Tour de France thread

Some heavy hitters got dropped at the end.

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It’s the mountains, where the strong riders for this years TdF will be determined.

You can’t hide your weakness in the mountains. It will show.

 

Anyone noticed the 3 wheel motorcycles used by some the support staff for the TdF?

 

Yes, the Yamaha Niken. I'd really love to try one out.

 

Thanks for the info. My goggle-foo is a lil’ impaired today.

 

Yeah, the Niken is really intriguing. Their design is perfect for the TdF marshals. It seems like the YCRS guys have ripped them around the track, as well, IIRC. Given one can still fall over on the Niken, I’d still take a Tracer GT over all that weight and complexity.

 

Thought it was a Piaggo

 

Faaack, Fuglsang crashed again and is out of the Tour. Sucks for Astana.

 

Crashes happen and when you are wearing a helmet, some thin gloves and Lycra for protection, the results are not going to be pretty when the group can be moving at 30 mph on the flat and even faster downhill / downwind. Being able to stay out of trouble is all part of the race.

 

It's always been the mountains.
Occasionally the ITT to cement it (Indurain era)

Stay safe on the flats, climb with the goats, and crush it in the ITT.

Or, since Motorola/Discover/Trek changed the way the teams are structured
Ignore the flats
Control the mountains till all but the lieutenants & leader are popped, then attack, or follow the attacks. Domestiques and Rolleurs need to make the time cut, but are expendable.
Keep safe on intermediate stages & keep a close gap to the breaks.

It's always been the mountains though.

 

Man, still anyone's race to win. Very close after today.

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I really enjoyed the commentary showing the crowd differences at the buses and talking about how enjoyable the race has been. Even Wiggins seemed to be genuinely enjoying it, as well.

The claim is the next three days are going to be the hardest in TdF history. Should be epic. I think, there’s a possibility the GC leaders may not even be in contention, once the dust settles. If it’s going to be so difficult, no team’s plans are going to work as they thought and the riders may not be able to perform as they hoped, especially with the heat. Good gawd it was hot, today.

 

Ah, spoken like someone who has been in the saddle once or twice? Nice summation on the typical race strategy, spot on.

Years ago, in the late 80's I was a licensed USCF racer myself. One the biggest stage races I've done was the La vuelta de Bisbee, in Bisbee AZ.- A Nat'l Prestrige classic then, as I was in/finishing grad school in Tucson at the time.

 

I’ve ridden a Huffy with friends after school. I was at the front of the group. Does that count?

 

Me and @ton, our Coach raced the Vuelta de Bisbee way back in the day with the Crest team, and the US National team (mid-late 80s). He always said that was a leg breaker.
I stopped racing after several years as a Cat2.

Hardest stage race I ever did was Tour of the Willamette, in Eugene. Pro,1,2 and several pro teams would show up. Nutra-Fig, Jelly Belly and a couple of others. Bob Roll showed up one year. Hard ass mo-fo, even in his late 30s at the time.
Courses were on BLM roads, chipseal roads, rural farm roads. It's un-real how fast you can go and not feel like you are working if you are in the pack.
Also un-real how hard you have to work if you are in the front train on the flats doing work for your guys.

 

only if it was one of these Huffys:

 

Weren’t those Waterfords?

 

Serotta

 

And the Caloi were Merckx.

 

Not exactly