would suggest organisational cheating, rather than a GC contender/stage winner and some friendly bike mechanic?
We're driving to Spain for our holidays starting on 10th July.
So we would normally spend the night of the 10th somewhere in the vicinity of Bordeaux.
But the stage on the 11th starts in Aurillac and ends in Villenueve sur Lot. That's still 150km from Bordeaux but if we took a different route down then we could go a bit more centrally instead of being near the West coast.
I don't think I want to watch the finish in Villenueve, as I imagine it would take forever to get out of there at the end, but would anyone advise stopping somewhere in the middle of the route to see the caravan and the peloton go past? If we rock up at a random village is it going to be a nightmare getting out?
Stage 1 preview from Inrng:
https://inrng.com/2024/06/tour-de-france-stage-1-preview-rimini/#more-44718
No one seems able to call this. It's so open, form is relatively unknown amongst a lot of the big names who've been sidelined due to injuries etc for the last month.
Plus it's a tough day out. Should be a great start to the race!
ITV4 and EuroSport have full live coverage all day.
hardest opening stage for at least this century.... probably have to go a long way back to find something similarly tough 😕 It's tricky to call, it might be a gc day if the stage win goes to the break otherwise these early mountain stages end up cagey affairs as no one wants the yellow jersey (apart from the crazy bike yob pogimonster ) with everything that entails. Some of the little less fancied teams might ride today Ineous, lidl trek, Movistar etc
@eckinspain to be honest, if it’s anything like when the Tour of Britain came through our village in Cheshire, it was an anti-climax to see the peloton on the flat. It was literally over in 30 seconds. Worth seeing if it’s at the end of your drive, not so much worth going out of your way for IMO. I believe that climbs, time trials and finishes are far more worthwhile for spectators.
Funnily enough I’m in Briançon next week, so should get the opportunity to see the tour myself for the first time.
Will Sir Cav make the time cut 😉? Could be a hard day for the autobus. Personally, I’m not a fan of a massive stages with potential for GC from the off. A climber or GC will take yellow rather than a sprinter who may have few other opportunities. Where’s that prologue? So passé it seems.
Thought I’d post this from yesterday at the velodrome. It’s on the wall of fame 
Reminder, you have just under an hour to get a velogames team ready if you have not done so already. You can join the STW league at any point, as long as your team is created ahead of the entry deadline
perhaps the other Yates twin for today.... he has some unfinished business 🙂
Thanks @Kramer. We went to the start of a Vuelta stage a couple of years ago and the family enjoyed it (and it was where we had planned to stay anyway).
Going 150km out of the way for 30 seconds might not be appreciated.
I'll look at the start town for the following day.
some sites along todays stage
I’m slightly surprised that Kasper Asgreen doesn’t seem to be riding this year after his excellent stage win and nearly consecutive double last year?
The excitement has got too much and I've submitted another 'velogames' team, on behalf of a relative. Hedging my bets (it hasn't got Pog in it, ooh La La).
Gary Imlach is such a good presenter. 🙂
You can tell summer's arrived when you hear the ITV TdF music and see endless adverts for funeral plans and animal rescue
And they’re off. Crash in the neutral zone 😳.
frantic stuff 🙂
