Le tour 2018

[creekster]

It was a great stage. Lots of good racing. Perhaps this happened because it was following a rolling rest day. Either way, it was a lot of fun to watch. A couple of thoughts.

SPOILERS

Roglic was very impressive. Not only did he animate the climb up the Aubisque, taking the summit after riding off the front of the leading yellow group, but he descended like a maniac, putting Froome in trouble, dropping everyone and ending up with a 19 second win which jumped to 29 seconds with the time bonus for the stage win. It really was an amazing ride. He is a fun rider to watch and has great climbing skills as well as very strong ITT abilities. PLus, he is a former junior ski jumping world champion. Did anyone mention that?

Thomas looked strong but took no risks. Nonetheless, every time there was a move that mattered he covered it. Bernal was clearly very strong, too, and looks like the next great Colombian. Oddly he kept helping Froome as much as he was helping Thomas. I am not sure if that was because there was still some hope within the team for Froome on the GC or if it was because Thomas didn't need the help while Froome was clearly struggling. I was thinking that Thomas was not doing much to honor the yellow, as he had just sat on the entire stage, but then he busts out that big sprint at the very end and changed my mind. He is probably just worried about tomorrow.

Dumoulin also looked strong but not strong enough to ride away from Thomas. I think Dumoulin was just sitting on and waiting until the ITT tomorrow. This may work, as Dumoulin is a very good ITT guy, but Thomas sprinted to the second spot on the stage and so picked up 6 seconds over Dumoulin. Not sure he will be able to do enough tomorrow to win.

Chapeaux to Mikkel Landa and the movistar team. They took the race over for the first 2/3 of the stage and at one point Landa was in GC second place on the road, as they say, but the strong men caught him on the final 40km. Still, they made the race very interesting.

I think Roman Bardet should have a new name: Roman "and on his wheel, Bardet." Bardet was CONSTANTLY sucking someone else's wheel. He was always isolated and had no strategic reason for sitting on, as far as I can see. I shouldn't be so hard on him, but it seems like he never takes his turn.

Watching Pierre Latour trying to climb with the big boys reminded me a little of Voeckler. Tongue out, lots of grimacing, and all over the bike.

A great day of racing. The real race tomorrow will be for second and third between Dumoulin, Roglic and Froome.

[RC Vikings]

It was a great stage. Lots of good racing. Perhaps this happened because it was following a rolling rest day. Either way, it was a lot of fun to watch. A couple of thoughts.

SPOILERS

Roglic was very impressive. Not only did he animate the climb up the Aubisque, taking the summit after riding off the front of the leading yellow group, but he descended like a maniac, putting Froome in trouble, dropping everyone and ending up with a 19 second win which jumped to 29 seconds with the time bonus for the stage win. It really was an amazing ride. He is a fun rider to watch and has great climbing skills as well as very strong ITT abilities. PLus, he is a former junior ski jumping world champion. Did anyone mention that?

Thomas looked strong but took no risks. Nonetheless, every time there was a move that mattered he covered it. Bernal was clearly very strong, too, and looks like the next great Colombian. Oddly he kept helping Froome as much as he was helping Thomas. I am not sure if that was because there was still some hope within the team for Froome on the GC or if it was because Thomas didn't need the help while Froome was clearly struggling. I was thinking that Thomas was not doing much to honor the yellow, as he had just sat on the entire stage, but then he busts out that big sprint at the very end and changed my mind. He is probably just worried about tomorrow.

Dumoulin also looked strong but not strong enough to ride away from Thomas. I think Dumoulin was just sitting on and waiting until the ITT tomorrow. This may work, as Dumoulin is a very good ITT guy, but Thomas sprinted to the second spot on the stage and so picked up 6 seconds over Dumoulin. Not sure he will be able to do enough tomorrow to win.

Chapeaux to Mikkel Landa and the movistar team. They took the race over for the first 2/3 of the stage and at one point Landa was in GC second place on the road, as they say, but the strong men caught him on the final 40km. Still, they made the race very interesting.

I think Roman Bardet should have a new name: Roman "and on his wheel, Bardet." Bardet was CONSTANTLY sucking someone else's wheel. He was always isolated and had no strategic reason for sitting on, as far as I can see. I shouldn't be so hard on him, but it seems like he never takes his turn.

Watching Pierre Latour trying to climb with the big boys reminded me a little of Voeckler. Tongue out, lots of grimacing, and all over the bike.

A great day of racing. The real race tomorrow will be for second and third between Dumoulin, Roglic and Froome.

Dumoulin was complaining that Roglic caught a draft off one of the motor bikes down the mountain, did you see that?

[creekster]

Dumoulin was complaining that Roglic caught a draft off one of the motor bikes down the mountain, did you see that?

VandeVelde mentioned it too. I didn't really see it. There were about two or three corners where the moto couldn't get out of the way due to the corners, and Roglic might have pulled a draft there, but even if he did it MIGHT have made a second or two difference at most. It certainly didn't account for 19 seconds.

[RC Vikings]

Laurens ten Dam is on Strava and the other day he made a move that really didn't make any sense and I wondered if he was going for a KOM.

Last year we went and drove up the Col de'Aspin so I'm pretty excited about watching it tonight to see what it looks like on TV compared to real life.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

Last year we went and drove up the Col de'Aspin so I'm pretty excited about watching it tonight to see what it looks like on TV compared to real life.

Well, I guess we don’t have to ask where your Col de’As has pin. Sorry. But if it makes it better, last week I opted not to make the joke at how Sagan was able to secure the green jersey by practicing getting separation at home.

Here’s the Dumoulin quote. "Roglic was the strongest today, and a lot of respect for his victory. But he was flying downhill, and eventually I got dropped on a straight part just because he was on his tube and full in the slipstream of the motorbike," he said.

"I was sprinting to his wheel and I couldn't get any closer. I just got dropped on the only straight part of the downhill. It's ridiculous really."

Asked if he will protest, Dumoulin said:
"It makes no sense anyway...."

Are you happy with what happened at the end?
"No, of course not. I'm f*cking pissed."

Humorously enough, NBC missed the “fucking” and bleeped out the “pissed” instead. His argument is garbage. Roglic was a maniac and just bombed the downhill. There may have been some benefit coming out of some corners, but if you just compare the position of the two riders, the answer is easy enough to conclude. That like Greipel complaining about his forever second place because Gaviria is technically closer to the moto. (I realize that this example doesn’t make any sense because they pull the motos off course before the line, so just cut me some slack.) At one point during the panel discussion, it was asked, What should have Roglic done? Blank stares. Exactly.


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[RC Vikings]

They started the evening broadcast on the backside of Aspin and only showed ten seconds of Sagan on the climb, bummer.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

They started the evening broadcast on the backside of Aspin and only showed ten seconds of Sagan on the climb, bummer.

I’m surprised anyone watches the evening broadcast. Doesn’t every one just DVR the live and watch it that night so they can skip passed the commercials and the boring parts?


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[BigPiney]

I’m surprised anyone watches the evening broadcast. Doesn’t every one just DVR the live and watch it that night so they can skip passed the commercials and the boring parts?


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that is what I do.

ITV does a great 1/2 hour synopsis, or at least they did when I used to download them. Showed all the important stuff, like crashes, attacks, and the finish. It was great. I wish nbc would do that so I don't have to watch the flat stages.

[RC Vikings]

I’m surprised anyone watches the evening broadcast. Doesn’t every one just DVR the live and watch it that night so they can skip passed the commercials and the boring parts?


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Normally I do this but guaranteed there will be a couple of days I forget to set it and this was one of them.

[creekster]

I’m surprised anyone watches the evening broadcast. Doesn’t every one just DVR the live and watch it that night so they can skip passed the commercials and the boring parts?


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BORING PARTS?? Bite your tongue.

I usually get up around 5:30 or 6:00 to watch it live and then try to watch the evening broadcast later that day, although this does not tend to go over very well at home.


And, just like that, the event that every year my wife says feels like it will never end is over. Quel dommage.

Today's stage was typical of a run into Paris. At least of most of them since 1989. No attacks off the front by yellow like Hinault did way back when. Just the usual spriont to the line. I was left again wondering what race the TV guys were watching. The Belgian dude goes of the front with 1.5 or 2 laps of the Champs to go and while it was a valiant effort you could see that he was spent and was starting to crack when Jens Voigt offers up "He could soft pedal from here and win the stage." He was caught by the Peloton within 200 meters after those not-so-prophetic words were uttered.

I like Jensie, but I think he has spent too many days in the TV truck. A few closing thoughts:

Phil and Paul, and especially Phil, are getting old. They still did a great job, but Phil is missing more stuff and making more errors than just a few malaprops. It saddens me because I realize they cannot go on forever and I can't image the tour without them. Here's to next year, at least!

France is beautiful. I realize that not every one loves the French (although I do) but that country is beautiful. I want to go back.

Why does everyone, including Phil, keep calling the Pavé cobblestones? They are NOT cobble stones. Anyone who has ever walked on both let alone ridden a bike on both, knows there is an extreme difference. I guess its just me, but it drives me nuts. Belgian blocks are not cobbles!

Geraint is a pretty good guy. No one had anything bad to say about him. I hope he is given all he deserves (like a new contract with Sky).

Froome may see his time running out. Lance opined on his podcast that Froome is sliding down the hill already. Others did not agree but everyone seemed to agree that we have already seen the best Froome. Watch him prove me wrong.

Qunitana remains disappointing to me. He has gone from the Next Big Thing to Never Fulfilled His Potential. Bernal may be the next Colombian who does something. And given how strong he looked dragging Froome up the mountains, maybe sooner rather than later.

I feel sorry, a bit, for the French. They managed to get a very likable Alaphillipe into polka dots, even though no one thinks he is the best climber, and Pierre Latour wins white (and he should have won something just for the best bike riding name ever), even though I don't think he was really the best young rider, but the prizes people really care about, Yellow, Green and podium spots, eluded them this year. The French have not had a winner in Yellow since 1985. Think about that. Remember when the USA did not win basketball gold in the Olympics and the nation went nuts and forced a change in the rules to allow pros and then brought in the dream team to kick some butt and restore order? Just imagine if the Olympics were every year and we didn't win gold for over THIRTY YEARS. But, the French still have France so what the heck.

I am looking forward to seeing what Roglic can do. He paid for his big mountain effort with a subpar (for him) ITT and fell off the podium. But he was impressive. And I wonder if Dumoulin feels a bit dopey after having complained so loudly about Roglic's supposed illegal draft off the moto. I think he should.

Lawson Craddick finished the tour and has, as of this writing raised $216,023 for the Houston Velodrome rebuild. Impressive. American riders were not so impressive, from a racing POV (and someone needs to tell Taylor Phinney that his videocast thing is not really ironic or humorous but mostly just . . . dumb), however. But at least we are at the point where no one is surprised to see Americans spread through the peloton. May that continue.

What a race. See you at the Vuelta.

[BigPiney]

Thank you.

I for one would love it if creekster livestreamed his watching the tour. I bet the running commentary would be great.

Until cycling starts back up in late June of next year, it was fun.

[Moliere]

I imagine the cycling world (and mostly ASO) is pleased with this tour. Froome didn’t win after coming in with big time controversy. A likeable guy ended up winning, although he’s from Team Sky. Sagan (easily the biggest name in cycling) lasted the whole tour. A lot of young talent was shown (Bernal, Roglic). The podium race came down to the last racing stage. Overall it was very competitive and fun.

Sure there were mishaps along the way (Nibali being pulled down by a fan, Porte abandoning, pretty much all the sprinters giving up on the same stage, etc.) but nothing big enough to overshadow the high points. I am a fan of Tom Dom. He’s turned into a nice climber and has the tools to maybe win the Tour at some point.

I do wonder where Team Sky goes in the next couple years. Do the keep co leaders with Froome and Thomas? Froome wasn’t in his best form but Thomas isn’t exactly a young buck. Is it too early to promote Bernal? I suspect next year Bernal gets a chance at the Giro and Froome/Thomas go coleaders in the Tour.

I’ve also fallen in love with this race, but I can’t stand the flat stages...sorry. I watch almost all the climbs and love the cobbles. I do find myself watching the mountain finished of the Giro and Vuelta.

[mtnbiker]

Thanks for the write-ups - good stuff. There was an article on Velonews about how hard the Giro-Tour double is, and the only reason Froome and Dumoulin could even consider it was that there was an extra week between the two big tours due to the World Cup. Froome finished 1st and 3rd, and Dumoulin finished 2nd in both, so it'd be interesting to see what they can do in the Tour without having ridden the Giro.

Sorry about the pavé / cobblestone thing. Nobody around here knows what pavé is, so even though I might know the distinction (which I'll let you explain), not many people do.

I don't get a chance to see much of the race on Live tv, but enjoy watching the recap show in the evening. Except on the weekends when stupid nbcsn shows nascar instead. BTW, my wife enjoys watching the show as much as I do, so that's awesome.

As for Phil and Paul getting long in the tooth and missing a lot of stuff, well, is it really any worse now than it was 10 years ago? It would be tough for anyone to blab on and on for hours without getting a few details mixed up. Except for those fun little tidbits about Geraint Thomas originally being a track rider, or that Roglic was a junior world champ ski jumper. They're gold if they can just sneak those in a few times per telecast. I suppose Steve Schlanger is waiting in the wings to do the commentary. He's a bit nasal for my taste, but he's not too bad overall. Just don't keep pairing Steve Brown with him for the Tour of Utah. Ugh, Brown knows nothing about cycling.

Jens Voigt cracks me up. Funny comments and shares his experiences, plus he's the Ludwig Von Drake of the cycle set. Exact same voice.

Looking forward to your summaries for the Vuelta.

[creekster]

One of things I meant to ask you guys about but kept forgetting was whether any of you had any opinions on the use of disc brakes in this years race. There was alot of commentary suggesting that the use of disc brakes was causing more accidents because guys were waiting longer to tap their brakes because they have better and more responsive braking power but it was giving insufficient reaction time to others behind them. There were also suggestions thew disc brakes were greatly complicating some of the wheel changes. The wheel changes I could see but I never saw any obvious evidence of the former and the number of riders finishing was not out of line compared to years past. Any thoughts?

Good point about the extra week prior to the Tour. But, nonetheless it looked like Froome just didnt have it. So either he is getting old or he has too many italian mountains in his legs. And next year the double will just be harder.

Next year Le Grand Depart is at the Grand Place in Bruxelles. It's in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first Tour that Eddy Merckx rode. I lived there when I was a kid and I might have to try to get there to see it. Stage two of the race, which is a TTT, goes right through my old neighborhood, so that would be sort of cool.

[RC Vikings]

One of things I meant to ask you guys about but kept forgetting was whether any of you had any opinions on the use of disc brakes in this years race. There was alot of commentary suggesting that the use of disc brakes was causing more accidents because guys were waiting longer to tap their brakes because they have better and more responsive braking power but it was giving insufficient reaction time to others behind them. There were also suggestions thew disc brakes were greatly complicating some of the wheel changes. The wheel changes I could see but I never saw any obvious evidence of the former and the number of riders finishing was not out of line compared to years past. Any thoughts?

Good point about the extra week prior to the Tour. But, nonetheless it looked like Froome just didnt have it. So either he is getting old or he has too many italian mountains in his legs. And next year the double will just be harder.

Next year Le Grand Depart is at the Grand Place in Bruxelles. It's in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first Tour that Eddy Merckx rode. I lived there when I was a kid and I might have to try to get there to see it. Stage two of the race, which is a TTT, goes right through my old neighborhood, so that would be sort of cool.

I didn't really notice anything with the wheels or brakes but I agree with you about Phil, he seems to be losing it. He'll say something and I'll wonder if we are watching the same broadcast but it just wouldn't be the TDF without Phil and Paul and it sure beats John Tesh and an hour on Saturday and an hour on Sunday like when I first started following the tour. I would go buy a USA Today so I could see what the results were the previous day, things are much better now.