TDF 2024 general chat *CONTAINS SPOILERS*

An interesting and highly objective review of the TT helmets over at escape collective https://escapecollective.com/tour-de-france-time-trial-helmets-ranked-by-how-little-i-would-like-to-be-in-them/

Liked the article but if the photo next to the piece is the author, … ;-)

(even with the full enormity of their hair”style” cropped out of shot)

looks much like here damp and miserable

? Étape pluvieuse, étape heureuse ?

La pluie c’est en tout cas le thème du jour au départ de Semur-en-Auxois !

?️ @bleubourgogne en direct jusqu’à midi ?#FBsport #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/NuTdxanwch

— France Bleu Bourgogne (@bleubourgogne) July 6, 2024

why don’t teams have custom doors for the mechanics these days ?

wout mobbed @ the finish yesterday

Today looks like it might be deceptively hard.  There was a time when I’d unquestioningly go along with the ‘break or sprint’ narrative. With todays GC guys* I can’t expel the thought that there might be some SHENANEGANS today.

*I mostly mean tadej

Thing is, he doesn’t need to do anything at all – especially not on a stage like this where it’d be possible to pull moves back if you put the whole team to work. It’s a tough stage but it’s more a “soften the legs of the sprinters” effect than a day where the GC can be made or broken.

The last couple of sprint stages have been a bit dull without a breakaway to liven things up so maybe today is just about hard enough for a few riders to nip up the road. It’s the kind of stage that would suit the likes of Magnus Cort, Søren Kragh Andersen and Matej Mohoric for a decent long-lived breakaway.

missed this one (oh I remember hamster day) a Cav “OK Dad” Selfie from thursdays start ;)

? Selfie courtesy of the one and only, @MarkCavendish #TDF2024 pic.twitter.com/wZKil12l0u

— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 4, 2024

why don’t teams have custom doors for the mechanics these days ?

You’re not allowed to lean out and fix bikes on the move any more. Partly because it was a very common trick for a rider in distress to fake a mechanical, drop back to the team car and hang on for a bit while the mechanic waved the magic spanner around pretending to fix things – usually, in an incredible coincidence, managing to “fix” it just as the tough climb was coming to an end!

And partly, safety – stuff getting dropped, tangled in the bike etc.

Besides, modern road bikes can’t be fixed that way; everything is integrated, the gears need to be put into adjustment mode etc. Easier and quicker to just change the bike.

You’re not allowed to lean out and fix bikes on the move any more.

eh ? seen it more than once on this edition :?

https://x.com/LidlTrek/status/1809517090379809091?t=fq4SwCQHmdX5rkR6gMN3uA&s=19

Mads Pedersen is out.

making a day of it

looks like it’s going to be very wet for most of the day

Oh No! Poor Mads. It could have been much worse if the Bunnyhopping incident hadn’t come off. Mads is one of the best riders in my Velogames team, so sad to lose him.

There’s been a lot of laughing at the TT helmets, but having spent two hours peaking through the top of the original Aerohead visor on Sunday, I’d rather like to try the new one when it becomes available. The front on shots show really very excellent visibility. Ask Stefan Kung why that might be helpful! Given the rest of the attire (skin suit, calf socks, undergarment…), it’s a small sartorial step.

Interestingly, testing shows limited differences between helmets that can be very position-dependent. Getting the head out of the wind lends to wider helmets at the base to spread the wind around the shoulders. That said, I’m not wearing a POC. I have my standards :D

And Bernard was 61st yesterday, perhaps I should stop mid-race for a kiss as well, seems to work on a negative split.

The julien bernard fine is just silly.  It completely spoils what was otherwise a very joyful moment in an already joyful tour.  Loving the Magnus Cort response

What a joke. I guess I was lucky when they missed me a couple of days ago ? pic.twitter.com/4bHfxCPeyr

— Magnus Cort (@MagnusCort) July 5, 2024

I think the fine was because it was a TIME TRIAL, so go as fast as you can. And hence stopping is bringing the race into disrepute. Not a lot different to a bike change though to be honest. That he was mid-pack despite stopping did not seem to register with the UCI – he wasn’t troubling the time cut. There is a long tradition of sending local riders off the front of the peloton to enjoy their fans when they ride through their locale.  Just not in TT’s. I thought it was fabulous, personally.

remco selfie

could be in Yorkshire !

https://x.com/Stroppa_Del/status/1809555669567086726

All kicking off as the climbs start – good little break from EF up the road and then a couple of other EF riders tried to bridge but only succeeded in waking up the peloton. Counter attacks flying!

lovely traction avant parked on someones drive :)

also this

https://x.com/eurosport/status/1809576138215174147

Like a lot of UCI rules and regulations the one about mechanics on the move was often ignored, however, they are supposed to be clamping down on it more (although it onl applies to the bike, a mechanic can still lean out of the window to adjust a riders cleats), discussion by inner ring here: https://inrng.com/2015/03/no-more-mechanics-on-the-move/

see Sam Bennett just voided the frame warranty :D

This has got very fast and slightly nervy – through narrow towns on wet roads, everyone fighting for position amidst the threat of crashes and crosswinds, Pogacar slightly isolated, splits appearing in the peloton.

Gap to the lone breakaway (Abrahamsen) falling rapidly now, just coming up to 25km to go.

the UAE enve wheels look fab @ speed!

Philipsen pipped at the post again. Excellent :-)

Great to see Girmay doing so well. WvA looks a shadow of his usual self, really hasn’t recovered from his crash seemingly. He’d have been a favourite for today in years gone by.

Is WvA just working solely for Vingegaard?

Agree about Girmay, he’s been knocking on the door of being a truly top notch sprinter for a couple of years now but what he’s doing will be huge for the sport. Plus he’s a thoroughly likeable guy and it’s great to see the team fully behind him.

Not sure what happened with EF’s tactics today. Looked good for a bit then kind of shot themselves in the foot and then the last effort fell very short of the mark. Loved the rather “WTF?” look that WvA gave the last EF rider who tried to split the bunch through town only for to be stamped out like a damp squib.

WvA and the whole Visma team have been dealt one blow after another this season. They just seem like any middle ranking team just now. But at least they aren’t competing with UAE as the peloton’s ugliest team – really – were they all hired with jug ears to provide maximum wind protection for Pog ??

Shallow? Moi??

Gravel stage tomorrow!!

https://www.rouleur.cc/blogs/the-rouleur-journal/the-making-of-the-tours-first-gravel-stage

the parkour

Terrible news from the Tour of Austria. :-(

https://x.com/TeamCoopRepsol/status/1809623361225474555?t=tjgPuLvVdn4WjHrMH5wX5A&s=19

never strays far

quite rough in places

this is going to be mental tomorrow looking how narrow the sections are if you have a mechanical and don’t have a team mates bike to take you’re going to be **** because the team car aint getting to you. Think I’d be using team motorcycles :?

another section close to the finish

might be some nettle rash in the peloton

As an aside from all the racing, I have to say the caravan is coming up top tat this year. Here’s todays haul, including 11 hats (after we gave some away), drinks, socks, 3 t-shirts, 6 sleep masks, Sweatbands, olive oil, mini sausages, haribo, multiple keyrings.  Cos that’s what it’s all about really ?

Given the rain we had near Dijon today, the gravel could be quite sticky up at Troyes tomorrow. I’ll be riding a few bits (on my road bike!) Before the race comes through. Hopefully no punctures as I’ve got a chunnel to catch later!

Marked contrast today huddling out of torrential rain waiting for the race to come through, after yesterday getting close to heatstroke watching the TT for 5 hours. Makes me appreciate just what the riders are subjected to re weather conditions, 30c last week compared to soaking 14c today. Throw in a bit of cyclo-cross tomorrow. As if it wasn’t tough enough!

Ahem, @klunk may i suggest you check your autocorrect, parkour is running up walls and stuff, parcours is french for “race route”

why don’t teams have custom doors for the mechanics these days ?

Climate change?

Terrible news from the Tour of Austria. ?

Indeed, this has affected me a fair bit as I have a mate still in hospital unable to talk after a crash on our ride Saturday….cycling isn’t dangerous until it is and then it can be very dangerous….?