Good day yesterday, that has prompted many questions.
Has Roglic gone to early? Was Bernal sand bagging? Has Alaph lost some form?
Well, I suspect none of those will be answered today.
So lets see what's in store?
The Route: a blogger’s rest day, this one doesn’t need a big write-up to explain the intricacies of the parcours. It’s downhill out of the Alps and characterised by wide roads along big valleys through les Les Baronnies. The intermediate sprint should be interesting as we have a contest for the green jersey.
With 40km to go the race passes through the city of Montélimar then it’s across the Rhone valley and here the Mistral wind will get up, a crosswind into, through, and out of the city. Then a headwind as they go into the hills with 20km to go and here there’s a 3km climb at 4%, not hard but look to see if some teams try to put pressure on the heavyset sprinters. The approach to the finish is on a big road and there are some 4% sections which could tip some sprinters into the red or cause positioning problems and it’s exposed in places to the crosswinds.
The Finish: there’s a bend to the right at the flamme rouge and here’s the steepest part of the finish, 150m with a 6-7% ramp at first, then it levels off. There’s a portion downhill and then a gentle drag up the line but only slightly. It’s a subtle finish, riders need to get over the brief uphill kick without going into the red and then keep going on the downhill section so they’re not swamped from behind.
Sprint stage then, usual contenders? Yep.
The Contenders: we’re beginning to get a hint at the hierarchy. Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) can win steeper uphill finishes than this, he’s a safe pick but the only doubts are over his climbing at the moment, if things are nervous in the crosswinds can he stay the course? Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quickstep) ought to win a stage but as mentioned before he’s sometimes error prone in the final moments of a sprint so he’s harder to back. Normally Elia Viviani (Cofidis) would come next but he’s having problems and even Cofidis management are worried. Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept) would like it to be steeper but might feel more confident here and otherwise Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) is an easy pick, powerful in the sprint, versatile for the hills and crosswinds. Alexander Kristoff (UAE Emirates) and Giacomo Nizzolo (NTT) should close.
And as ever, yesterday.
Oh France, you wonderful place.
The favourites.
Just fr Flashy, GvA and a gold bike.
Have we all read to much into a short, uphill sprint?
today will be ITV4 highlights for me - looks like a day to avoid spoilers else the hightlights could be short
Sagan looked a bit off form yesterday in that intermediate sprint. Normally he'd be the obvious pick on a day like today but I can't see him winning today's stage. Quite fancy an each way bet on Bryan Coquard.
I liked this shot from yesterday:
[img] https://img.aso.fr/core_app/img-cycling-tdf-jpg/paysage-2/22798/0:0,1200:800-1000-0-70/f0aaa [/img]
It's unusual for the Tour to be this picturesque in the first week, normally it's trailing through the flatlands of northern France at this point. Very much enjoying the scenery and castles but I can't find any stills of that nice bridge from yesterday.
Oh France, you wonderful place.
I must admit the scenic shots and sights of little villages are 50% of the reason I watch the Tour.
I think this Tour is shaping up nicely, especially if Roglic has peaked too early, there's plenty sitting just behind him that all look to be slightly off but may well ride into form in the third week, let's just hope it gets that far...
Caleb Ewan for today again I reckon, he looked mighty in the sprint the other day.
Hard to choose between Bennett and Ewan today. I think Bennett is the stronger of the two, but Ewan seems a bit more relaxed and lucid. Both of them should cope fine with the wee rise before the line - of the main sprinters I can only really see Cees Bol being affected.
Can’t really see a stage on this route with Sagan’s name on it.
I'm not sure winning a stage by a second can be really called "peaking too early", if he'd gone all out and won by 30 seconds then maybe...
Edit: ah, you're probably thinking about the season rather than the race... not sure, but I can't see any particular signs of that.
Anyway, I have a slight hope there'll be a break at 165km, with a mad chase to bring it down which will fail. But I suspect it'll be another group sprint. Either way, this WFH thing does at least mean I can have it open on a second screen without anyone complaining 🙂
Either way, this WFH thing does at least mean I can have it open on a second screen without anyone complaining 🙂
I've moved my home office down to the living room where I can have it on the normal TV!
Edit: ah, you’re probably thinking about the season rather than the race… not sure, but I can’t see any particular signs of that.
Yes, definitely thinking of the season so far. It would be impressive if he can hold it for the three weeks, and hopefully the other contenders will come into some form and light it up. This is what I'm hoping for, should make for great viewing.
This is what I’m hoping for, should make for great viewing.
Fingers crossed but looks good so far - all the main contenders were there at the finish yesterday (albeit it was only the 4th day of course).
it was shown on the highlights reel at the end of last night's highlights show. which is repeated in half an hour
GvA for today. Uphill finish and if the sprinters get dropped on the last 3 climbs it gives him a good chance. If he doesn't do it i'm going to start tipping Sepp Kuss for every stage cos he looks in awesome form. Thanks for the thread every day Lunge. Great pics.
It’s great WFH with the tour on! Love the scenery, stunning country.
Just tuned in - they’re out on a gentle Sunday pootle. Nice day for it. Scenery is gorgeous again.
Just tuned in – they’re out on a gentle Sunday pootle
Yeah, the build up to the sprint seemed a bit like "ooh, there's soon going to be loads of excitement!" and then it happened and it was kinda half-hearted.
Even off the back of that sprint, there didn't seem to be any hurry to try and establish a breakaway.
As this is a nice pootle day I'll throw out a couple of questions.
Who is the rider in the peloton who hasn't done so yet, but deserves a stage win based on past performance? (Open to your interpretation)
And inversely; who in the peloton has won a stage that you're unhappy about? (Could be the person or the style of win)
I'll give my answers later
Uphill finish and if the sprinters get dropped on the last 3 climbs it gives him a good chance. I
not nearly steep enough to shell anyone in the mix surely
not nearly steep enough to shell anyone in the mix surely
The only thing that might help is that it is (apparently) quite a technical finish with a bit of a drop in the middle bit then a final kick and it's almost all into a solid headwind.
That introduces the possibility that a select group that tries to go clear on the first ramp gets swamped on the drop as the bunch "comes back" to them, riders go too soon and blow, leadout trains gets disrupted by the change of gradient...
I mean, at the moment it's not really that exciting bar some nice scenery... Shame that Gilbert isn't there for a long-range attack, it's his kind of finish.
Ooh, head/crosswinds.
It threatened to split to pieces for a few moments there. Suddenly getting very nervous...
Really enjoying this last 10k
WvA!!!!!!
boom, you've got to love WVA
Yep, WVA is now challenging MVDP in my affections! Agree with Imlach’s comment that he’d be favourite for the green jersey if allowed to go for it.
Yates in Yellow !!! (Alaphillipe penalized 20 secs for taking a bottle within the final 20k)
ouch
Yates in Yellow !!! (Alaphillipe penalized 20 secs for taking a bottle within the final 20k)
ITV4 must have been dreading trying to find an hour's worth of highlights out of today so at least that gives them something to talk about!
I enjoyed the live coverage today, seeing most of the riders relaxed and floating around chatting to their mates like it was a Sunday run, that observatory you can book a remote control shot of the telescope; Millar came out with a few good snippets too, particularly the one about a young Pete Kennaugh asking him what the French for baguette was!
I got plenty of work done while it was on.
Hope there's film of Matt White's reaction to Yates being awarded yellow.
Poor Yates. That's no way to take the yellow.
Deliberate move from Alan Philip? I can’t fathom why they’d put a bottle drop within the last 30km unless they didn’t want to be in yellow (just yet)
better not lose it by 19 secs in paris.
Indeed.
Deliberate move from Alan Philip? I can’t fathom why they’d put a bottle drop within the last 30km unless they didn’t want to be in yellow (just yet)
No, it's just incredibly sloppy from the team and JA.
There's a fairly hefty fine that accompanies the time penalty as well, no-one would do that intentionally.
The DS and the rider should have known full well that they were inside the final 20km. The rule is in place (no feeding from the cars in the final 20km, no helpers at the side of the road) because the sprinters trains are getting organised, the race is on, positioning is critical and you don't want cars trying to deliver food and drink / riders trying to move over and pick up bidons and musettes while people are moving up, leadout trains are forming and tactics are playing out.
Frankly, that's a ****ing amateur mistake and he should be ashamed of himself. It's not like it was a full-on stage and he had no time to eat and drink - he had all bloody day to chill out, prepare for the final 10km when it was fairly obvious it was all going to kick off and he's got a full team to send back to the car to collect food for him.
It wasn’t a bottle drop, he took it from the car
The footage I saw was clearly JA taking a bottle from the side of the road. Has there been new footage released?
The footage I saw was clearly JA taking a bottle from the side of the road. Has there been new footage released?
No, my mistake, I've amended my original post. Sorry!
Ahh, no worries. I thought some more evidence had come to light.
Still not a great way for Yates to gain the jersey but that's sport.
Wow - hadn't heard that news
Does smack either of incompetence or "dumping" the yellow jersey. Didn't look that hot a day, pressure right off for 90% of the route - plenty of teammates to give him a swig of theirs (unless that's now outlawed?)
clearly JA taking a bottle from the side of the road
Very, very visibly doing so. Clearly moving through the peloton to get to the soigneur. I can see why the conspiracy folks are lapping it up, but I'll still go with a stupid mistake rather than some Machiavellian machinations.
Alan Phillip doesn't strike me as someone who'd take a fall. He rides with his heart on his sleeve.
(I still have doubts about his form last year, though. Oh, and Roglic's really rather rapid rise when considering the issues in Slovakian sport.... That's for another day, maybe)
Riders will often feed well at the end of a stage even if it's been easy going - it helps for recovery for the next day.
Bit of an amateur moment from DQS there I think and I suspect that they feel pretty sheepish tonight. Boardman and Kennaugh seem to think the blame lies with the team rather than Alaphillipe - I can fully imagine he's used to just trusting the team to give him bottles at the right time.
Wout van Aert is something else though, isn't he? Has anyone else noticed how efficient he looks on a bike? He's like the opposite of Alaphillipe in that respect.
riders relaxed and floating around chatting to their mates like it was a Sunday run
Enjoyed this. It shows the real nature of the “job”. You won’t be surprised to learn that a stage like today might show 210 watts NP. Hey I can do that!
As for Adam in yellow, well based on not being so for a deflating kite, I’m happy. Rules are rules. Every team sign up to them.
That's a great video. And 200 Watts 😉
Bit late to the party here, but was there a reason Cosnefroy was not challenged for the mountain / polka dot jersey on yesterday's stage? Was everyone else just enjoying the pootle?
His nearest rival was Perez who crashed out the day before, having actually taken enough points to take the jersey had he finished the stage. There weren't enough points available yesterday for anyone to take the jersey, so Cosenfroy just kept building a little at a time.
Seems a shame that the KoM isn't contested a bit more seriously, yesterday felt like it was already pre-determined who would win it.
Or are they all just giving him a sporting head start before a GC contender (who isn't interested in the Polka dot) mops up the big points later?
Cheers nbt.