The Official 104th Tour de France thread

[Bold Seagull]

Just in case anyone was wondering what my issue was with Boohoo.

I was still wondering why you thought someone wore yellow on the first stage of Le Tour!?

 

[1066familyman]

One minute on GC and the big 200 Swiss ones for Bouhanni eh?

Ouch!...that's really gonna hurt!

He won't be punching anyone else anytime soon with that kind of draconian punishment being meted out by the race jury. Lesson well and truly learnt there I think.

 

[Bold Seagull]

One minute on GC and the big 200 Swiss ones for Bouhanni eh?

Ouch!...that's really gonna hurt!

He won't be punching anyone else anytime soon with that kind of draconian punishment being meted out by the race jury. Lesson well and truly learnt there I think.

Think he's got off bloody lightly given the DSQ we've had in the race. You can swing out and punch someone endangering the entire peloton around you and get just a fine. Stray a bit off line and maybe / maybe not intentionally run into a rider in a full on sprint and you're out. That is all crystal clear me thinks for the watching public...

 

[1066familyman]

Think he's got off bloody lightly given the DSQ we've had in the race. You can swing out and punch someone endangering the entire peloton around you and get just a fine. Stray a bit off line and maybe / maybe not intentionally run into a rider in a full on sprint and you're out. That is all crystal clear me thinks for the watching public...

I think 'lightly' is somewhat of an understatement

Had you included the words, 'scott' and 'free' somewhere in your post then you would have nailed it

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I think 'lightly' is somewhat of an understatement

Had you included the words, 'scott' and 'free' somewhere in your post then you would have nailed it

Yeah, but a whole minute! That'll do his GC ambitions no good at all.

 

[1066familyman]

Yeah, but a whole minute! That'll do his GC ambitions no good at all.

Yeah, I don't think he's the type of rider to settle for a mere top 20 on GC and the UCI points to be honest. He might have to change plans now and go for stage wins from the break instead. Rough justice for these GC riders when they fall fail of the law that's for sure.

 

[Stat Brother]

Yeah, I don't think he's the type of rider to settle for a mere top 20 on GC and the UCI points to be honest. He might have to change plans now and go for stage wins from the break instead. Rough justice for these GC riders when they fall fail of the law that's for sure.

You see there's a tiny part of me that sees Boohoo reading that and nodding in agreement.

 

[1066familyman]

You see there's a tiny part of me that sees Boohoo reading that and nodding in agreement.

I think thou doth protest too much.

Bet he's really the poster boy in your household

 

[Stat Brother]

I think thou doth protest too much.

Bet he's really the poster boy in your household

Nope there's nothing sweeter than seeing an entitled idiot repeatedly fall flat on his face.
That is right up until the Champs, which will then induce 11 months of validation, only for exactly the same to happen all over again.



Anyhoo I've just been looking at the top place team in fantasy:-

Kittel
Dan Martin
Louis Meintjes
& 6 Sky riders.

Now that's how to suck the life out of a bit of fun.

 

[1066familyman]

Nope there's nothing sweeter than seeing an entitled idiot repeatedly fall flat on his face.
That is right up until the Champs, which will then induce 11 months of validation, only for exactly the same to happen all over again.



Anyhoo I've just been looking at the top place team in fantasy:-

Kittel
Dan Martin
Louis Meintjes
& 6 Sky riders.

Now that's how to suck the life out of a bit of fun.

Fantasy cycling by numbers

Loving those marginal gains.

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

Anybody else getting bored of this years race already?

I know weve had the Sagan incident, the day of attrition with Porte etc abandoning, & a great breakaway by Calmejane, which has sparked some interest....but the rest so far has been very "meh" in my opinion.

So fed up of seeing the peleton letting a couple of riders dangle out the front, before the same old faces swallow them up in the last 5km on the flat stages - & even more more fed up of seeing Team Sky's stranglehold on the race every. single. year. I'm probably in the minority when I say I wish they would do one, & disappear from the peleton. Maybe its because I started watching in the mid 80s when you had Hinault, Lemond, Roche, Delgado, & Lemond again winning - you were never sure who would pull on the maillot jaune each year, which made for exciting racing. In these days of technology it all feels a bit formulaic to me.

Yes, weve still got a week & a half of racing to go - hopefully the big mountains will get the juices flowing - but it all feels a bit done and dusted again unfortunately.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Anybody else getting bored of this years race already?

I know weve had the Sagan incident, the day of attrition with Porte etc abandoning, & a great breakaway by Calmejane, which has sparked some interest....but the rest so far has been very "meh" in my opinion.

So fed up of seeing the peleton letting a couple of riders dangle out the front, before the same old faces swallow them up in the last 5km on the flat stages - & even more more fed up of seeing Team Sky's stranglehold on the race every. single. year. I'm probably in the minority when I say I wish they would do one, & disappear from the peleton. Maybe its because I started watching in the mid 80s when you had Hinault, Lemond, Roche, Delgado, & Lemond again winning - you were never sure who would pull on the maillot jaune each year, which made for exciting racing. In these days of technology it all feels a bit formulaic to me.

Yes, weve still got a week & a half of racing to go - hopefully the big mountains will get the juices flowing - but it all feels a bit done and dusted again unfortunately.

Get rid of race radios. Let the riders race. Moped chalk board lets you know your gaps. Too much technology looking at time gaps and race tactics. Strip it all back I say.

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

Get rid of race radios. Let the riders race. Moped chalk board lets you know your gaps. Too much technology looking at time gaps and race tactics. Strip it all back I say.

Funnily enough, thats EXACTLY what a mate and I were saying to each other about an hour ago.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Funnily enough, thats EXACTLY what a mate and I were saying to each other about an hour ago.

They'll be analysts looking at GPS data, rider speeds, power and health data etc. etc. relaying that all to the director in the team car and precise instructions to riders. Got to sever this link between team car and riders. It takes away some of the pure adrenaline of the race if a rider can be told he needs to up his power output by 10w for the next 10mins and the gaps all close up.

 

[Stat Brother]

Anybody else getting bored of this years race already?

I know weve had the Sagan incident, the day of attrition with Porte etc abandoning, & a great breakaway by Calmejane, which has sparked some interest....but the rest so far has been very "meh" in my opinion.

So fed up of seeing the peleton letting a couple of riders dangle out the front, before the same old faces swallow them up in the last 5km on the flat stages - & even more more fed up of seeing Team Sky's stranglehold on the race every. single. year. I'm probably in the minority when I say I wish they would do one, & disappear from the peleton. Maybe its because I started watching in the mid 80s when you had Hinault, Lemond, Roche, Delgado, & Lemond again winning - you were never sure who would pull on the maillot jaune each year, which made for exciting racing. In these days of technology it all feels a bit formulaic to me.

Yes, weve still got a week & a half of racing to go - hopefully the big mountains will get the juices flowing - but it all feels a bit done and dusted again unfortunately.

On the plus side, Le Tour isn't hiding the necessary 'quiet' stages.

2 weeks of dull as dishwater Giro only came to life with 5 stages remaining.

By my reckoning they're only 1 more of these stages left, before Paris.
The next few days should be lively.

 

[Indurain's Lungs]

Anybody else getting bored of this years race already?

I know weve had the Sagan incident, the day of attrition with Porte etc abandoning, & a great breakaway by Calmejane, which has sparked some interest....but the rest so far has been very "meh" in my opinion.

So fed up of seeing the peleton letting a couple of riders dangle out the front, before the same old faces swallow them up in the last 5km on the flat stages - & even more more fed up of seeing Team Sky's stranglehold on the race every. single. year. I'm probably in the minority when I say I wish they would do one, & disappear from the peleton. Maybe its because I started watching in the mid 80s when you had Hinault, Lemond, Roche, Delgado, & Lemond again winning - you were never sure who would pull on the maillot jaune each year, which made for exciting racing. In these days of technology it all feels a bit formulaic to me.

Yes, weve still got a week & a half of racing to go - hopefully the big mountains will get the juices flowing - but it all feels a bit done and dusted again unfortunately.

I agree. Its strange that they've put in so many flat sprint stages much like the formulaic mid-90s tours. Also strange that so many teams are helping to chase the break with Kittel so dominant - when Cav was in his prime, everyone just left HTC to do all the work. Also, they seem to be keeping the breaks really close - just a couple of guy out front for 200k and they still keep them about 3 minutes ahead.

You don't want people falling off left right and centre but a bit of carnage in the race is way more interesting.

And yes, Sky are so tedious. The Giro was as way, way better race because of this - Pinot is one of France's great hopes and he chose the GIro over the Tour because of the Tour tedium.

 

[Stat Brother]

You don't want people falling off left right and centre but a bit of carnage in the race is way more interesting.
.

I guess the weather has been a little more benign than usual
Although if you plan a flat route as far away from any coast as possible, what do you expect?

 

[Bold Seagull]

Would be hilarious if Bodnor made this stick now!!!

 

[Stat Brother]

8th

 

[Bold Seagull]

8th

GROENEWEGEN and BOASSON HAGEN are having great tours to be fair, the others, well, they're not even contesting these sprints are they?

Did he punch anyone for his 8th place!?