Will Sir Cav make the time cut
WvA looks to be "struggling"* @ the back
*relatively 🙂
What did poor ol' Vermeersch do to upset Uno X ?
Dumb newbie tdf question, why are they racing so hard so early in a long leg? Is if for the KOTM jersey?
Gibbons you wheel sucker! already on jersey zip height watch .... someone big could see their gc out the window today!
Cav being distanced... 🤔
Going to be a long hot day out the back like that. Lovely that Quickstep are helping their old teammate with some water.
~160km of TTT practice for Astana.
Dumb newbie tdf question, why are they racing so hard so early in a long leg? Is if for the KOTM jersey?
It's to get in the break = if your team has a man in the break you don't need to chase it, saving energy for the rest of your team. It's also a great way of getting TV time for the sponsors, so you tend to see the smaller teams always trying to get a man in there.
this is a painful watch!
He looks broken. He must be ill, having come down with something. Physically being sick as he rides... Gutting.
Tuned in just as he barfs
It's roasting hot.
Would be a particularly grim situation if he'd picked up something from Peta - she flew out to Florence to be with him for an hour yesterday before flying home again. It'd be a truly horrible way to end the TdF thing after all the build up to "Project 35", the extra contract, building a pure sprint team around him. 🙁
some sites along todays stage
Does look stunning. Not a part of Italy I’d considered going to but defo would now
WvA was faking it!
He's getting further and further back. Anyone know what the time cut is going to be?
Talk of cut off being ~45mins for stage 1.
Anyone know what the time cut is going to be?
It's calculated based on a percentage of the winner's time rated against the difficulty of the stage. On flat stages it's about 3%, in mountain stages it can be up at 20%.
Not sure how this stage will rank (I think it's on a scale of 1-6?) so probably a 4 or 5 cos it's not a full mountain day.
That said, the race jury can decide to allow riders to "escape" the time cut - if it's a big group or there are mitigating circumstances (like being 2 seconds outside cos of a puncture in the last 500m). Whether or not illness counts is debatable but the escape route might be that it's Cav and chucking him out is going to be really bad publicity for the Tour.
Would be a particularly grim situation if he’d picked up something from Peta – she flew out to Florence to be with him for an hour yesterday before flying home again.
FICTION !!! 🙂
That descent looked amazing!
David Millar / Ned Boulting reckoning that the time cut is likely to be about 45-49 minutes after the winner crosses the line.
peloton @ full chat!
Pogi has cracked the whip!
Bit concerning that Astana have already had a rider abandon, Gazzoli.
Sickness going through team?
Pogi has cracked the whip!
That's a brutal pace they're suddenly putting on. Gap to the breakaway coming down rapidly and gap to the Cav group going out dramatically. Riders being shelled out the peloton all over the road now.
I think UAE are trying to put Visma under pressure, see how good Vingegaard is really feeling.
brutal!!
On the plus side, that's a lot of riders heading backwards to the Cav grupetto so a lot of extra support for him, more team cars, also very unlikely that so many riders could be culled if they are a few seconds outside the time cut.
Oh my word, those descents! 😍
And remember. Cav is the king of comebacks. He can still win the stage today.
Looking at the profile Cav has 2 climbs to go, all the big ones are done, with the last 20km downhill. As long as he can keep the pace should be able to keep within the time cut? Would be awful to see him kicked out on day 1, he's had so much bad luck over the years.
Caveat. Route profiles can be deceiving. I know nothing about the remaining terrain.
Could you have pointed out San Marino on a map before today? I couldn't. Looks incredible !!
Nerve shredding first stage, still impossible to call!
Those mountain top forts are spectacular.
I'm guessing Cav will be half an hour back by the top of this climb then lose another 10 minutes on the next.
Next?
Looking on the TDF site there's another cat 3 climb for Cav's group yet.
Yeah, forgot that. Good point.
I'd like to see Bardet hold them off and get the win.
Bardet's pain face.
Looking bad for the 2 leaders. Shame.
I think they'll bodge the time cut, so unless he climbs off he'll be able to start tomorrow.
I think van der Poel is off the back of the main peloton?
Looking bad for the 2 leaders. Shame.
Yep, I think they'll be caught with 3km to go as it all ramps up.
FvdB deserves the Combativity Award though.
Is there anything better than a break like this in cycling?
Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!!
OH HECK YES
WOW!!
fabulous!
