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Well froome just ate some dirt, it's going to be an exciting finish
Romain Bardet is having the worst possible day in terms of mechanicals. Dropped, chasing back on, punctures again...
Sagan is looking ominous - he's been right there in the front 10 all day. Sky back in control at least temporarily, they've been strong and had fairly minimal bad luck so far.
Oh - as I say that Froome slides off. Tit.
This is compulsive viewing... preventing me from actually gong on my bike!
Is Kwiatkowski back on - he's key to Sky later on in the mountains.
Landa down.
he’s key to Sky later on in the mountains.
Got to get the big guys to the mountains first
Carnage this.
*watches through fingers*
Dear teams,
When riding cobbles, try using 32c tubeless tyres at about 60psi. Then you might be able to go round corners. Also, it'll be a lot less uncomfortable.
You're welcome.
Dear teams,
When riding cobbles, try using 32c tubeless tyres at about 60psi. Then you might be able to go round corners. Also, it’ll be a lot less uncomfortable.
You’re welcome.
I'm sure no one has told them that!!!
You'd think they'd learn after all those times preparing team for Paris Roubaix;).
Having been a victim of dust/cobble/tyre traction failure myself recently, I reckon it must be worse than when its wet. Not sure what tyre or pressure for that.
and the folks on my club run moaned at my route choice as we went up a bit of a dodgy surrey road surface earlier........
we did have one slide out though - on the gravel at the entrance to the Milk Churn cafe at Rudgwick. No damage other than being last in the queue for the cheese on toast..... no mercy shown or waiting at critical points like that.
You’d think they’d learn after all those times preparing team for Paris Roubaix;).
Or as pointed out very few of the GC guys would actually line up for that race
and where the hell did Dan Martin come from there??
True but that's what their mechanics and team mates are for. I was only referring to the tyre comment not their ability to ride the stuff. 3-4 GC riders did venture to the spring classics this year though.
With regards to whether a stage like this has a place in a grand tour, im conflicted.
Sure it can end the hopes of some of the favourites, but is that any different than a time trial ending the chances for bardet or numerous mountain stages that discount half the peleton?
Not crashing is a pretty relevant skill to have after all. I dont see sagan falling off, so is it purely down to luck?
True but that’s what their mechanics and team mates are for
The mechanics are part of the problem. They really hate new technology, they're incredibly conservative. Many are former riders so there's a huge mentality of "well back in my day..." and a lot of them are also very used to routine, they're excellent at quickly cleaning and servicing top end road bikes but when it comes to actually embracing new ideas like disc brakes, tubeless, 1x etc the manufacturers are up against a real brick wall in trying to train them in using it.
Many of the early comments from riders about disc brakes were simply due to them being badly set up, not bled properly and from general bad-mouthing from mechanics about how slow wheel changes would be, how dreadful they would be - the usual traditionalist arguments.
Some of it is driven by sponsors too. Continental are big tyre sponsors and they don't make a tubeless tyre so they'll have been pretty instrumental in holding it all back.
Not crashing is a pretty relevant skill to have after all. I dont see sagan falling off, so is it purely down to luck?
Even up the front some riders are sliding out of corners, if one takes your wheels out your race could be over, you do rely on everybody around you to be staying upright too. Crash on a TT and the car is with you, get a puncture there will be a new bike in seconds.
Yep its a fair point, hence why im conflicted. Same could be said for normal day in the peloton but I agree this has much more potential for carnage.
Tour needs shaking up however, every years its the same. The mountain stages and the tts are pretty much the only stages that count...unless there is a break in the peloton due to wind, flat stages are usually irrelevant.
Great ride from GVA to get out there and hold the Yellow in a really bad day for BMC
BOOM! I called it. Couldn’t be happier for a bloke that’s had a sorry early season 👍💪👍💪👍💪🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊🥊☄️
what a stage!
Good to see Degenkolb get back to winning ways!
I think Richie Porte's turned into the Danny Pedrosa of stage cycling.At the start David Millar compared it to the Grand National,at least no one got shot but I spotted at least one dead Bianchi.
Bardet,talk about doing things the hard way,he's still in it but I imagine that's going to be a tense team debrief...
Not seen the Porte crash yet but he does seem to be in the wrong place at times but how the hell did GT get through without crashing!! Is he saving that for week 3?
To be honest I was expecting Froome to hit the deck,I just didn't expect his team mate to take him out!
Bardet,talk about doing things the hard way,he’s still in it but I imagine that’s going to be a tense team debrief…
Why? He had many punctures and he's gona have to say sorry Ollie you could have wn this one but you saved my ass several times like last year in the echelons. And gonna say to Dillier glad we took you as Ollie's sidekick excellent job boys.
That was a very tense watch. Really pleased nairo made it through, impressive stuff.
Very emotional ending with degenkolb, fantastic win for him. Glad to see him back.
Why?
I should rephrase that,tense in the sense that he'd had so many punctures that he ran out of team members to help him.
Great stage today, Gutted for Porte, hope everyone was all ok inc spectators, as it looked like medics/people were treating someone on the ground/pavement for a bit in the chaos
A great race, a crap stage for the race though, kind of agree with O’Grady there these guys are not the right guys to be racing here. Too many crashes.
I don’t agree at all. The GC is for the best overall rider, if the course includes cobbles then the GC have to be able to ride it. What GC is not is the best climber or TTer, it is (well, should be) as test of all round skill. This is why Porte will never win a grand tour, he can climb with the best and his TT is good too but he can’t descend and his technical skills are poor too. Particularly when compared to Froome or Nibali who are much better rounded riders.
if the course includes cobbles then the GC have to be able to ride it.
They did, they also got taken out by team mates and other riders, got caught up when other riders went down, it was carnage out there and it would be interesting to see what injuries and knocks riders have picked up in exchange for the "Spectacle"
The Porte crash was a big group spill before the first section, the comments were about the number of riders in the field being out of comfort zones and being very nervous about what was about to happen.
Might be an age thing but I don't enjoy watching good riders hit the deck that often in a stage.
The idea of riders being out of their comfort zone means that they are not good all round riders. We are in the age of specialism sadly. Very few all rounders out there really. Could Much of this could be avoided I wonder? Eg those in the break are not surrounded by teams. I wonder how much natural caution causes problems? Far fewer big names going for a break nowadays. All the GC riders lurk together until one can exploit a talent such as TTing or they drop off. First day worth watching really (remember this is about marketing and exposure) and a much better example of good riding.
Why?
I should rephrase that,tense in the sense that he’d had so many punctures that he ran out of team members to help him.
Naessen brought him back after bringing him back several times he punctured himself. What the two movistart riders hadn't been able to bridge as a gap in what was it 20 km or more. He gave the message when bardet was in trouble again that he just had to join the slow blue train(where he wasn't allowed to cooperate before). And whilst we where in the last km he singelhandledly again rectified things and Dragged the sorry asses from bardet and Landa back to the lead bunch. As he brought back Bardet on mur de bretagne. As last year into Rodez he brought him from group three till the lead on his own.
The idea of riders being out of their comfort zone means that they are not good all round riders.
Given you are making a team for a 3 week race with the majority being long flat or mountains very few will be cobble specialists and many will never have ridden them - it's not the top riders that are always the problems, more the 30-40% of others out there. Anyway just my optionon
So
Many
Skinwalls!
😎
Totally gripping viewing! i really enjoyed that. If Porte had lost it on the cobbles and got injured I'd have been gutted. But they hadn't even got there.
If the ASO can bring in a stage that’s 22k hill sprint up gravel, that can leave the cobbles in IMO.
The best stage in ages, there are a lot of Northern European cobble specialists in all the squads, not just for stages like this..
but because they are hard men who drag primadonnas to the line every single bloody day.
This shows respect to all categories of rider from climbers, sprinters, cobble specialists and TTErs alike.
It also shows variety and splendour.
Riders crash because there is more going on other than their own immediate vicinity, Landa crashed taking a sip out of a bottle and he touched wheels with the guy in front... don’t see many on here bemoaning his crash.. just the Porte one.
What the crash did do was let GvA off the leash to ride like a tour leader should, off the bloody front trying for a stage win. Awesome ride by GvA, that man is hard as nails and massively talented. I was never a fan of his because of his old reputation of GregVanWheelsucker of old, that’s not my nickname for him that was one handed to him by a Belgian rider..
By golly they all did well today.
Whats next 🤩🕺🤯
Riders crash because there is more going on other than their own immediate vicinity, Landa crashed taking a sip out of a bottle and he touched wheels with the guy in front… don’t see many on here bemoaning his crash.. just the Porte one.
My concerns were more about the number of them in total, we had nearly all of the GC contenders on the floor at some point, plenty of other riders will be nursing some fairly sore bits in the morning, will see how many don't line up come Tuesday
Great race, delighted for Degenkolb. But I don’t think it belongs on a GT. Sorry classics are classic. But this is too much of a lottery for GC riders. GC riders would not volunteer for Paris Roubaix.
Heal fast Richie. Sounds like a separation if no break.
Some of it is driven by sponsors too. Continental are big tyre sponsors and they don’t make a tubeless tyre so they’ll have been pretty instrumental in holding it all back.
Aren't they all running tubs?
There's a horrible clip out there of Egan Bernal running straight into the back of a BMC team car after it crash brakes. The whole support car / narrow pave roads thing is a mess.
GC riders would not volunteer for Paris Roubaix.
A climber wouldn't volunteer for PR.
A TT specialist wouldn't volunteer for Alpe d'Huez.
A sprinter wouldn't volunteer for the Galibier.
Etc.
If the Tour is to challenge riders, it should do so. Including pavé is just one more challenge, like a sprint, like a TT, like a climb, like a descent, etc.
Cobbles have been in the tour for years, it's part of the history of the tour and of France, keep them in.
Stages like this set it apart from the Giro / Vuelta. Brilliant day. Most of the GC riders bosses it anyway, and it was a spectacle to see.
Wtf is wrong with Richie Porte. Can he ever stay on his bike. Jesus
Wtf is wrong with Richie Porte. Can he ever stay on his bike. Jesus
Anyone got the video of the crash there? All I've seen so far is the afters
Sorry but in this instance I think it is spectacle for spectacle sake. The entire peloton was overly nervous. Porte crashed before the first pave, probably as a result of general sketchiness. I still think it was a great race, but if Bardet had lost three minutes instead of burying himself and burning the runner-up in this year's PR, it would not have been great for the GC.
Sprinters (except Super Mario, of course) don't have any choice but to drag themselves over the Galibier and beat the time cut-off. It's a team sport, and they still get to sprint for Paris glory. They even have go-slow protest days 😀 . I feel the same about the TTT btw. Great spectacle, but can ultimately mar a close race for GC.
Porte crashed before the first pave, probably as a result of general sketchiness.
Yeah still not see if he crashed or just ran into the crash, looked like it was a big group stack trying to get set for the first section
Did any GC contender stay rubber side down today?
Did any GC contender stay rubber side down today?
Nairobi Quintana. Did the ride of his life, stayed in top 20 throughout, hid in the wheels, followed the moves.
Quite surprisingly, Geraint Thomas missed lots of opportunities to crash as well. Valverde got through unscathed as did Nibali. Bardet, I don't think had any crashes but he covered that nicely by simply puncturing 4 times, having 2 bike changes and still managing not to have at working gears for at least some of the race.