Cycling 2024

[AfonsoAlves]

I was just thinking the other day whether a Tour de France that takes place primarily in July will continue to be viable.

Do you remember that tour a few years back, when just before stage 1, there was 1 month of drought/heat wave beforehand, followed by torrential downpour the night before stage 1.

Resulted in all the accumulated grime on the roads mixing with water causing the surface to be like a fecking waterslide. the peloton was descending at like 30kmph.

 

[WPMUFC]

Cavendish is big big trouble. Also Jakobsen!!

Wow they are not going to make the time cut

 

[whitbyviking]

Cavendish is big big trouble. Also Jakobsen!!

Wow they are not going to make the time cut

They’re not the only ones, loads of riders going backwards now.

 

[WPMUFC]

Astana could abandon the tour. Rider has already abandoned the race.

 

[Mike Smalling]

Cavendish is big big trouble. Also Jakobsen!!

Wow they are not going to make the time cut

Still only roughly 10 minutes to the peloton.

 

[whitbyviking]

apparently Cav been vomiting while riding? Going to be a grim day. I had that on a big climb in a triathlon and it was horrendous, without the 35degs temps he’s dealing with

 

[WPMUFC]

apparently Cav been vomiting while riding? Going to be a grim day. I had that on a big climb in a triathlon and it was horrendous, without the 35degs temps he’s dealing with

yeah he was vomiting not long into the first climb.

 

[Stevondo8]

David Miller saying on commentary he reckons time limit will be in the 50 minute region, Cav currently around 22 minutes back. Should be ok shouldn’t he? 40ish k to go

 

[whitbyviking]

David Miller saying on commentary he reckons time limit will be in the 50 minute region, Cav currently around 22 minutes back. Should be ok shouldn’t he? 40ish k to go

if that is correct then it should be fine. He shouldn’t lose that much time on the remainder

 

[AfonsoAlves]

It’s not going to be a gc day, the pacing of the climb is very slow

 

[Mike Smalling]

David Miller saying on commentary he reckons time limit will be in the 50 minute region, Cav currently around 22 minutes back. Should be ok shouldn’t he? 40ish k to go

He'll be absolutely fine. He's not even the last rider anymore. Fabio Jakobsen looks to be really struggling, but he'll probably make it as well. Must be hell to be that poor at climbing as a sprinter.

 

[Stevondo8]

Just over 40 minutes left on the time limit from when I post this, should be grand

 

[Mike Smalling]

What a great win! Always such an exciting finish when the break is that close to being caught. French stage win and Bardet in yellow in his final Tour. Good stuff.

 

[Stevondo8]

Everybody in with about 10 minutes to spare

 

[Suedesi]

How is the time cut on tour de france stages calculated? I thought it was based on the terrain difficulty and the winner's average speed, but have no idea what's the formula.

Brilliant ride by DSM, Bardet did great to catch the breakaway and then take turns with van den Broek to ride to victory, though I think the peloton fkd up and should have caught them.

 

[NotThatSoph]

How is the time cut on tour de france stages calculated? I thought it was based on the terrain difficulty and the winner's average speed, but have no idea what's the formula.

Brilliant ride by DSM, Bardet did great to catch the breakaway and then take turns with van den Broek to ride to victory, though I think the peloton fkd up and should have caught them.

This is 10 years old, so it's possible some numbers have been adjusted, but the system is the same.

 

[Edgar Allan Pillow]

Visma looks strong and Van Aert is back after a short last season. Things look good for Vingegaard.

For all hype, I expect Pogacar to finish second again this season.

 

[Sassy Colin]

Why is this taking place in Italy this year?

 

[Mike Smalling]

Why is this taking place in Italy this year?

It's pretty common that the first few stages are in another country. It's been Denmark and Spain in recent years as well.

 

[Mike Smalling]

Very encouraging two days for Visma-LAB. Van Aert winning the sprint behind the breakaway yesterday, and Vingegaard looking comfortable on the climbs and being able to follow Pogacar. Bodes well for another exciting GC battle.

Also well done by Evenepoel to close the gap after the final climb. Apparently he has shed some weight after the Dauphine, so he should be more competitive on the climbs.

 

[Suedesi]

This is 10 years old, so it's possible some numbers have been adjusted, but the system is the same.

Brilliant, thank you!

 

[Suedesi]

Girmay with the win - superb.

Been impressed with Visma - Jonas seems in good shape despite the accident.

 

[RobinLFC]

Carnage on the Galibier at the moment.

 

[Mike Smalling]

The difference in UAE and Visma-LAB's teams in terms of climbing is really stark. It won't be the last time we see Vingegaard with 4-5 UAE riders.

 

[Mike Smalling]

Oof, that 9 second gap on the top converted into a ~50 second advantage on Vingegaard including bonus seconds. Impressive descending. It was clear Pogacar had more in the tank, when the descent flattened a bit. In the very technical part the gap stayed the same.

 

[Jev]

Oof, that 9 second gap on the top converted into a ~50 second advantage on Vingegaard including bonus seconds. Impressive descending. It was clear Pogacar had more in the tank, when the descent flattened a bit. In the very technical part the gap stayed the same.

Yeah, Vingegaard looked cooked. He’ll need to make up a lot of ground before they hit the mountains again and the gulf in strength between Visma and UAE was equally worrying.

 

[Mike Smalling]

Yeah, Vingegaard looked cooked. He’ll need to make up a lot of ground before they hit the mountains again and the gulf in strength between Visma and UAE was equally worrying.

I wouldn’t say cooked. 9 seconds over the top could have happened last year as well, and it’s not a big surprise that Pogacar who is a bit heavier can pull away in the straight and flat’ish part of the descent. It’s just a steep price to pay for a minor difference on the climb.

 

[Suedesi]

Brilliant Pogi

 

[Mike Smalling]

Looking for small aero advantages is getting out of hand.

 

[AfonsoAlves]

Brilliant Pogi

Is that really that brilliant?

His leaning action is not fully synchronized with his bike, he's not taking the perfect lines and on two corners go around the outside edge.

It's not a bad descent by any stretch but it's not exactly Mohoric/Pidcock either.

 

[RobinLFC]

Is that really that brilliant?

His leaning action is not fully synchronized with his bike, he's not taking the perfect lines and on two corners go around the outside edge.

It's not a bad descent by any stretch but it's not exactly Mohoric/Pidcock either.

Not even a good descent by any means, let alone a brilliant one. If anything he was losing time on Vingegaard on the technical part of the descent, and Vingegaard isn't really known for his exceptional descending skills either.

What I liked to hear is that he explored this descent a few times in the last month or so. At least if riders are gonna take risks downhill, they do so on terrain they're quite familiar with. The likes of Evenepoel clearly weren't comfortable with the ice water on the road and it showed in the first part of the descent.

 

[Mike Smalling]

Is that really that brilliant?

His leaning action is not fully synchronized with his bike, he's not taking the perfect lines and on two corners go around the outside edge.

It's not a bad descent by any stretch but it's not exactly Mohoric/Pidcock either.

Yeah, he gained time through power and acceleration, not technique.

 

[AfonsoAlves]

Yeah, he gained time through power and acceleration, not technique.

kind of makes me wish pidcock stopped faffing around MTB and CX and actually went into GC mode.
He’d crush all the current GT contenders on these kind of technical descents.

 

[Mike Smalling]

kind of makes me wish pidcock stopped faffing around MTB and CX and actually went into GC mode.
He’d crush all the current GT contenders on these kind of technical descents.

I think there would be very few opportunities for him use it as a weapon to gain time on GC rivals. Maybe just once in a Tour de France. It's not that common for a stage to finish with a long technical descent after a hard climb.

 

[RobinLFC]

kind of makes me wish pidcock stopped faffing around MTB and CX and actually went into GC mode.
He’d crush all the current GT contenders on these kind of technical descents.

Not really much use for that if you lose multiple minutes beforehand each time.

Pidcock is an all-time great MTB and CX rider who will never come close to a Grand Tour podium, let alone win. No clue why he should give that up to aim for something that's likely not achievable.

 

[AfonsoAlves]

Not really much use for that if you lose multiple minutes beforehand each time.

Pidcock is an all-time great MTB and CX rider who will never come close to a Grand Tour podium, let alone win. No clue why he should give that up to aim for something that's likely not achievable.

I disagree. Last year before his crash he was the third strongest climber behind Vingegaard and pogacar, finishing ahead of his teammate Rodriguez multiple times and ahead of most other GC contenders. After his crash he fell off a cliff.

he’s never trained for GC, always pissing around with random MTB races before the tour. Also hasn’t spent time on a TT bike either.

 

[AfonsoAlves]

It’s also boring watching Pidcock in MTB, he kills the races so badly it ruins it imo.

every short track race with pidcock: starts on the back because he doesn’t turn up to most races. Gets to the front by the end of the race and out sprints everyone.

every xc race with pidcock: start at the back. By lap 2/7 he is at the front group. Attacks on lap 3. Only Nino schurter and 3 others can follow. Attacks again on lap 4/7 and nobody can follow. Solo rest of race.

it’s so boring

 

[RobinLFC]

I disagree. Last year before his crash he was the third strongest climber behind Vingegaard and pogacar, finishing ahead of his teammate Rodriguez multiple times and ahead of most other GC contenders. After his crash he fell off a cliff.

he’s never trained for GC, always pissing around with random MTB races before the tour. Also hasn’t spent time on a TT bike either.

It's not pissing around with random MTB races - he is the reigning world and Olympic champion and wants to repeat. An (additional) Olympic gold medal is worth a lot more than a 4th, 5th or 6th place in the Tour.

He races to his strenghts, he can win almost every Spring classic and is amongst the best in the world in MTB and CX. No idea why he should give that up for a random top 10 finish in the Tour. Because he has no chance to get close to Pogacar, Vingegaard, and even Evenepoel and even if he would get close, he'd need to sacrifice all other things he's currently good at. Won't happen and for good reason.

 

[RobinLFC]

It’s also boring watching Pidcock in MTB, he kills the races so badly it ruins it imo.

every short track race with pidcock: starts on the back because he doesn’t turn up to most races. Gets to the front by the end of the race and out sprints everyone.

every xc race with pidcock: start at the back. By lap 2/7 he is at the front group. Attacks on lap 3. Only Nino schurter and 3 others can follow. Attacks again on lap 4/7 and nobody can follow. Solo rest of race.

it’s so boring

Well that I can agree with. But that's another argument as to why he shouldn't give that up, he's so good at it.

 

[F-Red]

I disagree. Last year before his crash he was the third strongest climber behind Vingegaard and pogacar, finishing ahead of his teammate Rodriguez multiple times and ahead of most other GC contenders. After his crash he fell off a cliff.

he’s never trained for GC, always pissing around with random MTB races before the tour. Also hasn’t spent time on a TT bike either.

It's optimistic to think he could do GC, the guy can't even pull together a 1 week GC, let alone 3 weeks. How long he can hold form has always been his big unknown on the road. The only time I could ever see him at a GC level is when it's like Alaphippe from 2019 TdF, by which I mean it's more luck than by design.