A long transition stage to round off the second week of the Tour. It appears unlikely that the sprinters will be thwarted in this majestic finish opposite the Nîmes arena. But you never know… Last year, betting on anything but a mass sprint in Saint-Amand-Montrond seemed lunacy. But then, the wind blew the race apart! Thus, a stage which looked like nothing special went down in history as one of the most thrilling in the last decade. It all goes to show that the outcome of a stage is not cast in stone, so watch out if the oft-present mischievous wind starts to blow…

Pretty solid win from a relatively young rider.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-14/results

And now I’m sure most people would agree with me, Nibali is going to win. It will still be exciting to see Pinot and Bardet fight it out though, they’re very evenly matched, so it might come down to the TT.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-nii7daX_g[/video]

Pre-stage swag contest

Winning ain’t always easy

Photos from stage 14.

Today is tricky. No wind at the moment, but it could change and blow apart like last year. Kittel would be the favourite, but he might be pretty tired from yesterday, so maybe Greipel has another chance.

A few useful links

Live Cycling News Text Updates
Steephill
Official Tour Live Feed App
Classifications
Withdrawals
Fantasy League Standings
Loser League Standings

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nibali-fights-off-probing-questions-and-provocations – sigh…

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/tour-de-france-tech-quivers-of-bikes – quivers you say?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/contador-talks-about-tour-de-france-crash

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-valverde-blames-damaged-gears-for-time-loss-at-risoul – probably the number one excuse in the pro peloton

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FSVLYAri9g[/video]

damaged gears

If I was making a race bike for riding in big groups, I think I might consider adding some sort of mech protector to ward off errant wheels/pedals/acts of a vengeful god Pinot

(mind, I was delighted to see Velverde dropping off the lead)

Kittel.

Then a Pastis.

It’s not just the rain that has picked up at the finish, but the wind is gusting. Barriers have been knocked over and umbrellas turned inside out. We’ve been taking about the difficulties on a bunch sprint in the rain, but it may not even come to that. If the wind stays as it is, we may see some huge splits in the bunch. It could be the opportunity for a brave, plucky rider to sneak a surprise victory.

There’s no reason why Kittel shouldn’t win today. Should be straight forward shouldn’t it?

Sketchy footage today must be the storms in the area.

Kittle for the win today, Jack Bauer should get a jersey just for having the best name!!

Good luck to Sir Bradley Wiggins, who's been training on the track for Team England today ahead of the Commonwealth Games. We'll be supporting all our riders in Glasgow!

Posted by Team INEOS on Sunday, July 20, 2014

Typical comments, but the main question – is he not wearing socks??

It’s getting very interesting…

It looks dodgy as hell. Jack Bauer doing way more work there.

So so close for the breakaway. Involved lots of shouting from the sofa, it didn’t help them.

Jack Bauer in bits there. So close. Real drama in the last few km. Needed that from tdf today.

Harsh very harsh, but just a little bit of manoeuvring for position cost them them the stage win there.

I’ve got Jack Bauer in my fantasy tdf squad. I’m a little hoarse after that.

That was heroic, so close plenty of shouting here too.

Yes, fist shaking in front of the telly here too. Jack Bauer always seems to have bad days…

I’ve got Jack Bauer in my fantasy tdf squad.

Me too. Gutted for him (And me…)

Urgh thought Martin was going to go for it a couple of times there, bloody gutted for the break!

Disappointed to see a Boardman repeat.

Quite a nice quote from Bardet this morning about the battle for the final podium spot…

For now, the final podium isn’t a goal. Firstly I need to gain time my direct rivals because I might lose some time in the time trial. The climbs in the Pyrenees suit me better but I don’t have a particular stage in mind. I’m not fighting against Thibaut [Pinot], he’s a friend of mine! Why not finishing both of us the highest possible…

… though I reckon van Garderen with a good TT is in with a good shout if he can limit his losses in the mountains, which he seems to have managed ok so far.