Tour de France 2016 **SPOILERS**

[seraphina]

Sagan and Contador are both Tinkoff, aren't they? How long before Contandor's GC ambitions are discarded to help get Sagan on the front of as many stages as possible?

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

Seeing as it's quiet, here are some snaps from the start of Stage 2 at St Lô. We managed to hang around the team bus park and I geeked out on the bikes while my ride chum Jim fought his way to the Dimension Data and Sky barriers to harass the riders. Getting to the départ was just too tight with bikes.

The quality of your photographs is exceptional. You should be a press photographer.

Thanks for taking the trouble to share - I really enjoyed looking at them.

Graham

 

[smutchin]

Didn't realise until I just read it on the official website that this year is Sylvain Chavanel's 16th consecutive Tour, and he has only DNF twice. Superb achievement by one of my all-time favourite riders. The first time he came to my attention was when he did a monster turn on the front of the peloton to singlehandedly reel in the breakaway on a long, dull transitional stage some time in the early 2000s. Totally typical of the selfless professional he is. I've long felt he's never really been given the opportunity to fulfil his true potential - and that he might have fared much better if he'd been riding in a different era.

Those other long-stayers in full:
Joop Zoetemelk - 16 finishes from 16 starts
Stuart O'Grady - 15 finishes from 17 starts
Jens Voigt - 14 finishes from 17 starts
George Hincapie - 13 finishes from 17 starts
Lucien van Impe & Viatcheslav Ekimov - 15 finishes from 15 starts

 

[brommers]

Who will be KOM after today?

 

[smutchin]

Who will be KOM after today?

My money is on a breakaway rider mopping up the points before they're caught on the final climb. Teklehaimanot?

 

[brommers]

Teklehaimanot?

Yes. He's been pretty quiet so far.

 

[smutchin]

Yes. He's been pretty quiet so far.

Hasn't really been much to interest him yet. He's done some good work as a domestique for Cav though.

The other possibility for Dimension Data today is Cummings...

 

[smutchin]

Looks like Stuyven is up for defending his jersey - took the point for the first 4th cat climb (after 16km). No proper breakaway group has formed yet though and it's a loooong stage, next categorised climb comes at 142km...

 

[Pale Rider]

Has Sagan got any chance of winning the race?

I rather like the way he comes over on the telly, so if Froome doesn't win, Sagan is the rider I'd most like to see succeed.

 

[Shadow]

Didn't realise until I just read it on the official website that this year is Sylvain Chavanel's 16th consecutive Tour...

Wow, that is super impressive. Hansen cannot be far behind but not sure he can equal this.

 

[Shadow]

Has Sagan got any chance of winning the race?

Simply, no. He cannot climb like the climbers e.g. Foome, Quintana etc.

 

[smutchin]

Wow, that is super impressive. Hansen cannot be far behind but not sure he can equal this.

Hansen didn't ride his first Tour until 2008, so this is only his seventh visit. However, he has ridden - and finished - every edition of every Grand Tour since the 2011 Vuelta, which is itself a phenomenally impressive achievement. If he finishes the Tour, that will be number 15.

 

[smutchin]

Front of the race | 137.90 km to go | 9 riders including: VAN AVERMAET, Greg (BMC), PAUWELS, Serge (DDD), SICARD, Romain (DEN), GAUTIER, Cyril (ALM), GRIVKO, Andriy (AST), HUZARSKI, Bartosz (BOA), VACHON, Florian (FVC), DE GENDT, Thomas (LTS), MAJKA, Rafal (TNK)

 

[Crackle]

Front of the race | 137.90 km to go | 9 riders including: VAN AVERMAET, Greg (BMC), PAUWELS, Serge (DDD), SICARD, Romain (DEN), GAUTIER, Cyril (ALM), GRIVKO, Andriy (AST), HUZARSKI, Bartosz (BOA), VACHON, Florian (FVC), DE GENDT, Thomas (LTS), MAJKA, Rafal (TNK)

Some big names in there. I thought about Majka as he's what, 14 minutes down but somehow I think Etixx will be looking to bring that lot back.

 

[Bollo]

The quality of your photographs is exceptional. You should be a press photographer.

Thanks for taking the trouble to share - I really enjoyed looking at them.

Graham

Thanks Graham, that's really appreciated. I do enjoy photography but can't take a portrait for toffee, whereas sports photography forces you to be spontaneous. But, there's a world of difference between making a career from pictures and doing it for fun.

If you check out my pictures of the riders coming through on the first day, you'll see (I think) Graham Watson in the upper floor window of one of the houses.