Tour de France 2024 SPOILERS

[Dogtrousers]

Not unless Pogačar has extreme unluck.

Or has a bad day and cracks as he has in previous years.

But there's no sign of that being at all likely so far. In fact if any of the top 3 has looked wobbly it was maybe Vingo yesterday. And if nobody has a spectacularly bad day then most we can can expect is maybe Remco chipping away at Jonas' time. But even then it's a big ask for him to get close enough to be able to overhaul him in the TT.

 

[T4tomo]

brilliantly named Cote des Demoiselles Coifees.

and we thought Cote de Buttertubs was odd, That is fully bizarre.

Ah although it translates literally as Ladies Hairstyles, it lteral translation is Fairy Chimneys which relates to some rock formations can also get a wine of same name

 

[Adam4868]

Wow loved that win by Victor Campenaerts ! Didn't think he had that by his body language on the bike in the last 10k...perfect blag to nick it from Kwiato.
'I have a bright future... I became a father... it was like blue skies. Only blue skies. I started to feel very good on the bike.’
Dont get me teary Vic 😍

 

[Cathryn]

“My girlfriend is the hero in this story’”. What an interview! I was weepy!

 

[TomDW]

Really enjoyed the last 2 stages. Carapaz had such bad luck last year and has been fighting this tour so well deserved.
VictorC played it so cool

 

[rich p]

Cav's post ride interview with Matt Stephens was vintage Cav!

 

[ColinJ]

Wow loved that win by Victor Campenaerts ! Didn't think he had that by his body language on the bike in the last 10k...perfect blag to nick it from Kwiato.
'I have a bright future... I became a father... it was like blue skies. Only blue skies. I started to feel very good on the bike.’
Dont get me teary Vic 😍

I enjoyed it too. It was great to see a humble hard-working rider like him finally get a TdF road stage win.



PS Did anybody else spot the stuck pixel in the centre of the picture on the ITV coverage? I was upset because I thought it was a defect on my super-duper OLED TV but it disappeared when they switched to another shot. I saw it again later in the coverage - I think the defect was actually on one of the cameras used.

 

[Shadow]

Oh wow. What a great stage. So happy for Campanaerts, one of cyclings good guys gets a long deserved reward.

 

[Adam4868]

Monster of a stage today...Queen stage ? Anyway highest of the Tour and three huge climbs at high altitude,last chance for anyone to try and really crack Pog.Watching his interviews last night Pogi has been training here and wants this stage for himself. Nobody's going to spoil his fun are they 😁

 

[T4tomo]

Wow loved that win by Victor Campenaerts ! Didn't think he had that by his body language on the bike in the last 10k...perfect blag to nick it from Kwiato.
'I have a bright future... I became a father... it was like blue skies. Only blue skies. I started to feel very good on the bike.’
Dont get me teary Vic 😍

Yes brilliant, was pretty much his last chance ever of a GT stage win as he's going to Visma to be Vingo's bitch, where he wont be allowed to go on a sortie off up the road or go full gas in an ITT. Kwiat cant begrudge him that, he also did a huge amount of work (as ever) keeping those 3 clear of the pack.

i loved that the ITV4 playout music selected was "Is Vic there?"

 

[Mo1959]

Anyone else think that this has been one of the best Tours yet? So excited to watch two epic mountain stages and then finish up with a time trial instead of the usual boring procession.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Anyone else think that this has been one of the best Tours yet? So excited to watch two epic mountain stages and then finish up with a time trial instead of the usual boring procession.

Agree that it's been pretty epic so far and still has more to offer.

Regarding the final day TT ... Well we'll see what the time gaps are. Theres not much more boring than a TT when there's nothing at stake. But if the margins are narrow it could become interesting. But as things stand they aren't.

Personally I've never found the Champs Elysées sprint boring. All the farting around taking photos before the racing starts can be skipped. It's just an extended neutral zone.

 

[T4tomo]

Agree that it's been pretty epic so far and still has more to offer.

Regarding the final day TT ... Well we'll see what the time gaps are. Theres not much more boring than a TT when there's nothing at stake. But if the margins are narrow it could become interesting. But as things stand they aren't.

Personally I've never found the Champs Elysées sprint boring. All the farting around taking photos before the racing starts can be skipped. It's just an extended neutral zone.

Indeed, the 8 laps of Paris are normally pretty decent as the pace picks up as they go on, and the sprint is usually a good one. A yellow clad Wiggo leading out Cav was a highlight for me!

The final TT will resolve a few places at best so most rides and time gaps will be irrelevant, but there will maybe some crucial battles with a dozen or so riders riding it flat out, and the rest cruising it.

 

[BrumJim]

Never a big fan of final stage TTs. Yes, it worked in TdF in 1989 and the Giro in 2020, but mostly the Grand Tours are resolved well before the final stage. And even in the 2020 Giro, Tao Geoghegan Hart never got the chance to ride in the pink jersey and show it off as he only led the classification after the last stage.

 

[Jameshow]

Never a big fan of final stage TTs. Yes, it worked in TdF in 1989 and the Giro in 2020, but mostly the Grand Tours are resolved well before the final stage. And even in the 2020 Giro, Tao Geoghegan Hart never got the chance to ride in the pink jersey and show it off as he only led the classification after the last stage.

What happened in 89?!🤔🤣