Haha. He won it to bits.

Well I’m very late to this one. Been in the Highlands since Sunday so managed to miss the last stage despite my best efforts. What a tour that turned out to be . People will say Nibali wouldn’t have won if Contador/Froome had been there, he is obviously doping bla bla bla. But he was strong and strong enough to beat everyone including them in my opinion. A well deserved win. Also good to see smaller teams doing well and getting on the podium and youger riders coming through strong to take the place of older riders like Jens. Ah Jens.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially stage five which was epic and imo will go down in history.

I’ll join everyone else in saying a massive thank you to realman. Really good job. A vuelta thread would be absolutely brilliant.

Can’t believe Sagan came down. He looked completely forlorn wandering around in the road. I don’t think it was his anyway. Can’t imagine him winning on the Champs Elysees. But still greens a good result.

Well timed by Navardauskas.

He certainly seemed to rule out any further grand tours which is understandable and predictable. Clearly not happy with the “cut-throat” nature of road racing. Fair enough really.

Good stage today. Nibali was disgustingly strong again. Glad to see Valverde suffering but not enough to loose his podium place. The rest of the top gc blokes are putting on a good show. Be interesting to see if any of the sprinters were out of time.

Looking forward to tomorrow.

As much as I want Nibali to win i’d like him to have a least one bad day. Pinot and Bardet have spiced things up now and Valverde has been boring as hell and is still in second. Like others have said i’d happily see him off the podium.

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

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

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

Well I’m pissed off. Everything today has put me back. Spent most of the day on the phone to customers who seem to just want to chat. So I’ve been behind all day. Needed to ride my bike this afternoon because I cant tomorrow. No problem, I’ll rewind on eurosport player when I get back. But no. It wasnt having it. I managed to see Nibali cross the line and ruined it for myself. And now they’re all dopers again.

So nothing important happened right?

I believe everybody is wearing one of these now.

Do you have a link a a?

I was wondering about this recently. They must be fairly convinced as they’ve given him 2 years. Be nice to know the details though.

Did he leave it too late or does he just not have enough speed ?

Maybe. He admits in the interview below his legs are tired and he wasn’t fast enough. Always the bridesmaid.

http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/dailymotion/?title=Peter+Sagan+Post+Stage+12&dashboard=tour-de-france&id=x21nbzt&yr=2014

He left it too late. Unbelievable.

Unfortunate for Talansky. At the same time Talansky was suffering out the back Garmin were pushing at the front trying to move Slagter up. So it looks like they had written him off at that point. So why encourage him back onto his bike just to suffer.

As far as today goes it looks like a re-run of yesterday to me. So I’ll say Sagan for the win with the same faces, Kwaitkowski, Degenkolb, Gerrans and Gallopin. Can’t see Kittel being there as Cannondale will be pushing hard over the last two climbs to bring the break back. Maybe Griepel can hang on as well.

Yes. Kwaitkowski is now Sagan’s Sagan to Cancellara. Eh?

Well I know someone up there said it was a pointless attack but that was a brilliant finish. Nibali again in the front runners but no cigar for Sagan.

A really good last 10km.

Can’t see the point of Gallopin attacking there unless it to get some space for the descent.

This must be Sagan’s.

Just joined. Whats happened to Talansky? Is Sagan still in the peloton?

Kwiatkowski is definately a rider for the future. Brilliant performance this year at only 24(?). A good all rounder with a good sprint. Seems to be lots of younger guys making their way up this year.

I was a bit shocked by Contadors crash on stage ten and it wasn’t until I’d seen the rider interviews afterwards that I realised how tough the day was. Talansky was ready to drop and both him and Horner had no idea Contador was out. But Nibali still looked fresh. I hope the other GC boys will have a good go at the top spot but he is comfortable there. He may have an easy ride but it only takes one bad day, and still eleven stages to go.

As for today surely it must be Sagans day. How is Degenkolb’s injury? The hills may be a bit too much for him. I seem to be becoming an Orica Greenedge fan this year so I’d like to see Albisini or Gerrans do something.

Not seen too much of Cancellara over the last week. Can’t remember the last time he finished tdf. Think it gets too “hilly” for him.

Suppose this needs posting at some point.
http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/gazzetta/?title=Peter+Sagan%27s+no+handed+uphill+wheelie+at+the+end+of+Stage+10&dashboard=tour-de-france&id=348d821c-0c30-11e4-b318-4337ccdac59b&yr=2014

My favourite crash has to be Scarponi yesterday and then what seemed to be seconds later back on the front towing Nibali. Class.

I read somewhere last night that they had been warned that it was a bumpy potholed road and to take it easy. This may explain why he was out of the saddle. Also riders do tend to get pissed off by people moving up the outside and trying to get into the line.

Either way he’s out and we’ve most probably missed out on a good battle between him and Nibali. Nibali has definately been the strongest so far. But it’s barely started. It’s been bonkers. It always is. Eleven stages to go. Vive le Tour.

Also can I be the first to blame Thatcher.

There was an incident a few minutes earlier where a saxo tinkoff riders bike was lying on the left hand side of the road and he was stood on the right hand side of the road. I think it was Nikki Roche but the pictures were fairly poor with the weather at that point.
There were tons of photographers at the scene. It’s going to be fairly hard to lie about it.

hear the cheat Contador is out. Struggling to ride clean hey

No. It was beef on the road apparently. Keep up.

There goes Gee. Chapeau to the fella really. Good rounded rider.

I just had a look back and the group definately eased up for a while after Contador crashed. They where at 4;28 from the lead group increasing to 5:11. Also I thought I heard Sean Kelly saying that when the weather’s like this beef can wash onto the road. Not sure though.

Should be good today. Like normal i’ve got far too much to do to sit around watching bike races so thats me behind with work again. I wonder about Peurito. He did stretch his legs yesterday but i’d still question his form at this stage. But he’s obviously feeling more comfortable.

Peirre Rolland got some time back yesterday and I think he should be up in this one. Valverde has been keeping a low profile but I think the day looks good for Contador and hopefully Porte not too far away.

he often holds his form towards the end of a tour much better than others.

Yes. He’s also often fairly good after rest days.

Ok, VCL won’t play it and Handbrake can’t see it. Looks like this has had it. Thanks for the replies chaps.

Well look at that top ten. It’s all worked out perfecly.

Bit disappointed with Valverde yesterday. But impressed with Porte. He could well sneak in there. Should be a good shake up over the next two days.

Talansky cant still be blaming Gerrans for that. The reason Gerrans dives right is because Talansky’s ridden into his back wheel.

That first climb is really going to sort the bunch out. Contador will attack on the last climb. Valverde will win the small bunch sprint. No change over GC.

Or an early break will stay awy with god knows who in it. Albisini?

This is worth a look at. No overhead of the crash but good analysis and slo-mo.

http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/nbcsports3/?title=Replay+and+Analysis+of+the+Stage+7+finish&dashboard=tour-de-france&id=WyuhP4jnFAJf&yr=2014

http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/nbcsports3/?title=Andrew+Talansky+goes+down+in+the+final+100m+of+Stage+7&dashboard=tour-de-france&id=Z8hVwY7gOuJ5&yr=2014

Its just like Gerrans to apologise nice bloke that he is. He did come off his line which is technically against the rules. But its a sprint finish. These thing happen.

How many crashes? Can’t believe Sagan didn’t get it. Garmin are blaming Gerrans for that crash and dont seem happy. Gerrans did come across him but Talansky was looking the other way.

There’s always tomorrow..

No chance 🙂

I wonder if the the GC boys will keep their heads down today and rest up for the weekend. May be an opportunity for Nibali to get rid of the yellow jersey before the big stuff.

This has got to be Sagan’s. Short punchy climbs, descent then slightly uphill finish. Cannondale will control an early break. Sagan will attack with Nibali on the last climb, smash the descent, Sagan sprinting to glorious victory.

Once the dust settles they’ll be glad they were there. A classic stage in my opinion.

Didn’t Kittel puncture?

Greipal wins at last. I’d almost forgotten he was a sprinter.