Tour de France, 2024 edition

[jdrobbo]

Fantastic that Binny picked up those points. I’m a fan of Philipsen’s but Alpecin–Deceuninck’s win at all costs approach (highlighted in ‘Unchained’) is something I don’t particularly love. There’s no doubting his supreme talent though.

[edison]

Fantastic that Binny picked up those points. I’m a fan of Philipsen’s but Alpecin–Deceuninck’s win at all costs approach (highlighted in ‘Unchained’) is something I don’t particularly love. There’s no doubting his supreme talent though.

Could also be the editing of Unchained, but they didn't come across as likeable at all in the series. I think Van der Poel is a great talent. Would like to see him and Van Aert battling it out for today's stage, and Mohoric too

[fatboy47]

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

Cav looked remarkably cheerful and in decent shape rolling through the last kilometre of yesterdays stage...absolute class for a man of his achievements....I really hope he gets through today and tomorrow's monstrous climb up the Bonnette...I'm camped halfway up the climb and Cav's getting to the top even if I have to shove him up there.

Really hope he gets the adulation he deserves on the time trial in Nice.

[edison]

Would love to see Cav finish, although no would would blame him if he said he was done. Enjoy the day, looks absolutely boiling

[fatboy47]

Cheers edison..riding the tandem down the valley shortly as todays finish isnt far away.

[edison]

Van der Poel away already

[Tricky Trevor]

Super day. Splits and attempted splits kept it interesting. Three honest men all put their shift in to take it to the line.
Lovely touch at the end with the victor phoning his wife and their new born on screen.

[aclaretinstevenage]

Another stunning dominant ride by Pogacar. The guy is just phenomenal.

I just pray he's clean. He is so far ahead of the rest of the field in this tour even allowing for Vingegaard's fitness issues leading up to the tour.

Amazing

[Stevie2112]

Wow what a performance from Tadej again today.Jonas just not enough for this tour but sure he will be back again next season.

[TheFamilyCat]

Second year in a row that one of them has gone in undercooked due to injury.

Would love to see them go head-to-head fully fit.

[edison]

Second year in a row that one of them has gone in undercooked due to injury.

Would love to see them go head-to-head fully fit.

Both fully fit and prepared would be great. That was just insane again today from Pog. I wonder would he have tried to have won the stage had it not been Visma up the road. Probably. If in form, why not eh?

[Stevie2112]

Totally agree Edison,especially after some of the comments on the Tour Documentaries.
Grind them into the dust.

[edison]

I know it is technically still not over, but of those who won the Giro/Tour double in the recent past - Pantani, Indurain, Roche - has anyone done it the way Pog has?

6 Giro stages, and could have been 7 or 8 as well as 4 Tour stages, narrowly beaten in a sprint as well. Utter domination. Throw into that the Tour of Catalonia, Liege and Strade Bianche, it's the kind of season most teams would dream of having. Still the Olympics to come as well.

[Stevie2112]

Nobody has won as many in the way Tadej has this season.He has had an incredible year,hopefully topped off by an Olympic gold!

[KellyClaret]

... for the race,not sure Pog has a good enough team around him to topple the Jumbo dominance of the last two tours.

Well this aged like milk with Team UAE having 3 riders in the top 6 of the general classification going into the final stage.

[Stevie2112]

Well this aged like milk with Team UAE having 3 riders in the top 6 of the general classification going into the final stage.

Agree,but i don't pretend to be an expert,I just love the cycling!

[jdrobbo]

UAE have been ridiculously impressive. Marc Soler has been outstanding; Nils Politt has been utterly incredible. Some of his work off the front has been stupendous.

[Stevie2112]

They really have,but no-one could have predicted the effect on the peleton they would have,with only one win each previously in Grand Tours.As i said earlier,I am no expert.

[KellyClaret]

They really have,but no-one could have predicted the effect on the peleton they would have,with only one win each previously in Grand Tours.As i said earlier,I am no expert.

Yeah but all the climbers have had good results in the general classification of grand tours. Look at Yates last year.

Plus a prime example would be Froome from 2017 to prove you don't need to win stages to have a good finish in GC

[Stevie2112]

Great ride form Pog again today,sixth stage win in one tour.I understand you don't need to win stages to have a good finish in the GC,but again,i already stated i watch as a fan not an expert,so please give it a rest!

[jdrobbo]

Tour de France, 2024, it has been a pleasure!

Greatness from Girmay
Cavendish makes history
Bardait bows out after wearing yellow for stage 2
Vingegaard’s bravery
Pogacar….genius on wheels.

[fatboy47]

Tour de France, 2024, it has been a pleasure!

Greatness from Girmay
Cavendish makes history
Bardait bows out after wearing yellow for stage 2
Vingegaard’s bravery
Pogacar….genius on wheels.

100% this....in a way we had a fairly good idea who'd be wearing yellow in Nice pretty much from the end of the first week, but as always with the tdf there's ao much more.

I'm just back in blighty having seen 9 of the stages mainly around the Massif, Alps and Pyrenees...and I've been blown away by every aspect of the event....the French, and many other nations, hold this race very close to their hearts, and nothing has been allowed to spoil it as has been the case with so many other professional sports.

Most impressive for me was the whole multicultural feel...no flag-wagging ,war-substituting, yobby nationalistic booze-fest here....just one big happy party that lasted 3 weeks with everyone welcome..from the shady cafes in tree-lined villages en route to the singing dancing crowds on every hairpin in the alps....loved it..every bit. Thank you France.

[edison]

Juts as everyone was predicting, Jonas did get stronger in the third week, but so did Tadej. To win the last three stages is insane stuff. So many great stories out of this Tour. Cav, BInny, Bardet, Carapaz, Campenaerts. It was great.

[dandeclaret]

Tour de France, 2024, it has been a pleasure!

Greatness from Girmay
Cavendish makes history
Bardait bows out after wearing yellow for stage 2
Vingegaard’s bravery
Pogacar….genius on wheels.

Until a few of them get done for doping of course.... Genius on wheels..... or genius on juice?

[jdrobbo]

Until a few of them get done for doping of course.... Genius on wheels..... or genius on juice?

Could you clarify this? Naturally, there might be a prat or two in the peleton, who still believes that doping is something they can get away with. But your response seems to suggest (although I might be wrong) that if others are done for doping, then that doesn’t make Pogacar a genius. Or are you suggesting that Pogacar’s domestique’s are possibly doping, in order to carry Pogacar around the course?

[dandeclaret]

I know you’re not a betting man JD, but if I could find a market for Pogacar to be caught doping, I’d invest a few quid on the balances of probability that the times he churns out are not possible without support.

[jdrobbo]

I know you’re not a betting man JD, but if I could find a market for Pogacar to be caught doping, I’d invest a few quid on the balances of probability that the times he churns out are not possible without support.

I’m sure you could find such a market although it might not be with the leading bookmakers. The most recent case , probably more questionable than any of Pog’s, was Vingegaard’s Time Trial last year.

I have no doubt that there’s still doping within the sport. I’ll be seriously disappointed if it gets in a mess again.

[dandeclaret]

This is one of the pieces I saw recently….

IMG_2885.jpeg (599.87 KiB) Viewed 924 times

[fatboy47]

On the basis of the above, should we then presume that Coe, Ovett, Cram, Usain Bolt, Bob Beamon...in fact all record breakers in athletic sport must be dopers?

Sad world in that case.

[fatboy47]

I have no doubt that there’s still doping within the sport.

Take out the 10th word and I'd agree with you.

[dandeclaret]

On the basis of the above, should we then presume that Coe, Ovett, Cram, Usain Bolt, Bob Beamon...in fact all record breakers in athletic sport must be dopers?

Sad world in that case.

In a sport where history has proven the best have doped, to see somebody smash times, is at least suspicious.

[TheFamilyCat]

This is one of the pieces I saw recently….IMG_2885.jpeg

Not really a fair comparison as the race situation will dictate the pace of the climb- ie whether riders are launching a full attack.

This climb is also towards the end of a tough race where riders are fatigued (how much so dependant on how the race has been ridden). Due to sports science, all athletes are fitter and stronger so that too contributes to them going faster in the modern day.

There's so much more behind those numbers.

I'm surprised that a keen horse racing fan is moralising about doping.

[dandeclaret]

So we've gone from sports science delivering "marginal gains", to tactics delivering a 10 second faster time than ever possible, even by fully doped athletes ever before.

Doping in horse racing is so far proven to be incidental....... doping in cycling is proven to be institutional. New documentary series being done on great british cycling at the moment as well.... Interesting to see what comes out of that.