Tour de France 2018

[bobb]

Adam Yates is through the most obvious obstacle, and we now have to see if he can build up enough of a cushion to compensate for his poor time trialling.

I bet he can lay a mean hedge though.

[grams]

The vast majority are riding rim brakes. Look at the photo above, for instance!

Some were still riding discs, but I suspect most would have changed to rim brakes, so they can get a wheel from anyone. Those who normally ride discs would have a change in lever response to deal with.

Hardly any of them have been riding discs on any stage though! This is one of those times the commentators are just making shit up.

[Hot Flatus]

Adam Yates will be found out at the end of the first set of mountains. This is the fucking Tour.

[Exit Stage Left]

Adam Yates will be found out at the end of the first set of mountains. This is the fucking Tour.

4th in 2016, and winner of the White Jersey. He's had two years to mature, and the dice have been loaded against testers.

[Exit Stage Left]

Adam Yates is through the most obvious obstacle, and we now have to see if he can build up enough of a cushion to compensate for his poor time trialling.

I bet he can lay a mean hedge though.

Likelier to be a waller from up there.

[Nick H.]

Hardly any of them have been riding discs on any stage though! This is one of those times the commentators are just making shit up.

Sagan used disc brakes in stage 5.

[Exit Stage Left]

Most teams have a standard model and a disc brake model.

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/product-news/worldtour-pro-team-bikes-guide-152997

There were disc bikes out today.

[grams]

I never said there were zero?! There were by far the minority though.

The commentary I heard (which is probably the same bit you're referring to) implied most riders had switched to discs today and that's why they were crashing, which was completely at odds with what you could see on the screen.

(and here's one of my holiday snaps from last Sunday showing the typical ratio of disc to not-disc on a normal day)

[Nuncio]

I thought for a group of men who are paid to ride bikes, they would be better at keeping them up right...

I've just watched the Eurosport hilights, and it's like a compilation video of great cycle crashes!

Of those in the top 10 of the GC currently, how many of them are sprinters who aren't really going to be in GC contention by the time we've hit the lumpy stuff?

J

None, not pure sprinters anyway.  Just a couple (GvA and Gilbert) who are more one-day specialists. I would say Jungels as well, but he was referred to as possible GC contender on commentary today.

[SoreTween]

Is anyone keeping a tally of crashes & visitations? Bardet must be winning the latter.

[alexb]

Bardet hasn't done his tyre sponsor any favours today has he?

[Nick H.]

I don't think anyone watches the Tour for puncture-proof tyre recommendations!

They're all on tubs anyway...who buys tubs apart from pro teams these days?

[Exit Stage Left]

The on-bike footage shows a fair few disc setups. https://www.facebook.com/TeamSky/videos/10156665164499873/

The introduction of twin-pivot brakes by Shimano in the early 1990s caused a certain amount of discussion. Sean Yates felt they led to rear-wheel lockups, and continued to use a single pivot on the back. Campagnolo eventually adopted that idea to save weight.

[T42]

According to Fr. commentary it takes about 30 sec longer to change a disc wheel than a standard. That much less to make up if you're on standard.

[Exit Stage Left]

According to Fr. commentary it takes about 30 sec longer to change a disc wheel than a standard. That much less to make up if you're on standard.

It's the standardisation that makes the difference. It would be possible to have single-sided front and rear forks, and to leave the disc and sprocket assemblies in place. I've seen that arrangement on recumbents. But general use would require agreement between manufacturers.

I've been interested to see what effect Sky's tactics have had on their team classification. They're 16th out of 22, with 2 riders in the top 10 of the GC.

The team standings seem to be based on the aggregate time of the first three riders, so the sprinters' teams are the best represented. Sky have been visible at the front of the peloton, as they've been keeping Thomas and Froome out of trouble, and their work has benefited others. So the by-product might be some much-needed goodwill for them.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cycling/2018/07/15/tour-de-france-2018-stage-nine-results-standings-john-degenkolb/

 

[Nuncio]

The team standings seem to be based on the aggregate time of the first three riders, so the sprinters' teams are the best represented. Sky have been visible at the front of the peloton, as they've been keeping Thomas and Froome out of trouble, and their work has benefited others. So the by-product might be some much-needed goodwill for them.

I doubt it.

They were doing OK in the team standings until yesterday, when their 3rd rider was over 12 minutes down - a combination of a number of crashes, and some dropping back for Egan Bernal, apparently. I wonder if the riders have any idea where their team lies on the team classification. I suspect they neither know nor care.

[Exit Stage Left]

The team classification is considered less important than the individual general classification, and it is rare that a team starts the Tour with the main goal of winning the team classification. If during the race a team is in a good position to win the team classification, the team may change tactics in order to win.[3]

When Lance Armstrong lost hopes of winning in 2010, he instructed his teammates to keep an eye on their main rivals for the team classification, and his Team RadioShack won the team classification.[3]

A good performance in the team classification may help a team to qualify for the next Tour de France. In 2010, a system was set up to determine which teams qualify as UCI ProTeams, and the team classification in the Tour de France was part of this system.[

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

So the team classification would have some bearing for a team that's wanting to retain its ProTeam status.

[Hot Flatus]

I think you mean WorldTeam

[Exit Stage Left]

I think you mean WorldTeam

The situation is a bit complicated by the presence of wild-card teams.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/prudhomme-explains-tour-de-france-wild-card-decision/

It's unclear to me how the team placings on the Tour impact on the status of 'second division' teams. I'd be grateful for an explanation from an expert.

[Hot Flatus]

Not sure. Its UCI points overall that count in order to avoid relegation, I believe. Rules changed about 3 years ago.

[Exit Stage Left]

It's quite difficult researching this stuff. It took me a while to find out that Bernie Eisel is the UCI rider's rep.

I'm still curious if he has a role at the Tour, or if another rider deputises. The ITV4 coverage used to cover some of this, mainly because Jens Voigt had been a 2 up TT partner with Boardman at Credit Agricole. They've lost touch with the current generation a bit. They seem to have the best rapport with Dan Martin.

[Torslanda]

@ PP & Mr. Edd L. Informationalize us!

[ijsbrand]

The team standings seem to be based on the aggregate time of the first three riders, so the sprinters' teams are the best represented. Sky have been visible at the front of the peloton, as they've been keeping Thomas and Froome out of trouble, and their work has benefited others. So the by-product might be some much-needed goodwill for them.

I doubt it.

They were doing OK in the team standings until yesterday, when their 3rd rider was over 12 minutes down - a combination of a number of crashes, and some dropping back for Egan Bernal, apparently. I wonder if the riders have any idea where their team lies on the team classification. I suspect they neither know nor care.

Teams do care. As the position in the team standing equals the order in which the cars follow the peloton. First team = first car. And that is rather important on stages with narrow roads, like yesterday's, or mountain stages.

Also, for Spanish teams especially winning the team standings used to be as important as winning the rider's GC. So since the demise of Spanish cycling -- there is only one world tour team left -- a main driving force in the team competition has gone.

[Nuncio]

Oh. I thought it was order of Individual GC standings from the previous day.

[Hot Flatus]

You can access the UCI regulations, but I'd save them for a sleepless night. Much of the difference between Pro-Conti and WT is about funding,  team size and financial guarantees.

This is quite informative:

http://inrng.com/2016/10/the-relegation-procedure/