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Highlights starting on ITV4 now...
I suspect G was going to attack to Bernal on the last climb to really put AP out of contention
I reckon G will convince himself of that aswell. Wether he could have actually come back to Bernal is another thing.
I would have liked to have seen 25km of J.A smashing the descent though!
Slightly surprised they didn't neutralise the stage and leave J.A in yellow 😉
I think Alaphilippe was going to lose loads of time more on that last climb ... gutted for him. I was really wishing he’d minimise his losses on these last two days to just about hold on to the yellow.
I would have preferred any other team than Ineos to have the winner. But happy it’s Bernal and not Thomas ... just listening to Thomas interviewed is excruciating. “Well uh ... yeh uh ... eh, yeh, uh ...” f#€k sakes it’s impossible for him to string more than 3 words together.
Gutted Alaphilippe has lost it!
Tomorrow's stage rejigged also: main road to Moutiers then to to VT. It'll be a drag race
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2274999112549455&id=103512969698091&ref=bookmarks
Tour de France 2019: Stage 20 cut by 71km because of landslides and weather warnings
https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/49134648
Anyone else getting an email from Science in Sport at 17:03
My reply to them went as follows:
Dear SIS please remove me from your mailing list, there is no chance I will ever be buying your products. Today at 19:03 BST, 3 minutes into the UK's Tour de France Highlights program some imbecile in your marketing department decided to send out an email informing me that Ineos had taken the yellow jersey. So the most exciting and eventful stage of what has been the most competitive tour in many years was ruined as a viewing spectacle. Clearly whoever made that decision has no real interest or understanding of sport and I question the values of a company that would employ them.
So the most exciting and eventful stage of what has been the most competitive tour in many years was [s] ruined as a viewing spectacle [/s] still not interesting enough to keep me from checking my email for 20 minutes
#burn
Tomorrow's stage is going to be bonkers.
Full on lead out trains to the bottom of the climb!
Should make for a spectacular finale,if only to see GT's face having to play domestique to bernal. I can almost see him actually trying to race bernal for the Jersey against orders
yep. looks like it will be worth watching from the very start
loads fridge with beer
prepares snacks
sends children away for the weekend
So tomorrow's stage has been slashed in length to 59km due to landslide(s) - drag race up a big hill basically...
Edit: oops, missed the earlier post, but there you go.
loads fridge with beer
you'll not need much for a 59km stage.
Should make for a spectacular finale,if only to see GT’s face having to play domestique to bernal. I can almost see him actually trying to race bernal for the Jersey against orders
Not a fan I take it?
ASO taketh and ASO giveth. A mountain TT. Yay. Race will now be on. For third. I think G could be off the podium tomorrow and if Buchmann or Kreijsvijk replace him I would not be sad. I think JuJu will hold on. As I said at the first thread, G career peaked last season and the stars aligned thanks to Froome. Now he knows how Froome felt. In fact I suspect Ineos knew all along that Egan was the de facto leader. But they no how to give their team orders and keep it in the bus now, not on the road.
Sorry for Yates, who was denied another stage today, but what a refreshing interview with the new superstar. Played out just as I predicted at the start. More by luck than judgement.
What a shame !
Juju will have his tale up now.It’ll be absolute carnage. & I have to record it ffs.
Ineos will TTT to the top preventing any attacks. JA will crack, GT will take 2nd. Bernal will hold the lead.
Who realistically out of the GC riders can put time into Bernal now?
A mountain TT.
Well not exactly.
I'm struggling to understand he anti-G sentiments.
Some amazing drivel being posted on Twitter at the moment by people who know how to organise a race better than ASO do.
I’m not in the least bit anti-G. I was absolutely delighted he won last year. The reward for 10 years of hard work with the stars aligned. But it’s been obvious that Bernal is the outstanding talent and he has shown it this year. Kudos for G for recognising this on the road and not doing a Sir B.
They’ll all be managing their efforts tomorrow carefully, so yes a mountain TT is sorts - drafting allowed and all off at the same time. They will be racing their own individual races, not wanting to go too hard and blow. They’ll want to max out their efforts at the top and hope that gets them the position they need for GC. And then Bernal will go off the front 😉 no he won’t tomorrow. G might try but his attacks looks as futile as mine at the moment#
#Comment in my last race “we all knew you’d go at three laps to go, but we always catch you so didn’t worry”. Of course I went at four to go. And was caught.
Not a fan I take it?
Something about him grates. I've never met him but in every interview he makes me think of a petulant teenager. The mourinho of cycling, it's never the other guy was good or he's not good enough it's always something else. Last year I couldn't get past feeling like he was more pleased to be beating froome than about leading the TDF.
No not keen.
still not interesting enough to keep me from checking my email for 20 minutes
No , just went to pick my phone up before watching the highlights for it to come up as a notification.
Double post
Tomorrow’s stage is cut short due to more landslides.
Straight from the start to the last climb.
LouLou could monster it and get the jersey back.......
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/49134648
We were halfway up the climb to Tignes waiting for them to come through. Then came and camped in Bourg St Maurice as it was on the route of Saturday’s stage. Found out a couple of hours ago the stage has been shortened and no longer goes near us. Bugger followed by double bugger.
That said it really was wild this afternoon. Organisers made the right call. And at least we saw the caravan come through so got plenty tat.
Race as a contest is over bar some freaky incident such as Egan Bernal riding into Ben Stokes’ bat!
So let me have it straight...
Your countryman is 3rd in GC with pretty strong prospect of jumping into 2nd or maybe even against odds defending last year title.
And most of you seems to be rather unhappy or downright wishing him ill...
You Brits are weird bunch...
Cheers...
I.
I think G could be off the podium tomorrow and if Buchmann or Kreijsvijk replace him I would not be sad.
Well all this could be true. But why even if your a complete neutral why would you prefer Buchmann or Kreijsvijk to prevail over Thomas ? Are they somehow more worthy ? Surely you'd want the best man to win, decided on the road.
I’m struggling to understand he anti-G sentiments
Me to. No reason why anybody has to support any particular rider, but lets here a bit more than petty prejudice.
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So let me have it straight…
Your countryman is 3rd in GC with pretty strong prospect of jumping into 2nd or maybe even against odds defending last year title.
And most of you seems to be rather unhappy or downright wishing him ill…
You Brits are weird bunch
You do know he has chosen to live in Monaco not Britain .. don’t you?
I pinned my colours to a Frenchman early on based on style and attitude in the race, not just silly tribal reasons. Ineos are pretty much a collective of mundane soulless robots defunct of any personality ... even G’s biggest fans typically identify his appeal as being “that he is just a normal guy”.
Couple of nice touches in this years TDF: Sagan signing a fans book as he rode past; Alaphilippe giving his jersey to a little child stood there cold just to meet his hero.
You can see why fans love certain riders - and not warm to others.
I'm with Mooman, I would much rather a rider with style (JA) won it.
I also struggle to support a team sponsored by a company I disapprove of (the same goes for other teams). Having said that Bernal comes across well on interviews.
Shame about the shortened stage; I doubt its long enough for result changing gaps to develop. Hopefully be proved wrong!
I'm not so much anti Thomas as I find Ineos boring. I think deep down we all knew at the start of the tour that Ineos would win it. In some of the mountain stages they'd just sit as a group on the front and smother the race, which they were doing yesterday. We know they'll do that today. It seems so futile for other teams to try and win against that budget and style. Maybe there needs to be a budget cap?
What's been so exciting about this tour is that because of the gutsiness of Alaphillipe and Pinot, and the consistency of Kruijswijk and aggression of Jumbo Visma, Ineos haven't had the opportunity and it's been much more engaging for it. Even if only because it's interesting to see how long he can hold of Ineos (who we all knew would win 😴).
Having said that, it is exciting to see Bernal win. He hasn't spent a decade on the marginal gains programme, he's only raced pro road for 3 years, is only 22 and is clearly a huge natural talent with more climbing power than the rest of the GC contenders. He isn't (yet) a total Ineos robot. His face moves when he is on the attack and everything!
The most boring Tour for years thanks to Ineos who've sat on the front every day and throttled the life out of the race.
My only problem with Sky and Ineos (now) is the relentless pursuit of fairly bland managed races.
I do however concede that they have brought a complete turnaround in method and application to perform the task and winning Tours. It’s no surprise that other Tour teams have adopted their technical application, and methods.
What it has done to a sport I love is make the racing rather bland and uniform. It’s born out by the constant criticism being lain at Braislfords feet for producing a squad that rides to numbers, has no real excitement and metronomic.
Its a victim of its own success, for the next few years the major Tours will be run like this.. each team riding to numbers, tapping out 80% of max, with the road blocked. Passive aggressive racing in its natural form. Ride just over what every other team can ride at on the road, create a rolling road block, then up the pace when some cheeky reprobate chancer punts one out and effectively blows chunks 200mtrs up front.
The days of the barrodour/poncheur are effectively over, with the only exception being an effective break of 15+ riders gaining 8mins from the get go and Skneos letting them go.
It will all turn around at some point, maybe 5-8 years time the ASO will start looking at more rudimentary methods to apply to stages to combat the lag... maybe today’s stage is in that vein ?
Nationality plays no part in my support for a rider or team. Style of racing is what matters most to me. Ineos have a plan to set a hard tempo in the hills to counter possible attacks, and this has just about prevailed this year despite smaller teams and loss of Froome. Buchmann has little team support from a much weaker team and is still there. Kreijsvijk has a stronger team than Bora. Alaphillipe has no team! But ultimately it still all comes down to who can stay with Ineos when they put four riders on the front (many of whom could ride for GC in other teams and have previously gone on to do so). Ineos have selected a team based on who can do that job in the hills.
And I have done more than most to preserve the reputation of Sky/Ineos despite not being their biggest fan.
BWD - Heehee love it.
Geraint, a world class rider, much adored by the British public is as we all know a super domestique. He finally wins the Tour de France, and deservedly so, gets slated on here for being boring and not at his best, Blimey, I'd like to see you lot ride yourselves inside out everyday and give interviews at the end to about 30 odd journalists asking the same questions and see how articulate you can be. Even JA is becoming 'boring' in interviews and I still think he's amazing.
Hopefully Geraint will get a podium place which would be fantastic.
For me it's been one of the best tours ever.
The days of the barrodour/poncheur are effectively over, with the only exception being an effective break of 15+ riders gaining 8mins from the get go and Skneos letting them go.
Alaphilippe?
Near the beginning of the ITV highlights a group of cyclist go past a spectator who is wearing a yellow t-shirt and a fetching dark Speedo. He clearly gives them (or one of them) a gesture that universally means "I believe you to partake in self-abuse".
I couldn't see anyone controversial in the group - Valverde, say, or anyone notable from Ineos.
Did anyone else spot this? And have any idea why the man was so touchy? Did they mock his little trunks?
Clearly some short memories on here, or too young to remember the bore-fests of the Indurain and Armstrong years. We've waited decades for a race with more than a couple of riders in contention, plus the obvious effects of anti-doping and no more "deux vitesses". I like G as a rider, but still had Bernal down as the favourite. Yesterdays curtailment and today's abridged stage may have actually saved LouLou's place on the podium, but expect others will be gunning for their's today.
I don't find ineos particularly boring, there's always the jeopardy that they'll drop their man before the competition. The system only works as long as their GC man can hang on every day, and most years there's cone a day where they've not.
Maybe it would be more exciting if they got rid of the team prize so there would be one less race going on and movistar might join in. Or found a way to encourage more GC focussed teams. The problem isn't ineos it's that once the breakaway has gone 3/4 of the teams lose interest in the day and just ride to the finish.
The days of the barrodour/poncheur are effectively over, with the only exception being an effective break of 15+ riders gaining 8mins from the get go and Skneos letting them go.
Alaphilippe?
Sadly, not really.
Think more Cancellara/Voght/Vockler/Millar/FrankSchlek/Gilbert/Zibeldia/Mayo/Sánchez, even back as far as Indurain and Armstrong himself.
The poncheur was, and still is the risk taker. Someone who will punt off the front and stay until they unclip.
But Skneos have built a squad and method that limits anything like a punt off the front.. managed time gaps is where it’s at.
My memory is wholesome, it’s not the restricted by the current format of racing.
Allaphilipe is indeed a splendid rider. DQS will be thinking long and hard from now on as to how they start construction of a Tour squad, instead of a squad that’s brilliant in the Northern stages yet lacking the rounded ness of powerful domestiques... I do wonder how Gilbert would have reacted to this current dilemma they find themselves in.
The debate has already been played out many times on here and elsewhere about the current platform/format of the Tour.. and the ASO are reacting to break that stranglehold of a couple of teams.
I look forward, whilst firmly remembering the Tours of old.
Where are the great rivalries though? Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich produced battles that were exciting at the time. Until this year most of the rivalries have been within Skineos and controlled by team tactics- Froome and Wiggins, Thomas and Wiggins and now Bernal and Wiggins. It's very managed and doesn't have much of the suspense of two riders on different teams having long running and emotionally charged one to one competitions.
Things always used to be so much better. Bring back the golden age of Pantani. Jumpers for goalposts.
My memory is wholesome
Organic too? And delicious I'm sure 🙂
Until this year most of the rivalries have been within Skineos and controlled by team tactics
Anyone with a more than passing knowledge of cycling history will recognise that this has been the norm for generations. Hello Greg Lemond...
The mourinho of cycling, it’s never the other guy was good or he’s not good enough it’s always something else.
I dunno, he was given the opportunity by a journalist to wonder what might have been if the stage wasn't shortened (e.g. to suppose that he might have been able to bridge to Bernal) but he didn't take it, just dismissed it as ifs buts and maybes. I respected that.
Last year's interviews by G were more refreshing and I thought more honest than the typical GC blandishments. This year he has consistently looked resigned to his fate. Nice to see him state that it's all for Egan now. I thinl he's known that for a while and it was decided on the road a while ago. I also think that he's a great team player, and that everyone wins when the team wins. And last year it was him - a career high!
Next year will be more interesting. Bernal to defend and Froome back from six months of TDF-focussed training in the hope of that fifth jersey.
Just when you think stages couldn't get more insane, yesterday was a classic "What just happened?".
I also respect the riders on interview, the bulk of them seem polite and G is being asked questions to which an honest answer is not really going to be forthcoming - I think the honesty of "stuff happens", "that's racing" is as good as you can expect and would expect really.