Julian Alaphilippe is a bearded vulture, Gypaetus barbatus, he feeds on the other teams and succeeds. Still early days but wish him every success.Originally Posted by Skier
Last edited by tempfort; 20th July 2019 at 23:54.
I’d be happy for Alaphilippe, Pinot or G to win. It’s still very open with a week to go.
This is generally the crunch point of all grand tours. Everyone is fatigued it’s just a matter of you staying slightly less than your rivals.
If you crack on the final week it can often be very dramatic. Both Pinot and G have had this happen before.
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Brilliant stage today. I suspect a lot of riders will be very happy it is a rest day tomorrow.
It’s still very open, but I love the way Thibaut Pinot is riding.
Pete
Keep Watching Bernal & Thomas, The Best team usually win the tour (albeit we rejoice the individual) and right now its Ineos
RIAC
It's one the most fascinating TdF I can recall for a while; any one of half a dozen riders appear to be possible winners. Chapeau Simon Yates for today's stage win. I wonder whether Ineos are allowing Bernal to freelance to a degree to bring himself in to a possible podium position before being ordered to stick with G in the Alps.
Last edited by Skier; 21st July 2019 at 19:38.
Today. One of the most dynamic races I think I've seen for a long time. Exhausting to watch, I can't imagine what it must have been like to ride!
Simon Yates, just wow
A race where we don't quite know what to expect and from whom it might come. What more could we ask for?
Can anyone point me to where I can find a graphical presentation of the overall lead changes similar to this one from 2011, please?
Today's hilly stage 17 is producing an interesting day of team tactics.
The next 3 days will be brutal and defining. I don't believe Alaphilippe will be able to keep the lead and it will be between Thomas and Pinot. Pinot has been exceptional since his mishap early on in the crosswinds, Thomas has the pedigree. These stages should make for fascinating viewing and the outcome will probably depend heavily on the strength of the respective teams. Enjoy!
Stage 18: Thursday 25th
Stage 19: Friday 26th
Stage 20: Saturday 27th
Last edited by Skier; 24th July 2019 at 19:25.
Luke Rowe (and Tony Martin) disqualified. Stunned.
From what I saw it looked like it was initially all on Martin, who deliberately blocked Rowe and almost ran him off the road. Then, a few seconds later and back in the pack, LR had a jostle back at him.
Martin should have gone and Rowe maybe given a warning. Harsh decision by the organisers, and not good for GT and Ineos.
Without knowing anything more than what was shown and discussed in the TV coverage it seems a huge overreaction by the commissaires.
In footage I've seen, and you have to look hard to see it, LR definitely leans/pushes back into TM when they're back in the pack. But it was payback for Martin's initial ridiculous block move.
This is going to hurt Ineos big time. A man down in the mountains is going to make life very hard for them.
An ideal opportunity for the organisers to weaken Ineos and help the French riders. Disgraceful, but not surprising. They should have been warned and fined at worst.
F.T.F.A.
I've tried not to let my thoughts head in that direction but...........
Oh my, is it the world against Brits again?
By Jove what a lot of sad moaners you are.
Twó blokes misbehaved. What was shown was the sequal.
Two blokes got kicked out.
Twó teams are a man down.
You don´t hear the Dutch moaning yet for the moment Jumbo-Visma is doing a lot better than Ineos so why is it not a move against the Dutch??!!
Btw. you can always Leave...
Not shown on TV during the broadcast was the move of LR against Kruiswijk a few minutes earlier. It was payback time. At the end, both did the same number of moves, but -as said- not all was shown during the lilfe coverage. I think it's a fair decision of the jury.
Late last night they sat next to each other for a press conference and both were pretty 'tame' and polite. Nothing between at that conference. it was heat and adrenaline that caused it, I suppose.
This chap disagrees...YouTube link.
See #67 for video of that. I think that it comes from NOS Nieuws.
Fair do's. Well yep, it appears that there was a lot more to it than initially met the eye. And LR was the instigator trying to boss Ineos past Jumbo-Visma. Oh well!
We'll see the damage it does to both teams over the next few days.
Last edited by Mouse; 25th July 2019 at 13:02. Reason: apostrophes, commas......too old for spelling!
I didn't know there was footage of it. I watched this on the Belgian (Flanders) TV late last night. The commentators there are so much better than the Dutch. (We used to have Theo Koomen, the Dutch Murray Walker of cycling. Sadly, he passed away. Since then the level of enthusiasm of Dutch cycling comments have gone down-hill!)
Menno
The video of Martin and Rowe on the online Dutch cycling magazine 'Wielerflits'; the vid is in English.
https://www.wielerflits.nl/nieuws/to...-over-the-top/
Last edited by thieuster; 25th July 2019 at 10:09.
Every year I hope the Tour will be fought to the end and settled on the last climb of the last day. This year it looks like it might be and I'll be out all Saturday afternoon with no access to TV.
The fact I'll be drinking craft gins in the Pullman car of a steam train chugging through the Yorkshire countryside will take some of the disappointment out of the situation, I suppose.
Well, the British rail network's inability to cope with some warm weather has made the decision to work from home with the cycling on in the background very easy.
Should be a great stage, perhaps a little too hard for any of the GC guys to go too early but that climb from Briancon up the Galibier is really tough and very long... the descent the other side is fun though. Fortunately when I did it a few years back it wasn't 40 odd degrees!
The crescendo continues...more to come.
The penultimate stage (20) on Saturday will be good. No downhill finish there. It's all about the climb.
Well that was a lot of fun. Quintana showing how good he occasionally can be, Alaphilippe descending like a stone after looking like he was in all sorts of trouble and Bernal finally waking Ineos up a bit.
No idea what G was thinking though, that attack off the front of the group chasing Bernal was totally uncalled for.
I am led to believe that G wanted to get ahead of Alaphilippe knowing that, if he didn't, he'd leave himself vulnerable on the descent.
Tomorrow is the day, Bernal & G need to go for it, better to die a warrior than live a coward. I think G has it mentally but tipped Bernal right from the start. One of those 3’s legs will blow. Cant wait for tomorrow
RIAC
This. Feel-good moment on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/LPFrileux?ref_sr...umend-jongetje
The next two days will be decisive with huge mountain top finishes. Quintana won't be allowed to be part of any breakaway and hasn't shown himself capable of responding to a major attack and so it will, in my opinion, come down to who can attack his rivals most strongly, potentially on both days. Bernal and Pinot are looking strong and I suspect (and hope) that G is holding back a little thus far. Whatever happens, Julian Alaphilippe has been outstanding and if he can't maintain yellow then I truly hope he's at least on the podium. He's won a lot of fans over the last 3 weeks and they're not all French!
Stuff legends are made of
This 2019 Tour is crammed full of stuff legends are made of; it ís a Tour a legend will be made of.
It does not really matter anymore who wins it Sunday. Cycling has already won. It deserved this.
Maybe some suffering from insular vison cannot see that but if so, in proper French; tant pis.
I'm not sure about it being a legendary tour, but its certainly been great to watch.
I think we're entering another of those transitional periods like the years between Indurain and Armstrong or even Hinault to Indurain. It's great having a strong patron dominating the sport but the tours can get a little formulaic - we've had Sky dominance since 2012 and this feels like things are changing.
If you think back a few years, yesterday's yellow jersey group would have had 3 Sky domestiques at the front, wearing away at everyone else until it was time for their team leader to spring off the front and take a minute or two... where were those domestiques yesterday?
Either Ineos is not the team it was i.e. they're not as strong, or it's an almighty bluff and for the next two days we'll see the the team driving the pace for these two critical stages. I doubt it's the latter! I will be glued to the TV and my productivity will be near zero until Monday.
I don't think G is in as good a form as he was last year either... he's hit the deck 2 or 3 times already as well which has got to have an impact. He was imperious last year, two really impressive stage wins and really bossed the Tour. Doesn't look anywhere near that strong at the moment.
From memory, van Baarle was in the breakaway yesterday which would never have happened in previous years, Poels vanished quite quickly as well. In prior years he's have been on the front until the last 3km uphill.
Maybe it is a bluff but they've still got 90 seconds to make up over 2 stages so if it is, they're leaving it late!
Today should be the day.
No moment left for GC contenders to hide.
Massive time gaps can be made or lost in the next two days. But this is the hardest tour for many years to predict. We're so used to seeing the Sky method of tour winning, and this year it's nothing like.
I'll be surprised if Alaphilippe can hang onto yellow (but who knows). He's vulnerable on these mega climbs and there are going to be some big attacks. Seems like any one of seven or eight riders has a chance in GC atm. It's going to be very exciting hopefully.
Here we go :-)
Big names in the breakaway already...
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David Millar on IT4..."This race is in a state of chaos."
Tragic for Pinot.
Very sad pictures of Pinot stopping :-(
Hail storm!
And the drama just continues. Incredible.
Could this race get any crazier!!
Well. Never saw that coming!
Stuff of legends.
Incredible.
And it seems every one of the riders thinks it's disadvantaged them personally - even Bernal who'll get yellow and a stage win seemed reluctant to stop, presumably because he thinks he'd have taken even more time on the Montée de Tignes.
https://twitter.com/trondiversen/sta...090168836?s=20
https://twitter.com/trondiversen/sta...512094208?s=20
Last edited by MakeColdplayHistory; 26th July 2019 at 16:11.
Make that snow:
First it's high temperatures and now this. TdF extreme weather protocols being tested day by day. What will tomorrow bring? That goes for both the racing and the weather.
Thats the problem now, no one will ever know what might or might not have been, personally I think Bernal and G would have took 1&2 by a good 30-40 Seconds after that final climb.
Today would have been the first half of an epic showdown, tomorrow is now a fight to the death
RIAC
Point is that it was ´divine intervention´. There was no option but to stop the race.
The second best alternative was declare full course yellow and virtual safety car, which would in effect have been the same yet with the riders still at risk.
It wil undoubtedly make tomorrow even more hectic so bottom line the sport wins.
With Pinot out, Movistar failing miserably and Alaphilipe out of his depth, it will be a free for all for the Stage win and a shootout between Bernal and Thomas for the GC with possibly Kruijswijk the proverbial third dog.
Link to..."Due to the interruption on today's route, there is no stage winner or "most aggressive rider" for the 19th stage."
I take that to mean that there won't be any time bonuses for the "finish" only those for the Col de l'Iseran summit.
Edit I don't think it will take you three guesses to suss out who said "There’s one hard stage remaining. It’s a short one. I’ll give it all on the road. To become the first Colombian winner of the Tour de France would be amazing."
Last edited by PickleB; 26th July 2019 at 18:13.
Really impressed with how ASO handled things today... they made (the right) decision in good time, stuck to it and it seems like the teams were informed quickly.
Given how much stick they’ve had in previous years for putting rider safety pretty low down the list of priorities, credit where it’s due this time.
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