Come on Chris. Kick em in the balls.
Bardet to split it into the dip?
Ooof!
1.5km to go, this is awesome.
Landa looks like he's working hard for the first time all tour.
Pain face from Landa. 😯
27" for Barguil - enough? I'm not convinced
Someone punch this fat bloke in the face.
Flame Rouge for the GC group, still all together.
Some changes in the top 10 today there, going to be a bit TT for a lot of people
Aaaaaaaaaand... relax.
I need to go for a ride now.
Exciting stuff, if a little predictable.
Been a great Tour for Barguil and Sunweb.
Barguil has been a joy this tour
I really hope Froome doesn't win the yellow without a single stage win. It'll have to be the final TT that he pins his hopes on.
Good stage that, Barguil did brilliantly to time that one
Commentators completely missed Meintjes beating Yates!
For 22"!
Enjoyed that. Yates hung on well and must have secured the white jersey now.
EDIT ARGH missed that - no audio at work! Still hanging on then.
I really hope Froome doesn't win the yellow without a single stage win. It'll have to be the final TT that he pins his hopes on.
He will obviously have to go all-in on the TT. And with that steep climb, it certainly doesn't favour the diesel TT riders who've taken it a bit easier in the last couple of days.
Exciting finish. IMO really shows how the lack of mountain top finishes has detracted from the race. Thats a big contributor the lack of a stage win for Froome too
New GC.
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:large[/img]
Exciting finish. IMo really shows how the lack of mountain top finishes has detracted from the race
It's definitely shaped the race and made the climbs less attacking and more tactical. Things like headwinds on some of the descents haven't helped either.
Froome certainly in with a shout of a win tomorrow. Though didn't see much of Roglic today, resting maybe?
He's got to be the main threat for the stage win tomorrow.
Barguil a very worthy winner of the polka dot jersey this year.
Guessing the TT winner is a game of trying to remember who is still in it!
Froome certainly in with a shout of a win tomorrow.
Really? I think you mean Saturday.
Barguil I'd go for possible rider of the whole race, aggressive, stage wins, a jersey and a top 10, absolute quality. Worth every penny compared to the bore fest Froome and Uran have conjured up.
Worth every penny compared to the bore fest Froome and Uran have conjured up.
The what ? Really ? Have you been watching another race ?
Sir Chris Froome if he makes it?
PS that Warren laddie has been a bit good yes. And won the KoM the way it should be won - mixing it with the GC boys and riding off the front of them rather than going on a long break every day that gets hauled in before the end.
I really don't get the criticism of this edition of the tour or the route. has never been closer at the top
I really don't get the criticism of this edition of the tour or the route. has never been closer at the top
I think that's what's led to some of the criticism and style of racing. Bigger gaps would meant riders could take bigger gambles and make bolder moves. Say if there had been a mid-race ITT of typical length (e.g. 40k). Would have been a very different GC with bigger gaps. Maybe Bardet and Aru at 2 or 3 minutes back. They would have had to go for bigger opportunities more often. Equally it would have meant Froome could risk losing a bit of time and attack further out for stage wins.
It does feel a bit like it's been put together to try and engineer a Bardet win. What's he known for? Good on the steep climbs, a great descender. What's he not so good at, ITT.
If the Tour had 5 HC finishes, Quintana would have skipped the Giro and won at a canter. And I'm sure everyone would have been complaining it was a borefest.
Froome won by 4 minutes last year. I think people would have given their right arm to have the top 3 within 30 seconds with only a 22k hilly TT to go...
...though given some of the crazy rolling stages so far - who knows what might happen tomorrow!!
If the Tour had 5 HC finishes, Quintana would have skipped the Giro and won at a canter.
The Giro had 6 tough summit finishes, he still lost to a TT turned GC rider.
And the Vuelta last year where he was supposedly on top form, he still didn't put enough time into Froome on the climbs to overhaul his big TT deficit and only won due to hanging on to the crazy Contador move on a short lumpy stage. I'm not surprised there's talk of Movistar ditching him.
With twice as much time-trialling as this Tour And probably in part due to having ridden the Tour and Vuelta last year, and knowing he was also aiming for the Tour this year.
People just like to moan about the tour. It's what people do.
The boring stages were the flat ones with the pre-scripted break that's reeled in just in time for a bunch sprint. The mountain stages have had quite a variety and were only boring due to Froome/Sky being too strong for everyone else (though sadly not quite strong enough to win a stage).
I do like flattish lumpy stages with cross winds.
Brittany coast, in fact anywhere from Calais to Bordeaux with plenty of coastal road please
The organisers can make it more exciting with shorter stages...but that's not really what this race is about, much as I don't like watching sky riding their wattbikes, you can't blame them as it wins them races, nice of AGR2 to give them a hand today though. I'm guessing Froome is favourite for the TT.
Even with the little TT there is in this years race it's still probably going to be the deciding factor from the time Froome made in the wet opener to the final one in Marseille other than that it's been a rather dull war of attrition in the mountains and not making any mistakes on the flatter stages. Froome hasn't really been at his stellar best, doing just enough to protect his lead.
It does feel a bit like it's been put together to try and engineer a Bardet win.
That's unfair on Bardet. They've been trying to make sure time trials are less important since Wiggo won it on a flattish route. I think they've done a decent enough job on that but equally agree with comments above that it makes a wild gamble less likely. Next step will be to reduce team size (already happening?) and remove radios and after that ban power meters.
Completely changing it, I remember AG2R being good a few years ago and improving ever since but where did they come from? Was it another team renamed?
I enjoyed watching Barguil take that. What a ride.
I enjoyed watching Barguil take that. What a ride.
Will he ride for Tom Dumoulin next year like that ?
Well Sunweb have an excellent squad, why not...
The problem (actually not really a problem) is that the lone attack way out has failed every time. The tempo that is going on at the head of the peloton is so high that the slow war of attrition wins in the end. If the team at the front (AG2R or Sky, even SunWeb) want to control it they can, full in the knowledge that the guys that they are riding for get the protection and then can try and when the rest of the guys have been dropped with such a high pace.
Some of this is also a product of the cleaner racing as they all know that such monster efforts cannot be sustained. It might appear boring, but it has been so tense to see how everybody fares in the final showdown. As Dan Martin said: "It will be down to who has the least worse day on the tour." I do like Dan Martin and wonder how he would have got on with a team working just for him, but with Kittel on the squad that was never going to happen.
As for tomorrow it is another 222km so it will be monstrously hard day for everybody after today and who knows if anybody will have the energy to try something?
Edit to make some sense.
I think it's clear they need a few more big mountain stages now Bardet is established as a real contender. The drop to 8 riders for next year may help a little but I doubt it.
Tomorrow. Mountains is settled. Green is effectively settled. Yellow and white should be neutralised.
Day for the break finally?
Nah, I reckon the GC teams won't take much of a chance. They'll keep riding hard until the end of tomorrow.
GC teams (well probably just Sky) will ride for the first half to keep it under control. Sprinters teams to haul in the break on the second half - if it was just GC teams riding the break would win, but there are enough sprinters with an interest it probably won't happen. The question is whether Sunweb decide to push hard on one of the climbs to shell out some of the other sprinters, which might change the dynamic a bit.
The drop to 8 riders for next year may help a little but I doubt it.
Sky have effectively ridden with 8 riders anyway. 7 if you factor in that Henao has been a no-show.
IMO, the Tour route should mix it up from year to year. TTT some years. More mountain-top finishes some years. Short uphills other years. More/less ITT Kms. It's all part of the puzzle you have to solve to keep winning.
The question is whether Sunweb decide to push hard on one of the climbs to shell out some of the other sprinters, which might change the dynamic a bit.
I think it may depend on whether Sunweb are content with what they have out of this Tour already. I'm sure they could shell a few people tomorrow if they fancy it, but it's a long stage. Dimension Data haven't got anything yet, so they might fancy thinning things out as well to give EBH a shout. Would Matthews still be motivated to make his eyeballs bleed like he did when he was chasing green?
AG2R being good a few years ago and improving ever since but where did they come from? Was it another team renamed
Wasn't it the credit agricole squad previously?
They've been AG2R for 20 years 😛
IMO, the Tour route should mix it up from year to year.
Dr Hutch jokingly suggested a secret stage where they don't give them the route 😀
Remember the old Casino team....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AG2R_La_Mondiale
Greipel and Lotto Soudal have nothing from this Tour so far. They'll fancy Paris but I'd expect them to make some effort tomorrow too. Greipel should get over those cat 3's.
[quote=matts ]Would Matthews still be motivated to make his eyeballs bleed like he did when he was chasing green?
Interesting question - depends how much rivalry there is between him and Barguil now the latter has matched his number of stage wins (and though it important enough to mention in interviews 😉 ). Tomorrow would seem to give him a better chance than Sunday, as they can shell out some of the big guys.
Dr Hutch jokingly suggested a secret stage where they don't give them the route
A rather excellent idea!
Give them a start location, and nothing more. Then, you could throw a TTT at them, a mountain TT, or even (And I'll love to see this!) a street circuit crit style stage.
Possibly linked to this, I'd like to see a single bike tour. No specialist TT bikes, no specialist climbing bikes. Ride the bike you start with to the finish.
Red Hook is on in London this weekend CFH; fill your boots 🙂
Too many hipster****ty****puffins. 😀
In the rain - that might be good for a chuckle!
Well I'm pleased I booked the day off. A thoroughly entertaining 8 hours of telly. I even felt sufficiently inspired to have a little spin on the road bike afterwards.
They need a cobble stage as well, you forgot the cobbles.
matts - Member
The drop to 8 riders for next year may help a little but I doubt it.
Sky have effectively ridden with 8 riders anyway. 7 if you factor in that Henao has been a no-show.
Is Henao known to be poorly or something? It's one thing for a rider to bomb out of the GC after a terrible day, but a mountain domestique to be out of legs all race seems strange.
Part of me thinks this is one of the tours that could have been, the attrition rate early on has certainly made a difference. The ITT from the get go has made things a bit stale though in the GC battle overall which puts Sky into defense mode from the start. The cricketing analogy being runs on the board are better than what you could do.
The respect yellow rules have come into play more and more which again suits Sky and their ability to control to a point, but the team seems to have had more bad days than usual unless they were saving for week 3.
I wonder how some of the early stages would have gone (like the col du chat) if Froome was not in yellow at that point, no protection, no hand waving just another guy to attack and him needing to actually do some early attacking.
Smaller teams would hurt the likes of Martin more when you have a team that is hoping for top 5 but banking on sprints.
oh and this just popped up in a feed
https://www.strava.com/activities/1093149410
Quite a ride, no HR data though
I thought it was a good stage. Barguil is rider of the tour for me, riding with panache and making things exciting.
While they allegedly had less summit finishes to make it harder for Sky, I actually wonder if they made it easier for them.
I don't know - I think Froome looked like the strongest rider ever since that puncture. The GC were gunning, AG2R had attacked and were pushing hard and Froome managed (with support) to take 50s out of everyone else on that climb. Obviously that didn't add to his lead but it proved the point. He's been tested on the climbs and passed and I'm sure he'd have coped with another few summit finishes.
Since then he hasn't really been tested. He's done enough at every step - in fact at this stage he'd be in with a good shout if he were 30s [i]down[/i] on GC (with a chance of winning a TT with bonus points), but he's 30s up and looking good.
I don't think either Bardet or Uran had any bad luck / mechanicals did they?
I don't think either Bardet or Uran had any bad luck / mechanicals did they?
Apart from Uran managing to win a stage on a singlespeed? That was bloody impressive!
Singlespeed - always in the correct gear 😉
I thought it was a good stage. Barguil is rider of the tour for me, riding with panache and making things exciting.
It's a shame that stage 5 and stage 8n went so badly for him in some respects. It would have been interesting to see what he could have done in the GC. That said, he'd never have been allowed that freedom if he'd been a few mins off the lead so we'd never have seen those rides.
That said, he'd never have been allowed that freedom if he'd been a few mins off the lead so we'd never have seen those rides
He won't be next year.
Possibly linked to this, I'd like to see a single bike tour. No specialist TT bikes, no specialist climbing bikes. Ride the bike you start with to the finish.
I think this is what they are making the women do on La Course
Possibly linked to this, I'd like to see a single bike tour. No specialist TT bikes, no specialist climbing bikes. Ride the bike you start with to the finish.
Make it like real cycling. Carry your own spares and food (stopping at shops is allowable but no "raids"), do own navigation, no stashing rain jackets in team cars.
What else?
Make it like real cycling. Carry your own spares and food (stopping at shops is allowable but no "raids"), do own navigation, no stashing rain jackets in team
Maybe carry all their own spare gear, and a bivi, and on the same bike, carrying spot trackers, make it go from Belgium through many countries to the edge of Europe?
Oh, been done. And it'd be terrible telly - can you imagine OurDavid talking rubbish about tactics all day?
I think this is what they are making the women do on La Course
Is it not just that they have to use road rather than tt bikes on the pursuit stage (ie no tri bars)? Or are they not allowed deep section wheels if they didn't use them on the climb?
Is it not just that they have to use road rather than tt bikes on the pursuit stage (ie no tri bars)? Or are they not allowed deep section wheels if they didn't use them on the climb?
The race rules state they have to use a bike that meets mass start racing regulations. I guess that prevents tri bars and TT specific frames but not aero frames/wheels etc
What else?
Jumpers for goalposts. Hmmm. Yes. Isn't it? Wasn't it?
Is it not just that they have to use road rather than tt bikes on the pursuit stage
How is this going to work? I heard that they get the time gaps from the Izoard stage at the start. I'd expect you'll just get riders forming into small groups rather than a proper pursuit race, unless they ban drafting in some way. Tactics will be all over the place.
That's my understanding. They go off with the deficit from yesterday and first over the line wins. The riders can form a bunch if they want. But obviously it's only 22Km, so if you wait for the group that start up to 2 minutes after AVV (7 of them), then everyone in that group is going to have to work to pull her back. Not forgetting that it isn't a breakaway chancer up the road after 200k, it's the strongest rider from yesterday who's starting fresh.
[quote=mrblobby ]Tactics will be all over the place.
I think that's the whole point. It may be a bit of a damp squib (especially given the gap AVV has), but it could be interesting. Those further back have no real choice but to work in groups to try and catch AVV.
it's the strongest rider from yesterday who's starting fresh.
Strongest climber on a flat course 🙂
Reading some of these comments of a boring race makes me wonder if they are watching the race unfold or if it's the editing of the highlights are marring their view.
Been one of the best tours for action in a while both combative and tactical.
Although the nights I've had to watch the highlights it's looked fairly benign
Even if it doesn't really work out I reckon it's worth it just to try something different, and if it's really bad hopefully they'll change it again next time. Certainly made for an interesting end of the Hammer Series (different again obvs)
That's what my strava looks like.mikewsmith - Memberoh and this just popped up in a feed
https://www.strava.com/activities/1093149410
Quite a ride, no HR data though
...When I accidentally leave it on for the car ride home
[quote=mrblobby ]Strongest climber on a flat course
She's also the Dutch TT champ, and won the TT in the Giro
Ah yes, that is a good point 🙂 I think she's won it the past few years, and it's not like there isn't much competition for the Dutch TT title!