Author Topic: Tour de France 2018  (Read 133866 times)

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #300 on: 13 July, 2018, 11:26:46 am »
The ITV highlights show is pretty boring, it's just filled with guys racing each other on bikes - they've edited out all the helicopter shots of the countryside. There was nothing in yesterday's that I recognised from PBP - did I miss anything?

I recognized the gateway in Sizun, but the picture was so bad that if I hadn't been looking for it I wouldn't have known it was there.

Start in Fougères, Villaines-la-Juhel and Mamers today. After Mamers there are some horrible hills, as I learnt going the other way on our 2014 Diagonale.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #301 on: 13 July, 2018, 11:37:58 am »
The ITV highlights show is pretty boring, it's just filled with guys racing each other on bikes - they've edited out all the helicopter shots of the countryside. There was nothing in yesterday's that I recognised from PBP - did I miss anything?

From the recording of the live broadcast I saw the break go through Sizun, both the break and peloton go up the 'gentle ramp' cat 1 Roc'h Trevezel, and the peloton entering Carhaix (which I didn't recognize from the helicopter shots). It appeared that the echelons started on the descent of the Roc when Quickstep put on the pressure up front, and reduced the lead of the break from 7 minutes to 2:30 in no time at all. The views of Sizun brought back good memories. And the footage of Roc'h Trevezel reminded me how featureless it is. The helicopter shots from the Roc showed a large reservoir which I don't remember.  It looked fairly close, but that could have been the foreshortening. Oh and parts of Brest from the rollout looked familiar.

Nick H.

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #302 on: 13 July, 2018, 11:53:40 am »
I'm looking forward to the Roubaix stage. I hope we'll see lots of weird suspension bodges. And a train. (A real train.)

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #303 on: 13 July, 2018, 01:30:06 pm »
Really super boring stage today. even the riders look bored. Boring roads.

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #304 on: 13 July, 2018, 02:00:41 pm »
Really super boring stage today. even the riders look bored. Boring roads.

Isn't it? Even *** and SD Millar were bemoaning the prospect of the pelican trundling through France at 26kph for 9 hours or so - there aren't enough chateaux to keep them talking for that long! I hope the sprint finish is worth it.

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #305 on: 13 July, 2018, 02:05:35 pm »
There's a 150m kick up to the finish. I reckon Alaphillipe, or Sagan. Or of course the ever amazing Gaviria.

Anyway, looks like today is the unofficial rest day. Even the guy out front is soft-pedalling.

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #306 on: 13 July, 2018, 02:55:30 pm »
And all of a sudden echelons!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #307 on: 13 July, 2018, 02:58:49 pm »
And all of a sudden, all back together

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #308 on: 13 July, 2018, 03:06:09 pm »
Really super boring stage today. even the riders look bored. Boring roads.

Anything but boring for me: we did the road from Nogent to Mamers on the 3rd day of our 2014 Strasbourg-Brest, after losing time with headwinds on the first two days. We had slept something like 3 hours in Nogent, and the incessant steep hills between there and Mamers were utter hell.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Nick H.

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #309 on: 13 July, 2018, 03:20:10 pm »
bbc.co.uk's Tour headline is: "Tour de France Stage Seven: Cavendish Involved." Boredom must be hitting an all time high.

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #310 on: 13 July, 2018, 04:34:37 pm »
Really super boring stage today. even the riders look bored. Boring roads.

I'm surprised half the peleton didn't climb off a quarter of the way through citing boredom. Maybe some did - no doubt they'll spend the next half a decade banging on about how boring it was. Losers  :P
Those wonderful norks are never far from my thoughts, oh yeah!

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #311 on: 13 July, 2018, 04:48:12 pm »
16k to go. Still really boring. There's a row across the front keeping the pace down.

Really super boring stage today. even the riders look bored. Boring roads.

I'm surprised half the peleton didn't climb off a quarter of the way through citing boredom. Maybe some did - no doubt they'll spend the next half a decade banging on about how boring it was. Losers  :P

Being pros, they'll have ridden and won plenty of other much harder races, without needing to boast about riding down a long boring road really slowly  ;)

Nick H.

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #312 on: 13 July, 2018, 05:07:26 pm »
Cav gave up with 30 metres to go. No aggression. Pipe and slippers time.

guidon

  • formerly known as cyclone
Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #313 on: 13 July, 2018, 05:08:55 pm »
Good finish though, many fresh legs to keep it fast....Well done Dylan!

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #314 on: 13 July, 2018, 05:09:15 pm »
Jesus wept. France TV went wawa and showed us the last km with the commentary from 4 km earlier. That after they'd told us three times  that a bloke at the back had fallen over.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #315 on: 13 July, 2018, 05:29:14 pm »
Cav gave up with 30 metres to go. No aggression. Pipe and slippers time.

Groenwegen was pulling away from Cav even before he sat up. He was never going to catch him. He'd done everything right to get in the perfect position but he just couldn't match Groenewegen's power. I don't know if that's age-related or just poor form but I'm not writing him off just yet. Groenewegen also made Gaviria and Sagan look pretty ordinary today. That was a very convincing win.

I don't think you can read too much into Cav sitting up though. Once he knew he was beaten, there was no point contesting it - he's not interested in the points for fourth place.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

cygnet

  • I'm part of the association
Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #316 on: 13 July, 2018, 05:51:20 pm »
I bet the team would be though. (Can they be relegated from the WT at the end of the season or is the state of the WT so precarious that they can't?)
I Said, I've Got A Big Stick

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #317 on: 13 July, 2018, 06:41:36 pm »
More Tour de Bore tomorrow. It goes to Dreux.

Sunday's Roubaix stage should more than make up for it.

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #318 on: 13 July, 2018, 07:21:36 pm »
More Tour de Bore tomorrow. It goes to Dreux.

Sunday's Roubaix stage should more than make up for it.

But it's the 14th July and a frenchman has to try to win! How could it be boring? Of course they'll have to pull things out a bit on sunday, what with France in the footy final, else no-one will be interested (all of this speaking as a pseudo frog of course  :facepalm: :facepalm: )

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #319 on: 13 July, 2018, 08:50:44 pm »
A very satisfying day. The tour used to finish and start in the same town, but ASO make s more money from splitting the venue. The Tour also functions as the initiation into the ranks of master cyclist. That has echoes of the Compagnons du Devoir.

Quote
"Tour de France" simply refers to the fact that the Compagnons travel throughout France; every six months to a year they are required to change work locations. This is unrelated to the Tour de France cycling competition. The word compagnon (companion) is derived from the Old French compaignon, a person with whom one breaks bread.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compagnons_du_Devoir

It's not possible to race for three weeks without recourse to drugs, and days like today used to be more common, often through the Champagne region. Today's was across the Beauce, known as the bread-basket of Paris. So there's an echo of 'compaignon, a person with whom one breaks bread'. Literary allusions used to be common when the race was reported on in print, which was the original intention.

I started watching the Tour when a half hour Channel 4 show was the only UK TV coverage.A stage such as today's isn't intended for live TV.

The Tour de France has to be an achievable aim for all the riders who start, so then can become a master of their craft. PBP has the same function for a randonneur.

We were a bit upset by a presenter of the highlights show describing a field of barley as wheat. But how can you have any sympathy for something you don't know about?

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #320 on: 13 July, 2018, 09:53:15 pm »
Jesus wept. France TV went wawa and showed us the last km with the commentary from 4 km earlier. That after they'd told us three times  that a bloke at the back had fallen over.

Well, my ITV4 recording stopped at about the 3km to go mark, presumably because of the slow average speed. Good job I hadn’t wasted several hours on the boring stuff only to miss out on that bit. With the judicious use of fast forward it was only about 2 hours.

But I’ll be able to tell my grandchildren that I witnessed the stage with 4 failed solo breaks, which must be something of a rarity.

mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #321 on: 14 July, 2018, 08:10:04 am »
But I’ll be able to tell my grandchildren that I witnessed the stage with 4 failed solo breaks, which must be something of a rarity.
... and were 3 from the same team? Even more crazy!

More Tour de Bore tomorrow. It goes to Dreux.

Sunday's Roubaix stage should more than make up for it.
Perumsably the teams were licking their wounds and girding loins for Sunday. But maybe 1 rest day is enough and today will kick-off again? I'm not counting on it, but will be watching the highlights ...
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #322 on: 14 July, 2018, 08:49:28 am »
As mzjo pointed out, and I had forgotten, it's Bastille day, so a  variety of frogs will be both showboating, and going for ze win.

Don't know what the wind forecast is. Things can get suddenly very interesting if there is a crossword on a straight road.  It cannot be as dull as yesterday. I dint blame them, it was a long day at the end of a hard week and it looked like it was a deliberate decision to go slow. Tomorrow will be rough and then they hit the mountains on tuesday

TimC

  • Old blerk sometimes onabike.
Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #323 on: 14 July, 2018, 09:18:46 am »
Things can get suddenly very interesting if there is a crossword on a straight road.

Got to be more interesting than riding a bike!

Wowbagger

  • Former Sylph
    • Stuff mostly about weather
Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #324 on: 14 July, 2018, 09:26:28 am »
TdF winner in choir from SE (5,6).
Quote from: Dez
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