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I know shocking I am usually really bad at this! Shame we didn't get to see what happend with the GC group in the last 20km as it finishes up a really small group and had made up a huge amount of time on MVdP.
Great highlights show on ITV4.
Alex Dowsett is a good pundit too.
I know shocking I am usually really bad at this! Shame we didn't get to see what happend with the GC group in the last 20km as it finishes up a really small group and had made up a huge amount of time on MVdP.
Couple of things I read suggested VLAB were racing to keep Pog in yellow so he'd have to do podium and interviews. Hence chasing down MvdP.
Todays profile is somehow hiding 3500m of climbing. Tough day.
Quite a lumpy bit of the country, did 60 mile trip & 1000m + just to view it, flipping hot today too.
Couple of things I read suggested VLAB were racing to keep Pog in yellow so he'd have to do podium and interviews. Hence chasing down MvdP.
Interesting, I was wondering if MVdP asked Pog beforehand if he would chase him.
Couple of things I read suggested VLAB were racing to keep Pog in yellow so he'd have to do podium and interviews. Hence chasing down MvdP.
It wouldn't surprise me if Pogacar is back in yellow tomorrow anyway. Looking forward to the Mur de Bretagne finish! Another tough day but commentary seemed to suggest it was too important for GC to allow a breakaway the same leeway that they did today.
Great highlights show on ITV4.
The pedalo feature made it for me 😂 I've said it already, but I'm really going to miss the Gary and crew show.
Got to love a Ben Healy attack. What now? See how high on GC he can remain or perhaps have a tilt at the KoM?
Then again, I think I've just spotted his next potential stage win.
Stage wins I expect, this one was very much earmarked as a possibility
Think Devon and Cornwall terrain. Easy to do that amount of climbing over a stage. Nothing long, just relentless up and down. Pleased for MvdP. But not as pleased as Pog - who’s one of his best friend.
Got to love a Ben Healy attack
I was amused to hear him say he'd been concentrating on keeping aero after being subjected to watch him ride for 40k in a style that suggested he'd jammed his fingers into a plug socket! I don't know about anyone else but just watching him exhausted me 😂
Ben Healy is one of my favourite riders (had him in other velogames teams before now), I was absolutely chuffed to bits for him, but he does remind me of Pozzovivo in his cycling style.
As I mentioned further up - The Alex Dowsett book is very good indeed - Bloody minded (my life in cycling).
I'm secretly cheering on Kevin Vauquelin to win a tour very soon, of course Oscar too but he's got time.
I'm secretly cheering on Kevin Vauquelin to win a tour very soon, of course Oscar too but he's got time.
Rumour is Kevin's off to Ineos next season.
G in the break
Not looking like a breakaway day at the moment unfortunately, but you never know!
G in the break
Not looking like a breakaway day at the moment unfortunately, but you never know!
I did laugh at the commentary when ITV4 came on air and Ned was relaying the "what has happened so far" info, how the break formed etc and he said G had chosen the worst day possible to do breakaway heroics.
The bunch are keeping this very tight. A single call on the radio or a bit of wind creating some possibility of splitting the race and that break will be history.
Shit that's one hell of a crash. Back of the front group of riders, a touch of wheels at high speed and 6-8 riders just down in a massive tangle.
No-one of massive note involved, none of the big GC riders but that was a very sudden incident.
So João Almeida broke a rib and he's apparently starting today. I broke a couple 7 or 8 weeks ago and I'm only just riding again.
One of the many, many reasons I'm not a pro cyclist.
So João Almeida broke a rib and he's apparently starting today. I broke a couple 7 or 8 weeks ago and I'm only just riding again.
Remember when Geraint Thomas rode a lot of the Tour with a fractured pelvis?
Collarbones and ribs are pretty common - I've ridden with cracked ribs although it was about 1/4 the speed the pros go at.
And about 1/10th the distance.
And there's the classic Tyler Hamilton teeth story...
Anyway - missed the stage today, was on a brewery tour. What happened to Tim Merlier? I thought he'd be top 3 at least.
What happened to Tim Merlier?
He realised he was in my team and gave up!!!
Got delayed about 7km from home, not sure why and couldn't get back to the front
Cracking stage in the Giro Feminina too today.
What happened to Tim Merlier?
He realised he was in my team and gave up!!!
Got delayed about 7km from home, not sure why and couldn't get back to the front
He did get back to the peleton, but there's some mystery about why he didn't compete for the stage win. The u-turn ~3Km from the finish made the approach to the sprint super fast, tailwind and iirc slightly downhill too, the itv4 graphic had the peleton doing 70-80kph for most of that stretch! So if you got caught out of position, you had very little chance of moving up to contest the sprint.
MVdP is a complete nutter at times, yeah we rode flat out for 170km so Jonas could get the combativity award !!!! 😮😮😮
MVdP is a complete nutter at times, yeah we rode flat out for 170km so Jonas could get the combativity award !!!! 😮😮😮
Sort of related, partly because of the deadpan / pisstake commentary which references MvdP's speed is this video from GCN:
Short summary - Dan Lloyd finds that the climb at the end of Stage 2 has never been used by the Tour before so he goes full gas to get the KOM on it 24hrs before the Tour hits it. And then watches as he tumbles down the Strava leaderboard. But it's worth a watch just for the "commentary".
Should be a good one today, let's see if my GC/climber picks for Velogames are better than AAs...
Ta for posting that video crazy-legs, well worth a watch.
Imagine being MvdP this morning with THAT ride in his legs realising just how many mountains he has to haul himself over.
Should be a good one today, let's see if my GC/climber picks for Velogames are better than AAs...
I have to hope Evenepoel can climb well!!
ITV4 live now.
Repeated attacks by visma, can't accuse them from not trying!
Simon Yates going for the stage
Visma killing it today
As I expected, Visma have attacked both at the front (Yates, trying for a stage win) and in the peloton (trying to force Pogacar to chase and deny Ben Healy the yellow jersey, so Pogacar has to fulfil the media responsibilities)
Pog surely about to launch
Looks like Pogacar is happy with that, he's launched off the front - Jonas is the only one who can stay with him, though Oscar Onley seemed more comfortable than Remco. Looks like Kevin Vauquelin will be slipping down the rankings
edit - but things calmed down, and Ben is now in Yellow. Chuffed for him
Odd GC finish in the end. Pog and Vingo sat up cruising behind a wrecked Martinez. But Pog did not drop Vingo.
Anyone remember when Simon Yates joined Visma there was lots of chat about him finally settling into the 'well paid domestique' era of his career?
Black Country Boy in yellow...awesome!
I missed virtually all the live racing what with being in the office but the highlights were excellent, what a great stage!
My only claim to fame is being born in Wordesley Stourbridge the same as Ben Healy. I've ridden around Halesowen's outdoor track too. There the similarity ends because it was probably before Ben was born!
Did he have Irish relatives as all the news is "Irish cyclist" earns yellow jersey
His dad is youngest of three brothers, two were born in Ireland. Ben’s dad was born in London but Ben has been racing for Ireland since his teens according to Wiki.
really enjoying the fact that Ben and Oscar onley are giving me a reason to enjoy the tour given that Pog is gonna stroll away with it.
A great summary of the race so far here:
FWIW I agree with Cosmo Catalano that Visma just need to throw the kitchen sink at Pogačar because trying to beat him a pedale simply won't work. I for one am happy to see them try stuff even if it doesn't work out for them, as the alternative is watching Vignegaard wheelsuck his way round France.
Rog is shockingly quiet so far this Tour, crazy to think it was almost five years ago when he had a TT shocker and Pog got his first win.
Forgot he had four crashes in this years Giro before abandoning.
Visma just need to throw the kitchen sink at Pogačar
They do, but they need to do it at the right time, that time hasn't come yet
Yesterdays stage was flippin' brilliant. My favourite rider of all time 'G' spent a bit of time in the first break, then S. Yates wins the stage and best of all Ben rides like a madman earning white jersey, combativity award and is in yellow.
Also Oscar riding with the big guns and looking very strong.
Also Oscar riding with the big guns and looking very strong.
There was an interview with him early on in the Tour where he said something about having to pinch himself to believe it - if someone had told him a year ago that he'd be riding alongside Vingegaard and Pogacar, he'd just have laughed it off. Really humble and down to earth.
He's doing a phenomenal ride.
He raced Tour of Britain last year (finished 2nd overall) and he got such a lovely reception in his home town of Kelso when the race started and finished there. His old club, Kelso Wheelers, were out in force for him.
really enjoying the fact that Ben and Oscar onley are giving me a reason to enjoy the tour given that Pog is gonna stroll away with it.
I've argued previously when people complain about "domination" that there is much more going on in a bike race than who the eventual winner will be. So far this edition is shaping up brilliantly with a well designed week one parcours. I'm interested to see how those behind the obvious first two will go in the big mountains. I think third spot on the podium is wide open.
I've argued previously when people complain about "domination" that there is much more going on in a bike race than who the eventual winner will be.
There is but it's also far from certain that this is over. I also don't want to see a Pogacar Parade but so far Vingegaard has matched him everywhere except that one TT. The fact that TP is willing to give up the jersey is another indication that he's done with all the media requirements that go with it and would rather have the recovery time. This is not a walk in the park for him or his team; they were isolated and on the defensive yesterday. So far TP has been able to go with everything that VLAB have done but equally, it's been relatively steady terrain for the most part. One bad day in the mountains, one bit of illness or injury in the team and there could easily be another Col du Granon moment.
It's also not solely between those two. Roglic and Evenepoel are still very definite threats, Jorgenson is a second card that VLAB can play and Oscar Onley is having a brilliant ride although he's relying on being able to go with the top guys himself because his team doesn't have the firepower to ride on the front and control things.
Roglic and Evenepoel are still very definite threats
i'd rate Lipowitz above Roglic on this season's performances
The fact that TP is willing to give up the jersey is another indication that he's done with all the media requirements that go with it and would rather have the recovery time. This is not a walk in the park for him or his team; they were isolated and on the defensive yesterday
hmmmm, an alternative interpretation might be that he feels that he can win this with a degree of ease and that there's only JV to keep an eye on. Of course, not having the yellow also means his team has no "obligation to honour" the jersey and chase breaks etc - he can let visma do that since JV would be even further behind any breakaway on-the-road yellow jersey (changes if that person is a visma rider, of course)
Although today is a rest day, there's still a highlights show which, in standard ITV4 style, is full of the usual dry humour and some looks back at previous Tours, older coverage and some of the history.
If you're not watching live on ITV4, it'll be on ITVX soon, well worth a watch.
Going to properly miss the ITV coverage, it's such a good team.
Any bets on how long healy can stay in yellow?
I'm going for being there through Thursday (hautacam) but just looses out on Friday (the uphill TT)
Anyone think visma had pog on the back foot yesterday? I don't think so personally. Sure he was without teammates, but only near the end, and even if he cracked the final climb was not long enough to do much damage. However, if there is a way to do it, it's what they did, and there are a lot of longer climbs to come.
Any bets on how long healy can stay in yellow?
Tomorrow should be a sprintfest around Toulouse, nothing to change on GC unless there are significant splits or crashes. Biniam Girmay is missing out on a stage win so far, it's all been the Milan / Merlier show in sprints.
Hautacam - will anyone go for broke there or wait until the mountain TT and the massive mountain stage into Superbagneres?
Anyone think visma had pog on the back foot yesterday?
I don't think they've got him on the back foot, but I do think they're getting on his nerves a bit. I think they're trying a similar approach to a few years ago of first dismanlting his team, then picking him apart. I think both Pog and his team are stronger than in those years though so if it does work it will take longer. From a punters perspective I think as long as they can expose some vulnerability in Pog it hsould make the race better.
Anyone think visma had pog on the back foot yesterday?
UAE were on the back foot. But not Pog. All Visma did was set him up to attack Vingagoagoago again. They did at least seem to have the blueprint, but it needs to be done in the big mountains. Isolate him and send Jorgenson up the road, why Kuss was attacking earlier was a mystery he doesn't need chasing by Pog.
If Roglic finds some form it would help Visma. Jorgenson, Rog, Lipowitc and then Vini all attacking would get the job done if Pog can be isolated.
Tomorrow should be a sprintfest around Toulouse,
I was wrong, I've just looked at the stage profile and at Inrng.
https://inrng.com/2025/07/tour-de-france-stage-11toulouse-preview/#more-46291
Not a sprint stage!
Another overview here from CyclingStage.com
There are five categorised climbs on an otherwise flat-to-rolling route that takes the riders from Toulouse back to Toulouse. Could an 800-metre ramp at 12.4% inside the final 9 kilometres ruin the sprinters’ dreams?
Let’s get straight to the point: no.
The Contenders:
https://www.cyclingstage.com/tour-de-france-2025-favourites/stage-11-contenders-tdf-2025/
and teh Stage:
https://www.cyclingstage.com/tour-de-france-2025-route/stage-11-tdf-2025/
One eye on the rest of the week, sprint for sure
Fingers crossed for a spicy last 50km. Route has a feel of a mini Milan-San Remo to me with those climbs toward the end.
Route has a feel of a mini Milan-San Remo to me with those climbs toward the end.
TP and JV to watch each other while the other big rivalry - MvdP and WvA - go out and smash it to bits for the stage win.
I'd love to see Fred in the break, he has a change on a parcours like this
Fred is indeed in the break!
I'm only "watching" on the text feed but the speed of today's stage has been insane, 50kph!
I think this may well end up as a win for the breakaway.
I think this may well end up as a win for the breakaway.
well, for one of them - there's a chasing group gaining ground very slowly and since it contains Van Aert, Van Der Poel and De Lie, they would be a reall challenge.
The first 100km were utter madness, at one point Healy attacked with Jonas and caught Tadej out!
That stage was SPICY.
Thursday's first big mountain day finishing on Hautacam HC climb forecast to be hot...
Pog, ready, steady, cook!
If he’s not damaged by that crash (chopper uno-x), Pog will win today to crush Visma hopes and show his form. If he’s sore and needs recovery, he’ll mark JV all the way up the final climb. I think he’s been sandbagging so far with the occasional acceleration to just test JV.
My tiny brain has only just recovered from yesterday's insane stage.
There was such a lot going on, many timings on the screen, lots of different breakaway groups, so exciting. Really pleased for the breakaway rider J. Abrahamsen, especially after his accident a few weeks ago.
The Itv4 coverage this year has been superb, even better since Alex Dowsett joined, what a crying shame that this free to watch channel will be no more.
I don’t understand why they waited for Pog when he crashed. Surely rule one of racing is stay on the bike. I understand if it’s a mechanical outside the riders control. I doubt he would have lost any time but would have had to burn a few matches to catch up which adds up over the race.
I don’t understand why they waited for Pog when he crashed.
It's a bit of a grey area but the general rule / gentlemen's agreement is that you should beat your opponent in a fair fight, not when one of them is on the floor.
There are nuances around it - no-one would have sat up and waited for Geraint Thomas for example.
There are also shades of grey around who is deemed at fault. It caused a bit of upset last year when Remco (obviously) crashed on a corner but lost no time due to the 3km rule. However his crash was entirely his own fault, no other rider involved so the rule got rewritten to avoid that "line rider decking it by riding like an idiot" clause.
However if another rider (or a spectator) takes you down, that's clearly not your fault so you shouldn't be penalised for it.
I know that the word "shouldn't" is doing a fair bit of heavy lifting there. It's not clear cut at all.
Anyway, it's another insanely fast day (helped by a tailwind) and with a massive breakaway of 50-odd riders.
Flattish run in to 3 big climbs.
Wow, Remco has been dropped already on the Col de Soulor, and the break still has 7km to go. THe first Cat 1 climb of the race, and there's still a Cat 2 and an HC to go today
Arse!
This race is in BITS. At one point the pace set by VLAB was so high that Jorgenson and Yates got dropped. They've eased up to allow them to rejoin and conserve them for the next two hills.
Healy dropped also by about 10 seconds fro the GC group. Lenny Martinez going backwards through the groups
and all this on the first major climb of the first day in the mountains!
I don’t understand why they waited for Pog when he crashed.
In general, in Grand Tours the strongest rider wins, not the luckiest. Riders are pretty good at assessing what is bad luck and what is not. Nobody would want to win because someone had an unlucky (as opposed to physically bad) day. If he'd crashed on a time trial, too bad. But in this case he was chopped by a Uno-X rider who crossed his path too early to get on the break. It was also only a km from the safety zone which recognises that crashes are more common near the end of a race due to tiredness and positioning.
Pog is currently looking like he's on a training ride in VLAB's wheels.
Remco may be about to get back on
... then there's only Hautacam to survive
Well done Remco the mental side of getting dropped but staying on it is so hard! Let's hope he has paced it well
Oh, **** me - if that move sticks,...
Pog will have finished his recovery drink by the time Ving crosses the line. 5-8 secs/km will be the gain. Lots of stem inspection from Ving is never a good sign.