2021, Tour de France. Who, what, where.

[weeksy]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/riders ... de-france/

Bit of rider unhappiness after a very crashy stage yesterday.

[weeksy]

Today is flat for the sprinters.



But hopefully without the insanity of yesterday. Cavendish wasn't in the mix yesterday getting caught up in some of the crashes and losing time etc, his team only ended up with 1 rider in the lead group which is very unusual.

Caleb Ewan is out of it with a broken collarbone, which is good for Cav...

Tim Merlier won yesterday but i reckon Cav has the beating of him. So back to British Glory hunting it seems.

[Hairybiker84]

We were discussing the possible cause of all the crashes this year, there seem to be more abrupt manoeuvres within the peloton than in the past, catching people unawares. We have certainly seen a decrease in discipline being exhibited by the road bike riders seen out and about. In the past racing cyclists came from clubs, I rode with a club from about 12 years of age and it was drummed into us etiquette, awareness and pedalling style & efficiency. Fitness was gained by traditional methods and being mentored. Anyone can buy a bike, join one of the online training programs and get bike fit now - doesn't mean they can ride a bike in a racing environment though. Are the new breed of cyclists increasingly not from clubs and therefore lacking that type of discipline? Or is it from children in general being less disciplined and less risk aware than years ago? We had concrete under our swings, slides, etc. and learnt at an early age that things hurt. The behavior exhibited by the children and parents that gather outside the primary school opposite where we live is on the whole pretty dismal, not much discipline exhibited there unfortunately!
I see lots of bike riders out on the roads but very few I would consider 'cyclists'.
On anther note, Caleb's crash was horrible to watch (pretty much entirely his own fault though), chapeau Sagan keeping hold of his bike!

[weeksy]

On anther note, Caleb's crash was horrible to watch (pretty much entirely his own fault though), chapeau Sagan keeping hold of his bike!

There's plenty of discussions as to whether that was Sagans fault or Ewans fault.... Sure it's Ewan who catches Merliers wheel and goes down, but it's the how/why that's in discussion.

[Hairybiker84]

On anther note, Caleb's crash was horrible to watch (pretty much entirely his own fault though), chapeau Sagan keeping hold of his bike!

There's plenty of discussions as to whether that was Sagans fault or Ewans fault.... Sure it's Ewan who catches Merliers wheel and goes down, but it's the how/why that's in discussion.

Sagan's got prior history of leaning on people, ask Cav! Thought it was a bit aggressive as there was quite a bit of space.

[weeksy]

On anther note, Caleb's crash was horrible to watch (pretty much entirely his own fault though), chapeau Sagan keeping hold of his bike!

There's plenty of discussions as to whether that was Sagans fault or Ewans fault.... Sure it's Ewan who catches Merliers wheel and goes down, but it's the how/why that's in discussion.

Sagan's got prior history of leaning on people, ask Cav! Thought it was a bit aggressive as there was quite a bit of space.

Indeed he's quite a shovey rider... but generally seems reasonably fair to me and holds his line better than some i think. Which for me goes a lot in terms of who i think is a fair sprinter.

[Hairybiker84]

I agree, there was no reason for the 2 lead riders to change their course, if Merlier had held his line Caleb wouldn't have crashed!
I see lots of whingeing about the course, they should take responsibility for themselves and ride according to the road conditions, they'll be want Arenberg widened and flattened next!
Smaller teams would be a great start to greater safety, reduce the numbers in the peloton too.

[weeksy]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSss yes yes yes....

Incredible !!!

I am fighting a tear back here watching him talking about it in the post race interview.

[Noggin]

Like I've said, I haven't ever followed TdF but I do of course know the name!!

I kinda feel sorry for the Belge but damn that was impressive!!!!!

[Bigyin]

Amazing finish by Cav ........ when i saw he signed for this years race i wasnt sure as he has been in the wilderness for a while through illness,

Incredible finish and timed it perfectly

As others have said i cant remember a Grand Tour with so many big crashes in the early stages ... 2 X 50 rider offs in the same stage was unthinkable

[formula400]

But behind but just watched mark cavendish, win, what a win, what a sprint, those boys were proper mothering, B. Van Moer was looking good and what pace, but wow how the peloton caught him, brilliant day.

[weeksy]

Time Trial day today.... Can see there being some interesting aspects, mostly with say Roglic for example and whether he is slightly injusred, really injured, the same with Thomas as well...But overall it's more a question of who may or may not be in yellow

[MingtheMerciless]

Light Showers from 1500 to 1800 according to the Beeb, what time do they set off?

[weeksy]

Light Showers from 1500 to 1800 according to the Beeb, what time do they set off?

12ish for the early guys...

[Dodgy69]

Great to see Cav win at 36yo. He's got a great lead out man aswel. Very emotionally and I don't blame him.

Can we get Robert Miller back in the mountains..

[Dodgy69]

Don't Google Robert Miller.

[Bigyin]

Looks like its Pogacars tour to lose ........ superb in the mountains and now an excellent time trial rider as well

The others can only hope his team cant keep up as they were decimated in the early crashes and he ends up isolated

[weeksy]

Looks like its Pogacars tour to lose ........ superb in the mountains and now an excellent time trial rider as well

The others can only hope his team cant keep up as they were decimated in the early crashes and he ends up isolated

Well yes but maybe no... However this isn't a massive shock, he's done up to now exactly what he does, the others have dropped a level, he's not raised the bar.
Thing is though, his team is weaker in the big hills than the others, so it's going to need attacks, good attacks and well timed attacks, then another, then another, then another. This is harder for teams to do usually as INEOS or Jumbo Visma have had 4-5 riders on the front helping, but UAE are not a strong as them, so they need to be pinging off attacks all the time. The only downside to this is that usually they all have 3-4 options for the attack, but this year both are really limited to 2 riders each, INEOS with Carapaz and Thomas and Jumbo with Roglic and WvA, so instead of marking 6 riders, Pogacar only has to mark 4 of them.
So i can see INEOS sending say Kwia up the road on an attack, but then Thomas after him and the 2 working together.

However, i wanna see todays stage first and see how the Cavendish revival goes...

[MingtheMerciless]

Hope Cav does well. Pog looks the man to beat but all it takes is one bad day in the mountains and it’s very early days.

[weeksy]

Boom! That's 32 stages then. The pressure will be building now after that! Wow.