Morning all.
After a stage yesterday that promised so much, but actually delivered very little, we have high hopes for something more today. And with rumours of cross winds, we may well get it.
Let's see what's in store.
A likely sprint stage but watch out for the wind, the forecast says a breeze for the course but they’ll be stronger gusts not far away from the route so if things change just a touch it might be worth tuning in for the final 90 minutes rather than just the sprint at the end.
The stage from Millau to Lavau precedes a weekend of climbing in the Pyrenees. Which does not necessarily mean that this will be an easy day, as racing in the Garonne region is never easy.
The areas of Aveyron and Tarn are far from flat, while another factor that could thwart the sprinter’s plans are strong winds. The region is renowned for it.
The riders start near the Millau Viaduct, which is the tallest cable-stayed road bridge in the world, and set off for a lumpy stage with a number of climbs standing out. The longest ascent is situated halfway. The Col de Peyronnenc adds up 13.5 kilometres, but the average gradient is doable: 3.9%.
Right after a prolonged downhill the riders tackle the second categorised climb of the day. The Côte de Paulhe is just 1.1 kilometres long and slopes at 7% before a last bumpy phase leads onto 40 kilometres on the flat.
The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds.
Stage 7 of Le Tour starts at 13.25 and the race is expected to finish around 17.30 – both are local times (CEST).
Who's in the mix? Well, the usual contenders.
The Contenders: a likely sprint finish and the names get sprinkled into the same box below. Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) was off the pace in Privas the other day but still looks like the safest pick. Sam Bennett (Deceuninck-Quickstep) is close each time too while Cees Bol (Sunweb) would have won a stage were it not for Wout van Aert being allowed to race for himself. Even if Wout van Aert is on team duty today he might still have a chance if things split up in the crosswinds and he’s towed his Jumbo-Visma team mates to the first group
And so, as ever, back to yesterday.
Textbook Tour pic.
Clearly a sprint stage, and one I'm not too bothered to be missing as I'll be at the pool. It would be amusing to see Sunweb do their sprint train thing again and get pipped at the post by another rider 🙂
And of course, thanks again @lunge for your daily thread!
In an effort to maintain my 100% effort of being totally and utterly wrong, I would like to call massive time gaps today thanks to a cross wind, as per twitter - but I don't actually think that will happen. I don't think we'll get the winds at all and it will be a bunch sprint won by Cees Bol from Caleb Ewen, with Sagan well down the pecking order
Watching solely for the Millau Viaduct - those TV helicopters can earn their money by getting some good video of that!
Whilst i remember, expect tomorrows post to be delayed. It’ll be up by lunch, but not much before.
it might be worth tuning in for the final 90 minutes rather than just the sprint at the end
I’m guessing it won’t. My guess is you might see some poor sod being paced at 2-3 mins for most of the stage. Also they will have one eye on tomorrow’s much tougher stage
Watching solely for the Millau Viaduct – those TV helicopters can earn their money by getting some good video of that!
Drove over that a couple of years ago, before stopping for lunch in Millau itself. Very impressive. And a short drive from the Roquefort caves, cheesetastic.
Cees Bol from Ewan,Nizzolo and Bennett. I'll try and catch the last 3 minutes of excitement.
Going across the Millau bridge on a motorbike is fun 👍
Kwiato and Luke Rowe smashing it up in the cross winds, and Luke soloing away to win by 4 minutes.
Is it an open secret that Prudhomme plots the route out each year to take maximum advantage of scenery porn for the sake of la touriste board francais and /or fat brown envelopes from mayors of start / finish towns ?
(If so the mayor of Gap must have all kinds of funding deficit)
Is it an open secret that Prudhomme plots the route out each year to take maximum advantage of scenery porn for the sake of la touriste board francais and /or fat brown envelopes from mayors of start / finish towns ?(If so the mayor of Gap must have all kinds of funding deficit)
Regions/towns/cities bid to host it, either as a stage start, a stage finish or both. You then need to come up with a route between those start/finish towns, hotels etc for all the riders, crew and media and weave all that into a "story" for the race as well as thinking about the logistics or travel between stages, rest days, the overall [i]parcours[/i] - it's no secret that they've changed the route to try to favour / impede certain riders over the years.
Some towns (like Gap) end up featuring loads just because they're really convenient.
Sorry mate I was being facetious. I know Gap is the perfect staging post for the Pyrenees
We can't expect a stage 21 thru the impoverished Paris suburbs
I get off on the scenery porn! The massif central looked amazing yesterday, you forget how many mountain ranges the French are blessed with.
Gap?! I meant Pau, sorry
Further to what crazy-legs says. I'm sure when Cav won the green jersey there was discussion about the route and how much it suited him.?
Further to what crazy-legs says. I’m sure when Cav won the green jersey there was discussion about the route and how much it suited him.?
Same discussion happened the year Wiggo won.
Peleton has split. Bora have driven it on and Sam Bennett is in the second echelon
All the sprinters are in 3rd group. 1 min 46 down already. Bennett is 30 secs back from first group
this is going to break again at this rate, teams trying to stay at the front will drive it on.
Well my record holds. If anyone has team contacts, I will make predictions for cash to spoil other teams' chances
that looked like the white flag from group 2
Yates is a bit isolated.
Yates will be fine, this is more his style of racing than following a train of his team. With what Bora are doing he won't be expected to work so can just make sure he stays up front. He's got one teammate there to help a bit if needed
Actually Yates has three teammates, they just weren't together before
looks like g2 hit the climb too hard!
When Yates was awarded the Yellow Jersey, the ITV4 commentators noted taht he had previously suffered from a commisaires decision. Does anybody know what incident they were referring to???
Tactical masterclass from Bora-Hansgrohe.
I'd love to know what Sagan and Trentin were saying to each other at the end of that intermediate sprint. It didn't look like they were chatting about the weather...
Matt Rendell and Chris Boardman doing some calculations about the cutoff time - if the current speeds (44kph) are maintained, the cutoff time will be 16m37secs after the winner finishes. IF the group who would be excluded are so large as to make the commissaires decide to waive the rule, then anyone within the re-instated group will LOSE all the points in the various sub-coipas (KOM, green jersey). Gets interesting, doesn't it...
I was at the start this morning. In the official village.
They said the wind will be a big factor today.
natrix
When Yates was awarded the Yellow Jersey, the ITV4 commentators noted taht he had previously suffered from a commisaires decision. Does anybody know what incident they were referring to???
He was first on the Ventoux stage where Froome hit the motorbike. He'd been awarded yellow as winner, then the decision was reversed after an appeal from Sky. And, of course, the collapsing flamme rouge stopped him a few years ago when he was clear in the lead
Lead group now have 4 minutes on the second group with Sam Bennet and over 7 on the group with Ewan et al, so Bora have taken a break from pushing the pace. Thomas de Gendt has taken advantage of this to ride off the front and curently has 8 seconds. Can't see Bora letting him go as Sagan will want as many points as possible so will be contesting the finish, I bet
Loving that Thomas De Gendt has done a Thomas De Gendt, pulled his radio out and buggered off on a full blown solo attack 😅😅
de gendts' folly ?
comentators have it ...."the last 40k will be fast for a solo break because of the tail wint ....and of course because its Thomas DE gendt. "
Im rooting for him simply because i called him as road captain in my TDF fantasy team for today .....
gc teams are turning up the gas
Cross winds coming up? Rowe in particular has a nose for these things and keeping his leader out of trouble.
rowe is in group 2(once de ghent is gobbled up)
odious full gas
Boom, and the whole thing is blown apart
Ooh, this has suddenly got very frantic! Good to see Yates still up there in the front.
don't want a mechanical! (end of any gc hopes at this pace)
the unpredictability of the wind makes it more exciting than the (predictable) climbs nowadays
NBT, thanks for that
Rowe did enough to set it up. Landa still doesn't understand cross winds does he? Flattering to deceive as a team leader again.
Love a cross wind stage!
Rowe did enough to set it up
Rowe is minutes back, it was DvB and Kwiato for Ineos.
I get once a gap opens it's very hard to close, but why does it continue to increase as much as it does? All the teams have big diesels, why is the lead group maintaining a faster speed than the followers? Is it a genuine difference in class, or the psychology of the lead group being up to work together vs the 2nd/3rd groups under the pump?
Love a cross wind stage!
Watching the GOOD teams ride it is incredible and - as mentioned above - there are always a few riders who simply have no idea of how to ride it. Yates is doing really well - sort of freelancing things a bit but staying calm. All he needs to do is finish safely in this group and yellow is safe for another day.
Watching the GOOD teams ride it is incredible
it's usually quickstep!
LOL at Astana edf and french team sticking it to odious now 😀
Rowe is minutes back, it was DvB and Kwiato for Ineos
Apols. Trying to work at same time but this is proving distracting.
I get once a gap opens it’s very hard to close, but why does it continue to increase as much as it does? All the teams have big diesels, why is the lead group maintaining a faster speed than the followers? Is it a genuine difference in class, or the psychology of the lead group being up to work together vs the 2nd/3rd groups under the pump?
Mix of factors. Quite often, the group behind is comprised of domestiques etc who have an interest in NOT closing things down because their team leaders are up the front and opening up a gap so the chase is disrupted just enough to make it very difficult. Conversely, the front group will put aside any differences for a while and work together to stay away, they know the damage being inflicted on everyone behind them and you end up with 30 riders smashing it together at the front vs 30 riders behind only half of whom are working.
The speed is the main one - when you're on the limit at 60kph in the front group, you're on the limit at 60kph in the 2nd / 3rd groups too and it will simply never close.
Plus the psychological matter of seeing half the race disappear up the road in front of you. Been there, done that and it's very demoralising!
Thanks CrazyLegs
The speed is the main one – when you’re on the limit at 60kph in the front group, you’re on the limit at 60kph in the 2nd / 3rd groups too and it will simply never close.
That would hold a gaps at 10-15s maybe, but it is now 1.17 which is 1250m at this speed. The front group has done this last 20km 5% faster than the followers. That's a lot in elite sport
...anyway, buckle up
Quality finish
Sagan didn't even place :/
What was Wout van Aert and Jumbo-Visma doing during Lockdown? Seemingly miles ahead of everyone at the minute. Cracking stage, feel for Richard Camping Gaz with his mechanical.
Superb finish. Was expecting a big crash with a mix of sprinters and non sprinters in the front group but everyone safely over the line.
Another day in yellow then....
That was a brilliant race from start to finish.
Conversely, the front group will put aside any differences for a while and work together to stay away
Partly that, but also because it's just not possible to hide in the wheels when an echelon forms like that, you're either working flat out just to stay in it or you're gone. Almost like it has a life of its own.
I love the excitement in Millar's voice when that situation is about to happen, he sees it coming. Brilliant awareness from both Alaphillipe and Yates - Ala looking to see where Yates was and sensing the chance to attack him, Yates for clocking it in time and moving up out of danger.
I'd take a tail/crosswind stage like that ahead of a queen mountain stage any day of the week. Big stuff will always happen and when it does happen, it happens really quickly! Pogacar must be like WTF?
Pinot, Barguil and Bardet all finished in the front group.... i'm speechless!
I think crazylegs did a good job of describing the echelons - the point about team mates in group 2 taking softer pulls being the most important I think. Also, you have to be really good to get in the front group so it's always folk with good legs driving that pace.
Another great win by WvA today. It almost looked like he'd teleported into place for the finale in time to nip past everyone.
Got to feel for Pogacar and Landa a little bit, they were both in the yellow jersey group and got knocked to the back of it by puncture/crash, respectively just before the cross winds came.
Pogacar punctured on the big climb with about 15km to go yesterday too. Who are UAE's tyre supplier?
Who are UAE’s tyre supplier?
Vittoria. Those Corsas can be a little delicate I guess.
What was Wout van Aert and Jumbo-Visma doing during Lockdown?
pilates, lots and lots of pilates
whatever it is, they've got someone who one day is pulling as a mountain domestique, then winning bunch sprints,
time for a thought from Viviani from last year
[url= https://i.ibb.co/gmqPQVr/v-M1p-GHg-Ncy-CZZeu4au-Hi-Qh-NWfzv-U7dz-Mb-AJw-Sw6-Ga9xqe3s-PQo-Pq-Ys-HDZav-Bqx-UZGLen-SQL23-Cxut-MC.jp g" target="_blank">https://i.ibb.co/gmqPQVr/v-M1p-GHg-Ncy-CZZeu4au-Hi-Qh-NWfzv-U7dz-Mb-AJw-Sw6-Ga9xqe3s-PQo-Pq-Ys-HDZav-Bqx-UZGLen-SQL23-Cxut-MC.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= https://imgbb.com/ ]how to add images to photos[/url]
In an effort to maintain my 100% effort of being totally and utterly wrong, I would like to call massive time gaps today thanks to a cross wind, as per twitter – but I don’t actually think that will happen. I don’t think we’ll get the winds at all and it will be a bunch sprint won by Cees Bol from Caleb Ewen, with Sagan well down the pecking order
One out of about five predictions! But the most interesting... I thought Sagan had pulled a blinder but the gods seem against him this time.
Clearly a sprint stage, and one I’m not too bothered to be missing as I’ll be at the pool.
How was your swim?
I thought Sagan had pulled a blinder but the gods seem against him this time.
Well not really. He did very well out of the intermediate sprint and got the jersey back. Admittedly he would have wanted more from the stage finish but I would say that was his fault, not the gods. He should have stayed on Wout's wheel and just aimed to be in the top 5.
You've got to love the Tour. Days that look good on paper turn into a snooze-fest. Days that look like you can give them a miss turn out to be dramatic from start to finish.
I wonder what the mood is like on the Bora bus? On the one hand they lit up the race and got lots of exposure, which is their job. On the other hand Sagan was pipped to the line in the intermediate sprint and made a pigs ear of the finish. Not a great way to reward your team for burying themselves all day. Still, he's back in green. Let's see if he can defend it.
Apparently his chain jumped a gear.
Belgiums riders were allowed to train in the lock down as long as they stayed within a limited distance from their house.
Lots of talks of AlA team making a deliberate mistake to loose the jersey, so they don't have to control the race. Something planned for the third week.
You know something's happened to Sagan when Bernal outsprints him on a flat finish.
1
Wout van Aert (Bel) Team Jumbo-Visma 03:32:03
2
Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) NTT Pro Cycling
3
Bryan Coquard (Fra) B&B Hotels-Vital Concept
4
Christophe Laporte (Fra) Cofidis
5
Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo
6
Clement Venturini (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale
7
Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Israel Start-Up Nation
8
Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
9
Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott
10
Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
Decided to go for a ride rather than watch live so I'm thankful for ITV4 Highlights. What a stage and what a win by Wout. He's looks to have lost a lot of weight but not any speed. And top marks to whoever picked Talking Heads to play out the show.
You know something’s happened to Sagan when Bernal outsprints him on a flat finish.
He and Alaphillipe had a minor coming together didn't they?
According to the highlights, Sagan's chain came off about 100m from the finish, don't think he collided with Alaphillipe, JA bumped Coquard or vice versa.
He and Alaphillipe had a minor coming together didn’t they?
Sagan bumped into Hugo Hoffstetter (ISN) and Alaphillipe bumped into Jasper Stuyven (Trek).
And top marks to whoever picked Talking Heads to play out the show.
The person (people?) choosing the music for the TdF highlights makes some good choices. They always play this if bardet wins:
So is Whitey going to instruct Yates to loose some time so he can race for the stage? Or is Yates going to go for broke in the Pyrenees?
What was Wout van Aert and Jumbo-Visma doing during Lockdown?
Training in Aderlass?
So is Whitey going to instruct Yates to loose some time so he can race for the stage? Or is Yates going to go for broke in the Pyrenees?
He seems to have settled into yellow pretty well. Not got the strongest team around him for sure but he's a decent "freelancer" in the bunch plus yellow always gives you that extra respect and leeway.
He's an awesome descender as well so Pyrenees should suit him assuming he doesn't have a bad day.
And besides, there's a decent financial bonus every day for each jersey holder! I reckon he'll look to keep it at least til the first rest day.
@crazy-legs yeah I think his descending should see him in yellow for the next couple of days.
Mitch Docker had JV on Life in the Peloton. Interesting hearing him talk about the financial implications of winning.
What was Wout van Aert and Jumbo-Visma doing during Lockdown?
Big rides.
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/wout-van-aert-completes-320km-dirty-kanzelled-gravel-ride/
@theotherjonv - good excerpt here from David Millar's book about racing in crosswinds.
https://chpt3.com/blogs/journal/crosswind-chaos
So is Whitey going to instruct Yates to loose some time so he can race for the stage? Or is Yates going to go for broke in the Pyrenees?
Chris Boardman has suggested he might have to give up on stage wins and settle for the consolation of winning the race.
@slowoldman aye and what a shame that would be 😂
Just wonder how much help Ineos will provide if that does happen? Today’s stage should give an indication.
@crazy-legs - ta, good read that.
Reminds me of rugby at school. The main pitch was a beautiful, wide, flat thing but the second pitch was one of those toss up to defend the shallow end sorts in the wet. The PE teacher would line us all up on the dead ball line at the bottom of the hill, and stand under the posts 15m away. Then on the signal he'd tear off backwards up the hill.
We had to run to him, tag him, and then jog back. It was as Millar says, double or down. If you go full gas you risk being tripped in the melee and / or blowing up before getting to him. Go hard but not full and you'd be running hard for 50 or 60m each time. Go easy and you'd be doing full pitch doggies.
Not great for an aspiring 2nd rower.