Tour de France 2022 - Time to pass the baton

Thankyou for the previous years!

But whatever will we do without our daily @lunge??? 😉

Thanks for all the previous years 🙂

This is what happens when you get a dug.

Your life takes on new meaning

Noooooo, and thank you for your service 🙂

This is not acceptable - the Tour won't be the same without the daily @lunge thread!
Also, thanks for everything you've done over the previous years, they've always been great threads. 🙂

This is what happens when you get a dug.
Your life takes on new meaning

Sadly, it's more about a love of running taking over from a love of cycling...

looks like Simon Yates has pulled out too ? though Julian Alaphilippe is going too make it! (obviously if these are accurate 😉 )

THanks for all the fish, @lunge

Looks like famed anti-vaxxer Peter Sagan will actually manage to race in the TDF, getting around the requirement in France that a professional sportsperson must be fully vaxxed by meeting the alternative requirement that they have recently contracted (and recovered) from COVID.

EDIT

though Julian Alaphilippe is going too make it! (obviously if these are accurate 😉 )

It seems not 🙁
https://twitter.com/BenjiNaesen/status/1541345591472656384

will they take Remco with a view to winning yellow in the opening ITT ?

If they do take Remco and he takes yellow, is he wise enough to let it go or flog himself to keep it and let the team's other targets suffer?

And will they find a place for CAV ?

Seems foolish not to ( imho ) full on publicity for the sponsors when he gets the record stage win 🤞

Will miss your excellent daily threads and thank you for making them essential viewing over the years.

Who's going to step up? C'mon, don't be shy.

I'd also be surprised if they don't select Cavendish given the publicity it will attract regardless of if he wins or not

Yes, I think it would be a great choice to get Cav to replace Lunge. Do you think STW can afford him?

Well Done and thanks for previous years lunge.
Enjoy the running.

Pass the bidon perhaps? As you’ve done with cycling and taken up running you might still need a baton?

Thanks for your previous years mate 👍🏻

Thanks lunge - really appreciated all your efforts over the last few years!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/6196125 1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">TdF Bahrain Victorious

Deja vu.

Thanks Lunge, we're really going to miss those brilliant updates!

I'll respond to the other thread as well, but I've just created a fantasy league on Velogames (not the Tissot TdFsite).

League Name: STW TdF 2022
League Code: 641308012

funny ol' team QSAV their top 3 rated riders don't make the grade

The racers are dropping like flies already (everyone incl racers, team staff and journos have to provide negative antigen result 2 days before grand depart)

https://twitter.com/UCI_media/status/1541786692163719169

TiboPino and Tim declerq both test positive for CV even before the start

https://twitter.com/ColutErus/status/1541721351718944768

https://twitter.com/qst_alphavinyl

At least QuickStep are now taking one frenchman in Florian Seneschal, though like many others I'd have loved to see Alaphillipe fit enough to race. Shame that Cav was not selected...

I’d have loved to see Alaphillipe fit enough to race.

he is for single days racing finishing13th whether you'd risk him over a more grueling 21 days perhaps not.

I don't mind picking the Daily Thread up if people are OK with that but with one caveat - I'm not able to do the weekend stages and that's throughout the whole race...

That would be fantastic @crazy-legs, thank you.

Awesome @crazy-legs.
May I suggest you bookmark the following pages:
https://www.cyclingstage.com/ - This is the best place to get the maps (they're easy to hotlink from there) and the stage descriptions from.
https://www.letour.fr/en/ - Official site, good for pics and general info
https://inrng.com/ - The best pre-race previews
https://cyclingtips.com/ - Used to be the best place for pics but a lot of behind a paywall now.

Thanks Lunge for the past 6 years.
Thanks crazy-legs for stepping up (they will be hard shoes to fill), bonne chance.

Tibopino IS riding, he did test positive after Tour de Suisse as did Stefan Kung, but they're both in the team

interesting kit that Jumbo are wearing!

Not as interesting as EF!

For a different view of the race,

The Bikeradar Lantern Rouge thread.

Watching the team presentations yesterday Ineos have definitely missed a trick not having a Danish rider 😂 The reception for all the teams was amazing, but those with Danish riders was off the scale.

Cheers lunge, IANARR but enjoyed your threads through the years.

Here's to the new boss, same as the old boss I hope...

Thanks for that @Riksbar, started reading last years thread and I'm hooked already

Few more covid positive tests - Samuele Battistela, Daryl Impey and Bryan Coquard all replaced ahead of the start. Expect more before the final deadline, then a glut over the first few days

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/6194003 7" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Tour de France stages

Reminder that there's TWO STW Velogames mini-leagues going - one started by @straightliner for the TDF and the generic Grand Tours league that I started ahead of the Giro

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/no-fantasy-tdf-mini-league-yet/

you have until 14:45 in the UK to register your team, you can jon the league(s) later

Phone enduced double post

So how long does that make it since the scratched avid brakes drama?!? 😜

Whoah, hang on, does it start today? I thought it always started on the Saturday? Wassallatabout?

Starts today cos of the stupid long transfer into France which is Monday. So there's an extra rest day which means it needs to start one day earlier.

I'll do a stage 1 thread shortly...

Whoah, hang on, does it start today? I thought it always started on the Saturday? Wassallatabout?

Starts today, three stages in Denmark then a day to transfer back to France on Monday.

Ah, gotcha. Best make sure the tellyrecorderbox is set up then

TOday is ITT day, 15.30 uk time. ITV4 coverage with Gary Imlach, Ned Boulting and David Millar start 14.45. GCN coverage starts 14.30 - they have a LOT of presenters in various languages

https://twitter.com/eurosport/status/1541149299261657088

I'm in. I usually watch the highlights in the evening but as it's a prologue I'll have the TV on live this afternoon whilst I, um, work.

I think I'll watch the ITV4 pre-race coverage until the ITT actually starts, and then watch the highlights later cos watching a live time-trial is, well, a bit dull...

i'm getting to love the GCN coverage but the web stuff helps as well to fill in.  Summer is here at last

Hmm... might commit to ITV4 this time, will miss Orla and Adam but very much enjoy David Miller's insider knowledge delivered as dour little asides. I also sense a fellow never-discer in him 😎 (or that might be Boardman, there's always one of them who starts going off on little groupset-sponsor-unfriendly moans until you sense they are hushed up by their co-commentators 😂 )

ITV4 for me, its way better than GCN imo.

ITV4 for me, its way better than GCN imo.

Agreed. I kind of like EuroSport now though - their rotation of commentators works well so you're not stuck with one guy for the entire thing, they have different pairings.

Gary Imlach on ITV4 though remains the absolute highlight for deadpan asides.

Also looking forward to Ned Boulting's theatre tour later in the year, got tickets for the Salford Quays one.

Imlach is the king. Here we go