The Official 100th Tour de France thread, 2013.

[1066familyman]

My highlight was Daryl Impey wearing the yellow jersey.

Good shout.

I thought Greenedge ( Goss aside as usual of course ) were superb. I'm not a Gerrans fan either but I thought that was a lovely gesture by him and the team to let one of the best doms/lead out men in the peloton get his moment of glory in Yellow. Impey done a bloody good job of honouring it too, but then he always was pretty handy at getting over lumps in the road.

Talking of lumps in the road.....Kittel. Superb form coming into this Tour and delivered whenever the opportunity arose. I love Cav and think no one can argue he's one of THE greats, but to see dominance challenged can only be a good thing for the sport. I thought Cav was very sporting in this regard too, showing respect to Kittel in his interviews and rightly acknowledging the talent.

So talking of Cav.....have to agree with SB about Cav's master stroke of being the last man to get onto that epic move by Saxo on stage 13. Superb stuff! I'm not buying the lead out train argument though as when the head to head came against Kittel, Cav was beaten all ends up. I have another Cav highlight though, and that was the pulling of Kwiatkowski over that HC climb on stage 19. Cav leading the peloton over Glandon, or was it Col de la Madeleine?, was the stuff of sprinter dom legend

Which brings me onto the young Pole.....Michal Kwiatkowski certainly confirmed the hope many of us have for him as a future star. Surpassed by the superb climbing talent of Quintana in the white jersey competition obviously, and Talansky put in a great late show too, but I rarely saw Kwiatkowski not riding right at the front of the peloton for the whole Tour! I thought he'd tire badly in that final week, but instead done his National Champions jersey proud and for me he's a massive talent and future GC contender. Only needs to improve on his climbing, which is none too shabby already, and he really is the complete package.


These are just some reflections off the top of my head. It's been a fantastic edition of Le Tour and one that just kept on giving on so many levels.

 

[Stat Brother]

Perhaps the way forward if they don't get him a train

Renshaw is reported to be on his way.
Gert and Mr Scrabble will probably do, assuming they leave Argos to control the peloton.

The only problem being, where Uran fits into the team, with only 4 other spots remaining, 3 if you take out Tony Martin.

Cav's not in the greatest of places, even with his points win @ The Giro, to ask for a whole team at Le Tour '14.

 

[1066familyman]

First year I have really followed it and understood what was going on, quite fascinating the different types of riders and specialities, time trials, sprints, mountain disciplines. Chris Froome seems a very modest chap well liked by his team. The light show on the Arc de Triomphe was spectacular.

That's great to hear. I think the complexity and races within races was one of the big draws for me when I discovered Tour de France viewing as a young teenager all those years ago. Chess on wheels is an oft used term, and they're not wrong. The more you get into the sport the more you love it it seems. So hopefully this is the beginning of a love affair for you.

As for the that light.....what a show that was! Lived up to all the billing for me.
The French seem to do this sort of thing superbly and if you've ever seen the light show at Futuroscope then you'll know what I mean.

Hope to see you on this thread next year then

 

[Stat Brother]

So talking of Cav.....have to agree with SB about Cav's master stroke of being the last man to get onto that epic move by Saxo on stage 13. Superb stuff! I'm not buying the lead out train argument though as when the head to head came against Kittel, Cav was beaten all ends up.

I disagree, although there don't seem to be much between, I think the difference was the train.

Argos got onto the straight with 2 maybe even 3 riders.
OPQS had Gert. Micky K pulled off instantly followed by penultimate man, leaving Gert to get round the bend while being swamped by Argos.

Cav was 2 to 2-1/2 lengths back before hitting the turbos and bouncing in the potholes.

I don't see it as a power shift, but the balance of power has stopped tipping solely in Cav's direction.

 

[1066familyman]

Great report back as per usual

Glad I'd eaten my dinner before reading though, as the above couldn't help but remind me of Lauren Ten Dam TT'ing. I'm not so sure the poor bloke hasn't been bitten by a rabid dog somewhere on his journeys.

 

[Stat Brother]

I'm not so sure the poor bloke hasn't been bitten by a rabid dog somewhere on his journeys.

View attachment 45052

I'd be more worried about the dog had he been bitten by LTD.

 

[1066familyman]

I disagree, although there don't seem to be much between, I think the difference was the train.

Argos got onto the straight with 2 maybe even 3 riders.
OPQS had Gert. Micky K pulled off instantly followed by penultimate man, leaving Gert to get round the bend while being swamped by Argos.

Cav was 2 to 2-1/2 lengths back before hitting the turbos and bouncing in the potholes.

I don't see it as a power shift, but the balance of power has stopped tipping solely in Cav's direction.

I'm not talking about the Champs-Élysées stage, where I agree, Agros Shimano gave Kittel the best lead out train. I'm more thinking about the proper head to head on stage 12 where Cav said himself he had the perfect lead out train and yet Kittel still came around him. Credit to Cav that he acknowledged that and answered in the best way possible on that epic stage 13 the following day. (By the way, to underline what I said earlier. Notice Kwiatkowski made that split that day too).

I also agree though that it's not a shift in power as such. I think Cav was possibly a bit tired coming into this, although he usually rides the Giro anyway, and Kittel was just hitting better form than Cav for this Tour. Certainly it's a promising sign though that Kittel is capable of offering possibly more of a challenge to Cav's dominance than anyone else thus far.

 

[1066familyman]

One for you 1066 [url]http://www...riders-chris-froome-tour-de-france?CMP=twt_gu

Good stuff, but a couple of things missing I think.

No mention of the big improvements Nibali has made on his TT'ing (Schlecks take note, although it'a already way too late for that now). Also, what about those tricky wet descents? Few better than Nibs at those, and perhaps an opportunity to take time if the parcours are right on the day.

I know this was about next year's challengers, but looking further ahead, what about a little nod to another very promising Colombian - Carlos Betancur.

 

[1066familyman]

And talking of Greenedge earlier. Stuart O'Grady final calls it quits :

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ogrady-announces-his-retirement

 

[teaboy]

Great report back as per usual

Glad I'd eaten my dinner before reading though, as the above couldn't help but remind me of Lauren Ten Dam TT'ing. I'm not so sure the poor bloke hasn't been bitten by a rabid dog somewhere on his journeys.

View attachment 45052

Now there's a man I hope got a blood test!

 

[Stat Brother]

http://m.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/jul/22/sky-chris-froome-bradley-wiggins-tour

 

[Stat Brother]

 

[Horton's halftime iceberg]

Great report back as per usual

Glad I'd eaten my dinner before reading though, as the above couldn't help but remind me of Lauren Ten Dam TT'ing. I'm not so sure the poor bloke hasn't been bitten by a rabid dog somewhere on his journeys.

View attachment 45052

The beard spittle was really gross at times, I found the crash's easier to watch

 

[Indurain's Lungs]

And talking of Greenedge earlier. Stuart O'Grady final calls it quits :

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ogrady-announces-his-retirement

Getting in there before the French senate announce his EPO positive from the 98 Tour!!!

 

[Bold Seagull]

Is this why Froome didn't get his gel in time!?


What a berk, hit's someone then runs away up a bank for cover, total bell end.

 

[Indurain's Lungs]

Is this why Froome didn't get his gel in time!?


What a berk, hit's someone then runs away up a bank for cover, total bell end.

Apparently that was because some melting ice short-circuited the team car electrics. Took too long for the 2nd car to get up to Froome because of the jam caused by Alpe D'Huez.

 

[Motogull]

Have some of this loon going over Froome's head:

 

[Stat Brother]

I think that video may well explain the one previous.

 

[Horton's halftime iceberg]

I think that video may well explain the one previous.

I'm confused, is their a podcast to explain it to me....

The mountain biker looks CGI

 

[Horton's halftime iceberg]

I see next year, its no prologue again, but a pretty lumpy classics course to start with. I assume stage 3 Cambridge to London's Buckingham Palace will be the first sprinters stage. How about G or Miller into yellow for days 1 or 2.