After a plane transfer and a rest day at Saint-Nazaire, the Tour heads into Western France once again for a magnificent finish beneath Saint-Malo's ramparts. It's fair to say that this is a stage designed with tradition in mind, in as much as it will enable us to honour the memory of Louison Bobet and pay tribute to Bernard Hinault. This 100th edition of the Tour de France will feature another great symbol of national life: for the first time, the riders will pass through the heart of the Coëtquidan military camp, where the elite cadets from the Saint-Cyr military school will line up in their splendid uniforms to honour them. The moment will provide some unforgettable, moving and typically French images. Then we will probably see the sprinters perform...
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Well that's the first rest day out the way. Hopefully Porte will have his legs back, and Sky will be back on form. A flat day before the TT to get the legs zipped up. Too much to say about stage 9, that I feel has already been discussed to great length during the rest day.. Here's the highlights though, just in case you've been in a cave.
[url= http://www.steephill.tv/2013/tour-de-france/photos/stage-09/ ]Photos from Stage 9[/url]
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Today? Cav.
Could someone tell his team mates not to get over excited and try to lead him out with 15k to go though? It doesn't work...
Alternatively, Porte to whack it in the 53 in the first 10k and solo it to the finish line, gaining the 18 minutes he lost in stage 9.
A few useful links
[url= http://live.cyclingnews.com/ ]Live Cycling News Text Updates[/url]
[url= http://www.steephill.tv/tour-de-france/ ]Steephill[/url]
[url= http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2013/us/live/aso/ ]Official Tour Live Feed App[/url]
[url= http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2013/us/classifications.html ]Classifications[/url]
[url= http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2013/us/withdrawals.html ]Withdrawals[/url]
[url= http://www.velogames.com/tour-de-france/2013/leaguescores.php?league=15194340 ]Fantasy League Standings[/url]
[url= http://www.velogames.com/tour-de-france/2013/leaguescores.php?league=23092808 ]Loser League Standings[/url]
As Porte goes backwards, so do the three teams that were on top yesterday in the fantasy league, causing Mike`s Men - no Fro(ome?) by mikewingrave to take the lead, by quite a margin, but without Froome can surely only stay there for so long... And of course, Time to do some crashing is still dominating the loser league. Don't ever let anyone tell you that I don't know how to lose a race 😉
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/quintana-we-showed-the-world-sky-also-has-weaknesses - [b]think it's been discussed enough, but it's definitely something that the teams will look to exploit again[/b]
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/539297/chris-froome-s-tour-de-france-weapons-of-choice.html - [b]just when I was starting to like Froome, he goes and puts a tiny spacer under his stem. Why Froome, why??[/b]
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http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/richie-porte/the-highs-and-lows-of-the-tour-de-france
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/tour-de-france-eight-conclusions-from-the-first-nine-stages - [b]good summary of the first week[/b]
An interesting little video on what the riders are eating during the racing.
And somehow, OGE have managed to top Call Me Maybe (this might be my favourite thing that's come out of this tour so far).
And finally, I believe it's time to discuss the most important of matters - Ryder's sunglasses.
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I do like these posts!
Adds a new dimension to watching it on telly - cheers
Yes very good realman. I like.
Been trying to do some betting on the TdF this year, but it's starting to annoy me...
Cav seems to have the attitude of "If I can't win the stage, then there's no point". He could easily have been in the top 3 the other day, but slipped to 4 by sitting up before the line...
No odds on Porte, except his placing vs Kreuziger which gives 11/8 for Porte... Or 10/11 on Cav being in the top 3...
Good god, did he forget his shades and have to borrow his wife's pair?
nice to see the pros are eating cake like us mortals too
Good god, did he forget his shades and have to borrow his wife's pair?
They're Swedish apparently
http://www.pocsports.com/en/3/eyes
Neither Cav or Sagan has made it into my Road.cc team today, the first time I've left either of them out for a sprint stage.
That probably means a nailed on win for the Manxman with Sagan coming in second.
What odds can I get on a Cav/Sagan reverse forecast ?
Jens to launch an all out attack just outside Coëtquidan, and the graduates of the elite St-Cyr academy to all go and hide.
33-1.
hmm, a traditional sprinter stage if ever there was one....
but, is it beyond the realms of possibility that a couple of teams might try poking Sky again? TT tomorrow, they may want to try tiring out Froome, very unlikely I know, but Moviestar and Saxo have both said they need to shake things up.
What could they do that the sprinters teams won't do already? And even if they did get off the front, the sprinters teams would chase them down with Sky, Froome wouldn't have to do a thing..
Jens to launch an all out attack just outside Coëtquidan, and the graduates of the elite St-Cyr academy to all go and hide.33-1.
Those odds are a disservice to the great man... and lets face it... the french have some form in running away from a determined German.. so odds should be much tighter than that... £20 on that for me please
you're probably right Realman, but would the sprinters teams chase from the get go? probably not, forcing sky to do the work. every little bit helps, just a thought, I doubt we'll see it happen though
No they wouldn't, they'd do what they always do - let the gap go out, then start chasing with 80 or 90k to go. And Sky would be more than happy to let that happen, if a load of favourites wasted a whole load of energy being out front in a break all day, they'd lose tons of time in the TT tomorrow.
It's not a GC day today 🙂
If the other favourites tried to get out the front Sky would just close it down straight off. They wouldn't allow a gap to open, so they'd never need to chase it down anyway.
Love those shades! 😯
Sky will cruise at the back of the pack. Or as close to as they dare. Chances of any GC contender getting off ,the front are zero, the rocket boys want this one, it's the last sprint stage before Paris I believe, so Sky can rest assured only a crash and split in the 'ton can affect GC today.
Last sprint stage before Paris? ... Not sure about that.
What about the 3 stages after the ITT ?
it's the last sprint stage before Paris I believe
Stage 12, 13, and of course, 21, are all flat sprinters stages.
Stage 14 will most likely be a break, but it could also be a bunch sprint with Sagan winning.
Fair enough, I know it's a sprinters stage, but just putting it out there 🙂
Sky will cruise at the back of the pack.
no, the last place they will be today is back of the pack. They'll be in the front 1/4 all day
Those odds are a disservice to the great man... and lets face it... the french have some form in running away from a determined German.. so odds should be much tighter than that... £20 on that for me please
How quickly we forget battles like Verdun, and the complete failure of the BEF in WWII...
Obviously a sprinter's stage, Omega etc will chase down any break. No change to GC, Cav for the win. I hope.
Yeah... oould be talking utter rubbish there... Where that idea came from I have no idea. However, the sprintershave it today still holds for me.
I predict sky to hide all day.
Well whatever happens it's certainly more exciting than last year, not that I'm complaining about Brad winning, it just seems far less predictable.
I'd like Froome to win but it was great to see another couple of teams really going for it and trying to shake it up. Fascinating stuff! 😀
huge crash at 4k and a random taking the win in what will look like a three legged race (the sprint)
Sorry - bit fanciful to imagine that Sky can "hide". They need to be in front of any crashes and also fully on their guard against a split caused by sidewinds. Froome has got too many challengers to mark on his own so we'd better hope that Sky have recovered well enough to ride hard and keep control.
With the Brits invading St Malo its got to go Manx
Sky sit in the shade all day long
Cav mullers everyone on the sprint and does an celebration th elikes of what we have not seen
Some mad man/men/fools [JENS?} lead a futile attack from a long way out that has no chance of success
Froome dog looks relaxed throughout
Don't think Jens does 'futile' Junkyard. When asked why he attacked on stage 6 of the Tour of California he replied "To cause chaos and mayhem. Isn't that a good enough reason?"
they may want to try tiring out Froome
How would they tire out Froome without tiring themselves out at the same time?
Break's gone, with Valverde, Contador, Quintana, and Jens all in it, and they've got 3 minutes on the peloton, 184km to go.
...Or it might just be a load of randoms who are all over an hour down in the GC, I didn't really look that hard 😉
^^^^^
I'm not going to lie - I panicked briefly till I read the rest of the post!
Word on the street is it's not as perfect a sprinter's stage as the profile suggests so I'm going Sagan to bag me a few much needed points.
Cav seems to have the attitude of "If I can't win the stage, then there's no point". He could easily have been in the top 3 the other day, but slipped to 4 by sitting up before the line...
Precisely. That's why we love him. It's a win or nothing. 3rd and 4th are just different flavours of loser.
it all pales into insignificance after the OGE video!
Awesome.
the racing has been good too.
Cav to win today 😀
I find the live tracker on
[url] http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2013/us/live/aso/ [/url]
Is very good for keeping track of things (especially breakaways) alongside TV/Radio/Whatever.
I find the live tracker onhttp://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2013/us/live/aso/
Is very good for keeping track of things (especially breakaways) alongside TV/Radio/Whatever.
Hey yeah, I should probably include that in all the OPs... 😉
Just been looking on Paddy Power, I can't believe they're offering odds of 14/1 on Sagan to win the stage, it looks like it'll be an ideal stage for him.
😆
Ooops!
Have some good news re Geraint Thomas to make up for it:
Another of the team’s top rider, Geraint Thomas, is riding with a fractured pelvis after a crash in the opening stage of the Tour.“This is the worst injury I’ve ever had and it has definitely been my most painful week on the bike. When I had my spleen out in 2005, I was obviously not riding my bike and I was in hospital on morphine,” Thomas told the BBC.
“I’m feeling better every day, and yesterday I had the best day so far. If I keep going as I am in the final week I should be able to play a strong role again.”
Thomas has been assured that riding with the injury poses no extra risk.
"[b]The bone doctor said I will not do any more damage by riding, because the fracture is on the bone that goes up my back and I am not sat on it.[/b] It will be healing; if I’d have caused damage in long run I wouldn’t have carried on and jeopardised my career.”
I find the live tracker onhttp://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2013/us/live/aso/
Is very good for keeping track of things (especially breakaways) alongside TV/Radio/Whatever.
The "CyclingNews Tour Tracker" app on Android is also pretty good for this.
Just having a look at that and yes it is!
Why are Sky riding?
I know they need to be near the font to guard against spilts in the wind but why actually be on the front.
Surely they couldn't care less if this break gets 30mins so why do any work at all? Just leave it too the spinters teams.
Just tradition coz they are in yellow?
Riding with a broken pelvis, now that is nails.
Don't ever let anyone tell you that I don't know how to lose a race
your crapness was never in doubt
As others have said well done for these tour threads a proper STW tradition and some nice intros
Busy today at wrok so briefly o sprint finish Cav wins
[mystic meg]I feel a crash will take out a big player today as in out of the race and the number 7 will feature [/mystic meg]
Greipel to take the points again? Interesting to hear Cav hasn't given up on green yet, wonder if we're going to see him in a break at some point..
Taking forever to catch..
Just leaving them dangling at the moment to nullify any further attacks.
There we go, 5km to go and the sprint trains can start to get organised.
crazy
That nudge stopped him going for it, guess he thought it might be a hollow win?
Wonder if Cav will get penalised for that?
Oops.
looked like cav's mistake from where I was sitting but who knows
What happend?
I'm guessing a relegation for Mr Cavendish for that one...
Mind you the other guy did sit up.
well that was a silly finishing 'straight'
I'd guess Cav DQ also, lucky that didnt bring a whole load down!
No doubt Cav will get relegated for that, to be fair though if you sit up in the middle of the pack when they're going for a sprint finish you can expect some kind of carnage 😯
Damn that looked painful. Very lucky not to cause a massive pile up.
Looks to me like the other guy swerved into Cav and he gave him a nudge back, tit for tat, but the other guy ended up going down.
Wasn't he part of kittels lead out train- guys sit up and slow down in every sprint. I like cav but he should be DQ'ed for that. Fat chance though.
well that was a silly finishing 'straight'
I'm all for variety, and if every finish was on a motorway it would be a bit boring - it's good to have some technical finishes. However, in a race like the tour, there's just too many riders, and it's all too fast. I've been quite disappointed with the sprint finishes so far, they seem to have been marred with more crashes then usual, and I think it might have something to do with the layout of the run ins.
Definitely does look like the Argos guy didn't hold his line and wasn't really Cav's fault. Wonder how the French will see it though..
Also quick-step sucking as usual.. Cav to change team? Garmin? 😉
Definitely does look like the Argos guy didn't hold his line and wasn't really Cav's fault. Wonder how the French will see it though..
Yeah, watching it back on the Eurosport coverage, it looks more like "one of those things". The other guy drifted right (cos his team mate was on the left), Cav was going left to get onto Griepel's wheel.
Maybe no real blame either side.
Cav shouldn't be DQ'd or relegated as the other guy was all over the place in front of him.
Cav does however need to ditch his lead out train and start jumping on other folks.
Mol, watched slo mo doesn't look like that to me, cav is leaning towards him for about 2 crank turns, other guy is bolt upright. Head on totally shows intent on cav, facial expression and position all look bad. The other guy does wonder off line, but basically goes left then right, back onto the line he was already on (right on white line). Cavs move was a sprinter vs sprinter strong-arm, except against a slowing non sprinter.
Before the hit by cav, a cynic might suggest the Argos rider sitting up had a look at cav and drifted right to clear him out as kittel went up the left. Cav's response ott, though.
cav is leaning towards him for about 2 crank turns, other guy is bolt upright. Head on totally shows intent on cav, facial expression and position all look bad.
Yeah but he could see the impact coming and brace for it. Bear in mind this is all happening at 70kph, there's really nothing you can do other than brace for impact - he absorbed the shock of the other guy drifting into him, not much else you can do.
Didn't see it so is it worth watching the highlights later? There has to be less ads surely!
TomB I agree, Shimano rider looked back, saw him, and deliberately drifted back to stop Cav getting across onto wheels.
Crazy, Cav is "bracing" for an impact he is going to deliberately make, he could see it coming as he he instigated it. At the point they collide the other guy is bolt upright riding in a straight line right along the painted centre white line. Cav is leaning his upper body off his bike towards him as he comes up behind him-looks to me like Cav was p1ssed off he was impeded and decided to deliberately hit him, but wasn't expecting the result.
Press conference outside bus really did him no favours - mentioned everything but the crash, then snatches dictaphone out of journos hand 🙄
I DO agree that his team appear to suck at leading him out.
someone please tell sagan to shave that stupid thing off his chin
Six of one and half a dozen of the other. I don't care cause I got Kittel and Cav in my deam today.
cav took that rider out like some mad spanish bull
moving on from crashgate, great to see Kittel getting the opportunity to beat all the sprint favourites, rather than have people be able to suggest "Well, X wasnt there...".
And yes I should have put him in my team....
Re: Ryder's sunglasses: already done!
The lovely and obsecenely quick xc-steve of this parish, and of Silverfish/Mondraker race team has been wearing that look for at least three seasons now. [url= http://plasticaviators.co.uk/wp/ ]Plastic Aviators Blog.[/url]
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They are not funky eyewear .They look like a Conference footballers missus glases
LOL @ Cav's latest tweet:
Can all sprint experts on twitter go & try flicking their bike right at 65kph without leaning your body left to balance & come back to me.
I wonder if Cav spoke some extra comments into the tape recorder before it got returned to the reporter 🙂
Where do I find this broom wagon program they do after? I can only find the first one to watch again.
The argos rider started to move left then drifted back right at the same time Cav made a dive for Griepels wheel. I'd say 60:40 to Cav. He should not have done the interviews though.
Cav's team more than a little short of the mark at the mo - how many times has he had to go looking for a wheel from another team??
Cav was right it was not his fault though he explained it poorly. He needs to be allowed to calm down before he does interviews as he comes over as a dick at times
Thank christ Stannard was there. WTF happend to the rest of sky?