Tour de France, 2024 edition

edison · Post by **edison** » Wed Jul 03, 2024 4:44 pm

The way he weaved around there, wheel to wheel then bang

Winstonswhite · Post by **Winstonswhite** » Wed Jul 03, 2024 4:44 pm

I was too distracted by someone bunny hopping a fallen Trek rider!!

Fair play to Cav though, he made it look sooo easy

Pearcey · Post by **Pearcey** » Wed Jul 03, 2024 4:45 pm

What an achievement! Proper legend.

edison · Post by **edison** » Wed Jul 03, 2024 4:51 pm

Winstonswhite wrote: ↑
Wed Jul 03, 2024 4:44 pm
I was too distracted by someone bunny hopping a fallen Trek rider!!

Fair play to Cav though, he made it look sooo easy

Pedersen - looked nasty

Stevie2112 · Post by **Stevie2112** » Wed Jul 03, 2024 5:11 pm

Fantastic achievement for him,it all looked so effortless.

jdrobbo · Post by **jdrobbo** » Wed Jul 03, 2024 7:51 pm

The King

Absolutely
Bloody
Amazing

What a brilliant sportsman

edison · Post by **edison** » Wed Jul 03, 2024 7:55 pm

36 tomorrow?

claret wizard · Post by **claret wizard** » Wed Jul 03, 2024 8:06 pm

Perfect stage for him tomorrow, but maybe that’s what all the other teams thought and he caught them out today. The greatest British Sportsman outside Britain, though he’s done do much to increase the awareness of road cycling here. Incredible achievement, the GOAT.

Firthy · Post by **Firthy** » Wed Jul 03, 2024 10:20 pm

And a manxman at that

Tricky Trevor · Post by **Tricky Trevor** » Sat Jul 06, 2024 9:57 pm

Big stage tomorrow. 14 gravel stages and the top men aren’t happy. A puncture in a bad spot could cost you the Tour.

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burnley007 · Post by **burnley007** » Sat Jul 06, 2024 10:23 pm

Tricky Trevor wrote: ↑
Sat Jul 06, 2024 9:57 pm
Big stage tomorrow. 14 gravel stages and the top men aren’t happy. A puncture in a bad spot could cost you the Tour.
IMG_4254.jpeg

Wout has been waiting for this day, along with Matthew

Tricky Trevor · Post by **Tricky Trevor** » Sat Jul 06, 2024 11:48 pm

burnley007 wrote: ↑
Sat Jul 06, 2024 10:23 pm
Wout has been waiting for this day, along with Matthew

True but both just looking for stage wins. Should be special though.

Stevie2112 · Post by **Stevie2112** » Sun Jul 07, 2024 5:19 pm

Excellent stage on the gravel today,more of a classic than a TDF but still very exciting racing.Excellent victory for Turgis.

jdrobbo · Post by **jdrobbo** » Sun Jul 07, 2024 5:21 pm

An unreal stage. One of the most enjoyable I can recall. A boxing match on bikes.

Cooclaret · Post by **Cooclaret** » Sun Jul 07, 2024 7:59 pm

What a stressful day, and I was just sitting in the garden watching. The DS’s and staff will have to have a very long lay down in the transfer bus after that!

I love the Grand Tours!

Tricky Trevor · Post by **Tricky Trevor** » Sun Jul 07, 2024 8:37 pm

Shame Tom blew it, following Turgis to the right of Gee left him no room to attack. If he’d gone left of Gee he looked to be the quicker. Mad at himself as he slammed his handlebars.

Cooclaret · Post by **Cooclaret** » Sun Jul 07, 2024 9:17 pm

Tricky Trevor wrote: ↑
Sun Jul 07, 2024 8:37 pm
Shame Tom blew it, following Turgis to the right of Gee left him no room to attack. If he’d gone left of Gee he looked to be the quicker. Mad at himself as he slammed his handlebars.

Have you seen his post race interview on ITV, very honest and raw assessment.

edison · Post by **edison** » Wed Jul 10, 2024 3:44 pm

That stage today was something else

TheFamilyCat · Post by **TheFamilyCat** » Wed Jul 10, 2024 4:22 pm

edison wrote: ↑
Wed Jul 10, 2024 3:44 pm
That stage today was something else

It's been a brilliant race so far and it's not even half-way yet.

edison · Post by **edison** » Wed Jul 10, 2024 5:25 pm

TheFamilyCat wrote: ↑
Wed Jul 10, 2024 4:22 pm
It's been a brilliant race so far and it's not even half-way yet.

Agree. Just the one dull stage yesterday. Been excellent

jdrobbo · Post by **jdrobbo** » Wed Jul 10, 2024 9:17 pm

Loved the mind games on the mountains and the finale of cat and mouse between Pog and Vingegaard. Brilliant from Jonas. Looking ridiculously good after what he’s been through.

burnley007 · Post by **burnley007** » Wed Jul 10, 2024 10:48 pm

The fact that Roglic and Remco are struggling to keep up shows how strong the front 2 were

edison · Post by **edison** » Thu Jul 11, 2024 6:25 pm

Found it odd Roglic got the same time as Remco yesterday on a mountain stage, when he fell himself

Tricky Trevor · Post by **Tricky Trevor** » Thu Jul 11, 2024 7:46 pm

Roglic unlucky to lose 2m28s today behind an accident with 13km to finish. They were never going to wait so near the end and his team couldn’t get him back with the pace the lead outs were putting on. Drops him to 6th overall.

edison · Post by **edison** » Thu Jul 11, 2024 7:53 pm

He may as well start thinking about La Vuelta. Hard to see how he regains so much time, especially when the top 3 are in great form

edison · Post by **edison** » Thu Jul 11, 2024 8:00 pm

Looking forward to Saturday and Sunday to see whether Pog is indeed fatigued after the Giro, or if Jonas peaked in that chase yesterday.

Maybe 36 for Cav tomorrow as well.

claret wizard · Post by **claret wizard** » Thu Jul 11, 2024 8:05 pm

edison wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 11, 2024 7:53 pm
He may as well start thinking about La Vuelta. Hard to see how he regains so much time, especially when the top 3 are in great form

Stage wins is all that’s left.

claret wizard · Post by **claret wizard** » Thu Jul 11, 2024 8:07 pm

edison wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 11, 2024 8:00 pm
Looking forward to Saturday and Sunday to see whether Pog is indeed fatigued after the Giro, or if Jonas peaked in that chase yesterday.

Maybe 36 for Cav tomorrow as well.

Tough relegation today. I presume that Astana are looking to get him over the line first in Nice? Not as big a deal for Cav losing his leadout than other teams. Will Covid knock him out though??

edison · Post by **edison** » Thu Jul 11, 2024 8:10 pm

claret wizard wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 11, 2024 8:05 pm
Stage wins is all that’s left.

Yeah, kind of like Remco at La Vuelta last year when GC was gone. Mad breakaways.

edison · Post by **edison** » Thu Jul 11, 2024 8:14 pm

I'm not so knowledgeable about deviations in sprinting, but thought if a lead out rider stops pedalling in front of you, you have to go round? Different if it's a clear race to the line and you veer? I dunno

Tricky Trevor · Post by **Tricky Trevor** » Thu Jul 11, 2024 11:53 pm

edison wrote: ↑
Thu Jul 11, 2024 8:14 pm
I'm not so knowledgeable about deviations in sprinting, but thought if a lead out rider stops pedalling in front of you, you have to go round? Different if it's a clear race to the line and you veer? I dunno

The lead out would pull left or right when he’s done. Leaving his sprinter with the straight line. It’s the guys behind the sprinter that have to choose which line to take.
Todays finish was ultra-hectic but Girmay is looking superb.

jdrobbo · Post by **jdrobbo** » Fri Jul 12, 2024 11:25 am

Biniam Girmay shows calm amid chaos again to clinch third stage win!

The Eritrean’s latest bunch sprint victory, in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, was his most impressive of his three Tour de France stage triumphs so far

Last Monday, a message arrived from a stranger. He said his name was John Robertson and, bless him, he’s not just a primary schoolteacher but also a Burnley fan. Some have tougher loads to bear than others. School life, though, has its moments. On Tuesday morning, July 2, Robertson turned up at the usual time, not expecting anything different from the day before. Which only means he hadn’t been paying attention to the Tour de France.
Robertson said they celebrated that Tuesday, because even he knew it is not every day that an Eritrean wins at the Tour. What the poor teacher couldn’t have known was that he’d be celebrating every few days. “What astounded me,” Robertson wrote “is just how revered he is by these young children. A national hero.” That’s the thing about the pebble; it drops into the water and the ripples wash up in places you never expected.
Everyone calls him Binny. After winning in Turin on the third day, he then won in the Haute-Marne village Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, where General Charles de Gaulle spent most of his adult life and where he is now buried. The latest bunch sprint victory for Girmay was the most impressive. He just made it look so easy. It’s not that he’s the most powerful, nor the most rapid, just the smoothest, calmness in the chaos of the charge to the line.
“I am in the best shape of my life, I feel good in every single moment,” he said. “I wake up every day and say to the mirror, ‘OK, let’s do it again.’ For me to win three stages in the Tour de France, it is unbelievable and it will power for the rest of my career.” Girmay is 24 and his career stretches out ahead of him, like the most beautiful road in Provence.
He is, of course, riding with confidence and in the crazy physical turmoil of a bunch sprint, confidence begets calmness and that is gold dust. It was encouraging to see Mark Cavendish get into the fight in Villeneuve-sur-Lot and he performed better than his fifth place might suggest. Into the final 300 metres, Cavendish showed blistering speed to get himself into contention. At the time he went, Girmay sat quietly before moving through the pack.
He got on Cavendish’s wheel as they both moved from the left-hand side of the road to the right. Then, momentarily, Cavendish had no room and slowed before going round Girmay and then further round the Arkea rider Daniel McLay. Girmay didn’t have to go round anything, just flew through in a straight line, past Wout van Aert and Pascal Ackermann, with Cavendish directly behind. Cavendish was later penalised for his movements in the sprint, relegated to 68th place on the stage by the race jury who ruled there had been a “deviation from the chosen line that obstructs or endangers another rider or irregular sprint”. Mark Renshaw, the sports director for Cavendish’s Astana Qazaqstan team, said: “Cavendish is really upset with this decision, as am I and the team, because we thought it was a hard-earned fifth place.”
Someone asked Girmay if he was thinking of winning 35 times at the Tour de France — the new record set by Cavendish. “I don’t have 35 victories in my whole career,” he said. “I think it would be tough to win 35 at the Tour. I have spoken to guys in the peloton who have ridden the Tour ten times and not won one stage. This year I changed a lot of things about my training and it helped.”
Girmay wears the Green Jersey as the leader of the points classification for sprinters
Girmay wears the Green Jersey as the leader of the points classification for sprinters
DANIEL COLE/AP
His wife and three-year-old daughter live in Eritrea and he does much of his training at home. He believed in getting out on his bike six days a week, saving Sunday for church and family. This led to a little collision of cultures, because his Belgian Intermarché-Wanty team are not much in favour of rest days. So, now, on Sundays, he goes to church, spends time with his family and still gets out on the bike.
He was asked about being the only black rider in the Tour de France. “I am comfortable with the fact that I am a black rider in a sport that is mostly white,” he said. “Cycling is not a global sport, so I am super happy showing that because of me cycling is a little more global now. To see riders from different continents, that is good for cycling, especially for African cycling, this is having an impact.
“This year I am the only black rider in the Tour peloton and it’s not nice, to be honest. I wish I could have more black riders inside the peloton.”
The finish at Villeneuve-sur-Lot was the sixth bunch sprint, more than normal, but many teams have come to the Tour with good sprinters. They co-operate with other sprints teams to discourage breakaways and the poor breakaways are struggling to get crumbs from the table. It is nevertheless a brutally tough race. Two riders, Pello Bilbao and Fabio Jacobsen, both stage winners last year, abandoned. Three others finished outside the time limit and were eliminated, the fate suffered by the Londoner Fred Wright on Wednesday’s stage to Le Lioran.
Twelve kilometres from the finish in Villeneuve, Primoz Roglic was brought down in a crash and though he got to the finish, he lost 2min 27sec to his general classification rivals, and dropped from fourth to sixth place overall. He had spent 11 days getting into contention and then in the blink of an eyelid, the Kazak rider Alexey Lutsenko fell in front of him, and that was it. No longer a contender.

edison · Post by **edison** » Fri Jul 12, 2024 11:36 am

That is brilliant. Picked up by The Times I see

jdrobbo · Post by **jdrobbo** » Fri Jul 12, 2024 12:53 pm

edison wrote: ↑
Fri Jul 12, 2024 11:36 am
That is brilliant. Picked up by The Times I see

I’m chuffed with it

Tricky Trevor · Post by **Tricky Trevor** » Fri Jul 12, 2024 2:29 pm

Following my earlier post. Sad to see Roglic has abandoned after the accident yesterday.

edison · Post by **edison** » Fri Jul 12, 2024 5:00 pm

Tricky Trevor wrote: ↑
Fri Jul 12, 2024 2:29 pm
Following my earlier post. Sad to see Roglic has abandoned after the accident yesterday.

Disappointing.

Result today was a bit `meh'. No Idea what Laporte was doing in his lead out for Wout. Ruined it for him it seemed.

jdrobbo · Post by **jdrobbo** » Fri Jul 12, 2024 9:47 pm

Agree with this. Even the last 10km weren’t that exciting. Hope those involved in the crash during the lead out, are okay.

Tricky Trevor · Post by **Tricky Trevor** » Sat Jul 13, 2024 12:57 pm

Pidcock withdrawn overnight. Suspected Covid, suspected MTB training for the Olympics being my first thought. Best wishes Tom.

jdrobbo · Post by **jdrobbo** » Sat Jul 13, 2024 5:34 pm

Magnificent from Pog. World Class!

Now come on Jumbo and Vingegaard…you’re not ‘dead’ yet!

Tricky Trevor · Post by **Tricky Trevor** » Sun Jul 14, 2024 9:38 am

What a stage today. Will Pog attack doubting Vingos’ fitness, after losing so much of the season, or will he just sit on and wait for the finale?

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Winstonswhite · Post by **Winstonswhite** » Sun Jul 14, 2024 10:44 am

They’ll attack on the last climb I reckon. Try and finish him off before he recharges on the rest day.

edison · Post by **edison** » Sun Jul 14, 2024 2:32 pm

Yesterday was fantastic and the fireworks still to come today

edison · Post by **edison** » Sun Jul 14, 2024 4:09 pm

Yellow battling polka dots - feels like the 80s/90s

edison · Post by **edison** » Sun Jul 14, 2024 4:28 pm

jdrobbo wrote: ↑
Sat Jul 13, 2024 5:34 pm
Magnificent from Pog. World Class!

Now come on Jumbo and Vingegaard…you’re not ‘dead’ yet!

Could repeat this today John

Stevie2112 · Post by **Stevie2112** » Sun Jul 14, 2024 4:29 pm

Great stage again from Pog,looks to have it all sewn up.

edison · Post by **edison** » Sun Jul 14, 2024 4:30 pm

Barring any unforeseen event

Tricky Trevor · Post by **Tricky Trevor** » Sun Jul 14, 2024 8:59 pm

I see Cav finished 51+minutes behind, with only two behind him. Anybody know if they’ve been excluded?

ceborame · Post by **ceborame** » Sun Jul 14, 2024 9:00 pm

He just about made the cut by around 2 minutes

Tricky Trevor · Post by **Tricky Trevor** » Tue Jul 16, 2024 5:45 pm

Accident late on robs Girmay of the chance to clinch the green jersey. Philipsen winning the stage leaves him 32points behind Binny with the jersey probably decided at intermediate sprints over the coming days.

edison · Post by **edison** » Wed Jul 17, 2024 8:14 pm

Tricky Trevor wrote: ↑
Tue Jul 16, 2024 5:45 pm
Accident late on robs Girmay of the chance to clinch the green jersey. Philipsen winning the stage leaves him 32points behind Binny with the jersey probably decided at intermediate sprints over the coming days.

Philipsen sat up when Binny went by him today on the intermediate. I think it should be done now, unless Binny abandons