The chance to discuss the outcome, the heroes and villains, the under and the over performers.

On a personal note, please make sure you visit CycltingTips who i got a lot of pics from, INRNG for arguably the most insightful road content on the web and CyclingStage for some good previews on the Grand Tours.

Some pics from yesterday too.

Sad times now, no more tour for a bit.

Thank you for all the daily threads, been one of the first things to look at in the mornings.

So what next?
ineos have got an interesting logistical challenge for next year with 3 grand tour winners.
Will G do the vuelta this year?
and surely France will now be working properly towards a tour win next year (i hope so anyway)

Another note.
the bespoked podcast is really good, and while it is sad to see peter kennaugh not riding he was a damn good addition to the itv team

A few thoughts.

The later arrival in the Champs Elyses made for some beuatiful footage yeterday.

Its a shame that the weather prevneted the last two mountain stages from living up to their billing; but doesnt stop it having bean a great tour.

Thanks lunge for going to the effort.

I also like the cyclingtips podcast; a good bit of half-cut banter and some nice insight

I do wonder if salary caps for a grand tour team is the awy to go. That way an outfit like team inoes could still field A-class teams for the different grand tours but jsut not have all their class riders in one tour. This year it seemed way less of an issue though

Great race, absolutely lit up by Alaphillipe. Kind of understated, but deserved, obviously, win by Bernal in the end.

I started watching the final stage with only a couple of laps to go yesterday, did they give Alaphillipe a run out at the front when they hit the Champs-Elysee?

the bespoked podcast is really good

I keep meaning to try that.

A good Tour, but unfortunately not a great one due to the last few days. Organisers had no choice and I don’t think it effected the overall standings too much, rather it just robbed the audience of the exciting finish.
JA wont get another chance like that, he will not get the free reign he had at the start of this tour again.
G just wasn’t in the same shape this year. Last year he was crushing the best climbers in the world, this year he was only just keeping pace with the second tier. I think Brailsford wants Froome to take another tour to break the record so expect Froome to lead next year and Bernal to take over from there.

Thanks for these threads @lunge.

A great edition of Le Tour. Wondering whether Alaphilippe’s lone break would make it all the way to Paris. It’s been a while since the top five have been so close, usually by halfway there’s significant time gaps that just stretch out over the final week. A pity about the weather messing up the last two stages.

Just listening to the last two bespoked podcasts.

How many Yellow Jerseys does Bernal get? Is it two or three? If its two then he is joint least amount of time in yellow for an overall winner I think. Anyone confirm?

Happy to see Bardet crowned King of the Mountains and Bernal is here to stay, possibly a stronger rider than Froome – and you have to wonder what those injuries have done to him in the long term.

Happy to see Bardet crowned King of the Mountains

As much as I love Bardet, I can’t quite figure out why he deserves the KOM jersey. I guess it’s the competition that has been most affected by the route truncations. A bit of a shame.

Apart from that, what an incredible race. It was almost like watching a bunch of good 1 day classics back-to-back.

Speaking of which I was delighted to read that Alaphillipe isn’t talking about targeting Grand Tours from now on, he’s talking about Tour of Flanders. I’d much rather see him continue to rip races apart than adopt the patient, conservative approach needed for Grand Tours.

Actually, thinking about that, remember how exciting Geraint Thomas was to watch when he was a classics guy?

Bernal has three jerseys. He was bussed to the top of the stage for a very quiet presentation for his first.

I think two questions asked that need an answer: DQS and Bora find themselves as potential serious challengers for GC but both have historically been one day or stage winners. Where will they go next?

Jumbo Visma were the strongest team and didn’t seem to put more than a Tony Martin shaped foot wrong. Were impressive at playing the Ineos tempo game. I think they’ll be stronger next year.

And Then there is Movistar, lowest standard deviation In times, but seriously. What a mess. And all that money and talent.

Oh and more snapped Pinarellos.

Thought it was a great TdF. Shame for Thomas but given last nights interview on ITV4, he done his best this year and he is on the winning team. Pleased for Bernal and Ineos, also really pleased to see that the other teams can take it to them. Maybe next year for a French winner.

Thanks Lunge.

I think Gs form was OK, just Bernal was better in the high stages. I wonder who Ineos will pick to win it next year? If the course is very mountainous then Bernal has a good shout.

Real shame about the weather on the last couple of stages. It ruined Bernal’s win for me. However loved seeing Bernal with his family at the end yesterday, and all the Colombians! I wonder if his bro rides… Great pictures of France as usual but my fave bit is always the camera alongside the sprint to the line 8)

& I usually have a fave bike but nothing stood out this year.

https://www.bikeradar.com/features/pro-bike/tour-de-france-bikes/

Bernal has three jerseys. He was bussed to the top of the stage for a very quiet presentation for his first.

Yes, but only wore it for two days. Does that mean he won with two jerseys or three?

INEOS/Team Sky’s dominance is similar that to Man United in the 90s – a lot of it is psychological, I think many of the other teams are beaten before the racing has already started, even though on paper there isn’t much of a gulf.
The only thing that would change it is if there is a major unexpected problem at INEOS like two riders crashing or one of the other teams signs a rider of the quality of say, ahem, Bernal.

Last day was handled perfectly. Beautiful end to an exciting, if at times frustrating, Tour. Columbian fans were top.

There’s talk of Tom Dumoulin moving to Jumbo Vismo at the end of the season. JV did a pretty good job of matching Ineos on the last few days so it’s possible there’ll be a bit more fireworks next year.

Bernal defended the jersey for two days. So yes he spent only two in yellow.

Thanks to lunge & co for the threads.
Now the dust has settled I think the way it finished was a bit of an anticlimax due to the understandable changes.
Best bits – Simon Yates’ stage wins and Bradley Wiggins as a pundit-clearly a massive cycling fanboy.
Does G Thomas have a chance in Harrogate?
My fave bike was Simon Yates’ stealth Scott.

I think other teams and ASO have a major problem now as it feels like Ineos has a lock on the next decade of Grand Tours with GT winners like Bernal and Carapaz and the new crop of superb riders like Sivakov and Hart. Whatever the course they’ll have an answer.

I do feel for G, I think he may well have put a bit of pressure on Bernal if the last 2 mountain stages had been full length. Saying that, there’s an equal chance that he would have blown up and fallen off the podium.

Feel for George Bennett too, look so strong then got caught up getting bottles and ended up losing loads of time.

Pinot was magnificent, and maybe, just maybe could have won it. Maybe next year…maybe

Geraint was saying that he’d experienced a few lows.
After Geraint’s crash in Tour de Suisse and being taken home it must have affected his performance, the 3 crashes in TdF and the expelling of team capt Luke Rowe, also all clearly had an affect. I believe he can win another grand tour, he’s such a good intelligent rider, calm and had really grown up in the last couple of years. Coming second was still fabulous.

Sad that Dimension Data didn’t take Cav and that they didn’t have the best tour. Edvald as ever did his best.

Gutted for Pinot (I actually shed a tear)

I love watching JA ride, its refreshing.

The Yates twins are going to go far.

The Wellens and de Gendt (one of my all time favourite riders) twins were great to watch.

Up until the weather not playing ball the whole race was exciting and never boring.

Wanty – always in the break.

Congratulations to Bernal, what a fabulous young talent and I too was wondering if Ronald will be as good as his big brother in years to come.

Thanks also to Lunge. I learn new things every year from your threads. x

Ineos has a lock on the next decade of Grand Tours with GT winners like Bernal and Carapaz

Wait till the Yates twins want to come home! Four GT winners in the team next year is an embarrassment of riches.

The problem comes with having so many in the team that some people don’t want to play 2nd fiddle in the TDF so they’re going to have to leave to get leader status if they want the TDF, sure they’ll get the Vuelta or Giro… but will that be enough for them ?

The problem comes with having so many in the team that some people don’t want to play 2nd fiddle in the TDF so they’re going to have to leave to get leader status if they want the TDF,

I’d guess you don’t join Ineos and not know that’s the case. They have Bernal, Thomas, Carapaz next year and Froome already, add in Sivikov, Geoghegan-Hart, Poels, Kwaito maybe and you have some serious grand tour talent.

I still feel that the injuries suffered by Froome will see him out of racing grand tours for more than a year.
If he ends up with vascular necrosis then it will be a long recovery (this because of his hip fracture). Unfortunately no amount of health care or money can prevent this, although the chances are slim.

Brilliant to see Alaphilippe, the course itself and Bernal too, changing the way the race was raced. The most exciting Tour for ages even with the last couple of days. I can only think of one boring sprint stage, everything else buzzed.

Pinot’s implosion was utterly predictable. He’s DNFed in six GTs out of twelve starts, for perspective Thomas, Froome and Nibali have three DNFs each in 12, 15 and 22 grand tours respectively. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a talented rider, but he’s not durable and no-one seems to be helping him address that. Also the emotional meltdown interview after losing that time in the wind seemed self indulgent in a ‘wah, it’s so unfair sort of way’. You can’t imagine Froome doing that.

The immediate assumption that Alaphilippe was doping by a fair number of watchers is a sad comment on where the sport is. Likewise the lazy stereotyped assertions that IneoSky were stifling the race by riding on the front when they clearly weren’t do anything of the sort most of the time.

Still baffled by Movistar who seem more like a loose collection of individuals than a team – I mean, what was Vaverde riding for? Who was the leader? Why did they seemingly intentionally drop Quintana?

Lastly how good is Egan Bernal and what will it do to the way Ineos races GTs over the next few years. Remember watching him attack on the Tour of California last year and just fly, ditto on the ITT at Romandie last year where he was so insanely quick on what was basically a hill climb that a big chunk of the field missed the cut-off. Great to see him unleashed at a GT, is it possible that he’ll also ride the Vuelta? There’s a month to recover and he didn’t look remotely tired in the final week of the Tour. Or G? Wonder if he’s tempted.

Finally and most importantly when will commentators, pundits and podcasters work out that there’s no ‘U’ in Colombia. That second syllable is ‘om’ not ‘um. Just so lazy 🙂

I still feel that the injuries suffered by Froome will see him out of racing grand tours for more than a year.

I think you have to remember that elite athletes not only have access to the best medical care available, they’re also stupidly motivated in a way that normal people aren’t, so they work incredibly hard when it comes to rehab and recovery. When Luke Rowe smashed his leg up jumping into shallow water on his brother’s stag do, he was told that he might never ride a bike again, let alone compete at an elite level. Six months later he was back racing at World Tour level.

I’m not saying that Froome will definitely recover fully, but I don’t think you can judge him by normal standards.

add in Sivikov, Geoghegan-Hart, Poels, Kwaito

I don’t know, but i suspect they are already paid a premium to stay with Sky. Only they know if it’s worth leaving to chase the glory or if paying the mortgage is enough for them.

Porte hasn’t done too well in GTs since he left…

You can’t imagine Froome doing that.

Except for when he spat his dummy and cried about riders attacking him on decent (cant remember the year, 2015?)

I don’t know, but i suspect they are already paid a premium to stay with Sky. Only they know if it’s worth leaving to chase the glory or if paying the mortgage is enough for them.

Sivakov and Tao were joint leaders at the Giro. Bernal, at 22 just won the Tour de France. There’s no obvious leader for the Vuelta this year. Landa had the opportunity to lead the Giro team twice – it’s why they brought him in – but was ill the first year and crashed the second, he was basically unfortunate. There’s this idea that there are no opportunities for young riders at Sky / Ineos, but I’m not sure it actually holds water. Maybe if you only consider the Tour de France, but there’s only ever going to be one winner of that.

The immediate assumption that Alaphilippe was doping by a fair number of watchers is a sad comment on where the sport is. 

More a sad indictment of where some people are 🙁. Vigilance is good, there’ll always be some who try to cheat, but the sport has moved on tremendously. The comments about Allaphilippe from the usual suspects were a real low !!

Except for when he spat his dummy and cried about riders attacking him on decent (cant remember the year, 2015?)

Don’t remember that. I remember him getting angry with other riders, what I found a bit worrying about Pinot was that it bordered a little bit on self pity. To be fair, it did eventually seem to make him ride in quite an angry, passionate way. But my main point, that he doesn’t seem durable enough for three-week races seems reasonable. It’s a shame because he’s such a brilliant climber and appears to be a really nice guy.

I do wonder if salary caps for a grand tour team is the awy to go

I think this needs to happen. Even with Ineos rider issues they could still field a stronger team than others.
It’s clear they are able to buy the TDF.

There’s no obvious leader for the Vuelta this year

Froome

More a sad indictment of where some people are 🙁. Vigilance is good, there’ll always be some who try to cheat, but the sport has moved on tremendously.

…….Nairo knocked a minute off the fastest ever ascent of the Galibier a couple of days after getting dropped on the Tourmalet

Somewhat ironic that Movistar won the team prize when they didn’t seem to ride as a team at all…………….

I thought it was an excellent TdF. Some great stages, great racing, deserving winner.

Actually, thinking about that, remember how exciting Geraint Thomas was to watch when he was a classics guy?

I would love to see G do a full classics season next year.

…….Nairo knocked a minute off the fastest ever ascent of the Galibier a couple of days after getting dropped on the Tourmalet

with a significant tailwind.