Le Tour 2018
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@williethewaiter said in Le Tour 2018:
@hooroo said in Le Tour 2018:
Patrick Bevin just won a stage which is quite cool for little ole NZ.
tenuous link Used to date his sister tenuous link
how old's his sister??! must be a shitload older than him then?
He's actually a triplet with the other two being sisters. Yes, I dated his older sister.
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@crucial said in Le Tour 2018:
King of the Mountain still with NZ! (flat stage)
Only interest today was whether Sagan would keep the points jersey, which he has.
everyone focused on Smith keeping the jersey - but keeping it by a 9th place finish on a pure sprinters stage in the TDF isn't exactly something to be sneezed at.. is actually one of our best ever results..
when you consider guys like Cav couldn't even get a top 20 finish!
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The cobbles were fun last night, with one GC contender gone (maybe 2?) and serious dents put in to a couple of others. Just fucking carnage everywhere.
Rest day today, and then the real race begins tomorrow.
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Porte gone again poor bastard. but from a selfish nz perspective it's awesome because it means that Paddy Bevin will have a chance to go for a stage win now that his team has no leader..
will be looking for him to get in a break later in the tour and if he's in a break come near the finish he'll be nz's best ever chance of winning a stage - he's a VERY good sprinter.. and the best thing is he's not really well known as a sprinter so won't be marked as much -
@williethewaiter said in Le Tour 2018:
Porte gone again poor bastard. but from a selfish nz perspective it's awesome because it means that Paddy Bevin will have a chance to go for a stage win now that his team has no leader..
will be looking for him to get in a break later in the tour and if he's in a break come near the finish he'll be nz's best ever chance of winning a stage - he's a VERY good sprinter.. and the best thing is he's not really well known as a sprinter so won't be marked as muchCan we bet on that anywhere?
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A bit shit for Porte. This tour doesn't have a lot of love for him. His former teammate on the other hand has a charmed life.
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@hooroo said in Le Tour 2018:
@williethewaiter said in Le Tour 2018:
Porte gone again poor bastard. but from a selfish nz perspective it's awesome because it means that Paddy Bevin will have a chance to go for a stage win now that his team has no leader..
will be looking for him to get in a break later in the tour and if he's in a break come near the finish he'll be nz's best ever chance of winning a stage - he's a VERY good sprinter.. and the best thing is he's not really well known as a sprinter so won't be marked as muchCan we bet on that anywhere?
not just a general 'will an nzer win a stage' bet you'd have to pick an individual stage.
mind you only saying that from a TAB perspective... i'm an amateur punter!
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Should be fun viewing tonight, 3 x Cat 1 climbs, and one HC
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@mariner4life I rode this stage last week and it's tough. The HC climb is only 6 km but averages 11% and the road is not that wide. I wouldn't be surprised if there are GC gaps especially after the amount of energy both physical and mental that was expended on the cobbles.
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@scribe said in Le Tour 2018:
@mariner4life I rode this stage last week and it's tough. The HC climb is only 6 km but averages 11% and the road is not that wide. I wouldn't be surprised if there are GC gaps especially after the amount of energy both physical and mental that was expended on the cobbles.
that's fucking cool! i noticed at one point speeds dropped to 10km per hour, which probably means at the point i would be off my bike and pushing
Now, this comment is based purely on the part i watched to the top of the HC climb, but is this tour just going to be like what feels like the last 10, with Sky sitting on the front of the peleton in a group, and just dictating terms?
Loved Van Avermaet having a crack to hold on to yellow for another day.
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@scribe said in Le Tour 2018:
@mariner4life I rode this stage last week and it's tough. The HC climb is only 6 km but averages 11% and the road is not that wide. I wouldn't be surprised if there are GC gaps especially after the amount of energy both physical and mental that was expended on the cobbles.
That was L'Etape I am guessing? A friend of mine who I cycle with regularly did it as well, he's no slouch and got round in 9.5 hours......TDF winner yday did it in 4hrs 25!! Goes to show what a different level these guys are compared to weekend warriors. A 4hr+ average of 350W or something...
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Not surprisingly, after last night's stage, Thomas and Froome are first and second and Sky has an iron grip on the race.
What is good news (hopefully) is that George Bennett's Lotto Jumbo team mates, Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk are in 5th and 6th and have been pretty competitive. If you add in Robert Gesink, who can climb - Lotto Jumbo could potentially put out a really strong team for next year's TdF - hopefully with George as team leader.
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The Tour is now over with half of it to go. Fucking Sky are just too strong, everyone else is playing for stages and the minor jerseys. Again. Well, King of the Mountains, because only the officials can stop Sagan for the Green.
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@mariner4life and michelton scott must be feeling like a massive bunch of twats for chucking all their eggs in the yates basket and him being one of the first out the back today.
they've just signed him and his brother on massive contracts.. they'll be spewing.
stupid to leave their sprinter at home -
@williethewaiter couple of contenders surprisingly spat out the back very early in teh mountains
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@chris-b said in Le Tour 2018:
Not surprisingly, after last night's stage, Thomas and Froome are first and second and Sky has an iron grip on the race.
What is good news (hopefully) is that George Bennett's Lotto Jumbo team mates, Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk are in 5th and 6th and have been pretty competitive. If you add in Robert Gesink, who can climb - Lotto Jumbo could potentially put out a really strong team for next year's TdF - hopefully with George as team leader.
Is it just me or does Thomas look like the second best rider in the tour yet again? Shame that we can't see those two battle it out.
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@tewaio said in Le Tour 2018:
@scribe said in Le Tour 2018:
@mariner4life I rode this stage last week and it's tough. The HC climb is only 6 km but averages 11% and the road is not that wide. I wouldn't be surprised if there are GC gaps especially after the amount of energy both physical and mental that was expended on the cobbles.
That was L'Etape I am guessing? A friend of mine who I cycle with regularly did it as well, he's no slouch and got round in 9.5 hours......TDF winner yday did it in 4hrs 25!! Goes to show what a different level these guys are compared to weekend warriors. A 4hr+ average of 350W or something...
Yes it was le etape du tour. I’m an average club cyclist and got around in 8.5 hours. It was hot (40 degrees on the road according to my Garmin) and as tough as expected, though I approached it this time from the point of completing rather than competing. These guys did it 4 hours quicker and maintain the same intensity for 3 weeks. It’s just insane! When I did I the etape a couple of years, the guy who got the quickest time on that stage that day was an ex-pro. When the peloton did the stage a few days later (Stage 18/21), his time would’ve been good enough for dead last (including all the sprinters in the grupetto just hanging out or Paris).
Thomas is just about my favourite cyclist so was really happy for him yesterday. He typically has one very bad day in the tour – hope it’s not today. There’s 5000 metres of climbing today with the Madeleine (29 km long ) and Croix de Fer (22 km) to soften them up before they hit Alpe du Huez.
Not sure who has got anything to attack Team Sky. Dumoulin is looking the most likely but I also have a suspicion that Nibali will try something big today. Sky will need their climbing domestiques Poels and Bernal to pull their fingers out as yesterday they were as disappointing as much as Kwiatkowski was brilliant, and I’m sure they’ll want to protect both Thomas and Froome until the business end.
I also hope the anti-Sky / Froome sentiment doesn’t boil over today on Alpe du Huez. Lots of fans would’ve spent numerous days ‘fuelling’ up and its typically where the nutters like to appear.
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