Tour De France 2021 with spoilers

[Beebo]

The overhead shots of the peloton in a tight bunch shoulder to shoulder looks so sketchy.
Then you realise they are doing 50kph and most of them have already fallen off this week.
My nerves would be shredded.

 

[Beebo]

Number of riders on a team has reduced from 10 to 9 (effective 1987) to 8 in 2018. Do wonder if there should be a case of substitutes being allowed subject to being marked down such that they are ruled out of the jersey competitions.

It might work with verifiable broken bones but just being tired isn’t going to be enough for a substitute IMO.
There would always be one team seeking marginal gains!😁

 

[Adam4868]

Ewan out with fractured collarbone.

 

[BalkanExpress]

Ewan out with fractured collarbone.

That is a real pity.

Jacky Durand on French Eurosport did a frame by frame analysis, as Merlier got our of the saddle to sprint hus bike obviously swung from side to side and clipped Ewen so one of those things. He was, however, very carefully not suggesting that Sagan had nudged Ewen into a position where there was no space

 

[LarryDuff]

Number of riders on a team has reduced from 10 to 9 (effective 1987) to 8 in 2018. Do wonder if there should be a case of substitutes being allowed subject to being marked down such that they are ruled out of the jersey competitions.

But this year there are 23 teams, one more than the previous years

 

[hoopdriver]

Number of riders on a team has reduced from 10 to 9 (effective 1987) to 8 in 2018. Do wonder if there should be a case of substitutes being allowed subject to being marked down such that they are ruled out of the jersey competitions.

You’d suddenly find a huge turnover of sick and injured domestiques with GC contenders getting a fresh supporting cast every week

 

[andrew_s]

Jacky Durand on French Eurosport did a frame by frame analysis, as Merlier got our of the saddle to sprint hus bike obviously swung from side to side and clipped Ewen so one of those things. He was, however, very carefully not suggesting that Sagan had nudged Ewen into a position where there was no space

Merlier kept straight, but getting out of the saddle always moves the rear wheel back a bit.
That would lead to Ewen's front wheel overlapping Merlier's rear wheel, and if there isn't wobble room, Ewen goes down. Every cyclist ought to know not to overlap wheels unless there's a good amount of lateral space.

Yes, Sagan had nudged Ewen over so there wasn't space to try to go round Merlier on either side - barriers to the right, Sagan on the left. It's called tactics, and meant that Ewen would have to wait until either Merlier or Sagan jumped before he could go. As it was, Ewen was a bit too keen, and overlapped wheels.

 

[Eziemnaik]

You’d suddenly find a huge turnover of sick and injured domestiques with GC contenders getting a fresh supporting cast every week

I like what Sean Kelly wrote about this - pro cyclists are LESS healthy than back in the days. They stay at their peak for months on end. They look compared to him, Hinault or Merckx emaciated. In the end, body is not able to withstand any sort of accident.
https://www.seankellycycling.com/blog/seans-concerns-for-todays-riders

 

[Cathryn]

I like what Sean Kelly wrote about this - pro cyclists are LESS healthy than back in the days. They stay at their peak for months on end. They look compared to him, Hinault or Merckx emaciated. In the end, body is not able to withstand any sort of accident.
https://www.seankellycycling.com/blog/seans-concerns-for-todays-riders

Does the man not like apostrophes?

 

[hoopdriver]

Eh?

 

[Cathryn]

Eh?

Look at his headline 😆

 

[Venod]

Merlier kept straight, but getting out of the saddle always moves the rear wheel back a bit.

The back wheel doesn't move back, the bike slows a little, and the wheel appears to move back to the rider behind who isn't slowing, for the wheel to move back the bike it has to stop and the wheel start turning the other way.

 

[hoopdriver]

Look at his headline 😆

He wouldn't have written the headline

 

[Cathryn]

He wouldn't have written the headline

It's his blog, not a newspaper.

I'm only having some fun though - he's a great writer and raises excellent points.

 

[hoopdriver]

I used to comment on grammatical slip-ups but no longer. Auto-correct, even when one has it switched off, has a way of introducing errors in even the most conscientious writer’s copy - especially with apostrophes, inserting them where they don’t belong and removing them where they do.