Tour de France 2013

Wiggins out:

Sky confirmed the news in a release sent out to the media, which pointed to a lingering chest infection and an ongoing knee injury as the cause.

“With illness, injury and treatment Brad has gone past the point where he can be ready for the Tour,” team Principal Dave Brailsford said. “It’s a big loss but, given these circumstances, we won’t consider him for selection.”

How very convenient.

people, it's less than a week away!!

http://youtu.be/mgkkU-TRwvY

HE'S READY

sagan, cav and greipel all won national titles on the weekend too.

no Prologue this year so Cav v Sagan v Greipel is on from the first day
three time trials including one team tt, all around 30km long so shortish
Bastille Day is the longest stage and ends with a climb up Ventoux
the monster stage though is on the 18th with a double ascent up d'Huez, ouch
Froome looked imperious at the Dauphine, kinda hard to see who can beat him atm

Cav won from a break so a sagan green jersey whitewash may not be the foregone conclusion everyone thinks.

HE'S READY

http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/images/News/Mark%20Cavendish%20becomes%20British%20champion%20(picture%20Vaughn%20Ridely,%20SWPIX.com).jpg

HE'S READY

after the puppy photo i spend all year looking forward to this, you have no idea

Although it's more of an outside bet, Kittel leading out Degenkolb would be worth a punt on the first day.

After many solid years' worth of doping scandals, is the Tour now reduced to a midget among sporting events?

never!!

Dopey McHairplugs, HE'S READY

http://www.alejandrovalverde.es/imagenes/eventos/e2vn0l5x.rs3Eventos%206.jpg

Actually Valverde looks like the weak link in an otherwise impressive MoviSky lineup, might still podium.

HIS GIRLFRIEND IS READY, he's pretty chill about the whole think

http://cdn.mos.bikeradar.com/images/news/2013/04/28/1367163364022-1p1a7ncgq8h9q-280-75.jpg

http://bicycling.com/blogs/theselection/2013/06/07/an-immodest-proposal-for-doping-closure/

Armstrong:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Hey <a href="https://twitter.com/TrueBS";>@TrueBS</a> - I'm in. <a href="http://t.co/mYW8OktC7X";>http://t.co/mYW8OktC7X<;/a></p>— Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong) <a href="https://twitter.com/lancearmstrong/statuses/343137862910353409";>June 7, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

THEY'RE READY (although possibly not Robert Gesink who fell off yet again during national champs)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9P62y-FzC0

This is pretty neat: The Social Peloton

HE'S READY

http://cdn.media.cyclingnews.com//2013/06/27/2/bettiniphoto_0147929_1_full_220.jpg

although OPQS don't look like they were ready for the GB National chamions jersey, it looks very old school.

HE'S READY and finally there are some competitive frenchmen

http://cdn.media.cyclingnews.com/2013/06/27/2/bettiniphoto_0147905_1_full_670.jpg

HE'S NOT READY

http://cdn.media.cyclingnews.com/2013/06/27/2/bettiniphoto_0147952_1_full_670.jpg

Ha ha.

I had to use up some annual leave by the end of the month so have taken off the week beginning 8th July. I'll do something worthwhile on the rest day, but the rest of the week...

They're barely touching the Pyrenees this year, feels a bit odd, but I do rather like the look of the stages.

He's... scarily skinny

http://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/large/785267177.png

Here he is with David Kinjah, the Kenian to which his mother brougt him to focus his cycling efforts.
http://s7.img.humo.be/q90/w560/h/img_888/888497.jpg

not much margin for error when you're that skinny. no wonder wiggo seems to be saying "never again".

the real yardstick for schleck's form was at liege, the one other race he properly gives a fuck about - he finished a minute back with the likes of valverde (one of the favourites). it was remarkable because it wasn't. add to that the work he's done in the breaks at the tours of cali and suisse... he can be a protagonist in the mountains at least.

HE'S TIRED AND UNCOMFORTABLE AND WILL NEED A LIE DOWN AFTER THE PYRENEES

http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2013/05/20/1226646/387802-cadel-evans.jpg

needs puppeh

Much happier with Puppeh

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2008/07/31/470cadeldogstuffedlion,0.jpg

fully behind replacing podium girls with puppies and/or stuffed animals

départ!

http://www.dr.dk/NR/rdonlyres/3C931648-DD62-42B4-85E0-023CBC82A1E0/5260686/6435494a7bb24a24b3dd94b8de2bdc67_fc90641778ab44eb9.jpg

Corsica? 'Course, he can.

Much happier with Puppeh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fe79ZuDKfk

There's a bus stuck on the finish line. Phil Liggett is commentating on efforts to get a bus unstuck from underneath a banner.

OK, now we've seen what the 3km banner (the proposed new finish looks like. The line is in front of a bend in the road. Like, right in front of it. This is going to be terrifying.

THE BUS IS MOVING!

Crash! Cav and Sagan caught up!

wow big crash! bus now unwedged. Exciting!

mental

what a farce. nice win for Kitten

was that really millar contesting the sprint for garmin?

Insane stage!

http://i.imgur.com/VklsgU7.jpg

That was a bit of a disaster

That was hilarious. Also, must go on holiday to Corsica ASAP.

that was probably the best stage of the entire Tour.

they should do the bus thing every stage.

It brought excellent Mild Peril factor.

http://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/large/785859154.gif

Best gif ever.

Good finish today! I was on the edge of my seat willing him on in those final moments.

Good stage in general. If this turns into the Froome and Evans show I won't be disappointed.

That was a great finish - I was doing that sofa peddling thing for the last 2k (or is it just me who does that?)

I'd love to see Millar get a day in yellow. If he can hang on through today I reckon he's got a pretty good chance in the TTT.

I think he has to do it today, can't see Garmin beating Sky and Movisky in the TTT.

Yeh, fab finish yesterday. The wall of riders bearing down on Jan Bakelants as he approached the line was terrifying. Great Tour moment.

xpost

such an awesome finish...I have a sickening love of the TdF

Anyone know how to pronounce Kennaugh? I'm hearing Kenna, Kenya, Kennogg...

Phil Liggett outs self as chaff enthusiast during Simon Clarke's attack: "Maybe he thinks it's time to get rid of the wheat!"

Sagan's PUA goatee - in character, but ewww.

Anyone know how to pronounce Kennaugh? I'm hearing Kenna, Kenya, Kennogg...

I read in the cycling press a few years ago that it's supposed to be pronounced 'ken-yuk', but I don't think I've heard anyone use that pronunciation. As a rule of thumb, however Phil Liggett says it will be wrong.

Excellent rule. Maillot zhorn and that.

Free Ted King!

^second this

greenedge have won three stages if you count the bus!

Le Tour is usually the most boring and overhyped of the 3 grand tours, but I have to admit this year's edition has been quite entertaining.

Nailed on for Cav?

Feeling tense...

YES!

Shit - where did that crash come from? I was watching the front

Did cadel go down? A lot of BMC on the deck.

That was a long sprint and Cav still dominated despite recovering from bronchitis.

Must read: http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/07/news/the-oldest-tour-rookie-of-the-modern-era-svein-tuft-is-a-rider-like-no-other_293692

Surprised that Paul Sherwen's head hasn't exploded yet considering we have a South African in yellow. Maybe it will when Froome gets the yellow.

I love Svein Tuft. I'm kind of in awe of OGE's this week: from tour bus pantomime to Gerrans' "matemanship" they have made the first seven days most enjoyable.

I hope Quintana can keep this up all the way

loving Quintana right now.

I hear he was born at 3000m. Several times.

yes, the way he went away from Rolland there just as he caught him was incredible, but remember, he was born at 3000 ft so nbd.

So that wasn't a particularly well-timed ad break...

aaargh. just about to say the same thing. fucking wiis.

I, er, just dozed off on the sofa. I see the situation has changed somewhat.

if yr watching itv you didn't miss much as we went into an ad break with Quintana in front and looking good and came out of it to find the Froome Exoskeleton eating up the mountain.

Ha! A ploy to boost ratings for the highlights show no doubt.

well that was straight up humiliating for everyone not on sky really, their near-unknown third string guy put you to heel, their second string guy broke you to pieces, and their first stringer tap danced finaled on your graves.

KENNAUGHWATCH:

Boardman, Imlach: "Kenyeuch"
Froome: "Kennuh"
Liggett, Sherwen: "Kennog"

sean kelly says kennok

My 'home' stage today, through Ste Marie de Campan. Apparently they have a new statue to Eugene Christophe.

Blimey O'Reilly!

I have missed all the fireworks, it would appear, but Froome on his tod vs. Quintana, Valverde and their henchmen is gonna make this rather lots of fun.

KENNAUGHWATCH: Sherwen's shifted his position to "Kenyook". Semi-related: Liggett's finally stopped pronouncing Bakelants as "Bakerlands".

I like how Hesjedal's clearly chosen sunglasses that (he believes) make him look like a dude rather than ones that are aerodynamic.

DE GENDT!

I think the fireworks happened very soon after the depart, at least before anyone was on air. Highlights show U&K once more, it seems.

Well, this Simon Clarke lad is having a fair old go now, it would appear. 45 minutes down overall, so this might stick (albeit at 67km out...)

Richie Porte!

"He's getting into what they call 'the zone'"

"Born in Kenya" - DRINK!

"Dan Martin comes from Birmingham but he's very much Irish"

"From the region of Boyaca" - DRINK!

Something tells me this commercial break might be as badly timed as yesterday's...

this is fantastic. like festina ganging up on the jan back in the day!

"Stephen Roche won the Tour in 1987" - DRINK!

I think I speak for everyone here when I say that I really, really hope Nairo Quintana isn't on anything.

Poor Kwiatkowski has been called 'Kessiakoff' at least four times in the last two minutes.

MOONER - DRINK!

Calling Dan Martin 'Neil'.

Really looking forward to watching the highlights of this stage, but there was no way I was going to spend a day as good as this sat in front of the telly. Managed to get home about 5 minutes before Murray won Wimbledon. Which was nice.

proper Kennaugh pronunciation

http://learnmanx.com/cms/audio_collection_11126.html

(click below)

(or above, but below later, :P)

Traditional Orica Greenedge Restday silliness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAl1-mBhFpU

If they put as much effort into training as they did into music videos they'd be winning everything right now. It looks like they've been working on that all season across all three teams.

FOUND: ryder's shades

I was wondering about those, not very aero

Made it to 1:15 on the OGE video. Ought I continue?

Was that Cav being a naughty boy? Looked like a massive shoulder shove to me.

Depends how much you want to see some aussies nearly set fire to themselves with fireworks. </xpost>

Not sure,Tim Veelers moved right at the same time Cav moved left.

Yeah, but Cav did an extra shove on top of maintaining his line. And his facial expression...

http://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/large/788976585.gif?1373385470

That was a perfectly executed hook and drop. Get your bars under the other guy's and lean in on his elbow until his front wheel begins to slip and then lean some more. Happens on the track a lot particularly when two people don't like each other very much.

Veelers was out of the drops, which is a big no-no. Stay in the drops with your elbows out until you hit the line to prevent getting crashed out by whingy midget throwing a tantrum.

man, i sorta shrug at that one. veelers knows his job, he sighted under his arm. no free rides for cav. but cav made him pay.

https://vine.co/v/h76bmVrBJwm

Watching at it again it's not as bad as I initially thought but ... I dunno, still think it looks a bit dodgy. Anyway.

more like the manx pissile amirite

Bleurgh. Very much looking forward to Ventoux now.

Echelons!

Just reading live feed, that's some racing ! Must get video.

what a day! edge of the seat stuff for the last hour

That was so great! My parents talked through pretty much all of it but it was still amazing! Valverde is buggered.

29mph for 107 miles into brutal crosswinds.
Mick Rogers said it was the hardest stage he's ever done, harder than any mountain stage or TT.
Gilbert said he pushed 227W (3.25w/kg) just following moves and trying to conserve.

http://i40.tinypic.com/j7gfas.png

amazing stage

all set for an amazing last week; stoked for ventoux madness on sunday

Oleg Tinkov is a "character"

http://i.imgur.com/QZTkncL.png
http://i.imgur.com/gKvJAnM.png

etc etc

You managed to find some of his saner and milder tweets

i thought i'd leave the crazy racist stuff out, who wants to read that really

Speaking of Twitter, I got this out of the blue just now:

@madchen team sky are the best peter kennaugh gran x

That was brilliant today.

Gilbert said he pushed 227W

That doesn't actually sound very much?

This could also sit on the Guardian thread: complete failure to convey what happened yesterday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/gallery/2013/jul/12/tour-de-france-stage-13-pictures

tbf that is a nice looking hotel

Gilbert said he pushed 227W

That doesn't actually sound very much?

― Hamburglar's smiling too (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Friday, July 12, 2013 2:23 PM (Yesterday)

For heavier guys yeah, until you consider for PhilGil it is 3.25w/kg for 3h40m. Try that # and report back pls.

And also, that's just the thing, he's saying it was supposed to be an easy day for him and it was quite intense just to sit in and follow wheels.

I know I couldn't do it, but that's not really the point. I wouldn't be far off that for an hour-long effort in a time trial and I'm (relatively) rubbish. There are amateur riders who can do 28-30mph time trials for 100-miles and 24-26mph for 12-hour time trials, I can't quite manage 23mph for 25 miles. The pros are several levels above these guys - I would have thought they could cope with 300W reasonably well (but I could be wrong).

Fuck me, just seen Trentin's sprint on the helicopter shot, he came from MILES back

Just tried to watch the highlights, having carefully avoided hearing the result. #1, ITV4 have helpfully titled the highlights show "Titan Trentin" and subtitled it basically "Trentin wins the stage". #2, stream fails after 1 minute, #3, every time you refresh to try to fix the problem, they show you the advert again. Fuck OFF, ITV4. I give up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THA59sKBkF0

wht time will the climb of ventoux start today roughly? 3pm?

Bit earlier, I think. ITV4's coverage is scheduled to end at four and they usually allow 20-30 minutes for wrapping up. I have a funny feeling the stage winner will break before the foot of the climb and cling on, so I'm with it from 1.30.

Also a lot of stages are finishing ahead of schedule this year because of the crazy attacking.

just joined from the cricket. interesting breakaway. wd love to see Quintana take it.

http://youtube/THA59sKBkF0

Voeckler made me laugh.

Ventoux has a strange haunted magic - no hairpins only adds to its extreme Ballardian psychology imo. a bleak singularity.

Oh Sagan, you hideous, hideous wank of a man, I think I love you.

ha ha. he really is so great.

Though obviously not as much as Chavanel. ALL HAIL THE KAMIKAZE BREAKAWAY MONSTER!

(also Jan's Baccy Land, the Chavanel of a new generation)

Schleck goes boom. this is great.

Quintana!

Go Quintana!

******QUINTANA SIREN******

******"HE COMES FROM THE REGION OF BOYACA" SIREN"******

******"BORN AT 3,000 FT." SIREN******

USED TO CYCLE TO SCHOOL UP THE OLYMPUS MONS.

******LAURENS TEN DAM'S BIG DROOPY MOUTH AND CHEST HAIR SIREN******

love when Q goes past people.

Bakelants tries to have a go at sitting in Quintana's wheel. It does not work.

Erk. ITV ad break. Frantic switch over to Eurosport.

Is something critical happening? I just know something critical is happening.

they love their final climb ad breaks, itv. expecting to come out to find Quintana in the broom wagon, Contador already in the Alps and Tom Simpson raised from the dead.

Porte's upped the pace - gap down to 31" again...

RICHIE PORTE EATS BABIES. If OGE aren't putting together a small bank vault of cash to lure him away I'd be amazed.

Man carrying a huge potato, man carrying a wild boar... Drink?

DUEL IN THE ALPS! DUEL IN THE ALPS!

"SIX THOUSAND FEET" - battle of the birth heights!

commentators on french radio are hilarious. they keep comparing froome's attacks right now to what rasmussen was doing a few years ago, which i guess is a nice way for them to say they think he's doping.

When Froome and Quintana were attacking each other earlier it did remind me of that Rasmussen v Contador duel in 2007

Didi the Devil!

haha ok those commentators are really going all out while not saying anything about froome maybe doping. they've compared him to rasmussen, then to armstrong and said that armstrong regretted never winning at mont ventoux. another beautiful moment was them saying contador did not have the same fuel as in his best years, which is why he struggled so much and couldn't hold on today.

I don't think anyone who's watched cycling more than a little could have watched that without their credibility being strained a little by that ride. I want to believe, I really do, but I don't have a great deal of reason to.

http://i39.tinypic.com/2dtnd3m.jpg

Quintana thought he was probably on drugs when he saw that.

idk tho. as a cycling fan I've erected strange and contradictory Chinese walls in my head, which mean I can approach something like Froome straight.

it's like I keep having to enter into any cycling I watch with a willing suspension of disbelief or whats the point while trying to keep a healthy cynicism. the romanticism of sudden jumps in the mountains dies hard even tho I know that it's one of the things most associated with doping.

I want to have faith in Sky and Garmin's structures, and Team Shimano/Kittel's assurances of change and probity.

+ unlike wiggins we know that Froome can climb.

at the same time I have words very like Ed's in my head tying little lead weights around those hopeful thoughts whenever I see performances too good to be true. (but then what is sport without those narratives?).

I end up in lubberly fashion hiding my thoughts from each other to keep on enjoying something I love watching.

I have faith in the team, too. Armstrong-level doping needs accomplices, and if Froome was to be doping he'd need to be hiding it not just from Brailsford, but from the rest of the team and his room-mate too, as I'd expect all of them to pipe up about it.

I guess it's possible, but the accounts of doping I've read so far have not been solo efforts

I'm also not sure today really was too-good-to-be-true. It was fast, but it's well off the record. And literally just before Froome made his final push, I was saying that Quintana looked like he was about to crack. A combination of those two could have made it look more spectacular than it was.

What I dislike most about le tour is that it brings out all the worst of the neophytes and dilettantes who only pay attention to cycling performance for a fraction of the year, no offense.

Froome is a crazy skilled climber, we are seeing now what he'd have been capable of last year if he'd not been bogged down with the cumbersome lurch of Sir Wiggo. If you'd ever watched Froome attack unbridled now, this is his thing, this is what he does. When you have numbers like Sky has with Porte and Froome at the end of the race, that is game theory at work, about as simple racing strategy as it gets: Attack and counter, isolate your opponents, then attack again.

Sky has a strict, 100% zero tolerance which is why Mick Rogers was quietly dismissed from the squad and transferred to Saxo.

If you think Froome's dirty despite the aforementioned zero tolerance policy, well that's an opinion to have as well. But if you are trusting some truther blogger who is inputting critical data such as racer's raceweight estimates from wikipedia or google, then you probably deserve whatever that amateur analysis affords.

Was that at me? I don't think Froome's dirty at all. I don't know who the truther bloggers are either.

What I dislike most about le tour is that it brings out all the worst of the neophytes and dilettantes who only pay attention to cycling performance for a fraction of the year, no offense.

In case that was aimed at Stet, for the record, he gets to hear me harping on about cycling in all seasons and has done for eight years.

I think it's fair to say that year-round followers of cycling have lead weights attached to their hopeful thoughts though - I certainly do. But Stet's helpfully reproduced the conclusion of the conversation we had today up the thread there: if Froome is at it, how the hell is he getting away with it? Yes, Sky's zero-tolerance approach could encourage secrecy, but if anyone else on the team was in on the plan, I'd eat my hat. The way Sky fell apart after their last mountain attack, and the way Porte has been extremely conservative in his efforts leading up to today both look like 'good signs' to me.

Another thought I've just had: are riders making comments? Or is it just commentators? Because there are plenty in the peloton these days I'd expect to be nudging and winking at their interviewers if something was up. Not sure I'd see that watching Brit media though, so I'd be interested to know what's said in other countries.

Sorry my post was not aimed at anyone in particular, mostly the media and "cycling fans of the world wide web" especially those who follow the armchair doping witchhunt blogs.

Even the armchair analysis claim Froome's Ventoux attack for the length of the climb was 5.8w/kg which is about 85% of the levels of the leaders of similar GT climbs from 1996-2006(9?).

Another peeve I have is that nobody focuses on tactics... frustrating because TACTICS are the primary motivators of a racer's mentality, most of these guys do not give a shit what their numbers are while they're racing (exception: Sir Wiggo), they are concerned about their position in the stage, in the GC, in the Points, Mountains and White Jersey classes. Sure some use their PMs as a guideline (exception Voeckler, no PM nor HRM) but for the most part it's team and individual tactics at play that is making this tour legendary: attack into the crosswinds! attack out of the breakaway! isolate your opponents on the climbs and then attack them! outsprint that little whiney midget shitestain throwing a tantrum!

Froome has such a massive GC lead that guys in 2nd-7th are not as concerned about him so much as their closest GC rivals. The battle for the podium is pretty intense so if Froome-Dog is off doing his thing up the road, these guys all have eyes on each other, and tuned in to race radio to hear about the situation up or down the road. So when you see Froome attacking and nobody following, it's not so much a scientific/chemical/physiological advantage, but rather a tactical one. Shame on the announcers you guys are quoting upthread because ithese guys should really know better and not try to feed doping allegations, esp. when Froome's numbers are not superhuman (although quite awesome). But all it takes is one Froomedog crash or day or reckoning ala Valverde and he's out, so all the sudden the battle for 2nd-7th GC positions just got real.

I'm not even a fan of Froome, this is just how bummed I am on the current culture of amateurs and dipshit media trying to sabr-metricize or scandalize cycling. Gah!

Broccoli out.

the announcers i was quoting are not, to my knowledge, anywhere near being experts about cycling and they prob only do this for the tour de france and maybe a few big one day races. on the other hand, one of the commentators on tv was a cyclist before (cédric vasseur) and apparently he too thought it was quite surprising how froome just seemed to do this effortlessly while others struggled. not saying his is the voice of reason though. tbh it feels like french commentators have a tendency to see doping everywhere, possibly because they can't fathom why the french cyclists are never anywhere near being able to compete. but the fact that no one seems able to even hang with froome, considering what the sport has been through in the past years, can easily lead to suspicion. and this is going to be the case for most cyclists in years to come who dominate.

great posts from Broccoli and Madchen. Froome and Sky race so much and are so meticulous (and training programmes are effectively corporate secrets) it's hard to see how an individual (and I think it wd have to be an individual) could go about the specialist regimes at the known doctors.

is there also an anti-English/anti-Sky bias in some quarters of French/trad-racing media fraternity? (themselves as guilty as anyone of doping complicity).

without following french coverage of cycling too closely, i'd say there's an anti-english/sky bias. they'll never come out with it totally and say they think those cyclists are doping but they'll make snide remarks and comments to make it clear they don't think they're clean. when you compare a rider to rasmussen, you're clearly trying to make some kind of point. the stage last year where froome and wiggins were in the lead and froome seemed like he could go even faster but held himself back also gave french commentators a chance to go wild.

actually scratch that, it's not just anti english/sky cos they do like to pile it on on the spanish and italians and well, basically all those cyclists that are doing better than the french ones. tbh the spanish are usually targeted the most and athletes from all kinds of sports who come from spain are looked at with a bit of suspicion, there have been a few editorials about spain and doping etc.

I suspect (and I say this as somebody who loves France and spends a lot of time there) a touch of sour grapes on the part of some French media. This was supposed to be the tour all their hot young things started making an impact but ... Well.

Here at Madstet mansions we've been drawing parallels with the importance for Britain of a Briton winning Wimbledon. Not exactly the same but the national pride and dilettante fandom aren't dissimilar...

Phil Liggett, heel announcer: "They're using their two men to go one-on-one with Chris Froome!"

***ENORMOUS GOB OF SPIT HOICKING OUT OF LAURENS TEN DAM'S MOUTH SIREN***

"This team looked like they were going to be very, very omnipresent"

uh that peraud crash, poor guy

Contador beats Rodriguez by 0.7 seconds, probably for the stage, poor old J-Rod suffers yet another near miss

Nope, Froome rips it apart again

That was incredible. If Froome wins on the Alpe or Seminoz this will be a tour win for the ages,

yeh that Peraud crash was stomach churning ;_;

He should never have been on the bike in the first place having crashed and cracked his collar bone on a reccy. He'll be out for way longer with worse injuries now.

the Inner Ring ‏@inrng 29m
Péraud crashed on the very corner where his family were waiting to cheer him on, his wife could only climb over the barriers to comfort him.

Really felt for the guy. It was a gutsy ride.

Froome points out that if the weather is really bad tomorrow, they probably shouldn't descend from L' Alpe D'Huez...

When told of Froome's concerns, Bjarne Riis, the manager of the Saxo-Tinkoff team led by second placed Spaniard Alberto Contador, told reporters on Wednesday: "He should use his brakes more if he's afraid on the descents. We are going to attack everywhere, whether it is going uphill or downhill."

lol zing

That was pretty weak compared to this, KBP:

“Listen, riders have been going down dangerous descents one thousand times before. They must hit the brakes and be careful,” Saxo boss Bjarne Riis told reporters. “This is a bike race; it’s not some Sunday morning grandma trip. They have to learn how to race their bikes and stop complaining.”

"Sunday morning gradma trip"

Bjarne is my favourite of all the unrepentant doping cheats.

they're going twice up alpe d'huez today. no big deal.

Poor old Cavendish has only done it once before in his whole life. Looking forward to some nice mountain faces from him.

oh shit is he bonking for real?

tejay with a minute per km in reserve? q could get him i think.

I'd like to see old brownpants win this.

haha it is fucking pretty amazing to be dropped for 40 secs and then come back.

looking forward to watching this one

That was great from Riblon, especially after riding into a ditch on that descent

To truly make this tour epic, the race org's should penalize Froome 5 minutes for his illegal feed.

20 seconds, pffft.

In context, you'd think that energy bar would be worth more than 20 seconds!

Great work for Riblon despite going through a marsh on the way down and for Quintara using the curse of death to claw back a minute. Sorry that BMC's shoddy bikes hanged the Tejay's chances.

richie porte was like a ninja today. oh you need a leadout from the peleton ok. oh yr going on an abortive break, i'll catch up just when yr gonna lose quintara's wheel. oh u need a snack i'll go back to the car (?) and get u one.

I wonder how Froome's bonk will affect him today. Not eating enough one day can give you a bit of a hangover the next...

xp - is that what ninjas do?

As long as u wearing black pjs, u a ninja. Porte needs the pjs.

On froomes condition, That seems like common sense, but i wonder if its true? I'd like to see a physiologist comment on the issue. Ime a bonk one day surprisingly did not change the order of things the next, with normal recovery. Fatigue and stress operate cumulatively tho, and a hunger knock - how does it stress your systems?

Less BMC's shoddy bikes more Shimano's shoddy electric gears.

As for getting a physiologist to answer about Froome bonking, try tweeting @scienceofsport he loves to answer questions like that.

http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,29112_8831376,00.html

love that you can pan up and count the helicopters.

xp - is that what ninjas do?

― Hamburglar's smiling too (Nasty, Brutish & Short), Friday, 19 July 2013

appear out of nowhere & in the service of others

Koen de Kort's stage 18 tour diary is a must read:
http://www.afr.com/p/lifestyle/sport/cycling/koen_de_kort_tour_diary_stage_RoN2hF5hrtq6370wBEUspO

Great Post, Koen de Kort writes and interviews really well, seems like a thoroughly decent guy.

Short stage tomorrow but 47 seconds separate 2nd-5th:

General Classification after Stage 19
GBR 1 FROOME, Christopher (SKY PROCYCLING) 77:10:00
ESP 2 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (SAXO-TINKOFF) + 5:11
COL 3 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR TEAM) + 5:32
CZE 4 KREUZIGER, Roman (SAXO-TINKOFF) + 5:44
ESP 5 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 5:58

11 points separate the polka dot jersey:

KOM Classification after stage 19:
1. GBRFROOME Christopher 1 SKY PROCYCLING 104 pts
2. FRAROLLAND Pierre 51 TEAM EUROPCAR 103 pts
3. ESPNIEVE ITURRALDE Mikel 116 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 98 pts
4. COLQUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander 128 MOVISTAR TEAM 97 pts
5. FRARIBLON Christophe 89 AG2R LA MONDIALE 93 pts

Johnny Hoogerland
‏@zeeuwseleeuw
This morning i asked @MarkCavendish how was the dutch corner yesterday. His answer: "not too bad they only called me asshole twice" #letour

Been watching Eurosport. The guy that isn't Sean Kelly sounds like what I'd imagine LJ to sound like if he were a commentator

You mean Carlton "first time watching a bike race" Kirby.

http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18udoxyf4371hgif/ku-xlarge.gif

Not Sean Kelly

http://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/2602426712/t6mqfguvphq32d0osrlg.jpeg

To be fair Carlton Kirby is pretty tame compare to the new depths being plumbed by Pipi and Popo. Even Sherwen's castle information is coming a cropper, he described one chateau as a ruin for 200 years even as the helicopter panned to shown the massive knife and fork restaurant sign on the tower and sound looking roof. I long gave up on them being able to give any insightful race commentary. At least the sound man has now learnt that they won't shut up when they go to the moto commentary and fades them out.

C'MON NAIRO

amazing.

3,000 METRES, DICK'EADS

incredible stage.

Proper death mask on Talansky there, goodness me.

And to think he was born with the curse of death, yet he's now KOM.

I can't help myself, I like seeing Bertie beaten.

Interesting seeing his 'true' potential although maybe not his 'true' potential from a few years ago.

Where the hell did Navarro come from, It's hard to even believe Cofidis have been in this race?

"There's the local cheese-making machines" says Phil over a shot of some bulls.

Hello? Anybody?

Tomb of the Unknown Shoulder.

Richie Froome.

He really did say 'shoulder', didn't he?

The Shape of Jens Voigt

Twice (xp)

Paris looks amazing in the setting sun

I love David Millar. There, I've said it.

Did have to laugh when Phil said that Dave had had his bad moments too... and then described some stage or other that went wrong for him. Awesome ride today though!

shoulder twice and <3 millar. and yes, it looks absolutely wonderful. have loved this tour: Froome has been amazing but so has Quintana, Valverde, Contador (for being continually competitive), Kreuziger, Rui Costa etc. Kittel, Cavendish and Greipel, all fantastic.

lol at Paul staring at the moon. just a lonely guy thinking baout things.

You could hear him quickly scanning his race guide for interesting notes on lunar features.

I'm just giggling because all those cars have got their lights on
OK Paul

Poor guy has been stuck down his diamond mine for too long.

wtf is Boardman wearing.

"He's definitely the new sprinter on the cock, er, on the block"

They were in tuxes at the beginning - apparently presenters have been told to treat this stage like the Oscars red carpet. I'm guessing all the presenters have since said fuck that.

ah, right. yes a little warm for that sort of malarkey.

xpost lol.

Kennaugh <3

really nice interview that

Boardman was either waiting tables earlier or he's got a snooker tournament to rush off to when the coverage ends.

They've been carrying those tuxes around for three weeks, they said through gritted teeth in the opening sequence.

someone's bright idea. full of love for everyone here tho.

it's great to have a 100th anniversary that does feel like it's moving in the right direction with the l'equipe report and sky's attempts to be open.

obviously it's still a v vulnerable sport but this is a fantastic win. I think as well, after the slightly programmatic sky performance last year, tgat felt it might be representative of the drug-free years to come, this year's had so many romantic, competitive and unpredictable moments.

I do hope in years to come we'll look back on this as the beginning of the beginning of a new era.

B-b-but the Arc de Triomphe just danced

It's been great, daft commentary and all. Roll on the Vuelta.

Sweet (high fiving mini Puritos)

Is this one a fucking mod?

no, you're ok. he's a cycling exoskeleton machine alien from Africa.

'Alien pushing a shopping trolley' is still my favourite description. Can't remember who came up with it though.

"robot" I think it was but yes. as my brother said, "you think it's one of those things people say that sound funny but don't apply, except in this case it does and it's impossible not to think of it when you see him cycling."

Nah it was definitely alien I heard, though Twitter is like Chinese whispers so who knows which came first.