Le Tour 2019

[creekster]

Good write up. I was able to watch the second half of the stage and agree with most of what you said. Alaphillipe was incredible in the downhill but it helped that Pinot was leading the group. He seemed tentative and once Alaphillippe passed the bunch Uran decided someone else needed to lead to keep up.

Watching Alaphillippe has been fun. He’s an incredible rider but I doubt he ends up in yellow. The very last climb on stage 20 will do him in. He seems to have burned his matches and he’s lucky today finished on a downhill. But I’m a fan, a big fan.

This tour has been incredible. Tee jay mentioned that the lack of Froome has been the reason for the competitiveness. Ineos has struggled a bit without a clear leader and with Ineos not always there to pace the group back on all of the attacks, people are able to win off of attacks and riders knwonif they just sit on Ineos’ wheel they might lose. The parity is making this tour what it is.

I thought TeeJay's comment was interesting but I wonder if the Froome of old would have showed up this year. Remember, Froome was there last year and THomas beat him. I am not so sure he would have been the same sort of patron this year as he was in the past.

A week ago I would have agreed with you about alaphilippe, but I am not so sure now. If he is with Thomas and Bernal at the bottom of the climb, given how he has ridden so far, and with the victory within his grasp, do you think that they can really put a minute and a half into him? It's possible, but I am not so sure. The best climber today was Quintana. Thomas and Pinot and even Bernal were a bit better than alaphillipe but if they are together at the bottom of the climb, i think alaphilippe has a good chance. Yellow makes you strong.

Also, Bruyneel noted in his podcast today that Alaphilippe was using disc brakes and wondered why all of the main contenders were not using them on a stage that ended with a descent. in some of the first turns after the galibier summit i actually thought Alaphilippe had locked his wheels and lost control when what was happening was incredible deceleration due to his disc brakes. I note that rain is forecast tomorrow, if so, I bet all the leaders use discs too.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Thanks for the report, creek. I shared it with an appreciative audience here at Tahoe. The post-race interview with Landa was really weird and showed how messed up Movistar is, with no apparent team strategy.

[myboynoah]

cr33k, thank you for the wriite up 'splaning things. I was blown away by Alaphillipe's decent, and they kept going on and on about how good a decender his. It was neat to watch. But now it makes sense. He had better technology.

I'm really enjoying this tour. It airs here on AFN right after work, so the timing is perfect, even though I'm a day behind. I keep waiting for Alaphillipe to crack on one of these ascents, but so far . . . .

Happy to see EganB and NairoQ make their moves and ascend the gc. I just finished all the Narcos, so I've got Colombia on my mind.

[Pelado]

Why wouldn't the rest of the field use disc brakes on that stage, or any stage, for that matter? Are they heavier than the alternative(s)?

[creekster]

Why wouldn't the rest of the field use disc brakes on that stage, or any stage, for that matter? Are they heavier than the alternative(s)?

Yes. Weight but also the fact that it makes wheel changes in the event of a flat much slower and more tricky. The weight issue is a silly story tbh. The UCI has weight minimums for frames which supposedly keep them safe. But in fact most manufacturers add weight to hit the minimums exactly. They could easily compensate for the weight of discs, which are safer, by frame construction. But they don’t so riders worried about a few ounces avoid discs on big climbs. But for a guy like alaphilippe who is not s great climber but is a great descender the brakes are worth the weight and he showed that.

[creekster]

What a totally bizarre result today. I understand why the did what they did but I am not happy about it. No spoilers but I guarantee no one saw this coming.

I will add this minor SPOILER:


After today it sure looks like God may not want the French to win this race ever again.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

What a totally bizarre result today. I understand why the did what they did but I am not happy about it. No spoilers but I guarantee no one saw this coming.

I will add this minor SPOILER:


After today it sure looks like God may not want the French to win this race ever again.

I just turned it on to catch up and am shocked. I can’t believe that that Maserati went for more than $1.5M!

Seriously though,


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[creekster]

This year has been crazy. Now the organizers have changed the course for stage 20 due to predicted inclement weather. They are going to ride from Albertville down a valley road and then up Val Thorens for a total of 59km and one big climb. I do not expect the top five to change much if at all. ANd yellow will likely now stay where it is until paris. What a weird year.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

The Movistar story this week has just been so mind blowingly dumb. I was kinda hoping that Quintana would make the final podium and step up on the block without a Movistar kit on. Obviously, after today and tomorrow’s adjustments, that won’t be possible. I hope he finds a nice public way to give them the finger since they’ve been giving it to him this Tour.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[myboynoah]

Yay! EganB won! Go Colombia!