The English adventure is over. The Tour reaches French soil with a stage which will take the peloton from Le Touquet-Paris-Plage to Lille. Truth be told, I think the sprinters will manage to lock down the race. This is one of the trends in modern cycling, even if we, as the organisers, would rather see more hectic racing. Nevertheless, riders at the top of the general classification will have to pull out all the stops to defend their position, which will determine the place for each team car behind the peloton in the next stage. The importance of this order will become apparent the moment a rider has a mechanical on the 15.4 km of cobblestones.

Another big sprint yesterday, with no one being able to match Kittel. I think all the flat stages are his to lose now, with the only one who possibly has a chance to take them being Sagan. Coquard has been going well but I think is lacking experience, and Greipel just isn’t having a good time.

Another great backstage pass by OGE..

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyrXjhuuyP8[/video]

Final 5km Stage 3 (in Italian unfortunately)

Le Grande Ben?

Photos from stage 3.

Could see a break get away today, there’s already loads of riders over 10 minutes down on the GC. However I’m gonna say Giant-Shimano will chase it down, and Kittel will get another win.

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.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/the-weird-and-the-wonderful-gallery-21-days-of-tour-tech-41643/ – dropper posts, hoodless shifters, lead weights, and those awesome bottle gilets

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/shoulder-surgery-for-cavendish-after-tour-de-france-crash – nasty, really hope he heals up soon

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/gallery-crowds-swarm-stage-3-at-the-tour-de-france – 5 million over 3 stages!

3rd time’s the charm

Dont think that slightly slopy finish is perfect for Kittel. But who else. I though Griepel had found some form this year but it appears not. Kittel it is then. Gc boys are going to need to be there so it looking like a hectic finish.

Hope everyone made it.

hoodless shifters

😯 WTF does that offer ?

Really hard to see past Kittel, he’s head and shoulders above everyone else, sagan for 2nd, Demand 3rd. Some crazy Frenchie to launch a break from the flag, LTB to be sent to the front for the day before Griepel bottles the finish again.

Just wanted to say thanks for these RealMan, brilliant daily summary. Cheers

Quick repeat o my question on yesterdays thread – where can I download a HD quality highlight reel especially of the section coming into the turn at the palace, and/or any good stills photos sites ? Trying to spot ourselves 😳

cyclingtorrents.nl

mornin’, checking in.

wish I could get this thread squirted into Twitter would save a lot of Ctrl-R

yeah I know there is probably a way with RSS.

Dropper post.. more aero on descents innit. Good idea.

No one seems to be able to get anywhere near Kittel at the moment. Sagan looked to have his wheel yesterday but jus didn’t have the power. Where are Greipel and Demare? Lotto Belisol seem to be doing a lot of work at the front for nothing, and I wonder if FDJ are regretting not brining Bouhani who at least looked to be on confident form.

Edit: oh and anyone know if Eurosport will be adding these stages to its on demand content? Not there yet. They didn’t have the dauphine either, wonder if that’s some ASO restriction?

Dropper post.. more aero on descents innit. Good idea.

yeah since they have weight in hand to ‘spend’, why not? faster & safer.

I’d guess that the dropper, being only 1cm, is more a flat/climbing pedalling position thing than for descents. 1cm drop isn’t going to make much difference descending, and they mostly just get over the bars and onto the top tube anyway.

Change saddle height between flat and climbing? Can’t see that – any references to support there’s a good reason for doing this?

I guess some would far prefer to descend on the saddle, and shift their weight back a bit, so for descending I think.

would save a lot of Ctrl-R

Just hit F5 instead

I think with the dropper that at the moment they tend to sit on top tube when descending and trying to get aero as possible, wonder if being able to drop saddle slightly means they can stay over the saddle instead and not worry about having to snag shorts getting back on saddle and having more control over the bike over the saddle instead of over top tube??

1cm drop is going to make bugger all difference when descending.

Change saddle height between flat and climbing?

I believe Basso had a similar setup a few years ago. Some riders just prefer the saddle a little lower when powering along on the flats, lets them get more power down.

hoodless shifters

😯 WTF does that offer ?

According to the comments on BikeRadar it’s just because Bauke Mollema (Team Belkin) is allergic to rubber. Apparently he also has to remove the leg grippers on his shorts.

I like the highish minimum weight limit. It lets other innovations take place.

I believe Basso had a similar setup a few years ago. Some riders just prefer the saddle a little lower when powering along on the flats, lets them get more power down.

Yeah. Also if you look at how it works, you twist the middle bit and apparently 1 click gives you 1mm of adjustment, within a 20mm range. Not going to be for descending. Be quite handy for position tuning.

Rain today…rain tomorrow over the cobbles.

Carnage

Yeah what the others have said – Basso was the first to do it I think, because he preferred a slightly lower saddle for lower cadence – i.e. climbing. Don’t think he ever actually used it in the tour though.

I think a 2cm drop would make a hell of a difference at least in feel on a road bike for descending, and 1cm would be very noticeable too. Not sure if it would make you any faster though.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-out-of-the-tour-de-france-through-injury

Oh Andy.

good

Another DNF for Andy?! Do feel for the guy.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-out-of-the-tour-de-france-through-injury

Abandy Schleck? no……..

Wasnt this last chance saloon for Mandy, I heard the team management had given him 2 races to prove himself, with the Tour being the second…

Love the video of the guy getting his phone slapped away 😀

Some riders just prefer the saddle a little lower when powering along on the flats, lets them get more power down.

I’ve noticed a lot of roadies have their saddles a bit lower than I would expect from the old ‘leg nearly straight at bottom of revolution’ rule of thumb, is this the reason why?

ouch froome is down !

[quoteLove the video of the guy getting his phone slapped away [/quote]

That lad is apparently a friend of a lad who works for me. Soft get.

I’ve noticed a lot of roadies have their saddles a bit lower than I would expect from the old ‘leg nearly straight at bottom of revolution’ rule of thumb, is this the reason why?

No idea, could be? I was told “as high as you can go before your hips start to rock”. Feels very weird to me if my saddle isn’t as high as it could be.

ouch froome is down !

This never would of happened if Wiggins was riding 😛

It seems ITV have bumped us off HD, so I guess that means over to Eurosport, at least that avoids the Waldorf and Statler shows. Shame as I quite like Imlach/Boardman/Boulting.

Why do Ligget & Sherwin get this gig every year?

Mollema crashed too… Basically everyone I’ve picked for my team can’t seem to stay on their bikes, and we’re only on stage 4.

I’ve noticed a lot of roadies have their saddles a bit lower than I would expect from the old ‘leg nearly straight at bottom of revolution’ rule of thumb, is this the reason why?

Think riders are more inclined to experiment now with things like power meters and wind tunnels at their disposal to find a more optimum position in terms of power generation and aero. A lower saddle position can be more powerful and more aero, especially amongst the riders who put in a lot of time on their TT bikes.

grrrr, pay real money to watch Eurosport on iPad and still have to watch their crappy ads!

Just noticed they’ve put the intermediate at the top of a hill.. Should be straightforward for Sagan.

A penny for Dave Brailsford’s thoughts after Froome went down ? I am sure Froome can see today out but I wonder how tis will affect him mentally for the cobbles tomorrow, supposed to be wet too.

Looks like the guy in front of Froome swerved and took him out.

wet cobbles with a dodgy wrist? recipe for disaster.

And that’s why Wiggins should be in the race.

mattjg – Member
grrrr, pay real money to watch Eurosport on iPad and still have to watch their crappy ads!

I done the same last year, I think the last hour is ad free though.