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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 6, 2018 - 07:10pm PT
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Yep, this is it, Le Grande Boucle starts tomorrow!!!
The world champ and fan fave (Peter Sagan) is ready to tie Eric Zabel's record (6) for the points classification! Let's hope that Cavendish steers clear and races clean in his attempt to tie Eddy Merckx's record for most stage wins. Cav never came clean about the incident last year. What a punter!
It's all the best sprinters this year and they all seem to be on form. It will be wild in the sprints.
I'm not exactly happy about Chris Froome being allowed in at the last second after his unresolved salbutamol (double the allowable amount in the 2017 Vuelta) issue. It seems like bs political maneuvering behind the scenes. Proper protocol was not followed. I don't believe in Team Sky and especially Dave Brailsford anymore. The prerace press conference sounded like it was written by the White House press sec. Sarah Huckabee S.
The GC battle will be good with Froomey, Nibali, Porte, Quintana and others ready to duke it out. I'm surprised nobody is talking about Rigoberto Uran as a GC threat. But that's cool, it will work to his advantage.
I'm also hoping to see Tejay Vangarderen have a good ride with no GC pressure.
OK, enough said. The race will be spectacular as usual and this years course has some surprises in store.
HERE WE GO!
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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HERE WE GO !- the grand loop
no "juice" or performance enhancing substances used & as worth while?
albeit, more dangerous, a pursuit as WATCHING any TV coverage of a baseball. . .
ho cycling?! same thing applies . . . [Click to View YouTube Video]1st of 4 lines,Left of center, following the vine (The Poison Ivy&Virginia Creeper, I pulled to the side, & that then tried to get revenge as I top'd out)
more sillynesshttps://youtu.be/JS81qoXJDKM
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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GDBase....Hollywood and Vine...? I thought you were back east...?
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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I'll tune in for the mountain stages and time trials exclusively. Don't ever need to see a 100 meter sprint at the end of a 200 kilometer stage again...marketing trick to make the flat stages somewhat palatable.
On second thought the sprints can be interesting vis a vis the battle for posistioning prior to the sprint...just not for me.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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The latest press release from the UCI about the Chris Froome affair just muddies the water even more than before. Froome is reporting that he had a chest infection so he had to increase his dose of Salbutamol. I am not a doctor, but is Salbutamol the best drug for a chest infection? And how do you increase the dose of Salbutamol? As per the WADA anti-doping code an athlete cannot take Salbutamol either by pill or injection so was he just taking more hits on his inhaler? Very fishy indeed!
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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I'll tune in for the mountain stages and time trials exclusively
You may want to re-think that strategy, after today's race. GC was shaken up more today than in most mountain stages.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Froome could have used the pigeon pie alibi or the penis enlargement alibi...
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sean_barb
Trad climber
Suburb of Moore's Wall
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I love how froome repeatedly destroys the field while sick; winning elite endurance sport with a chest infection. Yeah that makes sense! I have seen this movie before
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Brandon-
climber
The Granite State.
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Eddy Merckx and the Prince of Monaco, driving with the peloton.
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Gaviria, and Sagan will battle for the Green Jersey.
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Sagan
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Nice call! Great to see him off to a good start, he just needs to avoid Cavendish.
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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....and time trials exclusively.
Agree to disagree Jim. ITT's are "YAWN-city". Coverage of each rider is usually the last 200m and its typically a clock watching-fest for the viewer. A shade less than the team time trial. Weirdly enough, I watch TT's only when its raining on the course. Good wipe-outs. NOOOOWW....It's the sprint finishes that are good nail biters! Of course, most of the drama starts around 15K with lead outs lining up to launch the sprinters. Yep, big fan of Sagan. But you all knew that.
Mountain stages: eyes are on Nibili, Quintana and Froome and the overall GC.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Mooch...I agree that ITT’s are not great viewing, but they are pretty significant in the overall results.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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With new technologies you can certainly make an ITT very exciting as was the case with the 2015 Tour of Switzerland. What you need is real-time GPS data from the riders and then you can setup a "who's winning right now" as the riders all cross over the exact same point in the course.
To see this happening in real time is really exciting. At the aforementioned 2015 Tour de Suisse, Gerraint Thomas and Simon Spilak were separated by a handful of seconds going into the final stage ITT. They started off second to last and then last. With the real-time, GPS-based, time differences it was a nail-biter all the way to the finish with Spilak winning the overall by 5sec and Dumoulin 3rd at 19sec.
I asked Tour de France race director, Christain Prudhome, if they could implement this in the Tour and didn't get much of a response. I don't know why. It doesn't seem too difficult to implement. I have seen other races on TV use a variant of this.
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Y'all especially Bruce;
Why is Greg Van Avermaet in Yellow and not TJ (born in Tacoma y'all)?
I want to root for Colombians, but love Sagan. What's a person to do? Will that battle go all the way to Paris. Despite myself, heck I love this. OK, not a big Froome fan.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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^^^^^
With respect to the TTT, the first rider of the team across the line gets the jersey assuming all riders are tied on time. If not, the rider with the lowest overall time who is closest to the first rider across the line gets the jersey.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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I was sad to see Luis Leon Sanchez abandon the Tour de France after a bad crash on stage 2. He is an exciting racer to watch with his aggressive style which has earned him four stage wins at the Tour.
I was covering the Tour in 2009 when he won in St. Girons. At the finish, Luis rode about 100 feet past the line and stopped right in front of me! I managed to say something like "nice job, dude" before I was engulfed in a swarm of media all intent on getting an interview and photos. I was able to snap a few photos before the melee became a crushing force that is just part of being a journalist at the Tour.
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Radish
Trad climber
SeKi, California
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Jul 10, 2018 - 12:21pm PT
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So, having changed our cable package early this year to save some money, I no longer get coverage of the Tour de France! Waaaaa!! Anybody got streaming ideas I could do? I haven't checked at all so this is the first place............
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 10, 2018 - 12:45pm PT
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Close green jersey points, with 'Sagan The Tactician' holding on. However, I have faith he'll hold on to it, especially as the course heads to hills. Dood is too hungry for a 6th! He'll be sure to chomp at those intermediate sprints points. As for Stage 4 today, if you watch the lead out by Richeze, Gaviria looked strong. But Sagan managed to slip to the outside and was accelerating. Had there been another 10 meters to cover, I firmly beleive Sagan would have nipped him. I didn't see the supposed "second kick" from Gaviria. Same speed throughout the sprint.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Lassitude 33
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Jul 10, 2018 - 06:19pm PT
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So, having changed our cable package early this year to save some money, I no longer get coverage of the Tour de France! Waaaaa!! Anybody got streaming ideas I could do? I haven't checked at all so this is the first place....
We cut out Cable completely a few years back - 100 channels of nothing worth watching.
Anyway, streaming the Tour is the way to go. www.nbcsports.com/gold gives you access to the entirety (unedited and highlights) of Le Tour and other bike races.
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Jul 10, 2018 - 10:10pm PT
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But Sagan managed to slip to the outside and was accelerating. Had there been another 10 meters to cover, I firmly beleive Sagan would have nipped him.
Sagan was accelerating. I actually thought Greipel would take it, but looked like he ran out of gas.
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 11, 2018 - 07:50am PT
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10b, you saw that too. Too much hype for the young Columbian. I was reading comments on YouTube from the "couch analysts" touting how Sagan was sucking doods back wheel and Gaviria pulling solo. Ummmm......the youngin' was doing the same thing with his lead out! Tards. Funny how Phil made it sound like Sagan had nothing but soon found himself a window to the outside right and was accelerating.
Post race interview with Sagan, the interviewer tried to put Sagan in the "anxious" seat by throwing out there that Gaviria was going to give him a stiff battle for green. Sagan replied, "I jus take it one day at a time." Spoken like a cool veteran.
The 2018 Road World Championships route looks set to be one of the toughest in history, with organisers of the race in the Austrian city of Innsbruck including ramps of up to 25 per cent in the elite men’s road race.
Lest we forget the 2015 World Road Championship when Sagan bulleted his way up that 13 percent with 2km left in Richmond. And he's a contender when it comes to road races like Tour Of Flanders. Steep powereful grades don't scare him. Gaviria better hit the steep stuff if he's gonna be there at the finish line with The Increrdible Hulk.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Love it how the race annoucer keeps saying, "He's looooooks around!" LOL!
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 11, 2018 - 09:12am PT
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One of the toughest World's RR courses in recent history was the 1980 race in Sallanches, France(near Mt. Blanc) with 6000m of climbing. The race was won by Bernard Hinault. Jonathan Boyer was 5th and there were only fifteen(15) official finishers. Beth Heiden won the women's race.
The 1995 World's RR was also very tough. I don't have any climbing stats, but it was held in Duitama, Colombia at a starting altitude of 8500'. The climbs were very steep which resulted in only twenty(20) official finishers. I have the jersey worn by the rider who finished 20th.
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Jul 11, 2018 - 09:24am PT
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Sagan seems to like those uphill sprints. Kudos.
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 11, 2018 - 10:15am PT
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Hey Rene......have you tried using fubolTV as a streaming site. I have an account with them. They cover most of the UCI World tours. Bein (European streaming is linked through fubolTV as well and covers ther rest of the tours.
https://www.fubo.tv/welcome
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 11, 2018 - 02:37pm PT
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Well, well, well.......guess who lengthened the points for the Maillot Vert! Where in the world was the young Columbian?? ;)
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 11, 2018 - 09:40pm PT
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Today's stage 5 finished in Quimper. The stage also finished there in 1991. Jim Ochowicz had lost his sponsorship from 7/Eleven the previous year, but had secured sponsorship from Motorola at the last minute to save the team. It was the first Tour for the new sponsor and it would be great to get a stage win.
Well, Aussie Phil Anderson, obliged and won the stage for Motorola. The only problem was that the PR person for Motorola had spent the previous night sampling the region's finest alcoholic beverages and was back at the hotel indisposed and missed the opportunity to capitalize on the stage win. Oh well, it's the Tour after all!
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Jul 12, 2018 - 07:34am PT
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Sagan seems to like those uphill sprints. Kudos.
He is a better climber than Gaviria.
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 12, 2018 - 09:35am PT
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Nice win by Dan Martin!!! Well deserved. Sagan gained another 19 points on today's stage (stage 6), totalling at 199 points to lengthen his lead on the Green Jersey, also finishing 8th overall. Gaviria was 161st. Yep, the Columbian kid is a one-trick pony.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Jul 12, 2018 - 06:02pm PT
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here's an interesting cycling-related incident.
If this guy takes it to trial, he will not only lose, but likely be found liable for everyone else's legal expenses.
Okay, so if he can prove that "Michael Jacques... along with 25 other unidentified cyclists on the ride" deliberately conspired to injure him because... uh... yeah, deliberately... then he'll have a perfect case.
But in the real world.... you know, the real world of an anything-goes amateur bike thrash...
Ah, f*#k it, Just one more as#@&%e.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 12, 2018 - 08:38pm PT
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I remember when Dan Martin won his stage into Bagneres de Bigorre in 2013. It demonstrated just how poorly directed the Garmin team was. Martin attacked on the climb of the La Hourquette d'Ancizan. His attack and the ensuing chase caused his teammate, Andrew Talansky, to be dropped. While Martin did win the stage, Talansky finished seven minutes down and his GC hopes were dashed.
Talansky was lucky to gain that time back when the leaders allowed him to get into a breakaway into Lyon, but the team should not have allowed the attack to happen once Talansky was dropped. Hindsight is always 20-20, but if Martin hadn't won the stage it would have been a huge gaff by the team. You have to play the percentages at the Tour.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 15, 2018 - 07:43pm PT
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Yep I have to admit I wanted Peter to win. But, nothing could’ve been better than John Degankolb winning!
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 15, 2018 - 07:53pm PT
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We knew this stage would be pivotal/insane. There was a lot of bad and some good. Needless to say it was crazy to watch!
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jul 15, 2018 - 08:51pm PT
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Bruce,
You've probably posted this above or over the years, but have you ridden with Bob Roll?
Answer or not, thanks,
Darwin
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 15, 2018 - 10:51pm PT
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Darwin,
in 1981 Specialized had it's first sponsored factory team. What they did was get the top five riders, or so, from the Berkeley Bicycle Club team and give us the works(bikes, parts, etc.). At the Santa Cruz Criterium there was this new racer who was riding in the novice category. He crashed in the right hand turn at the bottom of the descent on every lap, but he was so strong he was able to get up and chase back on by the top of the climb.
We were so impressed that we offered him a spot on the team and then sent him to the Tour of Baja where he set up Alex Osborne for two stage wins. The guy's name was Bob Roll!
Almost 40 years later Bob and I still do a lot of cycling events together though mostly with microphones. Bob, Phil, Paul and I did a fundraiser together during the Amgen Tour of California in May. A couple of weeks ago we worked together at the RBC Gran Fondo Silicon Valley.
I have way too many stories. Maybe I will post a few when the tour gets a bit boring(unlike today!).
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jul 15, 2018 - 11:18pm PT
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^^^^ Typical journalist leading us to the slaughter! 😉
Just one morsel, please, sir? Is he as fun to hang around with as it would seem? He’s clearly an animal, but is he a party animal?
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Bale
Mountain climber
UT
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Jul 16, 2018 - 06:48am PT
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Oh man, Richie Porte crashed out on the ninth stage again!
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 16, 2018 - 09:23am PT
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Reilly,
I posted this on the Chris Froome Salbutamol thread earlier in the year. Bob has a very unique sense of humor.....
More OT, When a bike racer gets married it has been a tradition to have a 'freedom ride' or the last ride as a free man:-)
When Andy Hampsten was getting married we went out for the freedom ride(leaving a bit late) and all got pulled over by the police for supposedly riding three abreast. None of us had any ID's so the police wanted to haul us all into the station to sort it out. It was an hour by bike back to Boulder and the wedding started in two hours so we pleaded with the cops that we would give our real names so just start writing tickets. It didn't help that the SWAT team showed up for some reason.
So, we finally convinced the cops that we would give our real names and the first person the cops walked up to was Bob Roll. They asked him his name and in broken English he says, "my name is Francesco Moser, Italiano" We tried as hard as we could to no bust out laughing, but the officer wrote the ticket and thankfully the rest of us gave our real names. We just made it back in time for the wedding.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 16, 2018 - 09:59am PT
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Oh, I should add something to the story above. A few weeks after the incident Bob was interviewed by Outside Magazine for a feature article. Bob told the same story to the writer and when the journalist wrote up the incident he said something like, "just a couple of weeks ago, Bob, and a group of world class cyclists were pulled over....."
Nice to know that I am a "world class cyclist"
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 16, 2018 - 10:19am PT
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Oh man, Richie Porte crashed out on the ninth stage again!
The cobblestones show no mercy! Rest day today then into the hills. Sagan has a pretty comfy lead on the Green. As long as he stays upright, which would take a cyclone to knock him off since he's one of the best bike handlers I've seen in years, he looks to be on his way to Paris with the Green Jersey secured.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 16, 2018 - 07:27pm PT
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What do you all think about the inclusion of cobbles in the Tour? They clearly made for some very exciting racing, but are they a fair test for Tour riders?
My current thinking is that they shouldn't be included. Yes, luck certainly plays a part in doing well in the Tour, but the problem I have with the cobbles is that to ride them well takes a lot of ability and experience and most Tour riders don't have that level of experience. It's one thing if you crash by yourself on the cobbles. That's your fault. But, a lot of the top contenders who went down yesterday did so because they were caught up in crashes caused by other riders.
To be sure, riders get taken down by other riders at the Tour, but the cobbles dealt out more than your average stage. I don't think that's a case of bad luck. I think back to the 2010 Tour and the stage into Liege when very slick roads caused a lot of riders, more than usual, to crash. The peloton realized that this was not just bike racing and neutralized the finish.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Jul 16, 2018 - 07:46pm PT
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What do you all think about the inclusion of cobbles in the Tour? They clearly made for some very exciting racing, but are they a fair test for Tour riders? My current thinking is that they shouldn't be included.
Before debating whether cobbles should be included, one has to decide what the TDF is really about. I'd like to see it be about more than just road riding.
Many of the first eight stages were, there's no other word for it, boring. Ride in a big bunch for 200 km and then have a 300 meter race?
Okay, maybe the last 10 km are actual racing, but even granting that there's a bit of excitement at the end, all the GC guys are simply riding in a protected cocoon, saving themselves for the stages that actually have some impact on the final outcome.
Personally, I'd like to see more cobble-type stages. At least the cobbles test something more than endurance and climbing. Why not throw in some mountain-bike stages? More cobbles? Something, anything, to test the riders in more than endurance and climbing.
Or, god forbid, a trials stage...
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 17, 2018 - 09:46am PT
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I thought they made for great viewing and an epic contest, but didn't help the race and probably should haven't been included. Maybe leave them for the classics...
Concur with leaving it for the classics. However, dealing with what Mother Nature dishes out can add to the same element of risk. You never know what you'll be faced with. And leaders have been caught up with crashes when it rains or the temps drops. Just my 2 cents.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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ChizzDizzle
Trad climber
Rocklin,CA
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Jul 17, 2018 - 09:51am PT
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I personally liked the cobbles. They seem to shake up the GC every year they are included.
The grand tours are supposed to be the most well rounded rider but it is mostly who can climb the best and TT the best. I like watching the TDF but I really like watching the classics because the courses are brutal and the weather is usually crappy. The Tour of Flanders aka De Ronde is my favorite. Cobbles, hills , rain, wind, mud and Belgium baby. I watch the TDF because it is on. Oh and Bob Roll is awesome.
It seems like the outcome was decided once Froome was allowed to race. I do not think he should have been allowed to race. Peter Sagan is a rock star who happens to race and the sport is better off for him.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jul 17, 2018 - 12:37pm PT
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The cobbles are like climbing long runouts in Whillans harnesses with only a hip belay. OK, they’re worse than that.
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BigB
Trad climber
Red Rock
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Jul 17, 2018 - 01:07pm PT
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cobbles/dirt roads def.should be included in the TDF...
the tour is considered the most prestigious thing to have on your palmares, in the world of cycling, the world champ. and the classics both pale in comparison. To win the TDF you should have to show you are the best all rounder..including cobbles, road furniture, slick surfaces, crazy pelotons, noobs, weather, rabid fans, musette bag handles or even the infamous dirt roads they've used in the giro.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jul 17, 2018 - 01:19pm PT
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Agreed...that’s why it is a test like no other in the sporting world...and why the yellow jersey means so much and the green jersey so little.
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 17, 2018 - 01:21pm PT
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...and why the yellow jersey means so much and the green jersey so little.
Tell that to the 3-time World Champion of road racing.....
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BigB
Trad climber
Red Rock
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Jul 17, 2018 - 01:42pm PT
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Tell that to the 3-time World Champion of road racing.....
I’m guessing... but I’d bet that Sagan would trade all of those for 1 TDF overall. It’s the SuperBowl of pro cycling everything else is stepping stones to it
Everyone that peddles a bike in a amateur race from the shittiest punter to the cat1 freak has thought about what winning that race is like. Jus sayin
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Jul 17, 2018 - 01:54pm PT
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Sagan realizes that he is not a GC rider, so I think he is pretty happy with winning the Green Jersey. Same thing with whoever wins the KoM title.
btw,I think Gaviria should have been dq'd for his kerfuffle with Greipel, the other day.
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Bale
Mountain climber
UT
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Jul 17, 2018 - 03:19pm PT
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MMCC, maybe a brown and red jersey:) I guess the cobbles make for interesting viewing, but to include them in such a brutal contest as Le Tour is downright mean! Oh well, bring it
on, more skills and strategy involved I suppose.
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Lassitude 33
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Jul 17, 2018 - 03:44pm PT
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The cobbles of Stage 9 were, by far, the most interesting racing and riding thus far in the Tour. While great spectator sport, I'm not convinced there is a need for them in the TDF.
There is a good deal of risk and chance involved in racing with such large numbers. Surviving three weeks and 21 stages is no small feat in itself.
But, when the odds of being taken out of the competition, through no fault of your own, are significantly increased, perhaps this should be rethought for this type of grand tour race.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 17, 2018 - 07:22pm PT
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One way to look at the cobble question is to realize that all pro sports are entertainment. It's a business. If you can't make money at it you are no longer in business.
I still think the cobbles have the potential to make the racing unfair, especially if someone who can't ride the cobbles goes down in front of you and you crash as well. However, viewed solely in terms of entertainment value it was a great win for the Tour.
I guess the real question is can the entertainment aspect as well as the fair sporting aspect coexist?
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 17, 2018 - 07:25pm PT
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The 10th stage included an ascent of the Col du Glieres(AKA Les Plateau des Glieres) for the first time ever in the Tour de France. I rode this road in 2007. Here are several photos. Yes, the climb was pretty hard!
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Jul 17, 2018 - 07:30pm PT
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I still think the cobbles have the potential to make the racing unfair, especially if someone who can't ride the cobbles goes down in front of you and you crash as well.
The same thing can happen during a sprint finish or mountain descent . . . that is part of the allure of cycling. Let us not sanitize it too much.
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Jul 17, 2018 - 07:45pm PT
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The same thing can happen during a sprint finish or mountain descent . . . that is part of the allure of cycling. Let us not sanitize it too much.
Exactly.
If removal of risk from the Tour is the goal, then let's hold it inside. Artificial hills, no road furniture, no bumps on the "road" surface...
No sane person wants to see riders die or suffer permanent injury. But at the same time, if there's nothing to it except who can put out the most watts, then why not just put all the competitors on some kind of stationary bike?
Somewhere between those two lies a race that will require the winner to have the best all-round skill set (and serious cojones).
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 17, 2018 - 08:03pm PT
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The same thing can happen during a sprint finish or mountain descent . . . that is part of the allure of cycling. Let us not sanitize it too much.
Personally, I think the cobbles are a different category than mountain descents and sprint finishes. Having said that, I have been lobbying the UCI for many years to take the GC time at 1km to go on sprint stages so the GC riders don't have to contest the sprints.
There are two reasons for this. First off, the GC riders don't have to take part in the dangerous sprints to keep their GC time. Secondly, the sprinters don't have to deal with the GC riders getting in their way during the sprint which makes it more dangerous for all.
Chris Horner told me that when he raced grand tours he was always trying to convince all his GC rivals to sit up and just come across the line at the same time, well behind the sprinters, so they wouldn't have to deal with all the chaos. He said that everyone agreed during the stage, but when they got toward the finish the deal would dissolve and everyone ended up going for it.
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WBraun
climber
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Jul 17, 2018 - 08:08pm PT
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but when they got toward the finish the deal would dissolve and everyone ended up going for it.
Yes, that's the human competitive spirit in play.
You can't get rid of it.
It's never been done nor will it ever be done.
If it's done then you know you are dead stone .......
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 17, 2018 - 08:08pm PT
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I am stoked for Julian Alaphilipe today! I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten a stage earlier. When he came on the scene a few years ago I knew he would win stages in the tour. Apparently they were waiting until he was “ready! “
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 18, 2018 - 08:24am PT
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Sagan realizes that he is not a GC rider, so I think he is pretty happy with winning the Green Jersey.
He's openly admitted that. He prides himself as a decent sprinter and overall great bike handler, the later proving helpful during his 3 World Championships. Speaking of winning cobblestone races/stages.....
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Jul 18, 2018 - 08:48am PT
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He prides himself as a decent sprinter and overall great bike handler
yeah, he has that mountain biking background.
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 18, 2018 - 03:12pm PT
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I thouight today's stage was awesome! Tactics, tactics, tactics! Just wait until tomorrow when they head to Alpe d'Huez. Ho Daddy!
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 18, 2018 - 04:20pm PT
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Ben,
it really depends on the chemistry of the team. My guess is that the big goal is to get Froome his historic 5th win. But, remember that Froome rode the Giro and nobody has done the Giro/Tour double in a while.
So what Team Sky will probably do is not let Thomas attack Froome unless Froome is really in trouble and even then he has to be able to get away by himself. Froome will be able to attack Thomas if he falters, but only if he can get away by himself and not drag away any competitors.
The wild card situation happens if the other riders start attacking. In that case it is up to both Thomas and Froome to follow the attacks. If one of them falters, the other is not expected to come back and help the other out.
Remember there is a 31km time trial the day before the finish in Paris. What is really interesting is that the difference between the two in TT ability for 31km is about the 1:25 gap there is now.
Having said all that, my guess is that Thomas will have one bad day in the Alps or the Pyrenees and it will be a non-issue. However, my hope is that this doesn't happen and it all comes down to the 31km Race of Truth!
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 18, 2018 - 04:26pm PT
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I was with Tyler Hamilton this weekend,he was riding the Triple Bypass with a bunch of riders he is coaching and I was announcing the event. Here is a link to a presentation he made in England.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM7mdreB-Yc
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jul 18, 2018 - 04:27pm PT
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That would be pretty special if it came down to a time trial on the penultimate day. So many tours are decided early and the only tension is whether the leader will have some mishap.
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Ben Harland
Gym climber
Kenora, ON
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Jul 18, 2018 - 09:19pm PT
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Many thanks Bruce!
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Jul 18, 2018 - 11:56pm PT
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My husband’s gift to himself from a local shop. Although he feels guilty about buying the jersey without first doing the rides. It’s a good reason to come back with his bike.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 19, 2018 - 02:45am PT
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The Col du Pre was climbed for the first time in the Tour on stage 11. Ouch!
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John Mac
Trad climber
Breckenridge, CO
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Jul 19, 2018 - 05:19am PT
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Hey Bruce ... I was rode the triple on Saturday as well. Bad form about the tacks on the road leaving Bergen Parkway but other than that it was a great day.
Hope you enjoyed the ride.
Cheers
john
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BigB
Trad climber
Red Rock
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Jul 19, 2018 - 08:06am PT
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That'd be awesome if it came down to the TT ...Lemond/Fignon style !!!
Edit: Because Steelmonkey pointed out Im a idiot :D ...and yes I do know that I just fawked up!
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 19, 2018 - 08:28am PT
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Hey Bruce! Thanks for posting that vid of Tyler in England. Takes a ton of courage to put yourself out there and admit what you had done was illegal and untruthful. Real guts! That kind of character needs to spread through the rest of racing, whether its up in the World Tour or the local licensed racer. When I was living in Temecula and started to race, I remember Floyd returning after he was busted. Dood couldn't look a common soul in the eyes. A few of us locals would ride with him. You could you see his soul and the joy of riding was no longer within him. I saw him years later in Riverside. You could see he still hadn't come to terms with things.
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Cragar
climber
MSLA - MT
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Jul 19, 2018 - 08:54am PT
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Yeah, thanks for posting that vid Bruce, I'll have to check it later or just ask Tyler... I met him awhile ago and run into him skiing, out on the town or at parties and he is pretty nice and mellow and the only bike related stuff we have talked about are the BC trails in ID/MT that he wants to check out, the beauty of the zone or the tasty beer. Seems like a humble good fellow to me.
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John Mac
Trad climber
Breckenridge, CO
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Jul 19, 2018 - 11:16am PT
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Tyler Hamilton's book "The Secret Race" is a great read as well.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 19, 2018 - 12:48pm PT
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I used to go down to Temecula and help Floyd and Saris put on Floyd's Power Camp(2005-2007). In 2007, when all the crap had hit the fan I was down at the camp when Dr. Kay, Floyd's good friend, drove up to the hotel in a Mustang GT with wicked slick tires on it. I turned to Floyd and said, "hey we should take this car out and see what it can do."
Floyd replied, "Dr. Kay, toss me the keys!" It took a little urging on FLoyd's part, but he finally got the keys. We got in, buckled up, then FLoyd looked over at me and said "you are going to regret this decision."
We headed up into the hills just west of Temecula and for the next 15-20 minutes Floyd flung that car all over the network of narrow, steep roads that criss cross that area at speeds reaching 120mph! It was all I could do not to take a huge chunk out of the dash with my fingernails. It was definitely Mr. Floyd's Wild Ride.
Finally, he slowed down and headed back to Temecula remarking, "you can relax now, we're gonna live." Dr. Kay told me a couple of years later that the car never did drive the same after that.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 19, 2018 - 01:03pm PT
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After an unforgettable day on Alpe d'Huez, remembering Andy Hampsten's historic win.
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 19, 2018 - 01:37pm PT
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So much for Gaviria. He withdrew today, leaving a HUGE gap of 200+ point between Sagan and Kristoff. I also saw on Peter's FB page that he's separating from Katie. Sad to hear.
Andy is one of the reasons I got into cycling but it wouldn't happpen for me until 2003. What a show of climbing prowess!
Hey Bruce, did you ever ride over past the Santa Rosa plateau and climb that BEASTLY one-mile section of Los Gatos Road? It's west of Murrieta. Holy Hell!! Pretty sure the average was 15%, with many pitches checking in at 23%. I rode with Jon Hornbeck, who as you remember raced with Hollowesko and made the TOC in 2016, up Los Gatos one day. Of course, he dropped me half way up. But when I caught up with him at the top, he turns to me and says, "Did you happen to see one of my lungs back there?"
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Jul 19, 2018 - 02:11pm PT
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Nice win by Thomas, but he is wrong when he says Froome is the best TdF rider ever.
Sorry to see Nibali go down, he might have had a chance for the win.
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ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
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Jul 19, 2018 - 07:45pm PT
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Tyler Hamilton vid is worth a look.
TDF is arguably the pinnacle of sports. I try imagining what it's like to be one of the backbenchers. Maybe 24 or 25 years old. Better at cycling than all the world outside of perhaps two dozen mutants. Grinding every day for three weeks.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 19, 2018 - 07:53pm PT
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Mooch,
Floyd never took me on that ride. One day, Floyd and Dr. Kay took me on what they called the "Hour of Power" which climbed a bunch of short, but really steep, mostly one way(up then back down the way we came) hills west of I-15 in Temecula. A lot of the climbs were in the 25-30% range with a few in the 30+% range including one that measured 38%!
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Jul 19, 2018 - 09:36pm PT
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Mooch...I have a friend , Jean Louis , who lived close to Floyd maybe next door...Wonder if you ever met him...?
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 19, 2018 - 11:24pm PT
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What Team Sky tried to do during the Alpe d'Huez stage was textbook bike racing. Tom Dumoulin is probably the greatest threat to Team Sky and with Tom in third only 15 seconds behind 2nd place Froome at the start of the stage it was key for Sky to try and increase the time gap between Froome and Dumouin, especially because Dumoulin is as good, or better, than Froome in the time trials.
In the end it didn't work out, but look for that plan to be replayed in the Pyrenees. Team Sky might add in a bit of a wrinkle in having Thomas attack to make Dumoulin chase with Froome on Tom's wheel. Froome would then launch a counter attack when Thomas is caught and hopefully Dumoulin can't respond. It's another textbook example of team racing.
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Jul 20, 2018 - 08:01am PT
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Nibali is out with a cracked vertabrae.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Jul 20, 2018 - 08:28am PT
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A short story while watching the last 7 km of today’s stage:
My husband was telling me about a very funny commercial he saw of Peter Sagan racing his grandmother uphill. She’s riding one of Specialized’s electric mountain bikes.
We were amazed at how many of these types of bikes we just saw in the French Alps. We stayed in a small ski town with a lot of mountain bike trails and all the shops in town were renting and selling them.
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okie
Trad climber
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Jul 20, 2018 - 09:13am PT
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Definitely a team sport. Must be sweet to ride all the way in the slipstream of really strong guys and then slingshot at the end. That acceleration was a bit much, wasn't it? Was Froome holding back? Starting to disbelieve Thomas' "aww shucks, I'm no Froomey, just happy to be here" line.
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 20, 2018 - 09:29am PT
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Must be sweet to ride all the way in the slipstream of really strong guys and then slingshot at the end.
That's called 'tactics'. ;) And in this particular case, Sagan is one of the smartest, most patient tacticians in the sport. Demare and Kristoff put themselves in that position and look how it played out.
"Work smarter, not harder."
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mawk
Big Wall climber
White Bear Lake, MN
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Jul 20, 2018 - 09:31am PT
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Is it just me, or is the Tour getting boring with one team being so dominant? The commentators occasionally mention that Sky has a larger budget than any other team.
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BigB
Trad climber
Red Rock
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Jul 20, 2018 - 09:54am PT
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Is it just me, or is the Tour getting boring with one team being so dominant? The commentators occasionally mention that Sky has a larger budget than any other team. been that way since the days of uniball
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 20, 2018 - 11:12am PT
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With Nibali running into the back of a police motor bike and crashing out it brings back memories of Andy Hampsten's win in 1992. Andy was away solo and heading for the win when, about 4km from the top, a young boy jumped out right in his path. Andy reacted quickly and basically shoved the boy out of his way. As Andy told me later his reaction was quick and swift because if he had been knocked down and lost lead the Tour organizers would not have given him any consideration for what had happened. Luckily, his quick reaction saved the day(and the stage).
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Jul 20, 2018 - 05:14pm PT
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Is it just me, or is the Tour getting boring with one team being so dominant?
There is still plenty of excitement to be had every day on the Tour, but you are not alone when it comes to tiring of Team Sky's stranglehold, superior doping protocol and boring riders.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Jul 20, 2018 - 07:21pm PT
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Went running one cold december day with Bob Roll out behind Sunny Slopes...Bob borrowed Inga Thompsons red 914 Porsche...Bob wore silver snake-skin tights....Bob shared that he use to ditch school and go running and that the teachers always thought he was out smoking weed...towards the end of the loop i did a couple surges to test Bob...Bob responded to each surge like a champion reminding me that i was not worthy....On the drive back to Mammoth i was clearing out the bronchials...Each time i rolled the electric window down to spit , the window would mysteriously roll back up...being a little slow it took me 3 times to figure out Bobke , with his toothy grin , was controlling my window from the drivers seat...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 20, 2018 - 08:24pm PT
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So tomorrow morning, 4 AM MST, starts a TV broadcast of the final stage of the 2018 women's TDF. It was completed on Tuesday.
Who knew?
My wife has been in two of them.
She's longtime pals with Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter. Sometimes we break bread with them and I've been along for a few pleasure rides, including a 90 mile pedal stomp from Frisco to Leadville, around Turquoise Lake, over Independence Pass, and down to Carbondale.
Davis is about as down-to-earth as a guy can get.
About 15 years ago, midmorning on my birthday, I was shrugging off a mild red wine hangover. Hampsten, Doug Emerson and the crew from Boulder's University Bikes unloaded off the bus here in Nederland and we all began a ride up the Peak to Peak Highway, down to Lyons and on toward Boulder. Andy, having learned it was my birthday, just happened to be packing a handful of carrot cake in his jersey, and handed me some while we gained altitude out of town.
Down on Highway 36, riding in a pace line with them, he asked me why my form was so good. I told him several years of suffering Colorado hills on a 20-year-old “steel-is-real” Miyata behind Lisa while she spun the crank arms on her aluminum Cannondale had something to do with it. Oh, and I added that maybe climbing teaches one how to quiet the body.
End of shameless name dropping session!
I've never been a bike racer, but I sure am enjoying the TDF from the couch this year, and would like to tell Donini that the sprint stages have been spectacular!
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Jul 20, 2018 - 08:30pm PT
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Cool roy boy...!!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 21, 2018 - 09:44am PT
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Wow, following today's climb, if there'd been another hundred meters of run out at the end of the stage Sagan likely would've won!
There was some question as to what the hell he was doing in that breakaway; working for the team? How about he just loves racing and riding his bike!
In the generation in which I came of age as a climber, the 70s, being well-rounded was what it was all about: bouldering, thin holds face climbing, cracks, OW, long free climbs, walls, ice ...
To bring that to bike racing during these compounded eras of specialization in sport at large is really something for us all to see.
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Jul 21, 2018 - 09:50am PT
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I agree Roy. I see a lot of joy and love for the sport in Sagan's riding.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 21, 2018 - 10:04am PT
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Yes, I thought Peter had a great chance to win this stage and I picked him yesterday to win today. But, this morning when I saw how steep the final climb was I had to favor a rider like Alaphillipe or Gilbert.
Even so, watching Peter in the run up I could see he was doing everything possible to stay with the leaders, resting in the back and surging to the front as appropriate! He made no mistakes (does he ever?) and I cheered when he appeared coming around that corner in the final k!
...if the downhill had been one 1/2 k longer...
Kudos to Fraile!!
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perswig
climber
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Jul 21, 2018 - 10:42am PT
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Knowing naught about either world, I read this and the Grand Prix threads with pleasure at the posters' enthusiasm.
In the generation in which I came of age as a climber, the 70s, being well-rounded was what it was all about: bouldering, thin holds face climbing, cracks, OW, long free climbs, walls, ice ...
To bring that to bike racing during these compounded eras of specialization in sport at large is really something for us all to see.
Always have admired all-rounders above peak niche specialists as well.
Cool thread!
Dale
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 21, 2018 - 10:52am PT
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Roy,
you mentioned Davis Phinney. We used to train a lot together in the early 80's when we were both living in Madison, WI. The 1980 Wisconsin Milk Race was basically the alternate Olympics as all the countries which boycotted the Moscow Olympics sent their teams to this race. Davis was in second overall going into the Oshkosh Criterium when he crashed right in front of me. I saw that he had broken his rear derailleur hanger so his bike was not rideable. I jumped off my bike and gave it to him. He got second in the sprint at the finish because, I, not being a sprinter, only had a 13-tooth rear cog and Davis could turn over a 12. We both laughed, but his race was saved.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Jul 21, 2018 - 11:26am PT
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We spent a great day today in the town of Carcassonne, where tomorrows stage ends and Monday’s begins. The town’s main attraction is the completely restored medieval village which sits high on the hill above the “bas ville”.
Approach from below, you cross a river.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Jul 21, 2018 - 11:29am PT
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The tourist center in town was handing out helpful pamphlets showing the race info:
The blue route is the arrival route. The red route is Monday’s departure route.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Jul 21, 2018 - 11:33am PT
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Here is the scene at the start of the departure route. The street that runs straight ahead in the photo is covered with umbrellas - very cool!
Weather in the 70s there tomorrow. Winds 10-15 mph.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Jul 21, 2018 - 11:34am PT
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Oops here’s that photo.
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Jul 21, 2018 - 03:05pm PT
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Stage 17, on Thursday, should be fun to watch. It's only 65k.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 21, 2018 - 06:43pm PT
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Phylp wrote: We spent a great day today in the town of Carcassonne, where tomorrows stage ends and Monday’s begins. The town’s main attraction is the completely restored medieval village which sits high on the hill above the “bas ville”.
I guided for a bike tour which stayed in the 5-star hotel at the south west corner of the Cité de Carcassonne. The most fun was driving one of our passenger vans, to ferry all the luggage, through the incredibly narrow streets. I wasn't sure I was going to make it many, many times.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 21, 2018 - 10:00pm PT
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Oh to win a Tour stage!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 22, 2018 - 06:03am PT
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A bauble Lisa collected in Carcassonne during the 1989 Tour de l'Aude Cycliste Féminin,
From the Hotel Climat, where she stayed with her team:
During the 1993 Tour de France Féminin, known as Tour Cycliste Féminin,
Lisa rode for Team Kahlúa, and their lead rider, Canadian Susan Palmer, held the yellow jersey for seven days.
During that period each rider of the team wore a pair of these gloves:
1993 Tour Cycliste Féminin program, featuring Leontien Van Moorsel:
1992 Tour Cycliste Féminin overall results.
The winner was Leontien Van Moorsel, and my wife, Lisa Goldsmith placed 21st:
1992 Tour Cycliste Féminin L'Alpe D'Huez finishing order:
Souvenir towel from one of the hotels, acquired during Lisa's 1993 TDF:
And how does the women's tour compare to the men's?
From 1992, here's a rundown on the number of stages (10), locations and the distances:
.................................................................
 Why fewer stages, and shorter distances ... after all, by way of comparison, women run full-length marathons?
Probably the same reason women don't play five sets in the four grand slam tennis tournaments:
Perception of lack of equivalency in women's endurance capabilities to men's, along with expectation of lower marketability and diminished support in terms of sponsorship.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 22, 2018 - 07:58am PT
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Dan Martin is a fun rider to root for: you never know what he's going to do, but it often includes doing what he loves – making gutsy and surprising moves!
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Jul 22, 2018 - 08:20am PT
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Thanks for posting those memories from your wife’s racing career, Tarbuster.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 22, 2018 - 08:51am PT
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Another win for Astana, back-to-back, this time by Magnus Cort Nielsen, taking his first TDF stage victory!
I love these sprint finishes!
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 22, 2018 - 12:40pm PT
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A happy man!
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 23, 2018 - 10:03am PT
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Rest Day recovery drink.
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 23, 2018 - 10:24am PT
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She's longtime pals with Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter.
And they produced a pretty cool zygote too! ;) I rode several times with Taylor when I was living down in San Diego. He would show up during our Saturday rides with Swami's Cycling. I recall this time when Taylor's batteries died on his Di2 shifter, leaving him stuck in the small CR. Dood still stomped us. We managed to stay with him to our signature stop, 25 miles in. But once we got on the rollers and back into Encinitas, He dropped almost all of us. That boy can TT his ass off!!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 23, 2018 - 11:54am PT
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Taylor is a hoot!
A total cut up for the public, carrying on as he does, unscripted, with a loose goofiness that is quite refreshing.
I dig it when they put him in front of the camera to talk about the back story at the tour.
He likes to dabble in abstract painting, and his mother, Connie, is also an artist.
Lisa's mom once stayed at Taylor's condo when he was out of town, and I got to check out his work, which is fresh and whimsical, sometimes primitivist like the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat. A while back, he dropped by our house with a training partner, mid-ride, to fill up their water bottles, and he's so tall, that standing in our entryway, which has a low ceiling, it looked like he was in a doll house! He was sporting that endorphin-brain-dead countenance people get from repeatedly pushing the aerobic threshold, and he kept darting his eyes up to the low ceiling, giving us a look like he was worried it might just start pressing down on him. Even a deadpan Taylor Phinney is a comic event!
I first met him when he was 12 years old. Lisa was working as a massage therapist for one of the Carpenter Phinney bike camps, based out of Frisco, Colorado. A young, very focused Taylor Phinney was out in the front of his parent's condo, on his bike doing drills, pulling slaloms between traffic cones. Connie ran the camps with all the will and bearing of a seasoned general. She stepped out onto the porch, issuing orders for the people who were standing around: "Okay everybody ... time for a little tête-à-tête! And Taylor: that's enough, put your bike away and come on in for something to eat!"
I got the feeling he would've stayed out there well past dark if she'd have let him. And it was the middle of the day.
I like that Taylor is reflective, philosophical, and really looks at the root of his motivation to ride hard.
As competitive and successful as he's been, he also embodies the soul surfer approach to sports, and I appreciate that in him:
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Taylor, his art, and his dad:
[Click to View YouTube Video]
Davis and Connie:
[Click to View YouTube Video]
..........................................................
Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson's:
https://www.davisphinneyfoundation.org/
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 23, 2018 - 12:42pm PT
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Here is an interview I did with Davis Phinney in around 2003(the article appeared in 2010) about an incident that happened at the 1990 Tour. It was basically the same stage as 2018's stage 12 to l'Alpe d'Huez. I think Davis regards this, and not his two Tour stage wins, as his finest moment as a pro.
---------------------------------------------------------------
While Taylor Phinney's recent U23 World Time Trial Championship and
decision to turn professional is generating lots of ink, it is worth
remembering that his father, Davis, won two stages of the Tour de France
and an Olympic Bronze medal. But, when asked about the cycling
accomplishment he is most proud of during his 10 year pro career the
ace sprinter didn't choose one of his more 100 wins, but of an incident
that evolved from the most important of all familial obligations.
In 1990 Davis and his wife, Connie, were expecting their first child in
mid-July and because of that, Davis opted to skip the Tour de France.
However, Connie gave birth on June 27th, two weeks early. With only
a few days before the start of the Tour, Davis called up team manager
Jim Ochowicz and asked if he could be of service to the team. The
answer was yes; Jim wanted a sprinter for the first week because Davis's
potential high placings on the daily stages would be a moral boost for
his 7-Eleven squad.
As it turned out teammate Steve Bauer got in a four-man break on the
first stage and took the yellow jersey. If that wasn't enough to
raise the moral of the team, Davis finished fourth a couple of days
later in the finish at Mont Saint Michel.
However, because he wasn't supposed to be going to the Tour, Davis
hadn't been logging the training necessary for the three week race and
by the tenth day, his lack of proper racing miles finally caught up with
him. Davis takes up the call of the day he considers his finest
ride as a racer.
"I got to the Alpe d'Huez stage and I was about as tired as I could be.
There were four passes in total and I got dropped on the second pass,
about 200 feet into the Col de Madeleine. I was 100 meters up the hill
and I was dropped."
"I soldiered on but at the top I was 20 minutes behind. I was totally
by myself with nobody in sight. I figured 'I am done. My race is quits.'
So, I kind of enjoyed the roll down the Madeleine. I knew there was a
feed zone on the other side. I was looking at the scenery for the first
time and reflecting on that I gave it my best shot and it wasn't meant
to be and I would be with my newborn son the next day."
"When I got to the feed zone I couldn't find anybody who had waited with
the 7-Eleven team car. I was pissed. I was thinking 'they couldn't even
wait for me to quit.' I went through town and finally at the last car,
at the last possible moment this hand swings out with a bag on it and
it said 7-Eleven on it. I grabbed it and slung it over my shoulder
and kept going."
"I turned left and headed up the [Col du] Glandon. I drank a couple of
Coca Colas. Put a few Power Bars in my pocket. And then I was just kicking
myself. 'You are such an idiot. Why didn't you stop?'"
"I was having this discourse with myself and the fans were packing up their
cars and leaving. But, then I got a little ways up the Glandon and people
were up there and saw that somebody was coming who looks like they have
a jersey that is part of the race so they started cheering for you."
"The magical thing that happens sometimes in athletics is that you just
start to feel better and somehow my legs came back. I started to realize
that maybe the whole reason for my existence was to get inside the time
limit at Alpe d'Huez on this particular day. I was just going to ride the
last 100km flat out and every mile of training, every hour spent freezing
in cold rain and snow and everything I have ever done is going to be put
into this one ride and I am going to make that time limit."
"I just started hauling my butt up the Glandon. I started getting more
and more momentum the whole way up. Towards the top I caught a Spanish
rider. I was so psyched that I had an ally. Then a motorcycle gendarme
pulled up alongside us at the top and I said 'Yes! I got someone to
work with. I got a gendarme. I am good to go. I am going to make it.'
Just as I was thinking all this stuff I heard a 'bang' and the guy's tire
blows out, the gendarme stops and I never see either of them again."
"So, I am back to being by myself riding like a maniac down the Glandon
taking every imaginable risk from the School of Sean Yates Descending.
I topped out at 108km/hr down the Glandon which is a very rough road,
but there is one straight stretch, steep pitch where I kept telling
myself 'don't brake, don't brake, don't brake,' because if you are going
to make time up going up the hill you have to make time up going down
the hill as well. I took every risk and I just flew off that climb."
"I came down the valley to the Alpe and as far as I could see there
was nothing. Two years before, in 1988, I had ridden down that valley
in the main group just feeling like a king. Here I was last in the
race, by myself, with nobody in sight."
"I got onto the Alpe, but it is a harsh climb because you go from
53x13 to a 39x23 within a few meters and you just have to get going.
I was getting really tired, but the beauty of the race took over."
"You get to the upper slopes and the road is completely closed off
to people. Miraculously a gendarme had come up to me on his motorcycle
and I was riding right on his wheel because it was the only way I
could get through the crowd. The fans were pouring water on my
head. The were raging for me just like they were for LeMond and
Bugno who had gone up 45 minutes ahead of me."
"You just lose the sense of pain and time and space and just live in
that moment. It is a wonderful, wonderful, almost frightening place
because you can just push yourself beyond any limit that you would
have ever set."
"I got up to the town and went through the town and dropped down
and took that left hand corner with 400 meters to go and I looked
up the road and they were dismantling the scaffolding. The scaffolding
for the finish line was going down and I was like 'oh God.' I shifted
into my 14 and sprinted up the hill with everything I had left and
I crossed the line and went to a complete stop and would have fallen
right over, but for Jim Ochowicz the only guy who waited for me."
"I leaned into him and I just sort of dissolved because at that point
I could let go of all the torment I had put myself under. I was
completely spent. I have never been so tired. I sat there for several
minutes collecting myself and then when I stopped rasping Jim leaned in
and said, 'Two minutes. You made it by two minutes.'"
"To me, that was probably my greatest victory. Making the time limit
at the Alpe in 1990 was probably my greatest victory because I found
a place in myself that I could go to that was a well that was much
deeper than I had ever anticipated."
And the name of Davis and Connie's child whose birthday is June 27?
It's Taylor.
The next season, his final year racing in Europe, Phinney won the US
Professional Road Race Championships. He retired at the end of 1993 and
quickly became an accomplished cycling commentator working alongside the
likes of Phil Liggett during US TV broadcasts.
In 1999 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease which forced him
to retire from his second career. But as Phinney points out, "being
at home allowed me to be there with my children while they were growing
up." He founded the non-profit Davis Phinney Foundation
(www.davisphinneyfoundation.org) in 2004 which is dedicated to
inspiring and informing those affected by Parkinson's Disease.
"I needed to define my own cure. I started thinking about all those bike
race victories - and how the feeling - the elation of winning, make all
the training, all the toil worth it. I realized that those victories could
still occur, I just needed to adjust my perspective on where the finish
lines were and what counted as a win," said Phinney on his foundation's website.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 23, 2018 - 01:58pm PT
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Good one, Bruce!
Davis describing his dig deep experience, striving to make the time cut for L'Alpe D'Huez :
"You just lose the sense of pain and time and space and just live in
that moment. It is a wonderful, wonderful, almost frightening place
because you can just push yourself beyond any limit that you would
have ever set."
"To me, that was probably my greatest victory. Making the time limit
at the Alpe in 1990 was probably my greatest victory because I found
a place in myself that I could go to that was a well that was much
deeper than I had ever anticipated."
I also just read your Peloton piece.
Now that's a story: a stillborn American team constructed specifically for the TDF. Crap!
In a few short months, Fraysse had found a sponsor, assembled a team of soon-to-be-pro amateurs and found a savvy and seasoned ex-pro to direct the team. But, just as unexpectedly as Lévitan had extended the invitation, a month before the Tour, the invitation was rescinded. No reason was given at that time…and 36 years later it remains a mystery.
https://pelotonmagazine.com/features/the-untold-story-americas-first-tour-de-france-team/
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 23, 2018 - 02:13pm PT
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Never did meet Davis but I did meet Connie, after she won gold in the 84 Olypics. I was a young 'jarhead', stationed at the MCAS El Toro. They had a few of us Marines go down to the course in San Juan Cap to be glorified water bottle filler-upers and misc gear haulers. It was then, I was helping the U.S. Cycling team collect up a few of their gear bags and I ran into Connie. She was dialed in yet relaxed enough to engage in a short convo with me. She timed her finish so well. "Bye bye Frenchie!"
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 23, 2018 - 02:40pm PT
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Loved it when Taylor "snuck" away during Stage 4 of 2014 Tour Of California after everyone was trying to recover from the ascent of San Marcos Pass. Clever!!! Even the combined efforts of Cannondale and UHC couldn't reel him back. Took that stage in classic fashion! Unfortunately, almost 2 weeks later, he had a terrible crash descending Lookout Mountain in Chattanoga, TN. Got a chance to check out his 'Frankenstein' as he called it. LOL! Amazing comback from such a horrific accident. Davis and Connie have to be super proud!
[Click to View YouTube Video]
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 23, 2018 - 07:00pm PT
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I love seeing first time stage winners win!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 23, 2018 - 07:45pm PT
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No doubt. Nielsen. First stage win in a TDF: it's like a first big wall! Or first big wall FA!
Cripes: check out Taylor Phinney after his stage win in the Amgen, he takes a fully realized, formal theatrical bow!
Immaculate poise coupled with fullbore, tongue-in-cheek humor!
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 23, 2018 - 09:20pm PT
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Here's my prediction on what's going to happen in the Pyrenees. There are really only two teams and three riders who are in a position to win the overall. Thomas and Froome of Team Sky and Dumoulin of Sunweb. Roglic is a dark horse because he can time trial very well, but after that, unless somebody goes early and long, it's really the first three.
The problem is that Dumoulin is only 11 seconds back of Froome which means that if Thomas has a melt down or even a partial meltdown it could come down to a battle in the final TT between Froome and Dumoulin. In 2018, Dumoulin is the better time trialist and he could easily erase an 11 second deficit. BTW, even if all the current time gaps held, it would also be close between Thomas and the other two in a TT.
So, Team Sky is going to have to attack Dumoulin. The problem is that on steady gradient climbs, Dumoulin has shown that he can match the two Team Sky riders. What Sky needs is a stair-stepped climb like the Mortirolo in Italy or the Angliru in Spain where the gradient varies greatly. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of the climbs in France, especially the ones used in the big races are very constant grade.
In looking at the three stages in the Pyrenees it is hard to find a climb with a stair-stepped grade. So, that means that Team Sky will probably have to resort to a one-two punch of having Froome then Thomas or Thomas then Froome attack Dumoulin in hopes that the relentless accelerations to cover the attacks simulate the stair-stepped nature of varying gradient climb and/or that Dumoulin finally just gets tired and can't even keep pace on the constant grade climbs.
Sure, we will probably see Bernal on the front riding tempo, but I don't think Dumoulin, given his demonstrated form so far, is going to falter in that scenario. Team Sky is going to have to attack and it will have to be either Froome or Thomas or most likely both. Those guys need to increase their time gaps over Turbo Tom.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jul 23, 2018 - 11:20pm PT
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^^^^ I woulda thought Le Blaireau would be a better puncher!
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 24, 2018 - 12:28am PT
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I sent my prediction about the Pyrenees to Paul Sherwen. Here's his reply.
"I like it and pretty much agree with you - Roglic is the dark horse - no real reference points - the 65kms stage could be Dumoulin's undoing"
Here is what Phil Liggett had to say.
"Not bad an analysis - got it about right, I think!"
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 24, 2018 - 04:45am PT
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Couple of troubling events reported in the pre-race coverage this morning:
Protesters against local economic conditions blocked the road with hay bales at 20K, Gendarmes discharged pepper spray and the wind blew it back into rider's faces, including Sagan.
Also, stage #15, Sky rider Gianni Moscon took a swing at the guy in the white jersey (Latour) and was kicked out of the race.
G Leads Froome by 1:39 at the start of this 218 K stage, #16, first in the Pyrenees.
[So far, no mention of Hildenbrand's prediction (!)]
..................
[edit] There it is: live commentary (NBC) exactly as described by Bruce, though just this first part:
There are really only two teams and three riders who are in a position to win the overall. Thomas and Froome of Team Sky and Dumoulin of Sunweb. Roglic is a dark horse because he can time trial very well, but after that, unless somebody goes early and long, it's really the first three.
All that other detail about stepped course configuration is interesting stuff.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 24, 2018 - 06:00am PT
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I love the “Phinney Diaries.” However, I still occasionally, like Phil, refer to Taylor as Davis. It might be early onset senility, me not Phil! LOL
I’m sure it’s a partial byproduct of having followed racing for so long.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 24, 2018 - 07:24am PT
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All he was lacking was a cape!
I was surprised his wheel didn't taco, then I remembered carbon fiber ...
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 24, 2018 - 09:11pm PT
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The finishing climb of tomorrow short, but very tough, stage is the Col du Portet. Actually, this climb shares it's start in Saint Lary Soulan with the more well known Pla d'Adet which has been used many times before and is where George Hincapie won a stage in 2005. The road splits about 8km(and 10% average grade)up the climb with Pla d'Adet heading up and left after a big hairpin.
Col du Portet goes right/straight and basically goes nowhere. It serves as access to the ski lifts and a few small farms. When I rode it in 2004, the portion after the split was mostly gravel with a few poorly paved sections. Hopefully, the road surface has been improved, but if not, it should add to the difficulty of the final climb.
Here's the start of the climb in Saint Lary Soulan.
At the split, here's the sign at the start of the actual Col du Portet.
Here's what the initial switchbacks look like from Pla d'Adet.
The road surface in 2004.
Switchbacks!
More switchbacks!
Tunnel!
Nearing the top!
A great climb!
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Jul 24, 2018 - 09:19pm PT
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Holy crap...
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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Mill Valley, Ca
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Jul 24, 2018 - 09:42pm PT
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Wed morning should be a good 'un. Setting the alarm for 5:30am (PST).
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 25, 2018 - 04:53am PT
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Here's the profile of the Col du Portet.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 25, 2018 - 05:57am PT
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Philippe Gilbert out with a fractured patella.
After he went over the wall, the man likely finished stage 16 on a cocktail of adrenaline, hope, and denial.
(Nevermind whatever pill the medics gave him on the scene.)
And Julian Alaphilippe's win really showed us how much bike racing, on an individual level, though relying on a foundation of talent, athleticism, riding skills, and training ...
At the end of the day (literally) it's all about patience, tactics, timing, and execution.
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ms55401
Trad climber
minneapolis, mn
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Jul 25, 2018 - 07:25pm PT
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Quintana comes alive!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 25, 2018 - 07:37pm PT
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Yes, Quintana comes alive like a fine vintage wine, riding with a relatively calm, quiet face, showing just a hint of steely determination. That's how it's done ...
His countenance cracking only at the very top, probably more out of emotional release.
Dan Martin gutting it out in front of God and everyone.
G Thomas going like a tank!
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 25, 2018 - 07:41pm PT
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NAIRO!
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Jul 25, 2018 - 08:16pm PT
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Hope Nairo will be going well Friday.
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Jul 25, 2018 - 09:31pm PT
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Glad to see a win for Nairo. Reminds one of the great Colombian climbers.
Sagan looked pretty beat up at the end of today's race.
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ddriver
Trad climber
SLC, UT
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Jul 26, 2018 - 06:46am PT
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Looking good now for a new champion. Would like to see Primoz Roglic get on the podium.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 26, 2018 - 08:59am PT
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Today, Quintana and Yates went down but remounted.
Sagan says he had a few scratches, hit his ass muscle pretty hard. Also remarked that it's not a pleasure, but he must keep going.
The Tour is a lot like life: everything bad that can happen happens to someone, and somebody always wins.
Demare takes the win in the sprint finish today, after making the time cut only by minutes in recent stages.
Always entertaining to watch them organize and execute for those finale.
I was hoping to see Alexander Kristoff get this one. Sagan 8th, Phinney, 9th.
...............................................
Bruce, what do you have for us regarding tomorrow's stage, the Tourmalet and etc.?
Most certainly appreciate your expert input.
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 26, 2018 - 10:14am PT
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Anyone got details on how Sagan got tangled up in a crash from yesterday? Looks like he had a good deal of road rash. As for today, it was smart that he stayed upright and finished in the top 10. He looked sore for sure.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 26, 2018 - 11:13am PT
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Mooch,
I just heard what Sagan told Steve Schlanger on TV. He said he just went too fast into a corner and crashed.
Tar,
this is a weird stage in that the Tourmalet from the east side is a pretty steep, tough climb, but the relatively long slog down the valley from Luz St. Saveur to Argeles-Gazost makes it hard to stay off the front. Teams like Movistar and Sky have the depth to get riders over the top and then work the flats(well, it's slightly downhill), but the other GC riders would either have to get in an early breakaway(which isn't going to happen) or work together off the front(which most likely isn't going to happen either).
If Chris Froome wants to launch an attack like he did on the Finestre in the Giro the Tourmalet would be perfect, but there's that little problem of having a teammate in yellow.
With the flat, 31km TT the next day, if riders like Quintana want to move up, especially past good TT riders like Roglic and Froome they are going to have to take out massive amounts of time on this stage and that isn't going to probably happen either.
So, I think all these factors lead me to believe that it will be a stalemate until they reach Argeles-Gazost. The Borderes/Sulour/Aubisque will be where all the action is. The Froome/Roglic battle for the final podium spot could see some action as they both would probably like to add some buffer time so the time trial isn't down to a few seconds.
If the big climbs were closer together it would be an entirely different stage.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 26, 2018 - 11:40am PT
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An artist added their touch of the Tour de France to the walls and parapets of medieval city of Carcassonne. You can only get this view from one specific location.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 26, 2018 - 01:01pm PT
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The Tour de France goes over the Col du Tourmalet tomorrow. Here is an article I wrote for Peloton Magazine about riding the dirt road that starts at the top of the Tourmalet and heads up to the Pic Midi de Bigorre almost 3000' higher.
https://pelotonmagazine.com/features/beyond-the-tourmalet/
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 26, 2018 - 02:55pm PT
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Thanks for the info Bruce.
So, I think all these factors lead me to believe that it will be a stalemate until they reach Argeles-Gazost.
Money is on the man in yellow......who will stay that way when they head to Paris. Nairo may move up a notch after the TT but not enought to make a threat to yellow.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 26, 2018 - 03:00pm PT
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Thanks for the explanation of the yellow paint on the castle Bruce. I kept thinking it was more of an abstract and I liked it but I didn’t know what it really was.
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phylp
Trad climber
Upland, CA
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Jul 26, 2018 - 03:41pm PT
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The thing I found so interesting about that art work is how it was applied. I couldn't imagine it could be a type of paint, and it wasn't. We toured the castle and from a number of places you can see (and touch) the material. It's some kind of very thin metallic foil with a layer of yellow plastic feeling film on the surface and a very sticky back. It's like a very soft tin foil. It was applied in fairly small strips and pressed into the rough surface of the stone so that there are no air gaps. How I was able to determine this is that on the edges the strips are peeling back a bit here and there, so I could see the back and front. I leaned out and pressed it back in place at one spot and it re-adheared quite well. I imagine there is periodic maintenance to do this.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 26, 2018 - 03:56pm PT
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So, Bruce, beyond being a journalist, you can do narrative; this a fun read!
Good sign posting here, as well as a mischievous jab at Internet culture to boot:
An Internet search (always a reliable source of information) indicated that a dirt road from the top of the Tourmalet to the summit of the peak did, indeed, exist.
And after this gem, without spoiling the fun, I'll leave the intrepid reader to collect the rest of the bounty:
Once again, my bike proved to be a decent makeshift ice axe and I gingerly crossed up and over the obstacle and headed upward. https://pelotonmagazine.com/features/beyond-the-tourmalet/
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jul 26, 2018 - 05:21pm PT
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That ‘art’ is an abomination of a World Heritage site. 😔
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 26, 2018 - 10:05pm PT
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I don't think you will see Quintana on the attack on Friday. He has just too much time to make up, remember he probably needs an additional two minutes above and beyond what he needs to catch the riders in front of him because Roglic, Froome, Dumoulin and Thomas are all good time trialists and Nairo isn't.
My guess is that he will be satisfied with his stage win and just hang out in the pack.
It will also be interesting to see if Dumoulin goes on the attack. All the top pros are very good at watching their competition for weakness. I remember Tyler Hamilton telling me that at the 2002 Giro when he saw that Cadel Evans, who was in pink, was having trouble following his teammate, Dario Cioni, on the final climb of the final mountain stage he immediately attacked. Unfortunately, so did Paolo Salvodelli, but Tyler still ended up 2nd overall.
So, if Dumoulin sees any weakness in Thomas on the final three climbs(Borderes/solour/Aubisque) he will attack as he did on the Portet when he saw Froome was in trouble. Dumoulin needs to get back some time on Thomas, a minute would be nice, before the final TT.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 27, 2018 - 09:36am PT
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Okay, so stage winner Roglic (unavoidably?) caught a draft off of the moto bike near the end, which prompted Dumoulin to say on global television that he was f*#king pissed …
Well, I don't know so much about bike racing, but to my eyes that was a glorious display of competitive athletics today in the Pyrénées – thrilling racing in a fantastic setting: massive craggy walls and shark-toothed limestone summits all around, with the best racers in the world hanging it out on a high-speed descent through the mist.
Time trial coming!
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StahlBro
Trad climber
San Diego, CA
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Jul 27, 2018 - 10:06am PT
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Regardless of the moto, Roglic earned it. You can see he got a gap from the draft, but not his fault.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 27, 2018 - 10:59am PT
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Also fun to see G Thomas stomp on the gas for second place, nabbing the time bonus.
Roglic in podium position. Yes, he looked strongest and smartest, going up and coming down.
Bardet maybe needs to eat a little more ...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 27, 2018 - 12:48pm PT
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Damn: didn't Lawson Craddock describe The Tour as a horror show?
At least Taylor made the time cut.
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Hardman Knott
Gym climber
Mill Valley, Ca
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Jul 27, 2018 - 12:52pm PT
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^^ Hardman!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 27, 2018 - 02:35pm PT
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Meanwhile, even Sagan, man of steel, after getting beat up by the guerrilla that is The Tour, is presently reduced to a crawl toward the Champs Élysées.
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 27, 2018 - 02:46pm PT
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I have to disagree about the so-called “drafting.”
From my experience you have to be way closer than 20 feet to feel a draft off another rider or a motorcycle.
The footage I saw (several times) never showed him sucking wheel.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 27, 2018 - 03:04pm PT
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I've watched the shootout going up and over the col d’Aubisque several times now.
Damn, that is some scintillating sports action, with too much detail for me to try to digest and describe. Except that despite Majka taking the crest ahead of everyone by 5 or 6 seconds, the whole time the others were fighting for position behind him, Roglic displayed some high quality turnover in his legs and good stillness in his upper body; in a word, showing that he had the right stuff.
It was telling that on the descent, at one point Chris Froome was actually working for G Thomas. When it was all over, during the first interview, Roglic's overall physical and mental constitution appeared remarkably solid, which was perhaps not so surprising given how well he handled his attack.
This was very exciting to see how all the bridging and change of positions occurred. I'll be watching it all over again in a couple of hours!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 27, 2018 - 03:24pm PT
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Yes that is an interesting article, Bruce, especially this:
A lower tire pressure with more surface contact translates to lower rolling resistance To me that's counterintuitive. But I'm not an engineer. Maybe smoother, more complete contact, up to a point, equals lower rolling resistance?
What isn't counterintuitive, is this part, which is probably a corollary or antecedent to the first quote:
And the bikes are much stiffer these days, with the carbon-fiber frames, especially the aero frames , and the aero rims — like when you're running like a 50mm-section rim, which is quite deep — all that stuff is stiff, so the lower pressure helps provide more comfort for the rider Sometimes comfort and compliance equals speed, because the rider is being bounced around less and is therefore, perhaps due to less tentativeness in the rider/bicycle/road interface, freer to apply musculature to the task more forcefully and confidently. Plus, increased comfort equals less cumulative fatigue over the long haul.
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hooblie
climber
from out where the anecdotes roam
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Jul 27, 2018 - 06:31pm PT
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schedule a septic pump for next june roy ... we're all coming to your place for TdF '19
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 27, 2018 - 08:15pm PT
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Ha ha. Yeah, head on over! I dig company!
… and instead of "Ask Bobke", we'll set up a Skype pipeline with Bruce Hildenbrand and brand it: "Ask Hilde".
Here, I'll go first:
Say, Bruce, where is Bernard Hinault a.k.a. The Badger this year?
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mynameismud
climber
backseat
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Jul 27, 2018 - 09:06pm PT
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Took a tree to the face And, rode on...
I started to ride 25c tubular and like it. So smooth.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 27, 2018 - 11:07pm PT
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Tar,
I always enjoyed spending time with Bernard at the Tour having lived with Andy Hampsten in Switzerland when he was on La Vie Claire with Bernard and Greg. Hinault would ask always ask me how Andy was doing and seemed pleased that things were going well.
Andy took the leader's jersey on the first stage of the 1986 Tour of Switzerland. The next day's stage was pouring rain, but and Andy refused to wear a rain jacket during the stage because you couldn't see that he was wearing the leader's jersey.
With 25 miles to go Andy was going hypothermic and in danger of getting dropped when Hinault came up, pointed to his rear wheel and towed Andy to the finish to save the jersey and, ultimately, the race.
Bernard, much like another 5-time Tour winner Miguel Indurain, is a private person who likes to spend as much time as possible on his farm in Brittany.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 27, 2018 - 11:17pm PT
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Tar,
In 2005, Austin's NPR radio station, KUT, contacted me before the Tour and asked if I could come on the air with them once a week, live from the race, and give an update on how Lance and his team was doing. So, I drove up to KQED studios in San Francisco just before I left and did my first live piece.
A couple of days into the race I called in from France and the people at KUT said that they had gotten very good reviews from my first piece and instead of once a week, could I come on air every three days. After my second piece they asked if I could do it every day(that was some good $$$). So, everyday after the stage would end, I would call into KUT and give them an update.
In the third week, I took a day off to go ride Mont Ventoux. I came down to breakfast that morning and saw a father and son who were clearly American. I introduced myself and asked them if they were following the Tour. They said that they were mostly on vacation, but they were from Austin, Texas and what they missed most was this guy who came on KUT every day and gave an update on Lance and his team.
Boy, were they surprised!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 28, 2018 - 05:47am PT
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Thanks for the anecdotes, Bruce!
At previous TDFs, Bernard has been first in line to shake the hand of the jersey winners at the podium.
But not this year, and he's been missed. Any idea why not?
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Jul 28, 2018 - 08:19am PT
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Good stable performances in the time trial by the top three, not so for Roglic.
TD first place. (Gave a much better interview today than yesterday!)
Froome 2nd. (+<1 sec!)
G 3rd. (He can finally believe he's won the whole enchilada!)
Dumoulin not taking in onboard time updates, just riding the damn thing like the champion he is.
Seems like competitive justice, if there is such a thing, (or let's just say consistent with his overall performance) for Chris to knock Roglic off the podium given that Roglic had bumped him just in the recent stage, while Froome had held a higher position throughout Le Tour.
G Thomas did get a bit out of shape on the difficult right-hander: yikes!
A relief to see Phinney get back on his bike and finish!
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 28, 2018 - 11:59am PT
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Tar,
Hinault retired from working with ASO last year. He's 63 and it's probably time. It looked like Thomas Voeckler was going to replace him, but I am not sure if that is going to happen.
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Trump
climber
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Jul 28, 2018 - 09:13pm PT
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What a great tour! I haven’t enjoyed the race that much in years.
I think I’m now a fan of all those guys. Egan Bernal - the youngest rider - what??! That guy’s a stud. He wasn’t just one of the handful of guys left at the end of the hardest stages while working for his leader - he was working for two of them!
Hope it’s this good next year.
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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Jul 28, 2018 - 11:09pm PT
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WRT the winner:
(The reference is obvious, right?)
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 29, 2018 - 11:01am PT
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G!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jul 29, 2018 - 11:11am PT
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So, Bruce, will a Frenchman ever win again?
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 29, 2018 - 11:21am PT
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 29, 2018 - 09:44pm PT
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The last French win was Bernard Hinault in 1985. That means that an entire generation of French people have never known a winner of their country's most famous sporting event. Anything can happen, but things are looking slim for the frogs.
I should add that Tour organizers are not shy from crafting a route that favors the talents of the best French hopefuls. It was clear that the 2017 route was made for Roman Bardet to be able to excel.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 29, 2018 - 09:52pm PT
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Another one of the Tour's great stories. Lawson fractured his scapula on the 1st stage, but soldiered on, finishing last(lanterne rouge), and raised $195K(and counting) for the velodrome in Houston where he first started cycling.
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Kalimon
Social climber
Ridgway, CO
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Jul 29, 2018 - 10:22pm PT
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It was an incredible Tour . . . Team Sky and all.
A lot of information to process over the course of three and a half weeks.
The incredibly beautiful scenery never ceases to amaze.
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 30, 2018 - 08:36am PT
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Pulled the trigger over the weekend to catch both the Women's World Cup AND Le Tour next year. 14 day vacay in Lyon, with side trips in and around the Rhone. Fly into Geneva. We'll see what they hatch for stages in that neck of the woods. Needless to say, I'll be catching a couple of the stages. Hooray for me! I'll be rootin' for Sagan next year to make it a record 7-time gig. :P
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Vegasclimber
Trad climber
Las Vegas, NV.
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Jul 30, 2018 - 09:03am PT
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Pretty amazing Tour, overall...could have done without the fan attacks and the protests.
I'm a Cannondale-Drapac guy (Ef Education First yadda yadda etc) so my Tour was a bit of a downer. Hope to see Rigo back at the Vuelta.
It's like they say, you can't win the Tour on the cobbles, but you sure can lose it.
It was incredible to see Craddock soldier on - I actually own his bike from last year. And I was really glad to see Phinney finish as well, he is a BIG guy and has a lot of mass when he crashes. He already had one crash that damned near ended his career, I'd much rather see him stay riding. He cracks me up. "Yah, no big deal, took a tree to the face."
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 30, 2018 - 09:04am PT
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The list of Prize money won by each team is always interesting.
From; http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/team-sky-top-tour-de-france-prize-list/
1. Team Sky €728,630
2. Team Sunweb €245,280
3. LottoNL-Jumbo €190,980
4. Quick-Step Floors €145,070
5. Bora-Hansgrohe : €125,900
6. Movistar €114,620
7. UAE Team Emirates €100,650
8. Bahrain-Merida €86,050
9. AG2R La Mondiale €69,800
10. Trek-Segafredo €58,850
11. Wanty-Groupe Gobert €56,600
12. BMC Racing €54,340
13. Astana €53,530
14. Groupama-FDJ €53,290
15. Direct Energie €40,850
16. Fortuneo-Samsic €36,590
17. Cofidis €25,780
18. Mitchelton-Scott €20,970
19. Katusha-Alpecin €18,070
20. Lotto-Soudal €16,750
21. Dimension Data €15,730
22. EF Education First-Drapac €14,420.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Jul 30, 2018 - 09:14am PT
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Team Sky only made like 300 Euros per mile? Slave wages!
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 30, 2018 - 09:48am PT
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^^^^ LOL!
Reilly for the Yellow Jersey!
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WBraun
climber
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Jul 30, 2018 - 10:37am PT
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What a st00pid tour!
Lance Armstong didn't win again .......
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 31, 2018 - 07:46am PT
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I'd certainly do it but I'm not bringing my bike......waaaaaaaah! :( Do you know of a decent place that rents out high end bikes?
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Jul 31, 2018 - 10:47am PT
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Mooch,
you need to get a Ritchey BreakAway bike. So easy to pack; so easy to travel. They are great!
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mooch
Trad climber
Tribal Base Camp (Riverkern Annex)
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Jul 31, 2018 - 11:26am PT
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Nice thought but my wallet is now extremely thin after putting down the bones needed.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Nope, no cycling enthusiasts at our house ...
Nothing to see here, just the sign which marks the zigzagging pathway leading up the slope from the road to our front door:
Taylor Phinney, the night after rattling his noggin & breaking his nose against a tree, just following his massage:
Taylor on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées 2018, fast on the mend,
With his sister Kelsey, girlfriend Kasia, and cousin Marcy:
Yes, TDF 2018 was especially interesting and exciting to watch!
Keep the rubber side down, sports fans, and see you next year ...
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dee ee
Mountain climber
Of THIS World (Planet Earth)
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 7, 2018 - 11:29am PT
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10b4me
Social climber
Lida Junction
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Viva LA Vuelta
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SilverSnurfer
Mountain climber
SLC, UT.
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It's not the TdF, but the Tour of Utah sure has great coverage for those that like to watch live racing. Hot weather and huge billows of smoke in the background.
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hb81
climber
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Aug 17, 2018 - 04:01am PT
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Meanwhile, former TdF champ Jan Ullrich has become completely unglued in full view of the public and has now entered rehab after being arrested twice over the course of 2 weeks... addiction sucks.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Aug 17, 2018 - 06:24am PT
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Gud habits are hard to break...
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Aug 17, 2018 - 12:35pm PT
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Meanwhile, former TdF champ Jan Ullrich has become completely unglued in full view of the public and has now entered rehab after being arrested twice over the course of 2 weeks... addiction sucks.
I interviewed Jan a few years ago. He has his manager there to do the English/German translation. I know some German and it was clear that his answers were not what his agent was translating. The article was for cyclingnews.com and they have a German correspondent so I sent the audio file to her for the real comments. She sent back the question I asked, then what the translator answered and then what Jan really said.
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Oct 26, 2018 - 08:00pm PT
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More fan boy stuff from my wife, Lisa.
Team 7-Eleven, 1981-1982, Austin Texas:
Bruce, can you ID the unnamed riders: 2, 4, 7, 8?
Kiefel looks short-waisted, with long legs like mountain runner Buzz Burrell.
Richard DeGarmo, the photographer, a former president of the United States Cycling Federation — the precursor to USA Cycling — was director of the Tour of Texas, in which Lisa raced.
She says he was instrumental in the growth of women's cycling.
Connie Carpenter:
“Richard gave so many of my generation a fabulous month-long series of races that helped us not only jump start the season, but also our careers,” Olympic champion Connie Carpenter Phinney said. “He provided us host accommodations so that we could stay and race for the entire month of March. He was way ahead of his time and simply loved the sport of cycling. https://www.texbiker.net/blog/tag/richard-degarmo/
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Oct 26, 2018 - 09:00pm PT
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I'm not bruce hildebrand but #4 looks like Francesco Moser...
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Oct 26, 2018 - 09:02pm PT
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Roy,
Here is a list. The only guy I can't put a name to, but I sort of recognize, is between Kiefel and Schuler.
L-R: Davis Phinney, Alex Steida, Ron Hayman, Jeff Bradley, Brian Worthy, Ron Kiefel, unknown, Tom Schuler
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Oct 26, 2018 - 09:13pm PT
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Roll must have been flipping burgers at Perkos right about then...?
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Oct 26, 2018 - 09:15pm PT
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10 four & thanks, Bruce!
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Oct 26, 2018 - 09:44pm PT
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From the Mercury News in 2012, on a piece about Bob Roll moving into commentating:
"Former bike racer Bob Roll rolls into TV career with offbeat wit."
Some call him a warrior poet, a gonzo journalist who sometimes mangles expressions with the gusto of baseball star Yogi Berra.
“During the 2001 Tour, Victor Hugo Pena had more lactic acid in his legs than all the cows in Wisconsin. You should have more acid in your legs than Ken Kesey, Pigpen (Grateful Dead), Tim Leary, Ravi Shankar and Peggy Lipton combined.”
In one Tour de France broadcast, he said,
“Lance Armstrong is the eye of the hurricane, and he’s headed straight for the Jan Ullrich trailer park. It’ll be a virtual schmegelfest of subhumanoids.”
Roll worked as a cook at the former Perko’s restaurant in Pleasant Hill at night so he could do training rides in the morning — wearing his grandmother’s wool sweater to stay warm.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2012/05/08/former-bike-racer-bob-roll-rolls-into-tv-career-with-offbeat-wit/
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Oct 26, 2018 - 09:49pm PT
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Roll must have been flipping burgers at Perkos right about then...
Bob's first season as a road racer was 1981. All these guys in the photo had won multiple national championships or raced on their national team(several riders in the photo are Canadian) by then.
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rottingjohnny
Sport climber
Sands Motel , Las Vegas
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Thanks Bruce...Sounds like a PG 13 version of the Hinault / Lemond 86 tour...
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Tarbuster
climber
right here, right now
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Thanks much for that article on G Thomas, Bruce.
It's good to get the back story on the balance of team support.
G seems so accessible and also likable.
Though certainly not an everyman, he's an everyman's champion, by virtue of his warmth and candor.
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BruceHildenbrand
Social climber
Mountain View/Boulder
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Feb 22, 2019 - 11:38pm PT
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I could only watch the first 5 minutes of this guy. Not only is he clueless, but he contradicts his own statements time and time again. I want my 5 minutes back!
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