UKC

As anyone been able to workout what happened to Cav?

He seem to be dropped at one point but was listed as finishing in the front group.

Got held up, got back, but was too out of position to sprint?

I saw an interview with him - he didn’t seem to know what had happened to him...

https://www.itv.com/tourdefrance/interview-mark-cavendish-reflects-on-disap...

never write him off, but I think he no longer has the speed, the nerve or the remarkable self belief he once had. He may have to find a different way to win.

Meanwhile, g to take yellow on Monday?

“We will see next year why it’s hard to beat them” 

What on earth is he on about?

He didn’t look right at the pre stage interview, he was bouncing round like he was on cocaine. I’m not suggesting he was, he just looked like he was.

All that said, I don’t think cav would be there if he didn’t think he could win.

All sounds very strange...

His usual disappointment when he does badly. He is very articulate when interviewed away from the race, and very aware that the whole team is working for him, so he shoulders the responsibility if he doesn’t deliver.

But I know what you mean about the bikes, is he unhappy with them ?

A nice segment on ITV's highlights this evening showing Cav having a strop with a camera bike earlier in the week

Blimey that is some result today.  Anyone know what happened to Adam Yates ? I only saw the ticker feed of the last 20 minutes

Yates was 4'42" back

Brilliant stage today. Wonder if they’ll be lenient with the time cut.

Just seen that only 90 riders made it in - I believe Cav is way off and told Renshaw to leave him on the penultimate climb. Groenwagen made it in time, and will every reason to be upset if all his rivals are given a reprieve.

I guess the way Sky rode they made it look like a fairly gentle pace, most of the team still up at the front until 5km or so, letting Valverde and Dumolin go clear. But with the big names dropping off the back at regular intervals it was clearly anything but.

Apparently Cav is still on the road, determined to finish. Renshaw and Kittel have also both missed the cut 

Kwiatkowski came to a standstill after his turn, and wonderkid Bernal had blown before he even did a turn. Really enjoyed the stage; TdF at its best - amazing scenery, drama - the works. 

Agree, very exciting, and not just because of the outcome. Nice scenery too. God only knows what will happen tomorrow on Alpe d'Huez

And if it's true that only the top 90 made the cut, then Sagan, Moscon, Uran, Gaviria, Rowe, Degenkolb and Groenwagen would all be out

Edit - It seems that top 90 bit was based on original rules, not the amended ones, so only 4 riders eliminated (inc Cav and Kit) 

I predict a Sky 1,2 tomorrow.

Dumoulin to finish third.

The rest nowhere.

Wonder what odds William Hill will give me?

I'm hoping Froome turns up at the start line in a La Vie Claire top !

That would go down well !  

Ouch that's a shame. Anything happen to him ? He was looking strong

He dropped off the back quite early on the final climb

Just watching last nights highlights.  I wasn't expecting him to have such a bad day so early in the 3 weeks.

At a guess the cobbles nobbled him... he may yet recover somewhat though

I think the road has decided !

Still a'ways to go.

G on top now but if I were Brailsford I'd still be expecting a "day without" from him.

With Dumoulin and Froome those are the guys for the podium.

The young Sky Colombian done some job today!

Meanwhile Peter Sagan's extended his Green Jersey lead from 121 points to 210 without actually gaining any points...

Only one more summit finish - but that's the short and very nasty one next Wednesday, with the F1 start, so if someone has a bad day, it could be a very bad day.

Plenty of other pitfalls ahead, but it will be interesting to see if Froome and Dumolin start to pay for their efforts in the Giro, or will their GT experience pay off.

Sounds like Nibbles was taken out by a moto, in which case he should be awarded the same time as the lead group - the way he finished he looked pretty strong. Quintana on the other hand, time to get behind Landa. 

That was awesome! I’ve ridden Croix de Fer and Alpe d’Huez, and it made watching it even better. 

The time cuts / difficulty of the stages has made the Champs a bit of a non-event though. I can’t think if there’s any pure sprinters left? Sagan might win on the Champs. 

My money is on John Degenkolb becoming a sprinty sprinter again.

He's obviously in great shape and his earlier win will have given him some confidence back.

I think we'll see Froome take 30sec or so on Saturday.

I'm looking at G cracking on Friday's stage 19.

I had been thinking yesterday's stage was the short one!

i wondered why the F1 start had not been mentioned...

There really might be no sprinters left after that stage!

Ah, yes, I’d forgotten about him.

Changing the subject a bit, what about van Vleuten’s win in La Course? She must be the gutsiest racer in the men’s and women’s peletons. Got a lot of admiration for her. 

I'm not a big fan of Nibbles, but I'm very sad to see he seems to be out with a fractured vertebra.

Disgraceful, disrespectful behaviour from the so-called 'fans'.

If he does have a fractured vertebra, then his ride to claw his way back almost to the leaders was very gutsy.

Demarre could be in with a chance in Paris, but I reckon Sagan is favourite.

Stage 17 could well be a damp squib, but until it’s tried we won’t really know. Will the leaders wait for their domestics ? Will other teams gang up on Sky and try and isolate Thomas and Froome? Would make it interesting, but you often get quite conservative riding that deep in the third week.

one thing that has struck me is that Dumoulin is now in a stronger position than Froome - you’d back him to easily take back 11 seconds in the TT, and has beaten him on the last two stages. Also think there are two stages with steep downhill finishes, which could be an opportunity for Roglic to show off his descending skills. 

Unfortunately we won’t see whether Nibbles can shake things up. He’s out after that crash. Looks like a combo of smoke flares and a fan with a camera rather than the moto. Given that Thomas was right on his wheel it shows how easily the race could change. 

Agree, very gutsy. There are a couple of vids on twitter - you can’t see exactly what happened due to the flares, but you can see he was back on his bike, despite obvious pain, in less than 15 seconds.

Something needs to be done. More marshals or police. I did see one person who ran out get grappled to the ground but there there were many more in the way. 

Real shame about Nibbali.  I'm no fan of his but he's a great competitor who usually animates things.

On the face of it Dumoulin is better placed than Froome, but he hasn't had the support Froome has and has done some massive pulls out front.

You can't help feeling that G still has a disasterous day up his sleeve 

Anyone else surprised by how far off the pace Adam Yates is looking ? He was right there in the mix with G and Bardet in the Dauphine.

On Eurosport, they had a short clip of Juan Antonio Flecha riding up Alp d"Huez leaving all hobby riders standing, even though he was continuously chatting to the camera!

Puts my own performance on these climbs in perspective, even though I was quite a bit fitter when we rode the famous tour passes 25 years ago and felt quite heroic....

CB

Being a watcher of road cycling, rather than a cyclist exactly, how much of an advantage will Sky have if Thomas and Froome can work together on the stage with the f1 style start?

If they're 1-2 can they get away and just keep going?

I don't think they've written the text book on that one yet !

Almost certainly not, because there's still only two of them and the other guys would start working together. That said, it's uphill so drag is less of a factor, but still its a massive risk for them both to go into the red that early in the stage the sky

More likely is that someone else will attack, take enough contenders that Thomas and Froome have to respond and so isolate them from their team mates. Obvious scenario is Movistar (currently 6, 8 and 11) go for it and hope that Kwiatowski (59), Poels(60) or even Bernal(19) miss the split.     

Do you know whether the cut off time is extended for this stage ? that could be interesting if not.

I hope so, it seems the cut-off time calculations are from a different era...

Then again it seems that yesterdays stage wasn't particularly fast, or at least not on Alpe d'huez. Thomas was not only over 4 minutes off Pantani's record, he didn't even make it into the top 100.

So maybe we shouldn't be so sad that the pure sprinters have been eliminated as it will give more opportunity to the rouleurs to make a name for themselves. As much as we enjoyed Cav winning 6 stages, it's better entertainment if they are spread around a bit  

It would be interesting to see a table of times for similar stages. They’ve done TTs up the Alpe, haven’t they?

Is there an individual time trial still to come? How Long?

31 km, on Saturday

from inner ring 

"A time trial around the Basque Country and much harder than the profile suggests, this is as much a test of freshness as it is power and pacing. There’s barely a metre of flat road, the descents twist and turn and the final climb of the Pinodieta is a steep wall. It’s still a course for a time trial bike but the riders will need to consider what gears to use and strong brakes count too. This suits the GC contenders much more than the pure TT specialists."

Though it should be noted that the current top 4 on GC are all also TT specialists.

Just stumbled upon the answer on inner ring. It's the same rules as for a TT, 25% of the winners time, regardless of the speed.

I was wondering whether the shortage of pure sprinters - and hence the lack of chasing from their teams - might make life easier for breakaways, but on the evidence so far the second-stringers seem to be taking up the slack boringly well.

taken out by a fan with a camara . strap caught on the bars 

Ouch !

Meanwhile business as usual for Sagan.

I wonder whether the loss of sprinters (and in Ewan's case, the non appearance of a sprinter) is an unforeseen (although arguably foreseeable) consequence of trying to make the GC more interesting by restricting team numbers and fiddling with the parcours format.  For interesting, read breaking Sky's current dominance.

MTS’s decision to drop Ewan and go all in for Yates hasnt exactly worked out has it? But did it really make sense? You know Sky are going to bring a very strong GC focused team, so let them do all the work. It comes down to a bit of bluff and brinkmanship. Yesterday they fooled Movistar and AG2R into doing a lot of the early work, and then still had 5 or 6 riders laters on. Maybe the other teams should think about being different to Sky, rather than trying to copy their tactics.

So is it easy to say how Geraint Thomas will fare against Chris Froome on the time trial?

No. It's twisty and turny and up and downy and it's 7 stages away.

He really is brilliant at what he does.

Which is handy, given that he's a cyclist?

... Personally, I've always been convinced that I'd be brilliant at what I don't do: I'd make a fantastic lion tamer; I've trained for years using domestic cats. 

For all the complaints that this tour is harsh on the sprinters, let’s just remember that so far we have 4 stages won by the pure sprinters, 4 by rouleurs who can sprint and the other 4 by rouleurs who can climb. 

And let’s not forget that Cippolini never made it to Paris 

But he had a note from his Mum saying he didn't have to do those nasty hilly bits. Any sweat would ruin his outfits.

Echelons are go - no sheltering in a peleton.

Biggest question of the day - WTF is Gary Imlach wearing?

My god.. the aerial footage of the Ardeche gorges!

Don't give up on being a comedian Darren. You never know, you might crack it one day.

I'm here all week... Try the chicken!

Wiggins is a media professional these days - very good commentary on the state of the race and the sport in general.

Apart from upsetting a lot of Gerrunts compatriots with the pronunciation of his name - apparently - you would think that being team mates for quite a few years he would have learned how to pronounce his name - or call him G as the BBC does 

Moscon kicked off the race for punching a French rider on a French team. Well that should help Team Sky’s popularity with the host nation. And unlike his previous encounter with Reichenbach this was on camera. P45 time ?

yeah, that is simply dickish and not excusable. Out with him

He's a bit of a lad, isn't he ? I like the idea of Brailsford pleading someone's case here 

Its hardly a punch unlike when Bouhanni punched Jack Bauer. Remind me what his penalty was but the again it’s a French race and Bouhanni just happens to be French.

Vive le difference !  Doesn't mean that Giani hasn't been a very naughty boy and shouldn't be sent to the naughty corner.

I can't remember that particular Bouhanni incident, there have been so many! He used to be a boxer don't you know (see also Primoz Roglic used to be a ski jumper and Adam Hansen makes his own shoes).

But nothing unusual about brawling riders getting DQed. Has weakened team sky though, which could make the coming week even more interesting  

GM is no Tom Steels:

youtube.com/watch?v=VzTZV0TYG-U&

But considerably more loathsome.

A more recent example which got both riders expelled

youtube.com/watch?v=fSQSXQtTO1Y&

Meanwhile

https://road.cc/content/news/245521-chris-froome-says-hell-support-geraint-...

Timing is everything. Brailsford has lost the plot here.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cycling/tour-de-france-2018-team-sky-da...

So he should just accept the abuse and carry on? The actions of the 'fans' is unacceptable. If I got spat on at work I would expect my boss to do something about it.

What I can't understand is why Contador didn't get treated in the same manor.

He's not English !

But then again neither are Froome and G

It is reported that several members of the peloton spat at Simeoni and co.

Would that have made you feel better about what is going on now?

Hardly going to help is it. But then again when you have a 21 year old, female member of staff being spat at then you can understand the anger. Particularly when you feel the toxic atmosphere has been deliberately stoked up by the French organisers, the French media, the French head of the UCI and the last Frenchman to win the race.

Quite, and I think it’s a very poor reflection on people’s character when they start out.. I’m not defending this behaviour but but but but but.  Why not go and scream at your local McDonalds server or bank teller or council employee or pharmacist (because you don’t like banking, pharma etc)

Also reminds me of those clips where the car driver runs the cyclist into the ditch before reversing over their bike and someone pipes up, but you didn’t see what happened before the clip.

It’s all just poor, unacceptable behaviour and rather sad that it happens.

Toby

Maybe because Armstrong was already cast as the villain in their history ?

My respect for Bardet keeps increasing every time I hear him interviewed on this subject. A very mature 28 year old (who still looks 17   )

Agreed. You’d think someone in Brailsford’s position would have the nous to target those specific groups rather than make a sweeping statement about the whole of France.  He came over as a bigoted little englander moaning about the French.. Recklessly irresponsible move considering his riders now have to go out and be in the firing line. If I was a Sky rider and especially Froome I’d be royally pissed off with him.

No but it would be less hypocritical. Contador is a proven cheat. 

Same here . I hope to see him on the top step more than once. Thankfully he’s still young. 

His point is that it's not "specific" groups it's general abuse. I think it's just as likely the Sky riders are pleased he's said something that they couldn't. 

Maybe they should send Brailsford up the mountain as a pantomime villain before the riders do it ? draw out the bottles of piss early.

And Bertie may have been a cheat but he wasn't a pathological liar and bully to go with it.

Whereas you come across as a bigoted little jock who hates all things English. Especially Brailsford and Team Sky. 

To be fair, there isn't a lot English in the current team ....

Those nice French subsidy loving farmers have stopped the tour in protest.

You clearly don’t know me very well.

Release the Badger !!!

<gallic_shrug>C'est la vie</gallic_shrug>

<gallic_shrug>C'est la vie</gallic_shrug>

Being French, wouldn't they have said "That's Life"?

Scary descent

Just realised, isn't this the road Casertelli died on, hope they all stay safe

It is and they are.  Thought Yates was going to just about do it there.

Gilbert out after that crash.....fractured patella but finished the stage!

Big day tomorrow.....I'd love to see G do it!

Ouch. Chapeau!

I've taken the day off to watch it.... I think the whole grid thing is a bit weird, but don't know how much impact it will have - at a guess Dumolin is going to try a 65K ITT effort from the front before sky can gather the troops, but it could be cagey all the way to the last 5k

It's amazing he could stagger back up to the road at all after that. It must have been a two metre drop on the other side of the wall.

So not only did he ride a further 60km, he did a couple of Cat 1 climbs as well. 

If I was DB I would want Thomas and Froome to work together (two up? Froome go and Thomas sits on Dumoulin?) to get Froome to gap Dumoulin, which gives the team the best chance of being in yellow after the TT. (Thomas or Froome.)

But we shall see....

Can’t see Dumoulin attacking from the start, hasn’t got the team and too much to lose. Movistar and Lotto on the other hand, are the ones to watch. Either they all go full gas from the start to try to isolate Thomas and Froome from their domestiques, and then pick them off later, or Valverde and Kruijswijk go for it and force Sky to chase them over the first two climbs.

I suspect that any weaknesses in the top 3 will be magnified, but at the same time it’s quite possible that they will cross the line together, possibly fighting for the stage win. Would be amazing if Thomas got the hat-trick and a 100% record of summit finishes!

Ouch indeed.  I spoke too soon there.  A blow for Gilbert, but I guess Quicksteps tour is pretty much done anyway - Alaphillipe looks to have the polka dot pretty much sewn up.

A mere 4 stage wins and a jersey for QuickStep, same as at the Giro, but not quite up to last years standards. Still, they won the two biggest races of the year* so I think LaFevre will be quite happy

* If you're a Belgian 

I reckon Froome will attack immediately and TT the lot.

Thomas will have options to disrupt Dumalin if he's threatening, or chase Froome if not.

I still think Sky are trying to give it to Froome, if only to stick it to the French.

Shame Gilbert is out but it could have been so much worse. Feeling for Yatesy, would have been a great first stage win for him. Very sporting and sympathetic behaviour from Alaphilippe though, hope to see him do well in the future.

Also impressed that last night’s highlights closed with the Butthole Surfers. 

Wish I’d taken today off.

My bet is Valverde will go from the off.  I'd be surprised if Froome didn't wait for Kwito, Bernhal and Poels to get to him.  Setting off on a TT and towing Dumoulin along doesn't make sense for him.

That sounds really good (and logical), but will Thomas be happy hang back and let the #2 gc to gain time?

I guess that's a question of are they two individuals or a team.  

y'know i'm starting to warm to LA : "Dave, man, put the f*cking shovel down, get back in the bus and shut up"

his source in Sky said that Froomie didn't want GT to ride..

youtube.com/watch?v=2EoLz1Cdq3k&

GT or TD for the win

Lance is an 4rse, he's only concerned with promoting himself and stirring as much sh*t as possible.

It's his job, which means he has to (should!?) do what the boss says, he's paid by Sky to be part of their team.

Have you listened to his podcast? It's actually very very good.

I'll grant you he has ramped up the product placement too much this year though.

Didn't want Moscon to ride, not GT. Might want to get that right  

Missed the gridstart, but it sounds like I didn't miss much. However I think the aim may have been misinterpreted as a means of generating drama - but the aim was to avoid drama, they didn't want riders fighting for position before the flag dropped. Surely as Brits we can appreciate a decent queuing system?

Bit of a bugger for the groupeto, though.  Forming after about 100m !  We could loose some more sprinters here.  Sagan for the Champs Elisee ?

It might have been more interesting with 200m between each group of riders... 

Sagan just behind Thomas at the moment so i don't think he's in danger

Someone in ITV's editing booth has a pretty good iPod playlist - they often pick some bangin' tunes for the closing montage

Well that just about decides it for Sky's pecking order in this race, I reckon. 

Heard he came off on a descent but got back on not sure where he finished.

Great days racing today. Good to see Quintana has still got it. Whoever said Valverde would go from the off got it spot on.

G's to lose now I think

Yep, he's peaking for the fourth week again !

Me and everyone else! He certainly did a good job today

What could possibly go wrong. Nobody mention the last TT he raced. Don't even think about it.

What is great for G is there can't even be a hint of divided interests for Sky now - they only really look to have one card to play.

Yeah, the grid start was a bit of a damp squib. I was hoping G would blast it for 200m then sit-up and laugh. Turned out a great GC stage but the short distance didn't really add anything.

Fabulous stage yesterday albeit with a GC stalemate. Have been an Alaphilippe fan for a while so great to see him having a great tour. Quickstep have been great all year. Gutted for Gilbet...

To be fair, apart from the positioning of the bikes on the car, I don't see how the leadership question has affected Sky at all. Bernal in particular has been so strong that there has never been a question of Thomas doing domestique duty. Instead they have been able, at various times times, to sit on while one of their rivals attacks and then pounce.

Friday may not be a summit finish but it's still a beast of a day - 2 HC inc Tourmalet - so now that Froome's weakness has been exposed we can expect a lot of attacks. Mind you Dumoulin isn't exactly looking fresh, so maybe Quintana will go long ?   

totally rubbish really.

what would be better: for the final stage into Paris; set them off at timed intervals as per their GC standing. then it's 1st over the line wins.

this also sorts out the boring pish that is the final stage: no attacking the YJ and the inevitable procession to a sprinters' finish.

don't eve think about it, I have already patented the idea; just waiting on the call from the race director

I remember watching the closest thing to that so far - the 1988 final stage was a ITT finishing on the Champs. Lemond got it by 8 seconds amazing way to finish a tour.

I thought it was even funnier that G was still lounging on his top tube when the lights went green. That was a great bit racing on the final climb, G looks totally relaxed and able to alternate between sleep and nitro on demand. Great to see Quintana remind us of what he can do when the road goes up. Really glad that G <touch wood> looks like he's got it in the bag, always liked him and it's about time he got a crack at it. Another all rounder who has excelled in pretty much every discipline and a great bloke to boot.

The short mountain stage was great.

Nice to see Quintana do something -  face carved from stone - he gives nothing away. 

Looks like Sagan will have more points than the rest of the peleton combined. Crazy. He really is good at what he does. 

Dan M....very impressive again, very good ride today and a good tour!!

Yes. Some great racing.

When it’s not your day....

https://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/article/2018/07/26/froome-thrown-grou...

The best explanation i’ve read is that you can’t expect the French police to know what a TDF winner looks like

Ha ha. You can (grudgingly) give the gendarme the benefit of the doubt not recognising Froome but the "fan" grabbing G's arm really should be locked up for a night or two.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlqXXFzBb8i/?hl=en&taken-by=beardmcbeardy

What goes through these peoples minds (assuming they have one), they cannot be cycling 'fans'.

Fair play to the man. I have my doubts it will improve the situation for his riders, one can but hope that it will. FWIW I’m a big fan of G, no fan of Sky and a reluctant admirer of Froome but I’d rather see Dumoulin on the second step through stronger cycling rather than crowd intervention a la Merckx/Thevenet.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jul/25/dave-brailsford-apologises-sp...

Drunken yobbos. It’s difficult not to wish that G would stop and give him an “Hinaultesque” response.

Theres a video which shows the same man tried the same thing with Quintana a minute earlier. Which means those around him didn't nothing to stop him...

I'm guessing from his AGR2 top that he wants Bardet to win by whatever means possible

There should be sufficient info in the various photographs to identify the offenders, so perhaps they could send round a couple of gendarmes to have a quiet word, I hear that the one with the pepper spray and the one assigned to push grand tour winners off their bikes have got a bit of free time currently ?

Or possibly they are directing traffic round Perpignan in the mid day sun ?

I'm counting down the seconds to the end of the Tour now. I'm pretty much at breaking point, due to a Vauxhall Corsa advert. 

It's got to the point where I'm fantasising about reaching into the car, turning the stereo off, and dragging each of the bobbly-headed women out into the showroom and punching them squarely on the nose... I'd have garrotted the salesman, with his own tie, prior to attacking the occupants of the car.

I suspect that I don't fall into the advertiser's target demographic.

Retail therapy might help. A nice watch for example.

hahaha I was thinking something similar.

I have no idea what the target demographic is though - would the ad really appeal to young women, represented as zombie bobbing heads.

Could Landa do a Landis ?

Save you money - otherwise how will you find £3800 for your funeral

I'm struggling to decide on my choice of over 50's plan.  Its opened my eyes to the need for my funeral planning.

I actually rang and asked whether they'll do me a bulk discount, on their funeral service, for a Buddhist. They put the phone down on me. 

Seems like it might be a good idea to have your policy pay out to a donkey sanctuary.

Or a zoo?  https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/the_pub/i_told_zoo_so-690108

I'm with you there. Especially during a 6 hour sesh of live tdf. 

I love the Action Man ad though. It was my goto toy as a boy. I had a full squad. 

Froome is riding out one of his great descents.  Amazing cycling coming down the Aubisque by all of the GC contenders.

He's been to the right schools.

Roglic hit 92kmph on the downhill !

(mind you, he used to be a ski jumper.....)

Didn't Cadel Evans hit 110km per hour coming down the Tourmalet the Year he won it? 

I remember the descent of the Aubisque as the fastest and scariest of the big Pyrenean cols. Mind you I had 4 panniers, full camping kit and shite brakes...

That was a great stage victory and gc race. Heart in mouth watching the descent.

My star of the day is Sagan.
He looked totally battered when he was on camera, I was fearing he wouldn't make the cut.
It would've been a travesty if he lost the green jersey seeing as he's completely won it.

Complete out there comment, and I do love UK success, but isn’t the dominance of Sky harking back to the US Postal era and dull racing? If I had the spare cash I’d put together a Low Countries team (avec Dumoulin) and a mavericks team (like the Barbarians in rugby) just for interesting racing.

You thought today’s stage was boring? Ok......

And just remember that if it wasn’t for his crash, and 20 sec penalty for drafting, Dumoulin would be the favourite to win, despite being second best to Thomas on every major battle. He’s benefited from Sky’s pacemaking as much as anyone 

And the chances are the podium will consist of one tour debutante, an 2 guys who have never even made the top 10 in any grand tour. Hardly predictable 

the problem that the overall standard is so high, combined with the tactical knowledge, means that everyone knows the best plan is to stay in the pack until the last 5k. Would have happened without LA.

yes they could introduce a budget cap, and then the tin-foil hat brigade could work themselves into a lather by ‘proving’ that Sky must be breaking the rule. It might introduce a greater element of randomness to races, but I doubt it would turn back the clock to the 1950s

Predictions for tomorrow.....

Im not convinced Dumoulin has got a lot left in the tank.

Roglic....looks good but may suffer from today.

G looks tired but good still.

Froome looks cooked but you can never tell as he can recover well.

One problem for non sky riders is not having strong enough teams to attack sky if they are having a bad day - if such a thing exists.

So teams have to either form alliances or go solo/short handed.

The strong sky team just sets a fast pace that makes it very difficult for gc riders to escape.

I wouldn't call this tour boring as there's often a race within a race but even today imost of the gc action took place near the end where gc contenders without strong teams around them felt they could give it a go.

Tomorrow could be a very interesting day.

My prediction - the top 4 will be the top 4.

If he had to, I could see Thomas winning as he seems to have most left in the tank. But surely he will play safe - and it does sound like a tricky course - and will lose about a minute.

I say Roglic to win, Froome and Dumoulin are better normally, but the Giro is showing.

Thomas also has the advantage of going last and will be getting feedback on their performance and will know how much to risk it down hill etc..  The contenders just have to go for it and take those risks if there aren't prepared to settle for a place and want first. 

Great stage yesterday. Made by Landa and Bardet rolling the dice. Might have turned out differently had the Lotto NL boys left to Sky to do all the chasing.

I expect you are right about G going for a solid ride rather than spectacular. The Dumoulin/Rodlic fight for GC 2nd will be a close run thing.

All being well the Welsh will have their first TDF winner, couldn’t think of a British rider more deserving well done G

Couldn't agree more.....a rider, superstar who is humble and still comes across like he could be out with his mates tonight for a few beers. A great all round rider...

G's done it and Wales has a TdF winner and, dare I say it, the first true TdF winner born in the UK.

It couldn't of been won by a more deserving, humble and thoroughly nice guy who's also a shrewd tactical racer on the form of his life. A massive well done from me and an inspirational athlete for all of us.

Couldn't agree more

Assuming no mishaps tomorrow, he will be the first Tour winner born in the U.K. With Wiggins born in Belgium and Froome born in Kenya, but I'm not sure what you mean by "true TdF winner".

Just as a bit of trivia. Irishman Ronan O'Gara was born in San Diego and Italian World Cup winner Simone Perrotta was born in Ashton-under-Lyne.

I agree my choice of words was poor, I meant nothing by "true TdF winner" the point I wanted to make, although I did it poorly, was the one you've made that Froome was born in Kenya and Wiggo in Belgium. I'd like to edit my original post but can't figure out how

Thanks for putting it straight

Lee

is he "asthmatic" as well? 

Pause.

Who really gives a shit if Wiggins was born in Belgium?! He's 100% English.

Froome, by dint of his parents being full expat with no intention of returning is more questionable.

Play - idolisation of G because you like him can begin again. 

I don't know, but there are no fancy coloured jerseys going for anyone that guesses how G'll be getting out of breath tonight.
Weak knees won't be a problem tomorrow.

Phew! He's actually gone and done it!  

I’m out!

No, but he did lose his spleen after a crash early in his career. And presumably if you believe that astmatics should be denied the medication they require to breath normally, then anyone who requires medical intervention should also have to forego their sporting career.

My uncle Oiseaudy, a Parisian onion seller had a podium finish in the Tour de France in 1905 when going about his business on his old Peugeot, smoking a Gauliose, inadvertently pipped Louis Trousselier over the line at the Arc de Triomphe. 

Somewhat wobbly owing to a morning of Absinthe and unsure of what he had done to deserve the attention, Oiseaudy gracefully accepted the 6000 francs prize money and spent it quick, having an inkling regardless of the wormwood that it was all likely to be too good to be true.

Err no. Just wondering if he was allowed to take a beta 2  antagonist that allows more oxygen into the lungs. If he doesn' then great, we may have our first drug free tdf winner.

Don't start this shit again, it's very tiresome. 

No UK winners for a hundred years then three come along together.

Pity that the nickname ‘the penguin’ didn’t stick

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/jul/14/cycling.tourdefrance1

Slightly off topic but this year I have been very impressed by David  Millar as a commentator, He is calm, considered & very knowledgable. It then struck me that the BBC Sports Personality of the Year could include an award to the best Sports Journalist/Presenter of the year. Any thoughts?

I know there's a lot of politics and possible corruption but the tour remains a fantastic spectacle....watching day to day, the camerawork, the organisation, the passion....as G Just said....vive la tour!

He is very, very good.

Has anyone else out there seen 'Time Trial'? If so what do you think of it?

It's good.

https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/biking/film_-_david_millars_time_trial_-_...

Thanks for pointing me at this thread - I have just made a contribution to it.

Agreed that this is all a bit boring, but just to clarify on Thomas,

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/geraint-thomas-bursts-from-his-bubble-befor...

'At the end of 2017, Thomas gave an interview to Cyclingnews. He was the first rider from Team Sky to talk publicly after the Froome salbutamol affair was made public. He spoke about never taking a TUE, partly because it was something he didn't want to face criticism for in the future.'

He's very good, I would give him

9/10. A little bit too verbose but hugely insightful. Like Phil and Kirsty he struggles with the Tour guide to chateaux to sound as if he knows what he's talking about. He needs to work on the plural of Tour de France (see my other thread) and he says imperial when he means imperious. Otherwise no complaints. 

Just a reminder that you don’t need a TUE to use a Salbutamol inhaler. It’s a performance enabler, not a performance enhancer. There is nothing to stop a non-asthmatic from using an inhaler, but they won’t get a benefit, because they won’t be experiencing the same difficulties in breathing.

Changing the subject slightly, I didn't see whether Bernard Hinault was at the presentations yesterday and if he was did he shake Chris Froomes hand ?

I think I saw him there in the background but he doesn't do the podium job anymore. I'd imagine they both steered clear of each other.

I believe Hinault has retired from official duties with ASO and only made a brief appearance during one of the Breton stages, so wouldn't expect him in Paris

Not sure if that small-town French mayor was on hand to offer his congratulations  

That boy G, didn't he do well?

Well done also to Froome, some team harmony on (public) show.