brightspark Posted June 29, 2013 Share Posted June 29, 2013 How do playmates. I'm sat here watching stage one the grand boucle wondering who is going to win. 17.3km to go so I will be patriotic and go for Cav for the stage win. So for fun all those interested in the madness of the next three weeks here is the thread for idle speculation and comment about the tour. Simple game really. Who is going to win the next stage and overall positions? You can of course change your mind as many times as you like or insist on clutching on the straw that the outsider might win. I will go for Yellow for Froome, Lets hope he has a safe first week and that Sky can support him. Cav for todays sprint (11km to go now) lets hope he has more luck than last year. (if he can squeeze past that bus) I guess that by the time this gets posted we will be talking about stage 2. ps anyone spectating this year? Where & Piccies please. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted June 29, 2013 Author Share Posted June 29, 2013 OK finish is 3km short. Ummmm who is going to win?? Still Cav? Oh he has just crashed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted June 29, 2013 Author Share Posted June 29, 2013 Congratulations to Marcel Kittel. Not bad for a days work. 3 jerseys including the yellow. (edit; and his first stage win!) So tomorrow & stage 2? A day for the sprinters who have yet to open their accounts? I will go for Cav as stage winner and Kittle to keep yellow. There are three little climbs so who is going to have a punt at the KOM jersey. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted June 30, 2013 Author Share Posted June 30, 2013 One of the things I like about watching the TdF is the countryside that it takes you through. Today it is going through the mountains of Corsica. The riders have just crossed over metre(?) gauge line. Anyone know anything about it? Looks like my tip for todays win is slipping off the back of the race. Cav is sitting in the bus (a term for the riders sat at the back of the race and are planning to just get across the finish line before the time cut-off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted June 30, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 30, 2013 Love watching the TdeF but only got to see the start yesterday before "life" got in the way ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted June 30, 2013 Author Share Posted June 30, 2013 Well congratulations to Jan Bakelants who won by one second and wasn't that a close finish! Interesting to note that leading the sprint into second place was David Millar (captain of Team GB at last years Olympics). Sprinting isn't supposed to be for the more senior riders! I was sure that Cav and the sprinters would have goy over those hills, and they would have if the pace hadn't been so hard. chiz chiz I had a look at the TdF website for tomorrows stage. It seems that it runs over the same roads as the car rally. For some reason the Tour de Corse is known as the race of 10,000 bends. The pundit for stage 3 is Christian Prudhomme, his tip is for Peter Sagan. Now for those who look at the TdF with some bemusement here is a quick guide to what normally happens in week of the tour. Remember it is a three week race. This week normally sees the guys who are looking to win stay out of trouble. They will stay near the front of the race and will be watching each other like hawks. Today Chris Froome did a little test on the last hill of the day and the Australian Cadel Evans chased him down, he will not want to lose any time on the general classification (GC). There may be more little teasers like this but the big guns will get fired up in the big mountains and be looking at who is good on the Time-trial. Which means that the small teams will be looking for action. Why? well because they can't afford the big stars and need to get their sponsors logo on TV. Ever wondered why there is a breakaway everyday? Invariably it will be a small team who need their sponsor to sign on for another year. The more nervous the sponsor then the keener the team are to get TV time. However the big guns will not risk letting anyone threaten the GC. So a canny rider wanting to get into a breakaway and perhaps win a stage will spend the first few days losing as much time as possible to avoid the wrath of the big teams. But the problem for the small teams is that the bus incident on stage 1 gave everyone the same time, so the riders could lose enough time. Hmmm so who to win. Sagan? a cheeky bid from Millar? or a successful breakaway putting a rider who needs his sponsor to sign a new deal in yellow for the time trial in Nice. Hmm Europecar are looking for a new /renewing sponsor. Voeckler? But he is on the same time as Chris and Cadel so they won't let him get away. Ok I think that it will be pretty much a rerun of today with the big guns on GC going for the sprint. I will be patriotic again and say Millar for the stage win but not Yellow, I don't think he will get a gap. But then it is the tour...who do you think will win stage three? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Metr0Land Posted July 1, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 1, 2013 My wife's an avid watcher, though we tend to record on Sky box and she watches the following morning so I'm a day behind. After the French version of an organised finish on day 1 it was pretty exciting at the finish on day 2. (I'm only a bit interested myself. I must say the fine of CHF2000 seems pretty small beer for the coach 'crash'. Surely a sum like 1,400 quid is small beer to these teams?) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted July 1, 2013 Author Share Posted July 1, 2013 My wife's an avid watcher, though we tend to record on Sky box and she watches the following morning so I'm a day behind. After the French version of an organised finish on day 1 it was pretty exciting at the finish on day 2. (I'm only a bit interested myself. I must say the fine of CHF2000 seems pretty small beer for the coach 'crash'. Surely a sum like 1,400 quid is small beer to these teams?) The finances of the teams are little better than they used to be. Although the income of people like "the dirty drugs cheat" Lance Armstong may be in six figures the lesser riders will earn nowhere near that. The mechanics, masseurs, drivers etc get less. However I am surprised that the team got fined for following the instructions of tour officials. For everyone except MetrOland who can read this tomorrow, my prediction was as usual rubbish. Interesting that Sagan almost got the win. Congratulations to Simon Gerrains that is one hell of a scalp you got there mate! The French now have a rider in a jersey. For those who are curious this is the polka dot jersey, a stunning little number with a white background and red dots. Sagans has got the green jersey (awarded for points). Best rider under 23 (on overall time) is Michal Kwiatkowski who fashions the white jersey. As I write this the riders are now at their hotels in Nice while the rest of the race travels overnight on the ferry. Tomorrow, stage 4 is in Nice and it is the team time trial. The rules for this stage are simple. All your riders (if you still have a full team that will be nine) go around the course as a team against the clock. The time is taken on the fifth team member to cross the line. By the way the guys that fall off the back of the team during the event still have to finish within the cut off time! Tactics for riding a team time trial (TTT) are simple, you have to ride together! You have to be smooth and steady (and fast). Everyone takes a turn at the front, stronger riders do longer turns, don't come through too fast. A good manager will try to have a balanced team for this event. So what can go wrong, well in the past some riders may not have even seen their time trial bike until the morning of the event! This means that they will not be comfortable on the bike or compromises are made to get the bike close to their road bike position ruining the aerodynamics. The TT bikes are the ones with aerodynamic frames, disc wheels and the handle bars that point forward (Tri-bars), and you get to wear the pointy helmet. If the team is too unbalanced in strength or ability they will lose shed loads of time waiting for the slower riders to catch up and recover. If someone thinks that they are stronger than they are then the whole team suffers. Riding against the clock is hard and requires discipline and the ability to hurt yourself. Riding a TTT requires the same discipline and ability to accept that you can't back off and you can't let the other team members down...so it hurts even more. So who to win. Well I would have said Sky, they want a good time but will be a man down as Geriant Thomas is riding with a cracked pelvis! They certainly have the discipline. Actually do they now that Sean Yates is off the team? he is a master at the TTT tactics. Tipped to win is Garmin-Sharp, and this is my tip too. I know that it flag waving again, but if they win it then David Millar could get the Yellow Jersey. All of the top riders are only 1 second down on the current jersey holder and frankly he is no time triallist. But there again having the yellow jersey on your back or in your team can inspire great things, and this TdF is proving to be very unpredictable. OK your guesses for the TTT win please? or even top three? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatB Posted July 2, 2013 Share Posted July 2, 2013 I enjoyed the bus getting stuck. Very Triplets of Belville . Typical Aussie driver not knowing where the extremities of their vehicle are. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted July 2, 2013 Author Share Posted July 2, 2013 Is this going to be an Australian themed tour? Congratulations to Simon Gerrans only the second Australian to wear the yellow jersey. Tomorrow is what they call a transfer day. Where the tour trips across to Marsaille. Now that there are a few splits in the times we might see a breakaway get to the finish and it could happen as the stage is long and windy. However it is a stage designed for the sprinters. Cav? Sagan? Gerrans? Kittel? I'll put my 5 Francs on another cheeky win by Gerrans. Tie le kangaroo down Pascal! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike at C&M Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 Chapeau to Cav. and his team on an excellent victory. However, my nomination for the hero of the day goes to Geraint Thomas. Still suffering with his fractured pelvis, he suffered a puncture which saw him dropped off the back of the field. Once they had put him back on his bike - he couldn't climb on by himself - he eventually managed to get back up to the fast moving peleton. A true sportsman! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted July 3, 2013 Author Share Posted July 3, 2013 Oh how unpatriotic of me. I had Cav down with a dodgy stomach. I wonder what antibiotics he was on? So tomorrow is pan flat (with a little lump), so a sprinters day. Cav! Does anyone want to bet otherwise? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pacific231G Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 On tomorrow's route into Montpelier while we wait for Cav's sprint, there are level crossings at 139 and 46kms and "tramways" at 11 and 7.5km. I've just discovered that the recording of Belleville Rendezvous on my Tivo is unplayable (along with a bunch of other classic French films) because it was from Cinemoi and they're no longer on Virgin..drat!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Metr0Land Posted July 4, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 4, 2013 Am on Sky who have TV5 Monde. Usually 2 or 3 films a week on there - with the added attraction you can watch the film and hear French but with English subtitles on most of them. Just seen yesterday's finish, very exciting but sad to see so many guys involved in the pile up at the finish. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted July 4, 2013 Author Share Posted July 4, 2013 Oh those tramways in the last few km would have been nasty in the wet. Today saw Cav crash at a roundabout but he managed to get on before the sprint. Interesting day in that the sprinter teams didn't let any breakaways go. Also of note is that Cavs team seem to be very unorganised, not even sure what side of the road to be on! (this isn't about keeping to the correct side of the white line but keeping out of the wind, being on the right side of the road so that you take the shortest route around roundabouts etc.) So congratulations to Andre Greipel who won the sprint today. Cav seemed to lose interest when he saw that he couldn't win and so lost a few points to Sagan who got second place. There was some sloppy riding by Simon Gerrans who lost the yellow jersey to his own team mate Daryl Impey who is the first South African to wear it. Sloppy because really the leader of the race should have been paying attention to any gaps that form ahead of him and making sure that he has closed them down. Ideally he wants the gap to appear behind him so he gets more time. However all is not lost as the jersey remains within the Orica Greenedge team. Geriant Thomas is still going and I agree deserves a big chapeau. Perhaps nomination for SPOTY? So now the race heads into the hills on its way to Albi. and time to guess a stage winner. Not very big hills but should be enough to keep the sprinters in the bus and the riders thinking of GC wanting to hold back for the very big mountains to come. Chance for a breakaway? For a cheeky stage win you would have to pick a rider that is well down on GC. Current Lantern Rouge is Tom Veelers at +46'18". Geriant is 43'03" but isn't expected to do much...but then we said that about Cav. Pinueau of Omega is 30'48" down so could be a good candidate for a break, Robert Millar is 15'43" so not enough to get away or is it. Yes I think that I will play the patriotic card. So wearing my union jack underpants on my head and running up the hill with the best, I'll go for Millar. Et vous? Belleville Rondevouz is great. Also try and get "Le Velo of Ghislain Lambert". This is a cracking little film and worth watching as it gives great insight into the world of cycle sport for those who are not Eddy Mercx. Allez Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Two problems today for Cav. First the crash and his chase to get back on. The Race Director was in a very lenient mood to allow him to do the distance he did glued to the back of a car. Second problem, or probably the first depending on your point of view. Was he ever in with a chance today? He does still seem to have problems with even teeny weeny adverse gradients. As Boardman pointed out on his ride through it was a gentle uphill finish. Sagan will take points from Cav on any finish such as this or when there is a short hard climb not to far from the finish as there was the other day. Roll on Sunday and the climbs I know in the Pyrenees. Bernard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted July 5, 2013 Author Share Posted July 5, 2013 Wow that was interesting stage. Today on stage 7 we saw the rule book of tradition thrown out. The rule is that that when the road goes uphill the sprinters go backwards. What happened was that Sagans team Cannondale realised that he is a better climber than the other sprinters. So while they were grumbling their way up the climb Sagans team sprinted ahead creating such a gap that he was able to get top points at the both the intermediate sprint and the finish. It puts him 96 points ahead of Greipel and 105 ahead of Cav! Of course the guys going for GC were hoping to have an easy day as they have to prepare for the big mountains ahead. Instead they where on the rivet trying to stay with Sagans team. Perhaps there is a lesson here? I guess that it could be that we should challenge tradition where it holds us back. Can we apply this to our hobby? Or at least find a simile. I was thinking about the guys like Peter Denny who went to EM while the rest of the world was getting comfortable with OO. Or the Scalefour society who pushed the limits further. Now onto the Pyreness. Perhaps Bernard could describe some of the climbs for us. And perhaps we could reincarnate David Duffield and recommend some wine and cheese from the region for us to quaff while we watch Sundays goings on. Saturdays winner. Well in theory it should be the GC guys establishing things. But the way that this tour has gone you might as well stick a pin in the list of riders. Oh I don't know, shall we stick to an Autralian theme? Cadel? However the first man up the first mountain last year was Chris Froome. I think that he is a better climber than Cadel and did do that cheeky little attack earlier in the week. More of the same I think so 6 francs on Froome. But will he get Yellow at the same time? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Metr0Land Posted July 6, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 6, 2013 Ah cheese - not necessarily from today's area but as the tour moves around: Rachel Khoo (favourite woman alert) recommended reblochon in one of her savoury tartlette recipes. It's quite a stinky cheese but good for this sort of thing as when heated it turns a bit more mellow and is quite tasty in say a mini quiche. However, thanks to Waitrose (no connection other than as satisfied customer!) we discovered epoisse. Slightly less stinky and wonderful heated, with a great after-taste (eg heated croissant with ham and epoisse filling). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Well I got it right in saying that Sagan and his boys could take the sting out of Cav before the finish given a few hills. I never expected the total domination that they achieved yesterday. The Palheres climb before Ax is not one I know from experience but I have heard the odd anecdote. It is now the preferred route on the Raid Pyrenean. When I did this many years ago we went up almost to Andorra and over the Puymorens. Our club trip last year took the Palheres route based on my advice that there would be better scenery and less traffic. They found it very hard. Long, sustained at a steep angle and narrow in places. It is after all a fairly minor mountain pass in terms of taking traffic from one place to another. The climb to the finish out of Ax I do not know at all but it rises some 700m above the town I believe and all roads out of the valley are hard climbs. As for the wine. The local choice has to be Blanquette de Limoux. The Eastern Pyrenees are a bit too hot for most grapes but this sparkler would go down well on a hot day. Bernard ( with apologies for any spelling errors in the French names) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted July 6, 2013 Author Share Posted July 6, 2013 Well blow me. I got it right. Froome won and got yellow and stuffed everyone else. Now with that comfortable lead of over a minute over his real rivals what happens tomorrow? Well I shall sit down with some wine and cheese. Thanks for the recommendations guys, I shall take a trip up to Waitrose (no connection etc). Tomorrows stage winner? Sky just have to sit in near the front. Big climbs but a downhill finish. Hmmm Porte. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted July 6, 2013 Share Posted July 6, 2013 Oh yes. The boy done good. Tomorrow starts with the easy side of the Portet D'aspet. Then comes the steep descent, around 14% from memory past the memorial to Fabio Casatelli the 1992 Olympic Road Champion who sadly crashed here a few years afterwards. In those days there was no wall over the drop on the right. Just remember cycling can be a dangerous game. Peyresourde is a beautiful climb. I remember doing it one time with fresh cobwebs and thousands of baby spiders hanging from the trees. Long but nothing steep. Hourquette Danczan is shorter and harder. With the long run to the finish on good fast roads I can see the main contenders having a quiet day just keeping a loose rein on things. Various people will be allowed to escape for local glory or KOM points. I reckon Sky must be happy enough after today and can now play a waiting game for a while and conserve their strength. Bernard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted July 7, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 7, 2013 A bit of a worry, Sky's team performance today. I hope they can recover over tomorrow's rest day otherwise I can't see Froome managing a fortnight without support. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brightspark Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 Barnard, a good breakdown of the expected tactics and a lovely description of the route. Again, today, the usual rules were thrown out and my tip Porte who this morning was sitting pretty in second was blown away by the numerous attacks and losing by a long tea break! The reblochon is a good choice. I couldn't find the correct wine so settled for something for a fruity white from south of the border and the mountains. Rest day tomorrow so we can recap, get our shopping lists sorted for the right food and drink for the next week. The big question has to be can Chris Froome retain the Yellow jersey? Or does he need too? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted July 7, 2013 Share Posted July 7, 2013 If tomorrow was another mountain stage rather than a rest day then Froome and Sky would be worried. Movistar worked him over today and showed clear weaknesses exist. The body language of Froome was not exactly positive. There was a dropping of the shoulders towards the finish that clearly indicated he was very relieved to have hung on. The finish seemed to be in the south to central section of the town but there is a stretch of road to the northern suburbs with railway track still in situ and from memory a rather grand station building just off to the east. Bernard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 My mention of the trees covered in spiders web on the Peyresourde led me to locating this shot The Tour this year went down this side. Bernard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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