Is anyone interested in the Tour today or are we all watching Boris TV? 😉
Anyway, the madness / entertainment of Stage 5 gave us a Jumbo-Visma bike swap party, MvdP being dropped on cobbles, Pogacar looking like a Classics veteran, some nicely atmospheric dust clouds and a beautifully timed attack/sprint to give Simon Clarke his first TdF stage win
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Today the Tour moves into Belgium for it's start (actually the town where Intermarche-Wanty team are based) for 220km of undulating terrain down towards the real mountains.
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Tricky one to call - after the efforts expended yesterday and before the potential fireworks of tomorrow's stage finish atop La Planche des Belles Filles, it could be one for the GC contenders to hide out in the peloton and let the breakaway have it's day - although it could easily be an hour of fast and furious racing to get a breakaway established. However the last 2 categorised climbs on the run in to the finish could also be a springboard to a Wout-style attack if it's all together.
Last time the Tour finished in Longwy, Peter Sagan won it but that was a more straightforward run in without the last little climbs.
In the meantime, Cyclist Magazine have been running regular articles about some of the bike tech:
https://www.cyclist.co.uk/tags/tour-de-france
I was just finishing writing up a post as you hadnt arrived...
Well Stage 5 was FUN wasn't it? Never mind the highlights, we ended up watching the whole race replay as there was so much going on - crashes, punctures, bike swaps, comedy bike sizes, Primoz Roglic relocating his own dislocated shoulder (after borrowing a chair from a spectator becuase he needs it for the technique he's perfected how much practice has he had ?!?!?!), Mike Read's "runaround" as people ran to grab the right bikes, an AWESOME display from Jumbo Visma and Wout Van Aert in particular to not just protect their chances in GC but manage to hang on to the yellow jersey - it's time for a nice easy stage/.
Shame then that at over 219km, today is the longest stage of the tour from Binche (home of the Intermarché-Wanty team so expect to see them inthe break) in Belgium, returning to France about 60km later to head for Longwy. It's a bumpy little number with a vicious kicker just before the finish and an uphill sprint to the line. Perfect WVA territory but then again isn;t it all?
reckon quiet day; breakaway with a bit of a gc rush at the end but no overall change
thanks crazy-legs and NBT today.
Epic yesterday, I'd have thought that there may be some complaints from the teams to the organisers about putting cobble stages in the tour, particularly after yesterday. Mind you I think that every year that they have an epic on the cobbles. the riders certainly earned there money yesterday.
Reckon today there will complaints all round if any riders try to force another day desperate ridding. So I shall suggest a break getting away without anyone to worry about but who knows.
I've Mohric, Mollema and Kung in my dream team so I'm hoping for a brake away. Hats off to WvA yesterday, when it all went sideways he kept it together, I picked MvdP over Wout but he's been imperious.
Will Cort go for it again? Or did we see the last of his matches burnt yesterday.
https://twitter.com/Fabian_IF/status/1544735278069334016
As they're saying on The Breakaway now (the GCN programme discussing the race with Orla Chennaoui, Robbie McEwen, Dan Lloyd and Adam Blythe), imagine not only popping your shoulder out like that but having done it enough that you know "right I just need to do this to get it back in then I can ride the remainining cobbled sectors"
That's Caleb Ewen who also went down in the same crash, I did notice that he'd been down and was making his way back up having been in the top group with Jaokobsen and Phillipsen - was kind of thinking he stood a chance as he was riding quite well
Just turned GCN+ on. They are absolutely smashing it from the start. MVDP already off the back!
They are absolutely smashing it from the start.
It'll do this for about an hour or so then a break will finally be "allowed" to go clear. Case of establishing who is "allowed" to be in the break though. There is (surprisingly) some method in the madness, it's not the complete chance that it often looks like.
MVdP must be I'll or something.
Has Roglic started?
MVdP must be ill or something.
Well he did do the Giro...
Yes but you'd assume that would have wiped him out later in the tour, not in the first week ?
MvdP did say yesterday he was not feeling very well
Jack Haig and Michael Gogl withdrew yesterday after crashing, Daniel Oss did not start this morning. Roglic is still riding
First hour was ridden at almost 53 kph. THeyve ridden about 75km so far and there's still no definitive brask - currently off the front we have WvA, Jakob Fulgsang and Quinn Simmons (I think), with about 30 seconds gap - but at one point there was a good looking lead group that had over a minute before WvA decided to bring them back.
Bennett is in a group over 2 minutes down from the main peloton
5kn to the first classified climb
the break has over a minute as they hit the forst climb, but then WvA loses his chain - quickly fixed and back on thanks to a push from neutral service. he's catching the other pair in front and as things stand they have 1'20" on the peloton and over 4 minutes on the Bennett group
lol maybe WvA fancies taking the yellow all the way
It seems as though most of the peloton have been in one of the many breakaways today.
Agreed that Caleb Ewan was riding really well and now I'm not sure where he is after his 'biting a straw bale' yesterday.
Blimey half an hour ahead of the fastest expected time, and on course to be fasted TdF stage ever!
Blimey half an hour ahead of the fastest expected time, and on course to be fasted TdF stage ever!
It is quite a significant tailwind but it's been ridden pretty hard too.
Simmons blown... WvA off again, his powers of recovery must be off the scale. It's one thing producing these huge efforts, but doing it again the next day is another matter
WvA is properly impressive (or doped off his tits....)
I still reckon he'll be caught - that peloton is not hanging around. Just over a minute, 28km to go.
Pogacar to then out-Wout Wout by going shit or bust on the final climb as a launch ramp.
Ineos in full on chase mode as well, that peloton is being shredded!
Can you just imagine if he gets caught inside the last 10km, then sits in and then goes for the win ? lol
Can you just imagine if he gets caught inside the last 10km, then sits in and then goes for the win ? lol
From out the front to off the back in seconds! Good ride though! Looks like Jumbo trying to set something up on the front now, maybe making up for their collective disaster yesterday.
boom!
(though you have to question WvA going in the break, that finish was made for him)
Looks like pog can do everything, got some special mitochondria that boy.......
while that was entertaining, jumbo kind of handed that to pog
'he's got balls, don't know what to say, taking the piss isn't he' - pidcock on WvA just now in interview
Never mind Pog, young Pidders 4th and zipping past Roglic like he was stood still
Pidders - someone has been listening to never strays car
MvdP has left his legs in italy.
We're living in a golden age for cycling, Yellow jersey wearers that refuse to play it safe, WvA and MvdP who should be brilliant classics guys, yet win Grand Tour stages, clear GC riders like Pog who then go and win classics. The Ineos "magnolia" way of riding is no more it seems.
INEOS quietly playing a blinder this first week, wonder if they'll be tempted to send Pidcock up the road tomorrow and see if UAE implode.
‘he’s got balls, don’t know what to say, taking the piss isn’t he’ – pidcock on WvA just now in interview
I think it's "he's playing with our balls!"
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E9p7xf42wM8