Le Tour de France 2014

[APKhaos]

Interesting to hear Chris Horner on the NBCS coverage after today’s stage. He described how the day went from relatively relaxed and enjoyable to yet more misery when the storm and rain hit. He also talked about the pressure being ON in the peleton when the long flat run pace was reading over 400 watts on his power meter. His bottom line was that everyone is up for the first day of climbing, although several of the bigger guys like Kittel fell out the back. Watch how this sorts out over the few days ahead, he offered. The serious climbing will take its toll. Funny bit was his complaint that its so damn cold that he can’t sweat off the calories and his weight after the recent stages has been higher than at the start of the stage!

[PotomacCyclist]

Those conditions looked awful. But the mountain stages are awesome to watch on TV. Barely controlled atmosphere up there with the massive crowds, the sufferfest up those steep climbs, then the breathtaking descents.

France picked up its first stage win at this year’s Tour with Blel Kadri’s victory. He picked up significant time on the rest of the field. However, the GC contenders aren’t worried. Kadri did move into the lead in the King of the Mountains competition, but he is very far back in the overall standings. I just read that on Stage 3, Kadri finished in 188th place! In fact, before his Stage 8 win, he had only finished in the top 100 once this year, 80th place in Stage 1. Talk about coming up big in the mountains.

[PotomacCyclist]

Strange trivia: There used to be a combination classification in the Tour. The category combined the other categories (overall, mountains, points, and even intermediate sprints in some years), kind of the way the OPS stat combines other stats in baseball (on-base percentage plus slugging). The winner of this category wore the white jersey, from 1968 to 1974.

The classification was revived from 1980-1982 by the French TV station TF1. (I don’t know what jersey was awarded in those years.) The category returned from 1985-1989 as the Performance Classification with a different jersey, a mash-up of the other classifications.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6184[/ATTACH]

http://www.cvccbike.com/tour/eddy/xtra_bestanden/other.htm

[PotomacCyclist]

Is this cool or what? More video from an onboard camera in the middle of Stage 8 of the Tour.

[video=dailymotion;x21e9zd]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21e9zd_en-on-board-camera-by-teams-movistar-and-tinkoff-saxo-stage-8-tomblaine-gerardmer-la-mauselaine_sport?start=86[/video]

Click on the link to view the video directly on the DailyMotion website.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21e9zd_en-on-board-camera-by-teams-movistar-and-tinkoff-saxo-stage-8-tomblaine-gerardmer-la-mauselaine_sport

“This year, the Amaury Sport Organisation is equipping select Tour de France riders with on-board cameras to give fans an inside look at the action. Here are a few highlights from stage 8, as seen from the bikes of riders on Movistar and Tinkoff-Saxo.

Blel Kadri (Ag2r La Mondiale) soloed to victory in a rain-soaked finale to stage 8 of the Tour de France on Saturday.”

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/07/news/board-footage-tour-de-france-stage-8_336206

[KayakCyndi]

Another great stage today. I think they go up hill faster than I can go down. Those boys are going to relish their rest day tomorrow I’m sure.

[cyclingfool]

Yeah, and Contador has a LOT of rest days coming up. I’m not a big Contador fan, but the fact that he got back on the bike and made up a minute on the peloton after falling (despite having [unbeknownst to him] a broken tibia) is badass, and something no amount of Spanish beef can help you do.

Gotta say that Nibali’s gonna be really hard to beat at this point unless he crashes or blows up, but Astana is also going to have to find a way to relinquish yellow safely for a while… they’re still too far from Paris; protecting the jersey for an entire two weeks doesn’t seem realistic.

I wasn’t rooting for Team Sky with Froome at the helm, but now that they’re riding for Richie Porte, I kind of am. It’s sad to see Froome and Contador have gone out – injuries for riders suck – but it throws the rest of the race open in a fun and exciting way.

[cyclingfool]

@KayakCyndi 90188 wrote:

Another great stage today. I think they go up hill faster than I can go down. Those boys are going to relish their rest day tomorrow I’m sure.

Followed by one “easy”-ish day or two, then up into the Alps! No rest for the weary.

[KayakCyndi]

@cyclingfool 90268 wrote:

…. he got back on the bike and made up a minute on the peloton after falling (despite having [unbeknownst to him] a broken tibia) is badass, and something no amount of Spanish beef can help you do.

…. I wasn’t rooting for Team Sky with Froome at the helm, but now that they’re riding for Richie Porte, I kind of am.

Yep, all of these guys are so totally badass. I can’t believe the amount of suffering of which they seem capable.

Also in total agreement with you on Richie Porte. I’m rooting for him too.

[vvill]

@cyclingfool 90268 wrote:

Gotta say that Nibali’s gonna be really hard to beat at this point unless he crashes or blows up, but Astana is also going to have to find a way to relinquish yellow safely for a while… they’re still too far from Paris; protecting the jersey for an entire two weeks doesn’t seem realistic.[/quote]

Didn’t Sky/Froome do that last year?

@cyclingfool 90268 wrote:

I wasn’t rooting for Team Sky with Froome at the helm, but now that they’re riding for Richie Porte, I kind of am. It’s sad to see Froome and Contador have gone out – injuries for riders suck – but it throws the rest of the race open in a fun and exciting way.

There seem to be two main reactions to the big guns going out. I’m on the other side though (waiting for the Vuelta now): unless Nibali crashes out too, it won’t be open nor exciting. It would be nice/interesting to have an Australian ex-triathlete (from Tasmania, no less) on the podium at least though.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@vvill 90280 wrote:

Didn’t Sky/Froome do that last year?

Sky took Yellow on Stage 8 and held it to the end. Zzzzzzzzzz. Hoping someone can crack him in the Alps, just to make it interesting, but I think Astana is the strongest team out there right now. Teejay has been holding strong, but he’s getting terrible support from his team…I think Richie Port ultimately will be in the same boat.

[cyclingfool]

@vvill 90280 wrote:

Didn’t Sky/Froome do that last year?

Yeah, but I feel, perhaps baselessly, that Sky had a more powerful squad last year than Astana has this year. But I could be wrong.

@vvill 90280 wrote:

There seem to be two main reactions to the big guns going out. I’m on the other side though (waiting for the Vuelta now): unless Nibali crashes out too, it won’t be open nor exciting. It would be nice/interesting to have an Australian ex-triathlete (from Tasmania, no less) on the podium at least though.

Vuelta? Yawn. I love the Giro and the Tour, but I have never been able to get into the Vuelta. Not sure why. I know I find the Spanish scenery less interesting than the French or Italian, but even the racing seems less compelling for some reason. Alas… After the Tour, I watch for the World Championships, otherwise I’m waiting for the spring classics.

[APKhaos]

@vvill 90280 wrote:

It would be nice/interesting to have an Australian ex-triathlete (from Tasmania, no less) on the podium at least though.

Yes it would! He was 19th last year, riding a pure support role. Sitting in second on GC is impressive, so the story is starting well. Astana must struggle if they plan to defend the yellow jersey all the way to Paris, no?

[Rod Smith]

@cyclingfool 90268 wrote:

Yeah, and Contador has a LOT of rest days coming up. I’m not a big Contador fan, but the fact that he got back on the bike and made up a minute on the peloton after falling (despite having [unbeknownst to him] a broken tibia) is badass, and something no amount of Spanish beef can help you do…

Tramadol

[PotomacCyclist]

@cyclingfool 90292 wrote:

Yeah, but I feel, perhaps baselessly, that Sky had a more powerful squad last year than Astana has this year. But I could be wrong.

Vuelta? Yawn. I love the Giro and the Tour, but I have never been able to get into the Vuelta. Not sure why. I know I find the Spanish scenery less interesting than the French or Italian, but even the racing seems less compelling for some reason. Alas… After the Tour, I watch for the World Championships, otherwise I’m waiting for the spring classics.

I pointed out earlier that I sort of get burned out mentally from following the 3-week Tour. I don’t have much mental energy to devote to following the Vuelta, even when I still had Universal Sports. I also noticed that many of the top cyclists tended to focus on the Tour or the Giro, which takes some of the luster off of the Vuelta. There are still a lot of great riders at the Vuelta, but it just feels different when you know that some of the top athletes in the sport choose to focus on a different stage race instead.

[PotomacCyclist]

Cancellara is dropping out of the Tour too, but not because of injury. Apparently, he had planned a potential early departure all along. His focus is on the world championships later this season. Mixed reactions to this on the Webz. A pro athlete has to do what’s best for his overall goals, but it’s disappointing to lose yet another big name from this year’s Tour.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2014/07/news/fabian-cancellara-will-start-stage-11-tour_336461

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