# Tour de France Femmes (avec Zwift) (et avec spoilers)



## Cathryn (22 Jul 2022)

It's two days away and I am excited!!! My money is on Lorena Wiebes for the first stage (and first yellow jersey) and Annemieke for the overall GC. I think it's going to be an incredibly exciting race. I'll be in France as of Tuesday so hoping to absorb some of the energy in real life, even if I'm nowhere near the race itself.


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## Supersuperleeds (22 Jul 2022)

It's a shame ITV4 don't give it the same coverage as the blokes TDF. I don't think they even have highlights, though that could change as they do occasionally pick up highlight packages at the last minute.


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## Cathryn (22 Jul 2022)

Supersuperleeds said:


> It's a shame ITV4 don't give it the same coverage as the blokes TDF. I don't think they even have highlights, though that could change as they do occasionally pick up highlight packages at the last minute.



I believe it's only GCN/Eurosport. Shortsighted of iTV4.


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## Cathryn (22 Jul 2022)

I've set up a Fantasy League too, using our usual CC code of *85782559.*

Choosing my team was horrible. I had to choose between my head and my heart.


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## Dogtrousers (22 Jul 2022)

Cathryn said:


> I've set up a Fantasy League too, using our usual CC code of *85782559.*
> 
> Choosing my team was horrible. I had to choose between my head and my heart.



I'm in.


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## Mike_P (22 Jul 2022)

There was some coverage of it on BBC News 6.30 sportsday this evening , should be on iPlayer.


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## Hebe (22 Jul 2022)

I can't wait either


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## Mike_P (22 Jul 2022)

Cathryn said:


> I've set up a Fantasy League too, using our usual CC code of *85782559.*


The league is automatic for the season so anyone who has been in it already this year is automatically entered.


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## ColinJ (22 Jul 2022)

Cathryn said:


> I believe it's only GCN/Eurosport. Shortsighted of iTV4.



I was just checking ITV4 and discovered that it was not there...

Eurosport for me then!


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## Stephenite (23 Jul 2022)

Is it through Velogames then? And is it only TDF? Sorry if i'm a bit slow on the uptake.


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## Cathryn (23 Jul 2022)

Stephenite said:


> Is it through Velogames then? And is it only TDF? Sorry if i'm a bit slow on the uptake.



Yes it's Velogames but there's a women's game. 
https://www.velogames.com/velogame-femmes/2022/


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## Adam4868 (23 Jul 2022)

Chance to win a pass to watch it here....I think ! 
https://lecolwahoo.com/news/want-to-watch-us-in-action-at-the-tour-de-france-femmes


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## GuyBoden (24 Jul 2022)

Adam4868 said:


> Chance to win a pass to watch it here....I think !
> https://lecolwahoo.com/news/want-to-watch-us-in-action-at-the-tour-de-france-femmes



Yes, I saw that too, here is the link. Scroll down and fill in the form.

https://lecolwahoo.com/moreeyesonher


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## Shadow (24 Jul 2022)

Cathryn said:


> Choosing my team was horrible. I had to choose between my head and my heart.



So often the way.
You persuaded me to enter. I found it tough too, mostly because I have not heard of any rider with a cost of less than 14 ! Might have been easier with separate Climber, Sprinter etc categories. Would have been easier also if I had not gone for a ride, come back to no wifi, so just managed to put team in at 12.28. Now I know how Jacobsen felt the other day!
Bonnie chance tout le monde!

P.s. have a super hols Cathryn.


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## Mike_P (24 Jul 2022)

As a really wild Velogames pick I went with Pogs GF.


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## Supersuperleeds (24 Jul 2022)

I know that they need to get someone into the polka dot jersey and I know that the Champs-Elysees as a bump on it, but that is ridiculous having QOM points on this course.

I also understand why they are doing this route today, but I find these lap races really dull - I rarely watch the final day of the TDF because of this, though am watching the women now on a dodgy stream
​


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## Supersuperleeds (24 Jul 2022)

Point of order, are we allowed to post spoilers in this thread?


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## Mike_P (24 Jul 2022)

Most striking thing was the general lack of face masks amongst the staff of the winning team.


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## Cathryn (24 Jul 2022)

Shadow said:


> So often the way.
> You persuaded me to enter. I found it tough too, mostly because I have not heard of any rider with a cost of less than 14 ! Might have been easier with separate Climber, Sprinter etc categories. Would have been easier also if I had not gone for a ride, come back to no wifi, so just managed to put team in at 12.28. Now I know how Jacobsen felt the other day!
> Bonnie chance tout le monde!
> 
> P.s. have a super hols Cathryn.



Thank you XX


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## Cathryn (24 Jul 2022)

Yes!!!


Supersuperleeds said:


> Point of order, are we allowed to post spoilers in this thread?


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## Cathryn (24 Jul 2022)

Squeeeee....what a start!


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## Cathryn (24 Jul 2022)

Thrilled for Wiebes but a little sad for Vos. It would have been very fitting for her to have won the first yellow jersey. She looked like she’s been crying in the interview afterwards. 

Wiebes is a monster!!!


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## Dogtrousers (24 Jul 2022)

Cathryn said:


> Yes!!!


Merci


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## Dogtrousers (24 Jul 2022)

Cathryn said:


> Yes it's Velogames but there's a women's game.
> https://www.velogames.com/velogame-femmes/2022/



Yikes there's only 9 of us. Harder to hide and be anonymous in the middle of the pack.

I'm Team Neufchâtel btw


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## Cathryn (24 Jul 2022)

Supersuperleeds said:


> I know that they need to get someone into the polka dot jersey and I know that the Champs-Elysees as a bump on it, but that is ridiculous having QOM points on this course.
> 
> I also understand why they are doing this route today, but I find these lap races really dull - I rarely watch the final day of the TDF because of this, though am watching the women now on a dodgy stream
> ​



Yeah I’m not a fan of the circuits unless you’re actually there, in which case it’s epic!


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## mjr (25 Jul 2022)

Cathryn said:


> I believe it's only GCN/Eurosport. Shortsighted of iTV4.


Almost certainly not shortsighted. Gary sounded unhappy about it and they've covered La Course well in the past. It's quite likely that Warner Brothers (Eurosport's owner) paid ASO more for exclusive rights, aided by GCN subscriptions.

Edit to add: if anyone deserves criticism, it's WB for not putting highlights on Quest like they do for the men's grand tours that they've snagged.


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## mjr (25 Jul 2022)

Cathryn said:


> Yeah I’m not a fan of the circuits unless you’re actually there, in which case it’s epic!


Even then, circuits are better if interesting, like some of the Tour Series ones. The wide roads of the Champs loop only has cobbles for interest. Ironically, the showy loop around the arch is worse than the old hotdog turn for racing.

Who's got good stage previews? Neither inrng nor sticky bottle seem to be covering the femmes.


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## Cathryn (25 Jul 2022)

Not found anything in depth. Just some brief summaries.


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## mjr (25 Jul 2022)

Cathryn said:


> Not found anything in depth. Just some brief summaries.


Same here. https://www.bicycling.com/tour-de-france/ https://cyclingtips.com/tag/2022-tour-de-france-femmes/ https://www.rouleur.cc/blogs/the-rouleur-journal/tour-de-france-femmes-2022-route and fairly annoying https://road.cc/content/feature/tour-de-france-femmes-preview-294641


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## mjr (25 Jul 2022)

Epic padding on Eurosport, who started their "live" show 20 minutes before live pictures started. Seems that the Grand-Est region is sponsoring the race. I wonder if it'll be a different region next year, or multiple regions.

Pics just showed the four race jersey wearers. Presumably the season jerseys (purple overall and sky blue u23 leaders) are also in there? And rainbow is missing because Balsamo leads the season at the mo.


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## Cathryn (25 Jul 2022)

mjr said:


> Epic padding on Eurosport, who started their "live" show 20 minutes before live pictures started. Seems that the Grand-Est region is sponsoring the race. I wonder if it'll be a different region next year, or multiple regions.



I quite like that it’s in one region. 8 days isn’t enough for an actual tour of France but exploring a region is a great alternative. They could focus on a different region each year and tour France gradually, year by year.


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## Peter Salt (25 Jul 2022)

Oooof, that Cavalli crash


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## Cathryn (25 Jul 2022)

HORRIFIC crashes! One girl hasn’t moved yet. It’s awful.


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## Peter Salt (25 Jul 2022)

<sexist>Women drivers </sexist>


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## Dogtrousers (25 Jul 2022)

Vos ... vooom!


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## Cathryn (25 Jul 2022)

Peter Salt said:


> <sexist>Women drivers </sexist>



Huh.


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## Dogtrousers (25 Jul 2022)

There were 4 withdrawals, which I assume were all related to the crashes (I've not seen it yet, only the finish). Including the OTL one, which I'm guessing was also related to the crashes. I also saw Cecilie U-L come in very late so a horrible day for FDJ

Bib Rider Team Withdraw
33 CAVALLI Marta FDJ SUEZ FUTUROSCOPE withdrawal
73 PINTAR Urska UAE TEAM ADQ outside the time limit
146 SÜßEMILCH Laura PLANTUR-PURA withdrawal
173 MASETTI Gaia AG INSURANCE-NXTG TEAM withdrawal
https://www.letourfemmes.fr/en/withdrawal


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## Peter Salt (25 Jul 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> There were 4 withdrawals, which I assume were all related to the crashes (I've not seen it yet, only the finish). Including the OTL one, which I'm guessing was also related to the crashes. I also saw Cecilie U-L come in very late so a horrible day for FDJ
> 
> Bib Rider Team Withdraw
> 33 CAVALLI Marta FDJ SUEZ FUTUROSCOPE withdrawal
> ...


Honestly, was surprised that Cavalli got back on the bike so fast - she went down like a ton of bricks.


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## rich p (25 Jul 2022)

Cathryn said:


> Huh.



I know.


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## matticus (25 Jul 2022)

Have we had this yet? Bizarre! 
View: https://twitter.com/SadhbhOS/status/1551220608918241282?t=xBbLYFO5HR8sGdo3Huj0wA&s=19


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## Peter Salt (25 Jul 2022)

matticus said:


> Have we had this yet? Bizarre!
> View: https://twitter.com/SadhbhOS/status/1551220608918241282?t=xBbLYFO5HR8sGdo3Huj0wA&s=19



We certainly had quite a few babies on the podiums this year - in the men's race as well... But that's really rather strange


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## Mike_P (25 Jul 2022)

DSM have indicated Wiebes will be pulling out.


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## 13 rider (25 Jul 2022)

Happy Vos has got to wear yellow and taken a stage .The bigish time gap to some GC riders is going to make it interesting 
With it only being 8 days I think it's going to be full on racing everyday


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## Peter Salt (25 Jul 2022)

Mike_P said:


> DSM have indicated Wiebes will be pulling out.


That's not how you make babies


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## Dogtrousers (25 Jul 2022)

Mike_P said:


> DSM have indicated Wiebes will be pulling out.



Why so?


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## Peter Salt (25 Jul 2022)

I don't think she was involved in any of the crashes today? Infection?


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## Mike_P (25 Jul 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> Why so?



Not sure. The article I saw on the mobile was not in English but I presume it's to do with the later stages and skipping the hills/mountain


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## Mike_P (25 Jul 2022)

Edit - scrub that, turns out she is leaving DSM at the end of the season.


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## Dogtrousers (25 Jul 2022)

Mike_P said:


> Edit - scrub that, turns out she is leaving DSM at the end of the season.


Ah.

That makes a bit of sense. And explains why I couldn't find any mention of her pulling out of the race elsewhere.


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## Peter Salt (25 Jul 2022)

Mike_P said:


> Edit - scrub that, turns out she is leaving DSM at the end of the season.


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## Cathryn (25 Jul 2022)

Peter Salt said:


>



She's going to be paid loads apparently.

I can't figure out SD Worx. They have the best roster of riders and yet they can't make it work. Too many chiefs, I guess.


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## mjr (25 Jul 2022)

Cathryn said:


> I can't figure out SD Worx. They have the best roster of riders and yet they can't make it work. Too many chiefs, I guess.


They used to make it work, but other teams seem to have overtaken them. Bit like happens in the men's worldtour. No team lasts forever. Except maybe Movistar.


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## Peter Salt (25 Jul 2022)

mjr said:


> They used to make it work, but other teams seem to have overtaken them. Bit like happens in the men's worldtour. No team lasts forever. Except maybe Movistar.


Lotto Soudal is ancient. SD Worx should rename itself to 'SD No-Worx'


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## Cathryn (26 Jul 2022)

mjr said:


> They used to make it work, but other teams seem to have overtaken them. Bit like happens in the men's worldtour. No team lasts forever. Except maybe Movistar.



They used to have Anna van der Breggen. It makes sense that that they’re having to readjust somewhat. I just find it intriguing that, like the Dutch women’s national team, they have this embarrassment of riches and don’t seem able to capitalise on it. I wish Wiebes wasn’t going to them, it feels like they’re frantically buying up the best riders and building this castle in the sky.


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## Domus (26 Jul 2022)

Strong winds and crashes caused lots of splits and time losses. 
Some teams will have to re think this morning.


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## GuyBoden (26 Jul 2022)

Adam4868 said:


> Chance to win a pass to watch it here....I think !
> https://lecolwahoo.com/news/want-to-watch-us-in-action-at-the-tour-de-france-femmes



I got a free GCN+ pass, so I'm catching up with the Women's Tour de France race.


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## T4tomo (26 Jul 2022)

Cathryn said:


> HORRIFIC crashes! One girl hasn’t moved yet. It’s awful.



Wasn't it just awful. Whoever was in white and came powering into the back of it clearly wasn't looking ahead. You would have thought people would also be shouting slow down / crash etc etc


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## matticus (26 Jul 2022)

T4tomo said:


> Wasn't it just awful. Whoever was in white and came powering into the back of it clearly wasn't looking ahead. You would have thought people would also be shouting slow down / crash etc etc



If this is the crash where Marta got hit, the rider behind ( Aussie Nicole Frain?) has been in a bit of a Twitter storm for - allegedly - not slowing down and just trying to fly through a tiny gap in the bunch, and her post-race interview didn't help her case. Twitter as a whole was after her head, but I thought Adam Blythe's comments in their studio were fair; basically poor judgement, but understandable when you're chasing back on after a different crash, head down, and her view was obscured due to wheelsucking (a teammate I think?).


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## Peter Salt (26 Jul 2022)

matticus said:


> If this is the crash where Marta got hit, the rider behind ( Aussie Nicole Frain?) has been in a bit of a Twitter storm for - allegedly - not slowing down and just trying to fly through a tiny gap in the bunch, and her post-race interview didn't help her case. Twitter as a whole was after her head, but I thought Adam Blythe's comments in their studio were fair; basically poor judgement, but understandable when you're chasing back on after a different crash, head down, and her view was obscured due to wheelsucking (a teammate I think?).


Don't use Twitter or other social media but personally think it was quite unprofessional. I can understand head down and whatnot but as a pro you should have enough awareness to avoid something like that - literally ploughing full speed into stationary/downed riders. I was stunned that there weren't any broken bones and/or serious concussions, initial thought was Marta was seriously hurt and stage will be cancelled.


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## Mike_P (26 Jul 2022)

Two non starters today, both Aussies - Amanda Spratt (Bike Exchange) and Ally Wollaston (AG insurance)


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## Mike_P (26 Jul 2022)

First abandonment of the day Maeva Squiban (Stade Rochelais Charente-Maritime) who of course I picked for my Velogames team on the strength of reading "At only 20, she has shown some potential in the Tour de Suisse with Final GC of 16. will try to get into breakaway to show what she can do", was 4 minutes off the back


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## T4tomo (26 Jul 2022)

matticus said:


> If this is the crash where Marta got hit, the rider behind ( Aussie Nicole Frain?) has been in a bit of a Twitter storm for - allegedly - not slowing down and just trying to fly through a tiny gap in the bunch, and her post-race interview didn't help her case. Twitter as a whole was after her head, but I thought Adam Blythe's comments in their studio were fair; basically poor judgement, but understandable when you're chasing back on after a different crash, head down, and her view was obscured due to wheelsucking (a teammate I think?).




View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nt3Oc_vEV4


Its about 1.38 into this, very hard to defend the Aussies actions


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## Peter Salt (26 Jul 2022)

Mike_P said:


> First abandonment of the day Maeva Squiban (Stade Rochelais Charente-Maritime) who of course I picked for my Velogames team on the strength of reading "At only 20, she has shown some potential in the Tour de Suisse with Final GC of 16. will try to get into breakaway to show what she can do", was 4 minutes off the back


That's 9 withdrawals already, and the 3rd stage just started, and they didn't get to the mountains yet. At this rate, everyone will make the top 100  Fingers crossed no crashes today.


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## Peter Salt (26 Jul 2022)

T4tomo said:


> View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nt3Oc_vEV4
> 
> 
> Its about 1.38 into this, very hard to defend the Aussies actions



I was giving her the benefit of the doubt - thinking she had her head down and just missed the situation entirely. But it looks as though in the post-race comments she said something along the lines of 'I saw a gap and thought I can squeeze through' which makes it 10x worse.


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## Dogtrousers (26 Jul 2022)

Mike_P said:


> First abandonment of the day Maeva Squiban (Stade Rochelais Charente-Maritime) who of course I picked for my Velogames team on the strength of reading "At only 20, she has shown some potential in the Tour de Suisse with Final GC of 16. will try to get into breakaway to show what she can do", was 4 minutes off the back



Serves you right for doing proper research and not just picking riders with interesting names.


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## Peter Salt (26 Jul 2022)

Rooting for Kasia today, but realistically expect AVV to start opening the (eventually) winning gap.


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## T4tomo (26 Jul 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> Serves you right for doing proper research and not just picking riders with interesting names.



I went with "Quinty Schoens" on that very basis
​


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## matticus (26 Jul 2022)

View: https://twitter.com/petervdveen/status/1551679854294302720?t=it0pO_U2-KeasxhOYoJ1MQ&s=19


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## cisamcgu (26 Jul 2022)

Excellent stage, and a superb post-race interview from Uttrup "...yesterday was a f*cking sh*t day..."


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## Peter Salt (26 Jul 2022)

Any thought AVV's apparent sickness? Has the potential to flip the race on its head


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## Dogtrousers (26 Jul 2022)

cisamcgu said:


> Excellent stage, and a superb post-race interview from Uttrup "...yesterday was a f*cking sh*t day..."


TdFF promotors must have been jumping with joy at the result. _"Go on, now for the interview!"_ (but in French). I doubt they were disappointed.


View: https://twitter.com/eurosport/status/1551942984622641154


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## 13 rider (26 Jul 2022)

She certainly wears her heart on her sleeve none of this media safe speak just says it as she feels it . The race is certainly delivering


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## Cathryn (26 Jul 2022)

I have no WiFi in our Calais apartment but had just enough reception to see the result and HOW FLIPPING AWESOME! Can’t wait to watch the stage tomorrow when I have WiFi!!! I LOVE Cecilie, thrilled to bits for her!


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## ColinJ (26 Jul 2022)

I'm actually feeling pretty angry!

I wanted to catch up with the first 3 stages so I just went on Eurosport to watch them On Demand... A poxy 10 minutes for stage 1, 17 minutes for stage 2. I haven't watched stage 3 yet.

Stage 2 'highlights' apparently were the crashes, especially that horrible crash which they played over, but then they skipped virtually all of the racing. 

The edits were so clumsy that nearly all of them took place in a commentator's mid-sentence. You want to talk about the race? Sorry, no time for that, let's quickly skip 10 km! Can we skip 20 km next time? 

Oh, here comes the sprint. Well, at least that was good. 

Phew we squeezed it all into less than 18 minutes! Do you think anybody will notice that we were just going through the motions...? 

Exciting milliseconds of the next stage coming soon!


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## Domus (26 Jul 2022)

Always a soft spot for Cecilie. Full of enthusiasm, always a smile. Really pleased for her.


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## Peter Salt (26 Jul 2022)

Soooo.... Can you put a bet on the number of punctures tomorrow?


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## Dogtrousers (26 Jul 2022)

ColinJ said:


> I'm actually feeling pretty angry!
> 
> I wanted to catch up with the first 3 stages so I just went on Eurosport to watch them On Demand... A poxy 10 minutes for stage 1, 17 minutes for stage 2. I haven't watched stage 3 yet.
> 
> ...



I quite agree and I don't understand it. It's a streaming platform so why cut it so short? (I'm talking about the GCN+ highlights I presume these are the same as Eurosport on demand)

Yesterday I caught the last 10 mins or so live. I could tell there were chasing groups everywhere delayed by the crashes (including Uttrup). I thought the highlights would explain what was had been going on, but no.

Todays was just as bad. You get the last 5k, that's it.


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## mjr (26 Jul 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> I quite agree and I don't understand it. It's a streaming platform so why cut it so short? (I'm talking about the GCN+ highlights I presume these are the same as Eurosport on demand)


Well, that's odd. The Eurosport broadcast highlights on E1 have been an hour and shown a few key sections of race to explain it, with the » symbol animation for big jumps. Not much preamble and no podium, GC or interviews, but they've been in the news bulletin straight after so far. It's been broadcast on time, too, unusually for E1. So not as good as a men's GT but similar to what E1 do for smaller races.


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## ColinJ (26 Jul 2022)

mjr said:


> Well, that's odd. The Eurosport broadcast highlights on E1 have been an hour and shown a few key sections of race to explain it, with the » symbol animation for big jumps. Not much preamble and no podium, GC or interviews, but they've been in the news bulletin straight after so far. It's been broadcast on time, too, unusually for E1. So not as good as a men's GT but similar to what E1 do for smaller races.



Not ON DEMAND though. If I want to pretend that it is a TV channel - yes. I want to watch at times that suit ME though, not Eurosport!

The men's TdF On Demand gave multiple options including the whole day coverage and the full-length highlights shows.


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## mjr (26 Jul 2022)

ColinJ said:


> Not ON DEMAND though. If I want to pretend that it is a TV channel - yes. I want to watch at times that suit ME though, not Eurosport!
> 
> The men's TdF On Demand gave multiple options including the whole day coverage and the full-length highlights shows.


If you had Eurosport TV channel, there are digital video recorders that let you watch at any later time that suits, on any screen with a compatible app.


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## ColinJ (27 Jul 2022)

mjr said:


> If you had Eurosport TV channel



I don't! 

I can live without recording it if they would just let me stream the original content later when I like. I don't understand why it is not always made possible, unless there is some weird rights issue.

The other annoyance is that I forgot to do my annual '_save money on Eurosport sub by cancelling and resubbing later_' thing. I usually get it for £20-£30 but my sub went out today for £40 without me realising that it was going to happen.


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## matticus (27 Jul 2022)

Has anyone tried TIZ cycling for streams/highlights?
[yes, you can shout at me about (copy)rights infringments etc ... ]


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## Dogtrousers (27 Jul 2022)

mjr said:


> Well, that's odd. The Eurosport broadcast highlights on E1 have been an hour and shown a few key sections of race to explain it, with the » symbol animation for big jumps. Not much preamble and no podium, GC or interviews, but they've been in the news bulletin straight after so far. It's been broadcast on time, too, unusually for E1. So not as good as a men's GT but similar to what E1 do for smaller races.


I now know I should have recorded the Eurosport highlights cos the highlights on GCN were really quite pants. And I find that really puzzling. Why go to the trouble of making a really short highlights? Are they trying to compete with the youtubers who do short-attention-span videos maybe?


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## T4tomo (27 Jul 2022)

ColinJ said:


> I don't!
> 
> I can live without recording it if they would just let me stream the original content later when I like. I don't understand why it is not always made possible, unless there is some weird rights issue.
> 
> The other annoyance is that I forgot to do my annual '_save money on Eurosport sub by cancelling and resubbing later_' thing. I usually get it for £20-£30 but my sub went out today for £40 without me realising that it was going to happen.



I had discovery plus sub rather than eurosport direct sub and there are all the hour highlight shows plus the 30 minute "breakaway" chats on there too? i.e.





so its not a rights issue as it all same ownership, just different platform - can you use eurosport login for D+


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## Peter Salt (27 Jul 2022)

Haven't seen anything about non-starters ahead of stage 4.

Still keeping my fingers crossed for Kasia's stage win but the pragmatic in me feels that SD Worx will want to bounce back with Kopecky or Moolman. Possible fight with AVV if she recovered from her illness? That said, punctures/mechanicals can completely flip the pack.


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## Dogtrousers (27 Jul 2022)

Maybe I was being an idiot and accidentally selected "crap highlights". Such things have been known to happen.


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## Peter Salt (27 Jul 2022)

Ooooh, all kicking off on the last gravel bit. Good entertainment if you're the one watching - not so much if you're racing


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## Donger (27 Jul 2022)

Really looking forward to the Saturday stage in the Vosges mountains. I stayed in Luttenbach-pres-Munster in 2018 and was lucky enough to get four bike rides in, taking in various parts of the route of a stage from the 2014 Tour de France. On Saturday, the TdF Femmes is covering many of the same climbs as I did back then ..... the Col du petit Ballon, the Col du Platzerwasel, the Markstein and the Grand Ballon. I think it is a shame that since 2014 the TdF seems to have become obsessed with the Planche des Belles Filles to the almost complete exclusion of all these other lovely climbs in the vicinity and the great views to be had...... over the vignoble d'Alsace and the Rhine valley from the Petit Ballon, views of the distant Alps from the Grand Ballon and surrounding views across the Vosges all along the beautiful Route des Cretes. I can thoroughly recommend the area for a cycling holiday and I'm looking forward to seeing it again on Saturday. I shall feel every pedal turn on those cat 1 climbs!


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## Mike_P (27 Jul 2022)

What a clown in the UAE car. Hope Garcia is okay and odds on someone bring thrown out aka the motorcyclists last week.


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## Dogtrousers (27 Jul 2022)

Mike_P said:


> What a clown in the UAE car. Hope Garcia is okay and odds on someone bring thrown out aka the motorcyclists last week.



Was it entirely his fault? I thought she cut across a bit sharpish. But I've not seen a zillion replays so I'm probably wrong.

Anyway I hope she's OK


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## 13 rider (27 Jul 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> Was it entirely his fault? I thought she cut across a bit sharpish. But I've not seen a zillion replays so I'm probably wrong.
> 
> Anyway I hope she's OK


I think she moved in but car should have probably backed off a bit 50/50 to me 
That stage was bonkers the gravel looked awful to ride . Not sure about gravel sections in stage races , you can't win the race on it but bad look can ruin it for you


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## Peter Salt (27 Jul 2022)

13 rider said:


> I think she moved in but car should have probably backed off a bit 50/50 to me
> That stage was bonkers the gravel looked awful to ride . Not sure about gravel sections in stage races , you can't win the race on it but bad look can ruin it for you


Agree on the car incident but lean towards the rider actually.

Gravel stages - same as cobble - bring them on. To be fair, we've seen more crashes on smooth tarmac than today.


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## Mike_P (27 Jul 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> I quite agree and I don't understand it. It's a streaming platform so why cut it so short? (I'm talking about the GCN+ highlights I presume these are the same as Eurosport on demand)



You can at least on GCN+ replay the whole race and skip through to point of interest.


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## alex_cycles (27 Jul 2022)

I have GCN+ and think it's well worth it for the no-ad coverage of the races. I might even cancel Virgin TV because the cycling is all I ever watched on it.

Have to say though, the coverage on the women's race seems a bit 2nd class. Also their support crews don't seem nearly as good as the men's. Hopefully that will improve. Just seemed a bit of a shambles, really. Hope I'm wrong.


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## steveindenmark (28 Jul 2022)

Peter Salt said:


> Honestly, was surprised that Cavalli got back on the bike so fast - she went down like a ton of bricks.



One of the most spectacular crashes in racing. She was going like a train. I was shocked that she got up and got on again.


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## Martinsnos (28 Jul 2022)

steveindenmark said:


> One of the most spectacular crashes in racing. She was going like a train. I was shocked that she got up and got on again.



For me (crash aside) it was the interviews, seemed very detached from what had gone on.


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## 13 rider (28 Jul 2022)

https://www.strava.com/activities/7538398596
Strava link for Evita Muzac for stage 4 . Wow


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## Peter Salt (28 Jul 2022)

Looking like another successful breakaway today


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## alex_cycles (28 Jul 2022)

Peter Salt said:


> Looking like another successful breakaway today



37s with 6.2km to go. Looks catchable if they work, but will they?


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## Peter Salt (28 Jul 2022)

alex_cycles said:


> 37s with 6.2km to go. Looks catchable if they work, but will they?


Full mobilisation in the peloton. Bit of a heartbreak.


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## alex_cycles (28 Jul 2022)

Peter Salt said:


> Full mobilisation in the peloton. Bit of a heartbreak.



Caught with 2.2km to go. They chewed up that gap


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## Peter Salt (28 Jul 2022)

Double stage win for Wiebes. DSM might want to rethink that contract


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## alex_cycles (28 Jul 2022)

Peter Salt said:


> Double stage win for Wiebes. DSM might want to rethink that contract



She seems to be in a class of her own on the sprint.


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## Peter Salt (28 Jul 2022)

I somehow missed Vos getting 4 bonus seconds... Can't wait for the mountains this weekend


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## Cathryn (28 Jul 2022)

So we are cycling through France at the moment and it’s fantastic obviously but I’m really missing out on watching the TDFF! Watching the GCN highlights (have found the extended 25-min ones) but it’s not the same! First world prob definitely, but still!! 

Found this today, as we cycled some of stage 5 of the men’s tour! I got very excited!


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## Peter Salt (28 Jul 2022)

Haven't seen anything from Longo Borghini on her navigational error. That was odd, wasn't it?


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## Mike_P (28 Jul 2022)

Peter Salt said:


> Haven't seen anything from Longo Borghini on her navigational error. That was odd, wasn't it?


Obviously had a Garmin not a Wahoo


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## Mike_P (28 Jul 2022)

Seen a suggestion that she followed a motorbike, obviously some distance ahead of that was the case.


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## alex_cycles (28 Jul 2022)

Mike_P said:


> Obviously had a Garmin not a Wahoo



Other way round in my experience.


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## Dogtrousers (29 Jul 2022)

alex_cycles said:


> Other way round in my experience.



GPS FIGHT!!


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## Dogtrousers (29 Jul 2022)

Lumpy bumpy classicsy day today. Is it lumpy enough for AVV to go on the attack? Is she actually in any condition to go on the attack?


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## mjr (29 Jul 2022)

Mike_P said:


> Seen a suggestion that she followed a motorbike, obviously some distance ahead of that was the case.


She doesn't mention it: "The main thing, it's that I didn't cause a crash, or injure any riders. This sort of thing can be dangerous. Sorry to the peloton. I don't know what happened. You can only laugh at me."

"It was my mistake. I knew the finish and I knew that I should go straight on but suddenly, I thought I had to turn left. I even panicked a little because I wasn't expecting this corner. [...] Sorry to everyone. I hope I gave you a good laugh."
https://www.dna.fr/tour-de-france/2...uillage-longo-borghini-espere-avoir-fait-rire


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## Dogtrousers (29 Jul 2022)

mjr said:


> She doesn't mention it: "The main thing, it's that I didn't cause a crash, or injure any riders. This sort of thing can be dangerous. Sorry to the peloton. I don't know what happened. You can only laugh at me."
> 
> "It was my mistake. I knew the finish and I knew that I should go straight on but suddenly, I thought I had to turn left. I even panicked a little because I wasn't expecting this corner. [...] Sorry to everyone. I hope I gave you a good laugh."
> https://www.dna.fr/tour-de-france/2...uillage-longo-borghini-espere-avoir-fait-rire


She had a brain fart.

It happens.


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## Peter Salt (29 Jul 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> Lumpy bumpy classicsy day today. Is it lumpy enough for AVV to go on the attack? Is she actually in any condition to go on the attack?


I honestly don't know any more. Did she still have the shoots yesterday? What is 80 seconds ahead of two mountain stages? Nothing!


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## Dogtrousers (29 Jul 2022)

Peter Salt said:


> I honestly don't know any more. Did she still have the shoots yesterday? What is 80 seconds ahead of two mountain stages? Nothing!



I don't know either, but people on Twitter, some of whom ought to know, describe her as "recovering" implying that her getting dropped on the sharper climbs earlier and scrambling back on was due to illness.


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## Peter Salt (29 Jul 2022)

Finally a proper-sized breakaway and gap growing. May get interesting, especially if half the peloton decides to save itself for the weekend.


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## Peter Salt (29 Jul 2022)

Really gutted for Wiebes, could have been a hat-trick


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## Dogtrousers (29 Jul 2022)

Va va Vos!


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## youngoldbloke (29 Jul 2022)

Have a free GCN+ pass, watching the race but finding the annoying over excited commentary really spoiling it for me.


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## Red17 (29 Jul 2022)

Watched most of it so far and from what I've seen Vos is always in front/clear of the crashes. 
A bit of luck or experience but I'd go with the latter.


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## alex_cycles (29 Jul 2022)

youngoldbloke said:


> Have a free GCN+ pass, watching the race but finding the annoying over excited commentary really spoiling it for me.



Agree. Marty is a prick. They want to get some decent commentators.


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## Dogtrousers (29 Jul 2022)

Everyone hates at least some cycling commentators. That's what they are there for.


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## alex_cycles (29 Jul 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> Everyone hates at least some cycling commentators. That's what they are there for.



I can understand the excitable tone of horse racing commentators. You can cope with that for 30s to 1 minute. Can't listen to it for three hours though.


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## Cathryn (29 Jul 2022)

I’m really enjoying the race, despite only managing to watch the extended highlights! Intrigued to see if AVV has any fire left for the mountains this weekend!


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## Peter Salt (29 Jul 2022)

Cathryn said:


> I’m really enjoying the race, despite only managing to watch the extended highlights! Intrigued to see if AVV has any fire left for the mountains this weekend!


The full coverage had a good interview with her today.

She said she's feeling 'normal' now, after the illness, and focusing on not loosing too much time before the two mountain stages where she's looking to bite back. She's not even hiding her plan


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## alex_cycles (29 Jul 2022)

Peter Salt said:


> The full coverage had a good interview with her today.
> 
> She said she's feeling 'normal' now, after the illness, and focusing on not loosing too much time before the two mountain stages where she's looking to bite back. She's not even hiding her plan



Sign of confidence


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## andrew_s (30 Jul 2022)

Annemiek doing Annemiek things.

On descent from Platzerwasel, peloton at 15 minutes, nearest chaser (Vollering) at 1m 30


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## Peter Salt (30 Jul 2022)

andrew_s said:


> Annemiek doing Annemiek things.
> 
> On descent from Platzerwasel, peloton at 15 minutes, nearest chaser (Vollering) at 1m 30


At this pace: She can stop, have dinner, take a few selfies, carry on and still win 

[EDIT]: Good battle for the podium. Go Kasia!


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## 13 rider (30 Jul 2022)

Coming back from sickness bug and you can still destroy the rest of the field awesome


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## Peter Salt (30 Jul 2022)

Quite a few riders will be fighting to make the cut.


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## andrew_s (30 Jul 2022)

Is there a clue what the time cut is?

The peloton was at 25 minute the last I heard.


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## Peter Salt (30 Jul 2022)

andrew_s said:


> Is there a clue what the time cut is?
> 
> The peloton was at 25 minute the last I heard.


~40 minutes

5 minutes to go, 14 riders still on course.


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## Dogtrousers (30 Jul 2022)

Looks like 7 riders were OTL


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## Dogtrousers (30 Jul 2022)

Lot of withdrawals today. Six OTL and five withdrawals on top of the two DNS (Wiebes and Reusser)
https://www.letourfemmes.fr/en/withdrawal


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## Peter Salt (30 Jul 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> Lot of withdrawals today. Six OTL and five withdrawals on top of the two DNS (Wiebes and Reusser)
> https://www.letourfemmes.fr/en/withdrawal


Pretty sure one rider was so far behind, still going half an hour after the cut-off ended, that she withdrew. But yeah, 33 out so far from a field of 144.


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## Domus (30 Jul 2022)

A v V using gold chain and gold cassette. 
Must be good stuff. 👍😊


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## alex_cycles (30 Jul 2022)

Wow. Marianne Vos lost 24 minutes to AVV. Did I miss a crash in the highlights or is she really not much of a climber?


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## Mike_P (30 Jul 2022)

Was a day that showed who the climbers were but even then the tenth rider was 10:10 behind and Vos was 49th in a group from 39th to 69th


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## Dogtrousers (30 Jul 2022)

alex_cycles said:


> Wow. Marianne Vos lost 24 minutes to AVV. Did I miss a crash in the highlights or is she really not much of a climber?



Not so much of a climber these days although I'm sure I remember her winning mountain stages in the Giro Donne.

I think she just decided "job done, rest day today. Over to you Annemiek".


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## alex_cycles (30 Jul 2022)

I think AVV will enjoy tomorrow if she has something left in the tank...


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## Cathryn (31 Jul 2022)

Caught up last night and what a stage!!! The other women looked exhausted at the end, saw pics of Elisa Longo Borghini being lifted off her bike! We have a rest day today so I get to watch the finale live!


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## Peter Salt (31 Jul 2022)

alex_cycles said:


> I think AVV will enjoy tomorrow if she has something left in the tank...
> 
> View attachment 655030


AVV looked unbelievably fresh and can go hard today as well.

There will be a battle for the remaining podium places though. To me it looked like Vollering gave it all yesterday and the question is if she's able to recover. I'm hoping Niewiadoma left something in the tank and will grab that 2nd


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## GuyBoden (31 Jul 2022)

Vos is human after all. Well done Annemiek van Vleuten, can she do the same again today.


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## Peter Salt (31 Jul 2022)

Movistar looking like amateurs with that bike change... A bit of excitement ahead of the first climb bit I don't think it will affect the result


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## Dogtrousers (31 Jul 2022)

T4tomo said:


> I went with "Quinty Schoens" on that very basis
> ​



Quinty Schoens featured in commentary! She was on the front of the group containing AVV ... but then the adverts came on.


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## alex_cycles (31 Jul 2022)

Peter Salt said:


> Movistar looking like amateurs with that bike change... A bit of excitement ahead of the first climb bit I don't think it will affect the result



I've found generally that the support crews don't look as slick as I'm used to seeing, but I haven't watched many women's races. Perhaps it's a money thing that will improve?


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## T4tomo (31 Jul 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> Quinty Schoens featured in commentary! She was on the front of the group containing AVV ... but then the adverts came on.



sadly not worth a point in velogames


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## Peter Salt (31 Jul 2022)

Wohoho... All kicking off with 5k to go. Who will make it? Who will explode? No need to save yourself for tomorrow now!


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## alex_cycles (31 Jul 2022)

Peter Salt said:


> Wohoho... All kicking off with 5k to go. Who will make it? Who will explode? No need to save yourself for tomorrow now!



She chewed up and spat out the breakaway very quickly didn't she?


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## Dogtrousers (31 Jul 2022)

Phew. I'm knackered.


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## alex_cycles (31 Jul 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> Phew. I'm knackered.



I know. That last climb was exhausting. Although I must admit, I giggled when the motorbike fell over.


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## Dogtrousers (31 Jul 2022)

Interesting fact I just learned from Twitter. When AVV pulled on the yellow jersey yesterday it was the first time for 14 years that a Movistar rider had been in yellow.


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## Dogtrousers (31 Jul 2022)

Congratulations to @Cathryn for winning the velogames league. Especially for doing so without the overall winner.


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## Cathryn (1 Aug 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> Congratulations to @Cathryn for winning the velogames league. Especially for doing so without the overall winner.



Woah!!! I had no idea! This made my day!!!! Quitting teaching now to become a DS!


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## Mike_P (1 Aug 2022)

Clearly the way to win TdF and TdFF is to have a stupid bike change in one stage although leaving it to the last shows up Movistars lack of organisation


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## Dogtrousers (1 Aug 2022)

Mike_P said:


> Clearly the way to win TdF and TdFF is to have a stupid bike change in one stage although leaving it to the last shows up Movistars lack of organisation



I'd forgotten the JV comedy bike change. Seems so long ago.


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## matticus (1 Aug 2022)

alex_cycles said:


> I've found generally that the support crews don't look as slick as I'm used to seeing, but I haven't watched many women's races. Perhaps it's a money thing that will improve?



Seems quite likely.

The 1984 winner didn't have a team mechanic when they started the race - someone got hired part-way through!


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## GuyBoden (1 Aug 2022)

Another great ride by Annemiek van Vleuten. Easily outclassed the rest overall.


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## Peter Salt (1 Aug 2022)

What a loss it will be when she retires next year. Maybe she'll reconsider?


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## 13 rider (1 Aug 2022)

https://www.strava.com/activities/7560652031
AvV Strava for the last stage , unsurprisingly QOM for the last climb (151 all time ) if I read the QOM leaderboard correctly someone has held the QOM for 10 years and only AvV and Demi beat her time !


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## Mike_P (1 Aug 2022)

13 rider said:


> https://www.strava.com/activities/7560652031
> AvV Strava for the last stage , unsurprisingly QOM for the last climb (151 all time ) if I read the QOM leaderboard correctly someone has held the QOM for 10 years and only AvV and Demi beat her time !



The someone being Roxsolt Liv SRAMs Australian Carlee Taylor


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## Dogtrousers (1 Aug 2022)

What did we learn from that?

(Warning, may contain stupid opinions)

It was exciting to watch, and attracted plenty of attention. All in all a success. And something to build on. But ...

... AvV just totally marmalising everyone (except for Vollering whom she just slightly marmalised) is a bit of a problem. She's done the same, or very similar, in the past on the Zoncolan in the Giro Rosa. I don't think it's only because she's very very good, (which she undeniably is). It might be because the most prestigious women's races tend to be the classics meaning that there isn't so much reason for riders to train for big climbs. If the TdFF is going dominate the calendar will it drive a change in women's racing overall? And could that actually be a problem?

... why was there so much excitement about this while the Giro Rosa/Donne has been going for quite a while and tends not to get the same buzz? It even got into trouble with the UCI a couple of years back for not being televised enough, presumably because it couldn't make it pay. I guess the answer to that is the marketing power of the magic words "Tour de France" and the might of ASO.

I guess another question is what women's racing should be aiming for? Is the ultimate aim 21 day tours just like the men's or should it be aiming for its own, distinctive, events? After all, you could spin it as a positive that it's not burdened down with "tradition".

I don't know the answers to any of these questions. And some of them may be daft questions as they're based on my wonky opinions.


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## alex_cycles (1 Aug 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> ... why was there so much excitement about this while the Giro Rosa/Donne has been going for quite a while and tends not to get the same buzz? It even got into trouble with the UCI a couple of years back for not being televised enough, presumably because it couldn't make it pay. I guess the answer to that is the marketing power of the magic words "Tour de France" and the might of ASO.



This year the Giro Donne was on at the same time as the Tour de France. If they wanted people to watch it, perhaps not putting it on at the same time as the largest sporting event in the world might be sensible. Just sayin' 

We all agreed how exhausting watching the last two stages of the TdF Femmes was. I don't think I have the capacity to watch two major Tours at once. (Maybe with some more training I could up my game a bit?)


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## 13 rider (1 Aug 2022)

Mike_P said:


> The someone being Roxsolt Liv SRAMs Australian Carlee Taylor


Apologies I didn't know the name . Done a bit of googling and she set the QOM during the route de France race in 2012 finishing 3rd on the stage


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## Dogtrousers (1 Aug 2022)

alex_cycles said:


> This year the Giro Donne was on at the same time as the Tour de France. If they wanted people to watch it, perhaps not putting it on at the same time as the largest sporting event in the world might be sensible. Just sayin'
> 
> We all agreed how exhausting watching the last two stages of the TdF Femmes was. I don't think I have the capacity to watch two major Tours at once. (Maybe with some more training I could up my game a bit?)



Yes, that's a perennial problem.


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## Peter Salt (1 Aug 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> AvV just totally marmalising everyone (except for Vollering whom she just slightly marmalised) is a bit of a problem. She's done the same, or very similar, in the past on the Zoncolan in the Giro Rosa. I don't think it's only because she's very very good, (which she undeniably is). It might be because the most prestigious women's races tend to be the classics meaning that there isn't so much reason for riders to train for big climbs. If the TdFF is going dominate the calendar will it drive a change in women's racing overall? And could that actually be a problem?


I hope no one takes this the wrong way, but as a fan of women's cycling, this is something I'm a bit used to.

The underlying reason (I think) is that despite being called a 'PRO' there's a huge chunk of the peloton that is 'semi-PRO' - they either make their living doing something else or did something really well early in their life to be able to focus on cycling full time or came from different sports. I believe AvV only started cycling in her late 20s herself. So we have Tadej Pogacar who is 23 and has 14 years of experience in racing and on the other side AvV who is 39 and has... 14 years of experience in racing.

It's just a lifecycle of a discipline - people get interested so media gets involved so sponsors get their wallets out so now potential competitors can get paid enough to consider making a living out of it. The more people interested, the more media, the more money, the more pay, the more competitive the field.



Dogtrousers said:


> Why was there so much excitement about this while the Giro Rosa/Donne has been going for quite a while and tends not to get the same buzz? It even got into trouble with the UCI a couple of years back for not being televised enough, presumably because it couldn't make it pay. I guess the answer to that is the marketing power of the magic words "Tour de France" and the might of ASO.


Of course it's the name/prestige, it's the frigging Tour!  The pecking order of cycling events has long been established. Also, there's definitely a bit of sorting out to do on the calendar front of the women's events. Making sure they're properly apart and ideally not overlap men's races.



Dogtrousers said:


> I guess another question is what women's racing should be aiming for? Is the ultimate aim 21 day tours just like the men's or should it be aiming for its own, distinctive, events? After all, you could spin it as a positive that it's not burdened down with "tradition".


Not sure about 21 days but I would love to see it increase. The fact alone that AvV was able to claim the Giro win and 2 weeks later the TdF to me proves that they can go harder - longer stages, more climbing, more days, an ITT. Maybe 13 stages with 1 rest day?


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## Dogtrousers (1 Aug 2022)

The Giro Rosa/TdF clash may be resolved ... possibly.

Lappartient: _“We’re working with the Giro d’Italia Donne to think about another date for 2023,” Lappartient said during a visit to the men’s Tour de France. “Also for the visibility of the ladies to have this race during the Tour de France it’s quite difficult to be seen, and the Giro d’Italia Donne is also a wonderful race._ https://www.velonews.com/news/road/...july-under-potential-calendar-changes-by-uci/



Peter Salt said:


> The underlying reason (I think) is that despite being called a 'PRO' there's a huge chunk of the peloton that is 'semi-PRO' - they either make their living doing something else or did something really well early in their life to be able to focus on cycling full time or came from different sports. I believe AvV only started cycling in her late 20s herself. So we have Tadej Pogacar who is 23 and has 14 years of experience in racing and on the other side AvV who is 39 and has... 14 years of experience in racing.


The fact that there is a big gap between the stars and the average team rider is explained by that. But it wasn't a just bunch of semi-pro domestiques that AvV marmalised (and has marmalised in the past), it was also the cream of the crop. 

I could be wrong but it seems to me that most of the stars and rising stars seem to be better suited to the Amstel Gold or Tour of Flanders or Strade Bianche than big days out in the mountains. Quite why Annemiek is so good ... I don't have an answer for that


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## alex_cycles (1 Aug 2022)

Dogtrousers said:


> I could be wrong but it seems to me that most of the stars and rising stars seem to be better suited to the Amstel Gold or Tour of Flanders or Strade Bianche than big days out in the mountains. Quite why Annemiek is so good ... I don't have an answer for that



For the last two years everyone thought Pogacar was unbeatable


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## cwskas (2 Aug 2022)

I watched the replay everyday. What impressive riding! Very inspiring! Beautiful scenery shots from the helicopter also.


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