Author Topic: Tour de France 2018  (Read 133853 times)

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
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Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #825 on: 25 July, 2018, 05:59:10 pm »
Stage 17: Bagnères-de-Luchon > Saint-Lary-Soulan Col du Portet

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External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

woollypigs

  • Mr Peli
    • woollypigs
Current mood: AARRRGGGGHHHHH !!! #bollockstobrexit

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #827 on: 25 July, 2018, 08:00:07 pm »
"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." ~ Freidrich Neitzsche

Samuel D

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #828 on: 25 July, 2018, 08:03:38 pm »
AG2R shirt. Unknown passport.

What a circus.

Excellent summary as always, Mr Larrington.

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #829 on: 25 July, 2018, 08:14:03 pm »
Go \G/

Hopefully bad days will stay away.
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

Mrs Pingu

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Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #830 on: 25 July, 2018, 08:24:02 pm »
^This
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #831 on: 25 July, 2018, 09:14:46 pm »
60km with a broken knee cap. Respect deserved I think. Wow.
Get a bicycle. You will never regret it, if you live- Mark Twain

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
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    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #832 on: 25 July, 2018, 11:33:33 pm »
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #833 on: 26 July, 2018, 12:00:41 am »
Connard? :demon:

The perp doesn't look like they have the warmth or depths to be a connasse...
"He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." ~ Freidrich Neitzsche

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #834 on: 26 July, 2018, 07:22:06 am »
Saw him limping across the paddock at the end yesterday. He looked to be really hurting.

I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #835 on: 26 July, 2018, 09:08:57 am »
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlqXXFzBb8i/  ::-)

What's the French word for "gammon"?

It's weird isn't it. These idiot trolls seem to think they can extend their pseudonymous online bile into real life without the consequences that come from being readily identifiable.

On the other hand, he's stood up and made his convictions known, so not the usual armchair warrior.

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #836 on: 26 July, 2018, 09:30:57 am »
Another online troll speaks:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tygart-says-wada-lost-credibility-in-chris-froomes-salbutamol-case/

Of course, he shouldn't voice his doubts because ESL says so. Nor should Lappartient, Prudhomne or anybody.

ESL's  post is, as usual, nonsensical. He approves of a fan trying to cause a rider to crash , but excoriates discussion of cheating.

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #837 on: 26 July, 2018, 09:54:12 am »
Prudhomme judged that a Bardet win would revitalise French interest in the Tour, and that close observation of Sky's medical regime could neutralise them, especially with Froome sidelined.

Judgments are themselves liable to judgement by events. So I'm not too bothered by Prudhomme's views.

However. I have enjoyed seeing Alaphillipe make hay while the sun has shone. His interactions with Adam Yates have added to the Tour.

I'm a bit ambivalent about Sagan. His performance was phenomenal before he bulked up, but now it's incredible. He's clearly the rock star cyclists the world craves, but he falls outside the 'normal' envelope.

Very few of the podiums have consisted of people I wouldn't think of as too thin, or too musclebound. The Arras/Roubaix stage was the exception, and that had other freakish elements in it.

I don't see how people can complain about the extreme physiques of the GC riders and  then enthuse about freak-shows such as yesterday. TTs are one leveller, but those aren't dramatic enough for casual viewers.

The Tour is likely to develop in directions driven by online interest, so we can look forward to more of these dumbed-down displays.

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #838 on: 26 July, 2018, 10:07:31 am »
What is interesting is that while power to weight is clearly the most important single number for doing well in GC, the podium guys are surprisingly tall. In years gone past, the climbers were all tiny, and people like Martin and Quintana fit that mould, however they were getting dropped in the alps by Froome, Dumoulin, Roglic, and Thomas. While super skinny, they are not tiny like climbers of yore.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #840 on: 26 July, 2018, 10:18:03 am »
The GC riders can't win a hilly stage on their own. They have a train of domestiques who shelter them until the final climb. All the intermediate climbs are won by the Polka-dot challengers.

The GC greats have often been tall, and principally TT riders, think of Anquetil and Indurain. They have had phenomenal 'engines', take a look at the history of the Hour record.

mattc

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Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #841 on: 26 July, 2018, 10:46:12 am »
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
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Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #842 on: 26 July, 2018, 10:57:59 am »
Another online troll speaks:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tygart-says-wada-lost-credibility-in-chris-froomes-salbutamol-case/
I'm not sure how this affects Le TdeF 2018.  :-\

His analysis does seem to be ahistorical, and consumed by anti-Sky confirmation bias. He's also prone to making personal attacks, best ignored I think.

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #843 on: 26 July, 2018, 11:04:26 am »
The GC riders can't win a hilly stage on their own. They have a train of domestiques who shelter them until the final climb. All the intermediate climbs are won by the Polka-dot challengers.

The GC greats have often been tall, and principally TT riders, think of Anquetil and Indurain. They have had phenomenal 'engines', take a look at the history of the Hour record.
Sure, but the likes of Indurain and Anquetil didn't gain time on the climbers in the mountains. Typically they hung on as best they could and then destroyed them in the TTs. Indurain won 5 Tours de France without winning a single road stage (the one he won was in 1989). Thomas has won more road stages this year than Indurain did in his career!

Though according to Wikipedia, Indurain's race weight was 7kg more than Dumoulin, 8 more than Thomas and 11 more than Froome. He's 2 inches taller than Thomas and 1 inch taller than the other 2. Maybe effect and cause?

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #844 on: 26 July, 2018, 11:08:09 am »
Banesto were masters of diplomacy, gifting stages made them friends.

Sky don't need friends, and the treatment they've received hasn't disposed them to be generous.

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #845 on: 26 July, 2018, 11:10:29 am »
Banesto might not have given stages away if they were also giving their rivals 10 seconds each time. ;)

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #846 on: 26 July, 2018, 11:32:12 am »
Traditionally there were climbers built like fleas that would do brutal changes of pace, in and out of the saddle. There were also some climbers built tall and skinny, mostly sitting down and holding a steady high intensity. In both cases, power to weight ruled.

What neither of these types of climbers could do was excel at time trials or hold on over rough courses, due to a lack of sustained high power output. That was when the heavier, powerful riders would come into their own and make time on the climbers.

In the EPO era, the meaty sprinters and TTers could put out enough raw power for enough time to beat the climbing specialists in the high mountains.

Nowadays, it seems that the tall, ultra-skinny climbers can put out enough power to match or beat the TT specialists on flat ground. No doubt we'll find out why in a few years.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #847 on: 26 July, 2018, 11:41:06 am »
I don't know how/why Froome climbs by holding on to the bars either side of the stem.  Most riders use the hoods.  Any thoughts?

and steering away from you know what...
Cycle and recycle.   SS Wilson

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #848 on: 26 July, 2018, 01:00:03 pm »
More upright ==> better breathing?
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Tour de France 2018
« Reply #849 on: 26 July, 2018, 01:03:26 pm »
Lots of pro riders climb on the tops. I think it depends on how spinny you are at that point - if you are pulling on the bars then you need more leverage, but if your upper body is relaxed then you can hold on wherever (or not if you are Egan Bernal!).