Le tour 2018

[Moliere]

I think it’s a Polish shoe company. As opposed to a shoe polish company! Hah ha. Sorry.

Also, here is the Skunin video. For all you conspiracy fans.

https://twitter.com/ordvoskin/status...944695296?s=21

Oh snap!!

Embedded Tweet

Good writeup. Nice to get a couple of those to read each year.

As much as I hate seeing people like Porte abandon in such a stage, the cobbles are great. Le tour is about the best bike rider, not the best climber. Froome crashed out of one of these types of stages a couple years back and Nibali ending up pretty much winning the tour on that one stage due to the high winds and a break in the peloton.

One thing I found odd was the reluctance of Froome and the peloton to wait for Bardet. And don't tell me he didn't know about it because he doesn't have a tv to watch while cycling. His support car would have known and relayed it on the radio. I guess it's one of those unspoken rules that you don't always have to follow.

Embedded Tweet

[Moliere]

Three big climbing days in a row with alpe d’huez on Thursday

[creekster]

Oh snap!!

Embedded Tweet

As much as I hate seeing people like Porte abandon in such a stage, the cobbles are great. Le tour is about the best bike rider, not the best climber. Froome crashed out of one of these types of stages a couple years back and Nibali ending up pretty much winning the tour on that one stage due to the high winds and a break in the peloton.

One thing I found odd was the reluctance of Froome and the peloton to wait for Bardet. And don't tell me he didn't know about it because he doesn't have a tv to watch while cycling. His support car would have known and relayed it on the radio. I guess it's one of those unspoken rules that you don't always have to follow.

Embedded Tweet

Interesting thought about the cobbles. For the last decade or or two the grand tour winners have been guys who can climb well and can time trial very well. It seems like in the days of pantani (e.g. doped to the gills) through Armstrong, time trailing was a little less important. A guy like Indurain, OTOH, lived for the ITT. The cobbles reward a different sort of rider; some time trialing prowess is good, but you have to be fairly strong and built for classics; little flyweights need not apply (I'm looking at you, Quintana). I sort of like them, but they inevitably lead to crashes, and sometimes inuries. But they are sort of exciting. I was listening to George Hincapie after stage 9 and he asserted that one of the problems with the cobbles is that teams tend to ride them wrong, treating them like a regular road surface. They come into corners too hot and ride to tightly together.

This year there are both cobbles and a TTT, both of which have had some effect on the race overall. An interesting course. Much better than last year, I think.

I dont think Froome was too much at fault. First, he was not in yellow, and so he really wasnt in the patron role. Second, I think the cobbles put everybody out of sorts a bit. Either way, Bardet is a team leader, and a french favorite, but he has not really shown the form so far this year to be placed in that GC contender role. At least not as I see it. Besides, as yoiu know, those sort of unwritten rules are always selectively applied.

Can a mod help me out here? The quote code is in the correct place on my post as I see it but the final product shows up wrong. Thanks.

[creekster]

btw, and for the record, what those guys were riding on are really Belgian Blocks, or bricks, which are quarried and cut to a fairly regular size and shape and offer a fairly flat surface. Cobblestones are rounded stones set into the road and are noether quarried nor shaped but retain their natural shape. They are very rough to walk or ride on. Within my experience, the French say Pavé for bricks/Belgian blocks.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobblestone

[creekster]

Another interesting day. First, I feel obligated to point out that Greg Van Avermaet put in a very non-Belgian effort and surprisingly held onto the Yellow Jersey. Afterwards, likely fearful that he had upset some sort of cosmic constant by successfully and surprisingly keeping the lead, he said something like “it will be gone tomorrow.” The entire pays bas sighed in relief. All kidding aside, his effort was great. One other GVA note: the riders will tell you that they are more concerned about teammates than country compatriots. And yet, GVA was shepherded up the last climb by Serge Pawels, who is not only a Belgian but, if my memory serves, is also a Flamand. They are NOT on the same team.

Lawson Craddick, the plucky Texan who rides on despite having cracked his scapula in the feed zone on stage one, continues to raise a lot of dough for a new velodrome in Houston. As you may recall, Craddick pledged to donate $100 of his own money to the velodrome rebuilding fund (it was wiped out in the last big Hurricane, apparently) and invited others to help out. I never understood how this motivated him, since it was his own money, but there you go. In any event, many others heeded the call and to date, in addition to Lawson's own $1000, he has raised over $100,000 for the fund! At this rate, they will need to name the thing after him.

The French finally have a winner this year as Juien Alaphillipe decisively dropped everyone on the final climb and won going away on the downhill to the line. He is a strong rider with wicked descent skills, and we may hear from him again. And it is nice to have somebody French to talk about besides Chavenel. Although, to be honest, I do miss the patented hopeful-but-always-doomed breakaways by little Tommy Voeckler, may his wagging tongue and unzipped jersey rest in peace. And lest the French get too full of themselves, and before the Belgians are too resigned to middling mediocrity, I will point out that Alaphillipe rides for Quick Step, which is a Belgian team. Go ‘Giques.

Speaking of high fliers, did you catch the guy jumping his bike over the peloton today?

Here is a clip. Notice he does it with no hands (or, as the French would say ‘No ‘ands!)

Embedded Tweet

Look at this version, from the bike’s point fo view:

https://www.facebook.com/alexis.boss...6%3A1531872125

But proving the axiom that “Plus ça change, plus ça reste la meme” here is something similar from about a decade or so ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHAZofdZgXI

Finally, I think the field art may finally be getting out of hand. WTH is this all about?

Embedded Tweet

Is she nursing pacman or eating from a wheel of cheese? Only the French know for sure, and they may be a little too sauced tonight to care.

Through it all, the TdF remains one of the great spectacles of sports. Joe Bob says check it out!

[Moliere]

I’m kind of pissed that my busiest week of the year at work lands during the week they are in the alps. Things might slow down a little on Thursday so I can watch d’huez but I will likely miss all of tomorrow. Even today I at least had the tour tracker up and was following along but then got involved in some fire drill at work and by the time things had calmed down the stage was over.

Looks like I didn’t miss much. I’d love to see some separation tomorrow in the GC group.

[creekster]

SPOILERS FOR STAGE 11

AN epic stage today. Lots of real racing and team sky ends up grabbing the race by the throat.

It was bittersweet at the very front and the very back, from my POV. I felt so nadly for poor Mikel Nieve. He had been in the lead group for the entire day. He soldiered on as the group dropped members until, on the final climb, he was all alone. He entered the final kilometer in the lead with something like 30 seconds (give or take) on the chasers. It was just about then that Thomas put on his real acceleration, as did Froome and Dumoulin. And then, with about 300 meters to go Thomas FLIES by Nieve. Nieve was resigned to a well-earned second on the day but, right at the line,. he gets caught by Froome and Dumoulin (the latter fo whom pipped Froome on the line for second). The look on Nieves face was very sad. A bitter pill to swallow.

The other end of the race was just as bad. It was just a couple of years back when the biking world was ga-ga over Mark Cavendish and his lead out extraordinaire, Mark Renshaw. They were unstoppable. Cavendish was the Manx Missile and many people thought that Renshw was possibly faster. This year, they have descended from the mountain and now mingle with the average. on this mountain stage they both finished well outside the time limit and so were expelled from the race. Cavendish was something like 45 minutes after the main bunch, all by himself. Renshaw, along with Marcel Kittel, were only a little better. All three are going home.

It was a great stage; if you recorded it, make sure to watch it.

[myboynoah]

SPOILERS FOR STAGE 11

AN epic stage today. Lots of real racing and team sky ends up grabbing the race by the throat.

It was bittersweet at the very front and the very back, from my POV. I felt so nadly for poor Mikel Nieve. He had been in the lead group for the entire day. He soldiered on as the group dropped members until, on the final climb, he was all alone. He entered the final kilometer in the lead with something like 30 seconds (give or take) on the chasers. It was just about then that Thomas put on his real acceleration, as did Froome and Dumoulin. And then, with about 300 meters to go Thomas FLIES by Nieve. Nieve was resigned to a well-earned second on the day but, right at the line,. he gets caught by Froome and Dumoulin (the latter fo whom pipped Froome on the line for second). The look on Nieves face was very sad. A bitter pill to swallow.

The other end of the race was just as bad. It was just a couple of years back when the biking world was ga-ga over Mark Cavendish and his lead out extraordinaire, Mark Renshaw. They were unstoppable. Cavendish was the Manx Missile and many people thought that Renshw was possibly faster. This year, they have descended from the mountain and now mingle with the average. on this mountain stage they both finished well outside the time limit and so were expelled from the race. Cavendish was something like 45 minutes after the main bunch, all by himself. Renshaw, along with Marcel Kittel, were only a little better. All three are going home.

It was a great stage; if you recorded it, make sure to watch it.

Sad indeed.

[PaloAltoCougar]

creek, be aware that Mrs. PAC and I always look forward to and appreciate your reports.

[Moliere]

Le tour 2018

So it’s basically Dumoulin vs the entire Sky squad?

[creekster]

So it’s basically Dumoulin vs the entire Sky squad?

That's a good question. Sky was depressingly dominant today. It reminded me, in both good and bad ways, of the days of the Postie train. All that pre-race hoo-hah about Froome and his drug issues and then here we are, faced with Team Sky storming the alps like Hannibal, methodically cutting the heart out of every contender. At one point they had about 6 or 7 riders of the 45 or so remaining riders in the peloton. And later they had like 4 of the final 10 riders. And then Thomas takes off like he stole Skujin's mythical electric motor and Froome simply marks Dumoulin until the line. Such dominance. It could be because Sky has a team budget that is supposedly at least twice as large as the next largest budget (this is supposedly true, btw. Nibali was complaining about it yesterday and urged the UCI to adopt a salary cap type limit on team budgets to even things out). It could be because they are really good at doping. All against the backdrop of Dave Brailsford (thats SIR Brailsford to you, buddy) obnoxiously crowing about his team's superiority. So many unpleasant echoes of the past.

I don't think Dumoulin will show much tomorrow and is not likely to end up on the podium. He burned all his matches today, as they say. Nibali, who has not looked very impressive, is right there at around 2:15 down on GC, and finished just a minute off the pace today. He might have been keeping a little in his tank for tomorrow's stage, which is going to be very difficult.

The biggest and most interesting question is who goes for the stage tomorrow (and, by extension, the yellow jersey) between Froome and Thomas. All week Sky has said just how HAPPY they would be if Geraint was in yellow, and wouldn't it be WONDERFUL if Geraint took yellow, etc. And Froome said all the right things, albeit without much enthusiasm. But here they are, Thomas in yellow and Froome just 1:25 behind. And tomorrow is a stage with a winning bonus of 10-13 seconds and a Queen stage type finish at the top of Alpe d'Huez. Froome is going to want this stage badly, I would guess. And all Froome has done is win the last three Grand Tours. But Geraint Thomas, Froome's loyal and dutiful teammate, is in yellow. Can Froome attack him? If he does, will Thomas still work for Froome in the Pyrenees? This will be one of the more interesting stories tomorrow. I would watch those two, Nibali and Bardet. Bardet hasn't shown that much but he will want this stage as well. I suppose this is all true of Quintana, too, but I have watched that guy wilt too many times to pick him here. He has talent and lungs, but just cant quite take control at the key moments. Watch him prove me wrong.

By the way, if you have never understood why some of us say Froome is so UGLY on the bike, watch the last 5k of today's stage. He looks fairly mundane until he was marking the accelerations of Dan Martin and Dumoulin, and suddenly he is all elbows and knees, thrashing around like he is drowning and doesn't know how to swim all while riding a bike that is too small for his frame. Truly ugly. But so effective.

[creekster]

creek, be aware that Mrs. PAC and I always look forward to and appreciate your reports.

Nice of you to say, but these are really sort of cathartic release for me as no one in my house can stand to deal with me.

[RC Vikings]

SPOILERS FOR STAGE 11

AN epic stage today. Lots of real racing and team sky ends up grabbing the race by the throat.

It was bittersweet at the very front and the very back, from my POV. I felt so nadly for poor Mikel Nieve. He had been in the lead group for the entire day. He soldiered on as the group dropped members until, on the final climb, he was all alone. He entered the final kilometer in the lead with something like 30 seconds (give or take) on the chasers. It was just about then that Thomas put on his real acceleration, as did Froome and Dumoulin. And then, with about 300 meters to go Thomas FLIES by Nieve. Nieve was resigned to a well-earned second on the day but, right at the line,. he gets caught by Froome and Dumoulin (the latter fo whom pipped Froome on the line for second). The look on Nieves face was very sad. A bitter pill to swallow.

The other end of the race was just as bad. It was just a couple of years back when the biking world was ga-ga over Mark Cavendish and his lead out extraordinaire, Mark Renshaw. They were unstoppable. Cavendish was the Manx Missile and many people thought that Renshw was possibly faster. This year, they have descended from the mountain and now mingle with the average. on this mountain stage they both finished well outside the time limit and so were expelled from the race. Cavendish was something like 45 minutes after the main bunch, all by himself. Renshaw, along with Marcel Kittel, were only a little better. All three are going home.

It was a great stage; if you recorded it, make sure to watch it.

I don’t like team Sky. How does someone like Kwiatkowski suddenly turn into a rider who climbs like Pedro Delgado. How does GB turn into the cycling power in the world. A fourth of the main peloton was team Sky on the final climb. Having Thomas and Froome as the two main contenders does make it interesting, will we have a Lemond Hinault type battle with teammates going after each other. I keep waiting for Quintana to show us what a great climber he is and tour after tour he just sits there and watches others make the moves. Tomorrow will be interesting.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I don’t like team Sky. How does someone like Kwiatkowski suddenly turn into a rider who climbs like Pedro Delgado. How does GB turn into the cycling power in the world. A fourth of the main peloton was team Sky on the final climb. Having Thomas and Froome as the two main contenders does make it interesting, will we have a Lemond Hinault type battle with teammates going after each other. I keep waiting for Quintana to show us what a great climber he is and tour after tour he just sits there and watches others make the moves. Tomorrow will be interesting.

I recently listened to a rebroadcast of a Freakonomics podcast entitled "In Praise of Incrementalism," and how rather than trying to hit a grand slam every time (as in investing, scientific discoveries, and other walks of life), one needs to accept that most great accomplishments occur in small steps over time, and that should be one's focus--not on one big score. To underline the point, they interviewed Sir Dave Brailsford who, after failing in his attempt to be a top pro cyclist (he joined a French team for a while), he resolved to succeed in cycling through others, and in the '90s he started to work on improving Great Britain's teams and later started Team Sky. He said rather than focus on making great improvements in any one area (e.g., strength, stamina, whatever), he decided to work on small improvements in all areas of cycling. I won't provide the details here, but one example was how they wanted to reduce team illnesses, so they brought in a surgeon to teach everyone on the team how to scrub and disinfect, a practice that perform not only on the humans but on their bus and other equipment. Several other examples of small improvements were mentioned. His interview is near the end of the broadcast and you might find it interesting. Once they started incorporated all these small, incremental changes, that's when Olympic gold and tour wins began to come in.

[creekster]

I recently listened to a rebroadcast of a Freakonomics podcast entitled "In Praise of Incrementalism," and how rather than trying to hit a grand slam every time (as in investing, scientific discoveries, and other walks of life), one needs to accept that most great accomplishments occur in small steps over time, and that should be one's focus--not on one big score. To underline the point, they interviewed Sir Dave Brailsford who, after failing in his attempt to be a top pro cyclist (he joined a French team for a while), he resolved to succeed in cycling through others, and in the '90s he started to work on improving Great Britain's teams and later started Team Sky. He said rather than focus on making great improvements in any one area (e.g., strength, stamina, whatever), he decided to work on small improvements in all areas of cycling. I won't provide the details here, but one example was how they wanted to reduce team illnesses, so they brought in a surgeon to teach everyone on the team how to scrub and disinfect, a practice that perform not only on the humans but on their bus and other equipment. Several other examples of small improvements were mentioned. His interview is near the end of the broadcast and you might find it interesting. Once they started incorporated all these small, incremental changes, that's when Olympic gold and tour wins began to come in.

Sure. It was the washing. And the drugs. They helped, too.