criterium du daupine (spoilers)

[Jimidh]

Kirby referring to Thomas as "G" annoys me more than all the other Kirbyisms added together and multiplied by 10.

 

[smutchin]

He'd got quite a Palamares already with Paris-Nice and now the Dauphine as well as one day and track success.

He’d have done much better on the road if he hadn’t spent so much of his career fannying about on the track. He won Paris-Roubaix Juniors and clearly had the potential to win the grown-up version as well if he’d put his mind to it.

He’s done very well on the track, obviously, but there’s no doubt it has stopped him achieving his full potential on the road.

 

[Crackle]

I don't mind Thomas referring to himself as such, or his mates doing so. But not a race commentator.

I've become so used to Kirby, I don't even notice when he mangles names, eh hundhosen.

 

[Foghat]

Watching today's stage on Eurosport, I was pleased to see that the rough patches on the lower section of the Cormet de Roselend descent have been resurfaced, some time after August 2017 when I last rode it, obviously on account of the impending return of the Tour de France to what's possibly my favourite Alpine climb.

Should make my annual pilgrimage to Bourg St Maurice and its environs even more enjoyable this August, as some of those ruts were severe and quite vicious at Alpine-descending speed, especially when difficult to see in the shadows, or when traffic coming the other way prevented avoidance.

Well I can report that the resurfacing on the dodgy lower section of the descent has indeed eradicated the arrse-clench-inducing vicious ruts, making the Roselend descent even more enjoyable. Today, though, the middle very technical section of the descent was in heavyish rain, so significant extra caution was required. The very fast top section was dry and as fast as usual, though. Interesting that the resurfacing was largely only conducted on the descending half of the road - that's where most of the ruts were, so I guess there was a cost-saving opportunity by only resurfacing one side of the road.

Cormet de Roselend aficionados will remember what happened on the southern descent to Bourg in 1996, when Johan Bruyneel (spit) sailed off into space at a particularly dodgy bend, somehow managing to avoid serious injury going down a hefty vertical drop. I always have a good look over the precipice and down what he fell down every time I go by, marvelling at how much it would hurt if luck wasn't with you that day, and I make sure I refresh my memory as to the precise location of the bend for when I come back down from the top.

Rare for me, I actually stopped during a descent, and took some photos of the gruesome bend. It's difficult to tell from the images, but if you don't grab hold of some robust vegetation to arrest your fall after going over here, it's a very big drop and highly likely to be curtains for you.