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The Tour takes a metaphorical breath of fresh air as it resets and offers 154 knackered riders the chance to spin the legs out a bit on a flat stage sticking mostly to the valley roads out of the Alps to the wide roads of Bourg-en-Bresse, last visited in 2007 when Tom Boonen won here.
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It's a long day but should be cooler than recently.
As to what will happen - there's still a lot of teams desperate for a stage win via a breakaway, there's a relative lack of sprinters in the race now with Mark Cavendish, Fabio Jakobsen, Caleb Ewan and Phil Bauhaus all out so fewer teams to bring back a breakaway and a lot of tired riders who've dragged themselves over mountains and through a TT for the last 3 days.
The peloton powerhouse, Wout van Aert, has gone home as his wife is due so it leaves fairly few teams left who would have any desire for a sprint finish and a lot of teams who would be more keen to have a rider or two up the road in a breakaway staying clear and contesting the stage win.
If it does come down to a sprint finish, the obvious contender is Jasper Phillipsen with a supporting cast of Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-Al Ula), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) although the latter two would probably prefer a slightly tougher finish rather than a flat dragstrip.
A day for the final bits of Alpine scenery, the biggest natural lake in France (Lac du Bourget) and then it's back to castles and vineyards.
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I wonder if the breakaway guys will like their chances against a weakened sprint roster. Not as much chasing firepower to bring them back today.
Breakaway makes sense. Philipsen's lead in the green jersey comp is big enough that he doesn't need to force the chase, so it's a question of if any other team needs (and thinks they can get) a sprint win
Hmm - breakaway would have made sense but the commentators reckon that the general thinking within the teams was "wait until 5 or more head up the road before trying to join them" and only 3 went so no-one else followed.
Victor Campenaerts, Jonas Abrahamsen, Kasper Asgreen being given almost no leeway - 1'16".
As hugely unlikely as it is, I would dearly love Victor Campenaerts to get the result.
Feels like the peloton are just dangling the breakaway out there.
Bourg en Bresse you say? Here's a giant coq.
Adam Blythe on the moto chatting to riders in the peloton and asking why they didn't try for the break and they're all like "yeah, we're absolutely ****ed, sod that!"
Now that is another mighty fine chateau
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It's all very easy on the eye today.
40km covered in the first hour
Bourg en Bresse you say? Here’s a giant coq.
it’s in my satnav as “Giant Mr Chicken” - our friend refers to it as the Massive Steel C…
Just got back from a lovely lunchtime ride. yeah, with only three out front there's no chance for the break. at 40kph though this is not an easy recovery day, as Adam Blythe is saying
I would dearly love Victor Campenaerts to get the result.
Seconded
Here’s a giant coq.
Ahh, the lovely sight of the Chicken Run 😀
As the tweet says, the addition of race radio this year has been great
https://twitter.com/RabAusten/status/1682013310122688512
Bored.
Gone to the Post Office to get € for my trip to Paris to watch the final stage!
😃
Gone to the Post Office to get € for my trip to Paris to watch the final stage!
Get a Chase Bank account, then just spend on your card like you do at home. Who carries actual cash these days?!
Who carries actual cash these days?!
Well normally I don't but it's good to have that fallback - no idea what the situation is in Paris with cash/cards. I've got a fee-free Euro wallet on my bank card too.
Revolut for the win, a lot safer if your card gets nicked or skimmed as well.
Campanaerts has sat up so the break is down to 2, just as 2 Lotto Destiny riders are trying to get across to it
Campanaerts has sat up so the break is down to 2, just as 2 Lotto Destiny riders are trying to get across to it
??
Break of 4 still there, 45".
The peloton are getting a bit worried, Jasper Phillipsen on the radio telling the team to get on with it. Asgreen is a four-time National TT Champion, he's not really the sort of rider you'd want to give much of a margin to!
I flippin' love a chasedown in the last 20km of a sprint stage. Some absolutely superb gurning from Campanaerts going on. Now Alaphillipe is hanging around the front of the peloton getting in everyone's way to help Asgreen up the road. Ace.
wow! What a hold out! A win for the Wolfpack at last
I love it when a break snags the win. Even better in a sprint stage
Campanaerts is a total hero.
Alaphillipe deserves huge credit for the disruption he was causing to slow the peloton as much as possible.
Campanaerts is a total hero.
he's going to batter his team-mate in the showers !
Oof! That was thriling at the end
Campanaerts is a total hero.
Lotto made it happen for sure but Kasper Asgreen rode that to perfection.
Note to peloton. Don't let a multi-time TT Champion up the road like that.
Just came on to check that someone had posted a photo of the massive cock.
My faith in humanity has been restored.
Nils Politt wins gurn of the day.
impressive turn on the front though
exciting stuff. Even with 500 m to go it wasn't clear if they would catch the break or not
That left turn at 1500m to go saved the day, it took *just* enough oomph out of the peloton and forced enough of a reorganisation and re-acceleration to allow the break (well, three quarters of it...) to stay clear.
Nice to see Asgreen give credit to everyone in the break as well - I suspect he might be sharing the prize money with them and Alaphilippe for his disruption work in the peloton.
i can't remember when I last saw a breakaway make it that close (from only 30s at 6k). The peleton really screwed up there. brilliant to watch
As there wasn't a right lot going on today, the ITV highlights programme has a load of extras - short bit on doping accusations, interview with Dave Brailsford and a section on keeping cool while riding at max revs.
Just finished watching the live coverage on delay, great race. Hat to the guys in the break, they deserved that, and i hope campanaerts gets combativité as he didn't get in the podium. Yes, i messed up, campanaerts dropped back to meet eenkhorn and bring him up
i hope campanaerts gets combativité
Can happily confirm he did!
Does anyone recognise where the friebos/brailsford segment was filmed?
Delighted with the conclusion of that stage - it's what you always want to happen and never does.
Phillipsen and “bullying” - not sure how that works. Why didn’t Eenkhoorn just tell him to do one? Is he 5 years old?
Have you seen the footage?
It’s not about whatever he was saying, it’s the ‘deviating from one side of the road to the other to physically block the other rider,’ nearly pushing him off the tarmac.
which is specifically against the rules. Bear in mind Luke Rowe was thrown off the race a few years ago for something very similar.
But then given that he’s deviated and impeded folk in three of his four stage wins so far, and faced no sanction then what do we all, and the UCI, expect him to do
he’s gone down in my estimation after this year’s behaviour.
Phillipsen and “bullying” – not sure how that works. Why didn’t Eenkhoorn just tell him to do one? Is he 5 years old?
It was very much bullying. It was effectively saying "why are you bothering to go up the road, we'll chase you down and I want the stage win".
Sorry Jasper, if you want the win you have to work for it. Doesn't mean a breakaway or attacks can't be allowed.
His behaviour was appalling. Arrogant and entitled, acting like some [i]patron[/i] of the Tour but not for the greater good, for his own "I want the stage win" ends. He doesn't need a stage win, he's got 4, he's got an insurmountable lead in the Green Jersey. Selfish git.
Too bad his team was too tired to chase down four riders who worked selflessly together. Great stage. He’ll win in Paris anyway, there’s little quality left in the sprinting group.