| Tour de France 15:25 - Jul 12 with 15894 views | Pegojack |
No thread yet, boys and girls?
I thought Geraint looked very strong yesterday on the first proper mountain stage. The rest of Ineos looked a bit flakey, though, could be an issue later on.
Coverage on ITV4 is good as always, and the French tv live shots, high up over the scenery and down and dirty on the road, is as compulsive as usual. |  | | |  |
| Tour de France on 20:07 - Jul 27 with 1424 views | BrynCartwright |
| Tour de France on 19:52 - Jul 27 by Professor |
Which means Carlton Kirby if you want it live!!! |
Will not pay for Eurosport. |  |
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| Tour de France on 20:47 - Jul 27 with 1405 views | Pegojack |
| Tour de France on 18:50 - Jul 27 by BrynCartwright |
What a brilliant Tour.
Bernal was superb. Well done Bluey for calling it early.
Geraint in second is still brilliant for Welsh cycling.
Sorry that Alaphilippe did not podium. He has been electric up until the last two days.
Loads and loads of Welsh flags everywhere, and the same amazing scenery and passionate cycling fans.
Loved it from start to finish.
Hopefully Dimension Data will have Cavendish cycling in the Vuelta! Only highlights on itv4 this year though. |
It was a brilliant tour and I enjoyed it immensely, but the last two days were vaguely unsatisfying because of their curtailment. A bit like going to the Cup Final and the ref saying "sorry, we're forced to cut it short, whoever's in the lead after 25 minutes has won". | | | |
| Tour de France on 23:20 - Jul 27 with 1375 views | sherpajacob |
| Tour de France on 15:21 - Jul 27 by Pegojack |
Alan Phillips has blown up. |
I always thought Jeff Herdman was better anyway. |  |
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| Tour de France on 00:23 - Jul 28 with 1355 views | Banosswan |
| Tour de France on 18:06 - Jul 27 by Professor |
He did. Top 5 is none too shabby. Never really looked in doubt for Ineos. Good second for G, and if you follow Twitter, a new legion of South American fans. Bernal seems to be very much liked by both G and Froome. A great career beckons |
It speaks amazingly well for him. He knew he couldn't keep with the big boys, yet he kept riding rather than sitting up. |  |
| Ever since my son was... never conceived, because I've never had consensual sex without money involved... I've always kind of looked at you as... a thing, that I could live next to... in accordance with state laws. | | Poll: | How do you like your steak? |
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| Tour de France on 00:26 - Jul 28 with 1353 views | Professor |
| Tour de France on 20:07 - Jul 27 by BrynCartwright |
Will not pay for Eurosport. |
Would have to pay me to listen to the awful drivel that is the Kirby/ Kelly double
Act |  | | |
| Tour de France on 07:01 - Jul 28 with 1300 views | Swanseaman |
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great tour, good to see bernal get the win at only 22. he will win many more in the future.
I was disappointed that bernal didn't seem to give it everything in that stage, and claim some other jerseys and the stage win. it was as if he knew he's won the tour and wanted to cross the line with thomas?
the main thing i will remember with this tour, is thomas has shown he is a truly great man. you can get great champions, but to be a great man is a lot harder to achieve. thomas could have won this tour, if he'd held bernal back to help him instead of letting him go ahead (when bernal was feeling good), it would have been thomas's 2nd tour win. he knew bernal was in the better form, and he didn't want to hold him back and get the win knowing that his team mate deserved it more.
thomas will be unlikely to win the tour again if bernal's form keep improving, he has shown that you don't have to live in a dog eat dog world.
✵ [Post edited 28 Jul 2019 14:50]
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| Tour de France on 11:41 - Jul 28 with 1273 views | Professor |
| Tour de France on 07:01 - Jul 28 by Swanseaman |
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great tour, good to see bernal get the win at only 22. he will win many more in the future.
I was disappointed that bernal didn't seem to give it everything in that stage, and claim some other jerseys and the stage win. it was as if he knew he's won the tour and wanted to cross the line with thomas?
the main thing i will remember with this tour, is thomas has shown he is a truly great man. you can get great champions, but to be a great man is a lot harder to achieve. thomas could have won this tour, if he'd held bernal back to help him instead of letting him go ahead (when bernal was feeling good), it would have been thomas's 2nd tour win. he knew bernal was in the better form, and he didn't want to hold him back and get the win knowing that his team mate deserved it more.
thomas will be unlikely to win the tour again if bernal's form keep improving, he has shown that you don't have to live in a dog eat dog world.
✵ [Post edited 28 Jul 2019 14:50]
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I follow G on twitter and the number of messages he has had from Colombia praising him as a sportsman and gentleman (caballero) are amazing. A real sportsman in the old sense. My old research assistant who is Colombian is beside herself with joy and I expect there will be plenty of sore heads in Bogota today. | | | |
| Tour de France on 13:19 - Jul 28 with 1254 views | BytholWyn |
Geraint is a class act, and we can all feel proud of him. He's so level-headed it's untrue. He knew as soon as the penultimate competitive stage was curtailed that he wouldn't win, but still managed to smile whilst talking to Prudhomme about the decision to cut the stage short. One of the Welsh sporting greats. |  | | |
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| Tour de France on 14:39 - Jul 28 with 1240 views | Banosswan |
| Tour de France on 07:01 - Jul 28 by Swanseaman |
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great tour, good to see bernal get the win at only 22. he will win many more in the future.
I was disappointed that bernal didn't seem to give it everything in that stage, and claim some other jerseys and the stage win. it was as if he knew he's won the tour and wanted to cross the line with thomas?
the main thing i will remember with this tour, is thomas has shown he is a truly great man. you can get great champions, but to be a great man is a lot harder to achieve. thomas could have won this tour, if he'd held bernal back to help him instead of letting him go ahead (when bernal was feeling good), it would have been thomas's 2nd tour win. he knew bernal was in the better form, and he didn't want to hold him back and get the win knowing that his team mate deserved it more.
thomas will be unlikely to win the tour again if bernal's form keep improving, he has shown that you don't have to live in a dog eat dog world.
✵ [Post edited 28 Jul 2019 14:50]
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Yet another welshman in the race! Roberts, Allan Phillips and of course, G.
And Rowe. Oops. [Post edited 28 Jul 2019 14:39]
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| Ever since my son was... never conceived, because I've never had consensual sex without money involved... I've always kind of looked at you as... a thing, that I could live next to... in accordance with state laws. | | Poll: | How do you like your steak? |
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| Tour de France on 14:53 - Jul 28 with 1231 views | Swanseaman |
| Tour de France on 14:39 - Jul 28 by Banosswan |
Yet another welshman in the race! Roberts, Allan Phillips and of course, G.
And Rowe. Oops. [Post edited 28 Jul 2019 14:39]
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thomas's brother robert, good rider!
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| Tour de France on 21:06 - Jul 28 with 1184 views | Banosswan |
Bernal just gave his acceptance speech on the champs elysses perfectly fluently in 4 languages | |
| Ever since my son was... never conceived, because I've never had consensual sex without money involved... I've always kind of looked at you as... a thing, that I could live next to... in accordance with state laws. | | Poll: | How do you like your steak? |
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| Tour de France on 00:19 - Jul 29 with 1142 views | sherpajacob |
| Tour de France on 21:06 - Jul 28 by Banosswan |
Bernal just gave his acceptance speech on the champs elysses perfectly fluently in 4 languages |
Haven't seen it yet,
Spanish, French, English, Welsh? | |
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| Tour de France on 09:51 - Jul 29 with 1107 views | Professor |
| Tour de France on 00:19 - Jul 29 by sherpajacob |
Haven't seen it yet,
Spanish, French, English, Welsh? |
Fluent Spanish, English and Italian. Rather scripted French. Still very impressive from the young man. | | | |
| Tour de France on 11:23 - Jul 29 with 1101 views | bluey_the_blue |
| Tour de France on 20:07 - Jul 27 by BrynCartwright |
Will not pay for Eurosport. |
It's a free channel on the satellite so if you've already got Sky should have it.
Not sure why it's not on Freeview tbh. | | | |
| Tour de France on 11:26 - Jul 29 with 1098 views | bluey_the_blue |
Ineos could well have a problem next year.
You can't do a Grand Tour with three co-leaders. Froome ( if fit ) and Bernal have to be the two picked; if G rides, it's as a super domestique for both.
Froome with be what 35? G 34 next year. Bernal simply has to be the priority - could end up with another Froome / Wiggins episode possibly. Brailsford is going to have to do some careful man management; maybe have G as leader for some of the other races to appease him. | | | |
| Tour de France on 11:34 - Jul 29 with 1093 views | Professor |
| Tour de France on 11:26 - Jul 29 by bluey_the_blue |
Ineos could well have a problem next year.
You can't do a Grand Tour with three co-leaders. Froome ( if fit ) and Bernal have to be the two picked; if G rides, it's as a super domestique for both.
Froome with be what 35? G 34 next year. Bernal simply has to be the priority - could end up with another Froome / Wiggins episode possibly. Brailsford is going to have to do some careful man management; maybe have G as leader for some of the other races to appease him. |
Perhaps the Giro for G and the Vuelta prioritised for Bernal. I am pretty sure Froome will be given one more TdF. Could see Froome supporting G for the Giro and Bernal supporting Froome for the Vuelta with Thomas supporting. I think three GT is too much for one rider these days. The punchy hills of the Vuelta would not suit G for the win I think. Although Carapaz, the current Giro champion is joining Ineos. Perhaps the plan is for G to go back to the shorter races and classics? Nice problem for Brailsford to have. | | | |
| Tour de France on 12:23 - Jul 29 with 1068 views | bluey_the_blue |
| Tour de France on 11:34 - Jul 29 by Professor |
Perhaps the Giro for G and the Vuelta prioritised for Bernal. I am pretty sure Froome will be given one more TdF. Could see Froome supporting G for the Giro and Bernal supporting Froome for the Vuelta with Thomas supporting. I think three GT is too much for one rider these days. The punchy hills of the Vuelta would not suit G for the win I think. Although Carapaz, the current Giro champion is joining Ineos. Perhaps the plan is for G to go back to the shorter races and classics? Nice problem for Brailsford to have. |
It's always a nice problem to have until it causes problems.
If Carapaz joins, I don't say any way, shape or form Ineos can take G, Froome, Bernal and Carapaz to TdF. The lineup they put forward for that would be highly unbalanced. You're going to have 1 maybe 2 unhappy top riders, everyone wants to race in the biggest event. So it would be 2 from 4, and you have to then get the right blend.
To win tdf, you need mountain guys. That could lend itself to Froome, Bernal. would either ride for the other? Bernal may, not convinced Froome would ride for Bernal. Ideally, you want G in there - happy to ride for the team, a good, solid team number 3. That then means you leave out either Froome or Bernal - there's no way, if fit, Bernal won't be riding next years race. It's a headache, not a nice problem.
Sky/Ineos have always focused on the crown jewel, tdf. of course, winning others is a goal, but the seasonal aim is to win the tour de france. Froome would almost certainly want to be the number 1 man for that but he's not completed / competed the last two seasons and he's getting older. By contrast, yes the last two mountain stages were truncated but Bernal made it look so easy - well, not easy, but he had his legs still under time, never seemed in any trouble whatsoever despite Team Ineos not controlling the race particularly well. I still think he had plenty left in the tank - like the Duracell bunny, if there were anther 10 mountain stages he'd still be going. | | | |
| Tour de France on 13:48 - Jul 29 with 1045 views | BytholWyn |
I can't help wondering whether the very challenging nature of the Tour this year was meant to assist Pinot, who's a great climber, with the assumption that Bernal wasn't ready yet. If there was an intentional French bias in the layout (and who could blame them - it's no different to narrowing the pitch in football) I wonder, given Alaphilippe's exploits, that they may go the opposite way next year, and go for more time individual time trials and fewer precipitous stages with high mountain finishes. If so, this would benefit Geraint Thomas as much as Alaphilippe. This could be play a big part in Ineos' planning - because clearly this year's configuration favoured Bernal over Thomas.
When is the route for next year's TdF finalised? | | | |
| Tour de France on 13:49 - Jul 29 with 1045 views | Professor |
| Tour de France on 12:23 - Jul 29 by bluey_the_blue |
It's always a nice problem to have until it causes problems.
If Carapaz joins, I don't say any way, shape or form Ineos can take G, Froome, Bernal and Carapaz to TdF. The lineup they put forward for that would be highly unbalanced. You're going to have 1 maybe 2 unhappy top riders, everyone wants to race in the biggest event. So it would be 2 from 4, and you have to then get the right blend.
To win tdf, you need mountain guys. That could lend itself to Froome, Bernal. would either ride for the other? Bernal may, not convinced Froome would ride for Bernal. Ideally, you want G in there - happy to ride for the team, a good, solid team number 3. That then means you leave out either Froome or Bernal - there's no way, if fit, Bernal won't be riding next years race. It's a headache, not a nice problem.
Sky/Ineos have always focused on the crown jewel, tdf. of course, winning others is a goal, but the seasonal aim is to win the tour de france. Froome would almost certainly want to be the number 1 man for that but he's not completed / competed the last two seasons and he's getting older. By contrast, yes the last two mountain stages were truncated but Bernal made it look so easy - well, not easy, but he had his legs still under time, never seemed in any trouble whatsoever despite Team Ineos not controlling the race particularly well. I still think he had plenty left in the tank - like the Duracell bunny, if there were anther 10 mountain stages he'd still be going. |
Do you think he is fresh enough for La Vuelta. Starts on August 25th. Perfect for him-sharper but shorter climbs to attack? | | | |
| Tour de France on 13:52 - Jul 29 with 1044 views | bluey_the_blue |
| Tour de France on 13:49 - Jul 29 by Professor |
Do you think he is fresh enough for La Vuelta. Starts on August 25th. Perfect for him-sharper but shorter climbs to attack? |
Not sure tbh. Ineos have other issues - the lack of control in tour de france needs looking at. That could cost them other races. | | | |
| Tour de France on 14:05 - Jul 29 with 1038 views | Professor |
| Tour de France on 13:48 - Jul 29 by BytholWyn |
I can't help wondering whether the very challenging nature of the Tour this year was meant to assist Pinot, who's a great climber, with the assumption that Bernal wasn't ready yet. If there was an intentional French bias in the layout (and who could blame them - it's no different to narrowing the pitch in football) I wonder, given Alaphilippe's exploits, that they may go the opposite way next year, and go for more time individual time trials and fewer precipitous stages with high mountain finishes. If so, this would benefit Geraint Thomas as much as Alaphilippe. This could be play a big part in Ineos' planning - because clearly this year's configuration favoured Bernal over Thomas.
When is the route for next year's TdF finalised? |
Usually October or early November. Start is in Nice next year so likely to have earlier mountain stages. Was an Eastern tour this time, so more likely to favour some stages in Loire, Brittany, Vendee or Charentes this time. May go east from Nice into the Pyrenees, up the west and across to the Alps or maybe an early climb up Ventoux. Would expect Alpe D'Heuze on the itinerary.
Would love to see Ventoux in the first few days. | | | |
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