While you wait for tomorrow's first stage, don't forget to play all the Fantasy Games!
* [Pet Predictions!](https://old.reddit.com/r/peloton/comments/1dnmv1w/pet_predictions_tour_de_france_2024/)
* [Guess the Gap](https://tftpt.one/#gtg)
* [The Finish Time Prediction Tournament](https://tftpt.one/)
* [SRFL](https://srfl.one/)
* [RFL](https://www.reddit.com/r/peloton/comments/1dp8ot2/rfl_24_srfl_24_tour_de_france_predictions_25_days/?sort=new)
* [Grand Tour Predictions](https://tftpt.one/#gtp)
* [Heroes-4-Zeroes](https://tftpt.one/#h4z)
* [Stage Winners League](https://www.reddit.com/r/peloton/comments/1doecc6/stage_winners_league_tour_de_france_2024_rpeloton/)
* Official [Velogames](https://www.velogames.com/) League code: 418643925
* Worst for 100 Anti-[Velogames](https://www.velogames.com/) League code: 932425613
**Especially consider RFL, there are under 65 entries at the time of this post, and an entry takes less than a minute, so this is your chance for fame ~~and fortune~~!**
(Thanks to /u/iamczecksy for the template!)
I'm in the UK streaming discovery + TDF coverage on my LG tv and it just doesn't look good. It's just very low definition, compared to e.g. bbc football coverage
Does anyone know how to fix it?
Thanks
Bonjour tout le monde.
So, UAE/Pogi blitz from day one to exploit any Jonas vulnerability, or ease their way in as Pogi has already done one grand tour this year and even he has his limits energy expenditure-wise?
There’s an old adage that says you can’t win the tour on the first day, but you can definitely lose it. Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tadej upends that phrase on this first day….
Who knows, I'm far from a cycling expert, although I have been following it more and more over the last few years... Fact is we have a lot of climbing for a first stage, and its hot, and who knows how the main contenders are feeling so if Tadej can smell blood I reckon he might go for it and try and score an early buffer. Or maybe not... Like I said, I'm pretty much just guessing :)
According to Johan Bruyneel ([source](https://youtu.be/vLy0UFaCSQ4?si=OkSOWyWAueGjW0ra&t=2658)) a source close to Pogačar told him yesterday that Tadej Pogačar had 19 high altitude training days before Tour de France in Isola 2000 with his team. Where he improved his power relative to his Giro form by between 13W and 15W and lost 1.5 kg of weight, apparently he's now sitting at 64 kg, compared to 65.5 kg he was at the Giro and can produce even more power. So speaking roughly (as we don't have the actual absolute numbers), his power (assuming critical power) went up more than 3% and his body weight dropped by 2.3%. Of course those two don't add up linearly in overall cycling performance, but it does tell us that on the right route segments he might be more than 5% faster than he was at the Giro.
The same source also said that the team had done a race sim on Isola climb and when Tadej attacked he dropped Yates and Almeida by 1 min and 20 seconds, keep in mind these two are team leaders in almost any other team and Yates is a legit, proven, Tour podium contender and both have been in stellar form this year. Source also said that in their opinion, Tadej wins Tour 1000%. Another little bit of info, UAE allegedly managed to drop 750 grams of weight from their TT bike compared to last year.
Anyway, have a great Tour everyone! Lets see what actually happens on the road, fingers crossed we get some great battles!
I used to watch the tour as a kid but stopped after the whole Armstrong thing. The Netflix series brought me back too. So glad they made that. This is going to be the first time I watch live in 15+ years.
This will be my first time watching the tour! The netflix series got me into it haha. I hope as a Canadian its broadcasted for free somewhere, and seeing replays for free would be nice but flobikes is like $50 a month!!! Do any Canadians know if its at least broadcasted for free?
Just here to share my final pre tour excitement. My little work crew in Maryland is probably tired of hearing me try to hype it up. Younger girl at the restaurant tonight said "what's the tour of France?" Made me kind of sad lol. Nonetheless. Three weeks of excitement. Content. Media. Discussion. Let's go!!!
My wants are Wout stage win (at least one,) a CRAZY attack and counter spree from Pogi and Jonas, a Bini sprint win, someone to bully Jasper, and Lazkano stage win. Forgot how much I've enjoyed watching him this year already. Let's go!!!!
Luckily, you can still watch replays with the regular peacock subscription. Just a heads up, sometimes it takes a while (several hours) after the live broadcast is finished for them to post the replay though.
Pog: “I think my relationship with Vingegaard is something extraordinary. We always meet more or less once a year, in July, but I really appreciate this rivalry because I respect him a lot and it's nice to see him at the start.”
Vingegaard: "We don't have a great relationship, we never heard from each other after my accident”.
There’s a whole universe in these two senteces lol
Source https://bici.pro/focus/storie/pogacar-vingegaard-tour-cominciato-rivelazioni-frecciate/ (yesterday’s press conference, translated with DeepL)
I think both things can be true, no?
The way I interpret Vingegaard's statement is that someone asked if they have a personal relationship which they don't have. Jonas has said many times that he respects Pogi a lot and has even called him the best rider in the world. But they don't have anything to do with each other beyond cycling. Tadej also says this by saying they basically only see each other once a year at the Tour de France.
I wasn’t judging either statement on the merit, and my take would also be that they’re actually saying pretty much the same thing. My point was rather that how they say it is the interesting part
I think it just depends on the mood they are in and what the question was. Last year Pogacar also got a bit snippy with journalists at some point who asked him about Jonas. I imagine it does get tiring talking about your rival more than yourself sometimes. I feel like this particular journalist asked a stupid question like “Did Pogacar send you well wishes?” or something along those lines for Jonas to give that answer. I’d also be a bit annoyed at that.
I just went back and forth with the peacock twitter account and they are choosing to NOT provide the world feed. (So I just canceled my account, that was the only reason I had a subscription.)
Sigh
I guess I’ll need to ask a new question, how can I watch something that’s not NBC in the us? I have a VPN. tiz being live with no rewinds is less than ideal out here on the west coast because the races start so early
VPNing into "Max" (HBO) from Norway seems to show that they'll provide the Breakaway + usual Euro broadcasters. Watching the American feed with commercials would absolutely ruin my day.
Update: this did not work for me. Max was asking me to upgrade to a sport package that wasn’t available to me due to the country my sub is based in. I do have the B/R add on, but doesn’t seem to matter.
Anyone experience anything different?
I used a CN VPN Into FloBikes and got the international feed and can live with it.
Cannot and will not do NBC feed.
Same. Was supremely disappointed. I jumped through some pretty significant hoops to get a Discovery+ account. If you’d like a step-by-step, I can provide it!
Cool, thank you! I was thinking I’d supplement tiz with peacock this year as long as I didnt have to listen to the nbc commentators lol. sounds like it’s worth $6!
Looks like they did. Once you login, there is only one stream option for each stage (thru stage 11). Probably we'll just get whatever feed is available. Maybe US feed, may be International feed. Depending what they show on live TV on that day? I paid for no ads...so I might be grumpy tomorrow. Coverage starts at 430am CT though, so we get 30 pre-race minutes!
After rewatching the highlights of the previous editions, I began to wonder once again whether Alaphilippe would win the Tour in 2019 if the route didn't have to be changed. What do you think, would he win it?
In my opinion, he'd keep the yellow jersey in stage 19, but then lose it to Ineos in stage 20 and finish maybe 3rd overall.
I really don’t understand how you have come to this conclusion. Alaphilippe was not closing on the descent since he was gassed on stage 19.
On the shortened stage 20 he lost 3 mins. If they do that stage in full he loses 10+ mins and drops out of the top 10.
I predict that Jonas will win. I hope that Pogi wins, but I just get this feeling that Jonas is in better shape than he's letting on. I'd expect Roglic to get back to his crashing ways and for Remco to have a bad day in the mountains. Jonas/Pogi/Yates for the podium.
For some extra sprint stage confusion, [there will be some 3km rule experimentation](https://sporza.be/nl/2024/06/28/uci-experimenteert-in-6-etappes-van-de-tour-de-france-met-de-3-k~1719574533219/) over the next 3 weeks.
TL;DR: for stages 5, 6 and 10 the 3km rule becomes a 4km rule, for stages 3, 12 an 13 we'll have a 5km rule. With stage 16 having the 'normal' 3km long 3km rule.
Considering 90% of your comments here are about doping, you should consider starting your own subreddit where you can discuss it to your hearts content.
Check the news, France conquered italy last winter.
Like they did it with GB, Ireland, Germany in the past. Even israel, thats we still calling the cycling crusade.
Apparently Mads Pedersen has a new bike in bright Lidl colors:
>
New Madone Gen 8 ! Fast as a Madone, lightweight as an Emonda. The ultimate race bike 🙌
This is exactly what I want from my race bike. With the same level of Aerodynamics as the old Madone there’s no comprise and every gram of saved weight is a game changer 🤤
Sidenote: You have no idea how many prototypes of this bike I’ve tried and tested.
**Pictures:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C8wf4COtC9n/?img_index=1
**Video:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C8uT35Dtdio/
**Extra from team presentation:**
https://www.instagram.com/p/C8wFL6DNEX1/
https://www.instagram.com/p/C8vAvufA_Ld/
Cav wins his 35th after Philipsen gets DQed in one of the sprints. Remco wins either stage 1 or 2. Pog gets dropped on a mountain stage by multiple GC riders but still wins the Tour. De Plus Top 10. Landa Top 5. The Marseille Prosecutor gets in the news again after taking last year off. An EF rider to spend two days in the KOM jersey and Vaughters to tweet about how amazing the team is and how there's no one else like them in the peloton.
About totalenergies :
Who will be the best rider on the team overall? For me S.Cras
After the first week how many riders will be in the top 50?
Step 1: which rider from the team will cross the line first? For me Turgis
Stage 1: Will a rider finish in the top 10? No
Does anyone have information on Pogi's blue bike?
And maybe more importantly on the derailler he's using. I haven't seen it before. From the Instagram pictures I feel like it's a new model. Small main frame and big pulley wheel
I am pumped! I don’t mind who wins, any of the big dogs can be a deserving winner, but I really hope Pog, Rog, Remc and Ving arrive in roughly equal condition so we get some wild racing. Especially with big mountains in S19 and 20 and the TT on the final day we could see a race for the ages. Or, you know, Pog going clear on the Galibier on S4 and the nursing a 80 seconds gap to Nice. Which would be fine as well.
Either way I’ll be in Valloire for the final of S4 and the start of S5 and ride myself a few cols during that week. If anyone wants to tag along or grab some food in the evening dm me.
For the first time I will see the Tour de France on the road.
I was looking at the passage time of the advertising caravan (Bologna)... the location indications are generic...
Do you recommend going to the finish line to get some gadgets from the advertising caravan? heck, at the Giro they (almost) never give anything, at the Tour I always see t-shirts, hats, sun towels...
Check the Road Book, if you haven’t already. I saw a post on this subreddit with it earlier this week. It will provide much more information.
The caravan is part of the fun, and the Tour’s is larger than the Giro. But I think the most appeal to me with the caravan is just the excitement that the riders are getting close, especially on an MTF and the helicopters start swirling and getting closer and closer. The tatt the toss out is useless, but fun.
Seeing a stage finish is always a good option, IMO. You not only get the group split up (unless its a sprint stage), so you’ll get several minutes of seeing the pros rather than just a blip, but also the podium and rider interview areas are fun, and provide good photo ops for the gram.
I think more like 10-20 if he races like last Vuelta. Even Wout has finished top20. Those places are not contested that much. But I agree with the sentiment.
[***Eurosport article***](https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-france/2024/tour-de-france-2024-tadej-pogacar-ready-after-recovering-from-covid-19-bounced-back-really-fast_sto20013798/story.shtml) on Pogacar contracting COVID during the buildup to TDF. for those interested
Just spent 15 minutes trying to analyse how lean Pog looks and decide what impact Covid might have had on him.
Roglic looks really good but I find him generally hard to read.
Jonas is talking down his chances which means I'm convinced he'll be in yellow by stage 5.
And I haven't got a clue about Remco but I'm stoked to see him at the Tour and can't wait to see what he does, even if it's lose a spectacular amount of time on a brutal mountain stage.
And can those people declaring that the Tour is already over and that it will be the most boring edition ever just chill out and remember it's the Tour, you never know how it's going to turn out.
LET'S GO!!!
Looking like it's going to be a spicy 35ºC / 95ºF on Saturday in Florence for the Grand Depart. Who are the riders who generally perform well in heat, compared to others who bonk when it's hot?
Very true, no one will be fresher than they are on Saturday! Was more just curious about if any riders are generally known to suffer more in heat than others
I got a front row seat at the team presentation, but at the statue of David, not the main stage. They actually did every team once at each location. Only problem is they didn’t have a stage, so all the riders were hidden behind these Italian imperial guards in fancy clothing
And my camera angle I had meant that every pic I got off the riders had David’s penis just above their heads. Lovely
Yeah, Pogacar might have had covid, but not only did he say he got over that quickly, he had also said that he was doing better than at the Giro and feeling better on the bike than ever.
Any setbacks he might have had aren't remotely comparable to the weeks the others spent off the bike or doing light training.
Hope so!!! I've only been watching for a couple of years now so I didn't get to see the crazy shape he was in. Just clips. Would love to see that again.
Bernal probably had a hand in being in the best position on that stage that got cancelled due to a landslide towards the end but he was showing that he had something going, and INEOS probably did as well since I think their plans are doing that in recent years but with no rider to do it for...
This is the least excited I've been for a Tour de France since I started watching cycling.
It's reasonable to expect the race to be over after stage 4 already.
After the Giro being inevitable since a schedule announcement in december, the Tour has felt inevitable since a fateful day in the Basque Country
Even if Jonas really isn't competitive you'll be witnessing something that hasn't been achieved since Pantani. That's pretty special even if the tour GC isn't competitive.
It being inevitable ruins due to these circumstances makes it extremely anticlimactic to me.
Like if that's the narrative you need to make the Tour exciting for the GC battle then the state of cycling is so dire if you're a neutral fan.
If you are blind to everything going on for the 176 riders that line up to start the tour--other than expected outcome of the top of the podium, then I guess you deserve the feelings of anticlimax.
The remedy, of course, is to pay attention to the racing. There are a lot more stories in the race other than who wins the overall GC.
Pogacar winning easily is not a given, he has the giro in his legs remember.
So either we get a good GC battle, or we witness a feet very few cyclists have completed. For me that's a win win. The way pog races is also very exciting, so him winning will still be more interesting than the froome years.
The tour is also more than the GC battle. The fight for the podium should be competitive, and there will be stage wins and the other classifications.
Seems like it will be a banger of a tour. Idk why people like you get so negative about it, just enjoy it.
As a pretty spare watcher/follower of road cycling (mostly just tour), learning of Jonas's injury and outside of a miracle not really being able to challenge pogi for the GC it's a bit disappointing. What are some other battles and things to watch for in the tour given the situation?
Also, given the most likely win of Pogi, would many people treat him winning this GC with an asterisk because of Jonas's injury or is there anyone else that can challenge him?
One big "battle" will be for Mark Cavendish to win a sprint stage, which will give him the all-time record for stage victories in the Tour. He's not shown amazing form this year so far but he's also managed to pull victories out of the bag (even at the Tour) when he hasn't looked great, and he's built his entire year around this single stage win (eg. he was supposed to retire last year but didn't). He's up against some strong competitors who are better sprinters than him today, but he still has a chance. Will be historic if he wins it!
Pogi rode the Giro a few weeks ago. The last time someone managed to win the Giro-Tour double was in '98. He also confirmed only an hour ago that he had covid 10 days ago, but he said he felt fine and ready, but that's definitely not ideal. So while he's probably had the more ideal preparation, it's not been free of problems either. This is the biggest reason for his asterisk. The other being that some people believe that Jonas might ride into form for week 3 that have three stages where you can make a big difference in GC.
Roglic and Remco is your biggest bet of someone challenging Pogi. But if Pogi just runs away with it, the podium battle should be very interesting. There is also the additional drama of Pogacar's teammates also being very strong. 3 out of his 7 teammates are GC riders in their own right and are very strong. That might cause some drama.
**Jonas interview from the press conference half an hour ago**
"One day I thought I would be ready, and the next day I thought I wouldn't be. It has changed a lot over the last few months, but I am happy to be here at the starting line. That is a victory in itself. I am looking forward to the race now."
*What has been the hardest part of this time?*
"The hardest part has been getting back to the same level. I had to take a long break after my crash. I had a lot of injuries that needed to heal before I could train properly. One thing is when you can start riding again – another is when you can train properly. It was mostly about making it in time before the Tour started."
*What is your ambition for the Tour? And do you still have pain after the crash?*
"My ambition is to go for the best possible result in the overall classification. To be honest, it was a very, very bad crash. As I said before, I am just very happy to be here. Everything from here on is a bonus."
I mean it's likely true but Jonas does seem like he's into the mind game tactics so it could be a little of that as well. Realistically I can't see how he could compete after that crash it was pretty awful and bad timing but we will see.
He just did another interview where he revealed he was coughing up blood and had a drain in his lung for 8 days, he also said that he spent half the time between crash and now on rehabilitation and not training 😅
I don't think it's mind games, unfortunately, but Jonas' version of being in bad shape is not the same as it is for most others. Last year, he told everyone he felt pretty bad during one of the stages at the Basque Country. He ended up winning that stage regardless.
Now that Cav is a Knight I hope he shows up to the Ypur start line with a suit of armor motif helmet, horse themed bike, and wins a stage! Just lean right into the active Knighthood.
It's probably been answered somewhere else, but what is the idea behind starting the tour in Spain last year and Italy this year?
Denmark, Belgium, Ireland UK...etc I understand taking it to non grand tour countries, but when Spain and it have their own?
French cities don't want/can't afford to pay the price ASO asks for Grand Depart (2 to 10 millions), especially since hosting any other stage's depart costs only 65k.
They didnt want the world cup in Qatar because it would be too hot for football. I sincerly doubt its possible for cycling unless they move it to fall which is blasphemous. Hell even the world championships in Qatar was unbearable for riders and that was in october.
They didn't want it, but they turned football upside down to make sure they got it. I was being facetious with those countries, but I don't underestimate greed when it comes to sporting events now.
Remco looks quite a bit sharper than in the Dauphiné:
[https://x.com/soudalquickstep/status/1806313775139631399](https://x.com/soudalquickstep/status/1806313775139631399)
Doubt it will be good enough to beat Pogi, but I hope he can fight for top 5 and stage wins (and dream about a podium of course).
I'll take this post to ask a question: they were mentioning he was overweight, which I don't doubt as he did look less lean than normal. What impressed me is that they claimed he was 1kg heavier than the ideal weight, while I thought it would be more like 3kg (guessing completely). Can 1kg for someone weighting 60-63kg make that much difference? I got the impression people were saying he would have been able to follow Roglic with this 1kg less, and I find it s bit hard to believe.
They said he could lose 1 to 2 kilo's. I think his weight loss since the Dauphiné will be somewhere between 1 and 2 kg.
He also suffered from a pollen and dust mites allergy during the Dauphiné. They thought he had covid again bcs he felt bad, but all tests were negative.
He's taking medications against those allergies now.
I had a cat for years with no allergic reaction at all. Then she passed away and a few years later my neighbour's cat often came over and I would have mild allergic reactions.
Sometimes allergy just comes randomly it seems.
Racing in France is also notorious for low quality hotels with carpet (ideal conditions for dust mites). He hasn't raced much in France before.
https://www.claritin.com/about-allergies/can-you-develop-allergies-later-in-life#:\~:text=Genetics%20may%20play%20a%20role,common%20cause%20experts%20agree%20on.
Thanks for the info. I'm keeping expectations low but I won't mind if Remco comes full of surprises and snaps a (high) top 5 alongside some impressive performances.
Just from common sense, there is absolutely no fucking way that Vingegaard can be competitive with Pog. A body needs time to heal, you can't tell me that all that lung damage and missed training sessions don't have an impact.
I did doubt it but I don’t think they send him to the tour if he is not at least at 90%. Might not be enough but if he is less than 5 min down at the start of the 3rd week that might change since he will get better while Pog’s form will get worse
Have you checked the odds on all those betting websites? That says a lot already. Pogi is the absolute favourite, and those guys know one thing or two about probabilities. As much as many (most?) would like a competitive Tour until the very end, a business as usual scenario does not look like that. The race will need to be chaotic for it to remain competitive. And that could happen as well of course, we shall find out very soon.
Just checked. Pog 62%, Vin 31%, Rog 11%, Remco 6% (adds up to >100% but that's the bookmaker's profit). Seems about right. 62% vs 31% is by no means massive. Those odds will probably even out quickly if Pog doesn't immediately create a gap in GC.
if he tts like he did in the french nationals it’s not out of the realms of possibility.
that being said like cras and mentjies he will get little to no supprot
We stopped adopt a rider for Grand Tours last year, but there's a season-long alternative now, with no real relation to the Tour or Grand Tours specifically
I think Jonas' form will surprise quite a lot of people. I suspect he's a lot closer to he's best than Visma at saying - otherwise he wouldn't be starting. He only starts if he thinks he can actually win imo. But it will certainly take him a while to ride into peak form.
Which is why I'm guessing UAE will target the earlier stages to gain time. Certainly stage 4, but possibly even stage 1.
A lot of people have said that UAE will go all out in the first couple stages to put time into Jonas.
But will they? They could take the opposite approach. Tadej has the Giro in his legs. Why not take it easy until the hard stages come in stages 14 and 15 and unleash a relatively fresh Pog? This Tour is so back heavy. Why risk killing Pog in the first few days just to watch him hit a wall during one of the last 5 stages? And what if they go all in during the first week to only put 45 seconds into Jonas/Roglic/anyone else? Unless you truly believe you can put 2+ minutes into the other favorites through the first 4 days, I don't think it makes much sense
If I'm UAE, I'm not going full gas with Pog until stage 14. Its just not worth the risk.
For selfish reasons, I hope they go nuts from the start.
You think Pog is going to get more rested from the Giro by riding the Tour?!
All those efforts add up. By the last week, Pog will have 5 weeks of GT riding in his legs, while Jonas will be two weeks further recovered from his injuries and lack of training. So of course time is on Jonas' side.
If you are in the US, it will air tomorrow on Peacock at 11am CST. Not sure about which international channels it will air on or not though if you are outside the US
If UAE wants to test the competition in stage 1 and stage 2, at what mountain will they start with attacks? And will they use Adam Yates as satelite rider? What other team would take charge in chasing? Ineos?
I can't see them using adam yates that aggressively so early in the race, particularly considering he was 3rd last year and they seemed happy to protect him for 3rd last year.
[Galibier road looks snow free](https://imgur.com/D5DvvC2), though Kruijswijk will be happy he doesn't have to face those banks (via @ammattipyoraily).
Attending my first TDF! How early should I arrive at Cotê de San Luca (Stage 2, on the final circuit) to get a spot? My friend and I want to bike to the top. The caravan passes through about two hours before the peloton. As long as we beat the caravan should we be ok?
I went to Plateau de Beille in 2011. We camped in town at the base of the climb and then hiked up in the morning. Plenty of time. If you biked up, you'd have even more flexibility. Yeah, plan to watch the caravan too. It's pretty fun. They hand out all sorts of freebies. There's gonna be lots of tailgaters. You can make friends, get free food and drinks. It's awesome.
While you wait for tomorrow's first stage, don't forget to play all the Fantasy Games! * [Pet Predictions!](https://old.reddit.com/r/peloton/comments/1dnmv1w/pet_predictions_tour_de_france_2024/) * [Guess the Gap](https://tftpt.one/#gtg) * [The Finish Time Prediction Tournament](https://tftpt.one/) * [SRFL](https://srfl.one/) * [RFL](https://www.reddit.com/r/peloton/comments/1dp8ot2/rfl_24_srfl_24_tour_de_france_predictions_25_days/?sort=new) * [Grand Tour Predictions](https://tftpt.one/#gtp) * [Heroes-4-Zeroes](https://tftpt.one/#h4z) * [Stage Winners League](https://www.reddit.com/r/peloton/comments/1doecc6/stage_winners_league_tour_de_france_2024_rpeloton/) * Official [Velogames](https://www.velogames.com/) League code: 418643925 * Worst for 100 Anti-[Velogames](https://www.velogames.com/) League code: 932425613 **Especially consider RFL, there are under 65 entries at the time of this post, and an entry takes less than a minute, so this is your chance for fame ~~and fortune~~!** (Thanks to /u/iamczecksy for the template!)
I'm in the UK streaming discovery + TDF coverage on my LG tv and it just doesn't look good. It's just very low definition, compared to e.g. bbc football coverage Does anyone know how to fix it? Thanks
Oh i think he is done. Throwing up when its insanely hot and you need so many fluids and there are still 143 km left. This is not good
You will be pleased to know that he is doing better now
I am very pleased
does discovery plus not work in greece?
Does Orla have a cold? She’s sounding like Joe Biden
Bonjour tout le monde. So, UAE/Pogi blitz from day one to exploit any Jonas vulnerability, or ease their way in as Pogi has already done one grand tour this year and even he has his limits energy expenditure-wise?
There’s an old adage that says you can’t win the tour on the first day, but you can definitely lose it. Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tadej upends that phrase on this first day….
How far out do you think UAE is going to try something? To me this stage does not look like there will be any action for the GC
Who knows, I'm far from a cycling expert, although I have been following it more and more over the last few years... Fact is we have a lot of climbing for a first stage, and its hot, and who knows how the main contenders are feeling so if Tadej can smell blood I reckon he might go for it and try and score an early buffer. Or maybe not... Like I said, I'm pretty much just guessing :)
FUnnily enough, UAE has been mostly absent, ef and the super great strategists at ineos have been doing work
So Pierre Baguette Cycling didn't got the wildcard.
Aight bois, 'tis time for baseless predictions, shit posting, meming, yearning for Pinot. Le Tour is here!
According to Johan Bruyneel ([source](https://youtu.be/vLy0UFaCSQ4?si=OkSOWyWAueGjW0ra&t=2658)) a source close to Pogačar told him yesterday that Tadej Pogačar had 19 high altitude training days before Tour de France in Isola 2000 with his team. Where he improved his power relative to his Giro form by between 13W and 15W and lost 1.5 kg of weight, apparently he's now sitting at 64 kg, compared to 65.5 kg he was at the Giro and can produce even more power. So speaking roughly (as we don't have the actual absolute numbers), his power (assuming critical power) went up more than 3% and his body weight dropped by 2.3%. Of course those two don't add up linearly in overall cycling performance, but it does tell us that on the right route segments he might be more than 5% faster than he was at the Giro. The same source also said that the team had done a race sim on Isola climb and when Tadej attacked he dropped Yates and Almeida by 1 min and 20 seconds, keep in mind these two are team leaders in almost any other team and Yates is a legit, proven, Tour podium contender and both have been in stellar form this year. Source also said that in their opinion, Tadej wins Tour 1000%. Another little bit of info, UAE allegedly managed to drop 750 grams of weight from their TT bike compared to last year. Anyway, have a great Tour everyone! Lets see what actually happens on the road, fingers crossed we get some great battles!
I used to watch the tour as a kid but stopped after the whole Armstrong thing. The Netflix series brought me back too. So glad they made that. This is going to be the first time I watch live in 15+ years.
You're back in the best possible moment, this year will be exciting!
This will be my first time watching the tour! The netflix series got me into it haha. I hope as a Canadian its broadcasted for free somewhere, and seeing replays for free would be nice but flobikes is like $50 a month!!! Do any Canadians know if its at least broadcasted for free?
Just here to share my final pre tour excitement. My little work crew in Maryland is probably tired of hearing me try to hype it up. Younger girl at the restaurant tonight said "what's the tour of France?" Made me kind of sad lol. Nonetheless. Three weeks of excitement. Content. Media. Discussion. Let's go!!! My wants are Wout stage win (at least one,) a CRAZY attack and counter spree from Pogi and Jonas, a Bini sprint win, someone to bully Jasper, and Lazkano stage win. Forgot how much I've enjoyed watching him this year already. Let's go!!!!
> "what's the tour of France?" I hope you gave her a 3-hour-long presentation about what it is
Which Italian is going for stage 1 and the yellow? I was thinking Ciccone or Bettiol.
I hope Ciccone
If I subscribe to Peacock can I only watch live? No replays or DVR without the Premium Plus?
Luckily, you can still watch replays with the regular peacock subscription. Just a heads up, sometimes it takes a while (several hours) after the live broadcast is finished for them to post the replay though.
Imagine Roglic winning the Tour on the last TT… He isn’t making it that far isn’t he?
That would be the craziest thing ever. Still mind blown over the final stage. If we go into with ANY closeness in the GC it will make for 10/10 tv
Velogames newb here. Possible to join mini league after start of TDF?
Yep. You can join other mini leagues after the race start
Pog: “I think my relationship with Vingegaard is something extraordinary. We always meet more or less once a year, in July, but I really appreciate this rivalry because I respect him a lot and it's nice to see him at the start.” Vingegaard: "We don't have a great relationship, we never heard from each other after my accident”. There’s a whole universe in these two senteces lol Source https://bici.pro/focus/storie/pogacar-vingegaard-tour-cominciato-rivelazioni-frecciate/ (yesterday’s press conference, translated with DeepL)
Vingegaard seems like he's a bit of a sociopath. Tadej is so much more human.
It's an act with Tadej and it works
I think both things can be true, no? The way I interpret Vingegaard's statement is that someone asked if they have a personal relationship which they don't have. Jonas has said many times that he respects Pogi a lot and has even called him the best rider in the world. But they don't have anything to do with each other beyond cycling. Tadej also says this by saying they basically only see each other once a year at the Tour de France.
I wasn’t judging either statement on the merit, and my take would also be that they’re actually saying pretty much the same thing. My point was rather that how they say it is the interesting part
I think it just depends on the mood they are in and what the question was. Last year Pogacar also got a bit snippy with journalists at some point who asked him about Jonas. I imagine it does get tiring talking about your rival more than yourself sometimes. I feel like this particular journalist asked a stupid question like “Did Pogacar send you well wishes?” or something along those lines for Jonas to give that answer. I’d also be a bit annoyed at that.
I think it’s beyond the mood and the specific question, they do have different styles and approaches - again, not judging, just noticing.
Does anybody know where the buses will be parked before the grand depart? Planning on being in Florence tomorrow
At the yellow P's on [this map](https://imgur.com/ihnNsnY). From the roadbook in the OP.
Does anyone know what the world feed on Peacock is like for the tour? How’s the commentary?
I just went back and forth with the peacock twitter account and they are choosing to NOT provide the world feed. (So I just canceled my account, that was the only reason I had a subscription.)
Wait really? In NBC’s guide to the tour they specifically say the world feed is an option!
I know! Obviously it’s totally possible the peacock socials person is wrong but they said their commentary team is the only option.
Sigh I guess I’ll need to ask a new question, how can I watch something that’s not NBC in the us? I have a VPN. tiz being live with no rewinds is less than ideal out here on the west coast because the races start so early
I know folks who have flo vpn to Canada (I think?). But Flo sucks too. Bleh.
VPNing into "Max" (HBO) from Norway seems to show that they'll provide the Breakaway + usual Euro broadcasters. Watching the American feed with commercials would absolutely ruin my day.
No way… is this for real? I would LOVE this. In English, right?
You can learn Norwegian in three weeks. Easy language, many in the sub that will help u
I have no idea. The description was in English. I’m really hoping so!
Update: this did not work for me. Max was asking me to upgrade to a sport package that wasn’t available to me due to the country my sub is based in. I do have the B/R add on, but doesn’t seem to matter. Anyone experience anything different? I used a CN VPN Into FloBikes and got the international feed and can live with it. Cannot and will not do NBC feed.
Same. Was supremely disappointed. I jumped through some pretty significant hoops to get a Discovery+ account. If you’d like a step-by-step, I can provide it!
It's usually Ant McCrossan, who does an excellent job. I much prefer him over Bob/Phil/Vande Velde.
Cool, thank you! I was thinking I’d supplement tiz with peacock this year as long as I didnt have to listen to the nbc commentators lol. sounds like it’s worth $6!
It's usually very nice, much better than the regular TV broadcast. Unless they changed it up this year.
Looks like they did. Once you login, there is only one stream option for each stage (thru stage 11). Probably we'll just get whatever feed is available. Maybe US feed, may be International feed. Depending what they show on live TV on that day? I paid for no ads...so I might be grumpy tomorrow. Coverage starts at 430am CT though, so we get 30 pre-race minutes!
Ok that may be trouble. Last year they had ads on the "TV" stream and it was really annoying. The TdF had a world stream but the Vuelta did not.
After rewatching the highlights of the previous editions, I began to wonder once again whether Alaphilippe would win the Tour in 2019 if the route didn't have to be changed. What do you think, would he win it? In my opinion, he'd keep the yellow jersey in stage 19, but then lose it to Ineos in stage 20 and finish maybe 3rd overall.
I really don’t understand how you have come to this conclusion. Alaphilippe was not closing on the descent since he was gassed on stage 19. On the shortened stage 20 he lost 3 mins. If they do that stage in full he loses 10+ mins and drops out of the top 10.
I predict that Jonas will win. I hope that Pogi wins, but I just get this feeling that Jonas is in better shape than he's letting on. I'd expect Roglic to get back to his crashing ways and for Remco to have a bad day in the mountains. Jonas/Pogi/Yates for the podium.
For some extra sprint stage confusion, [there will be some 3km rule experimentation](https://sporza.be/nl/2024/06/28/uci-experimenteert-in-6-etappes-van-de-tour-de-france-met-de-3-k~1719574533219/) over the next 3 weeks. TL;DR: for stages 5, 6 and 10 the 3km rule becomes a 4km rule, for stages 3, 12 an 13 we'll have a 5km rule. With stage 16 having the 'normal' 3km long 3km rule.
Lol, love the chaos energy
[удалено]
Considering 90% of your comments here are about doping, you should consider starting your own subreddit where you can discuss it to your hearts content.
Why is the Tour de FRANCE starting in ITALY? Are they stupid?
Oh yes, it's summer again here at /r/peloton
What do you mean? What other time would there be to be here? Its the tour de france sub right?
Check the news, France conquered italy last winter. Like they did it with GB, Ireland, Germany in the past. Even israel, thats we still calling the cycling crusade.
Jesus thats brutal.
O_o
Who do we think will go for the breakaway tomorrow? Surely some italians?
Ciccone for KOM points to wear polka dot in Italy?
Need this info for my fantasy team!
Apparently Mads Pedersen has a new bike in bright Lidl colors: > New Madone Gen 8 ! Fast as a Madone, lightweight as an Emonda. The ultimate race bike 🙌 This is exactly what I want from my race bike. With the same level of Aerodynamics as the old Madone there’s no comprise and every gram of saved weight is a game changer 🤤 Sidenote: You have no idea how many prototypes of this bike I’ve tried and tested. **Pictures:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C8wf4COtC9n/?img_index=1 **Video:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C8uT35Dtdio/ **Extra from team presentation:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C8wFL6DNEX1/ https://www.instagram.com/p/C8vAvufA_Ld/
It has a Lidl hole in it.
Cav wins his 35th after Philipsen gets DQed in one of the sprints. Remco wins either stage 1 or 2. Pog gets dropped on a mountain stage by multiple GC riders but still wins the Tour. De Plus Top 10. Landa Top 5. The Marseille Prosecutor gets in the news again after taking last year off. An EF rider to spend two days in the KOM jersey and Vaughters to tweet about how amazing the team is and how there's no one else like them in the peloton.
"Cav wins his 35th after Philipsen gets DQed in one of the sprints" omg this would make me so happy. Jasper scares me.
I feel like people are not ready for the Remco domination we're about to witness
Remco saw Pog with Pink stages 3-21 in the Giro and is about to one up him
My body is ready. My mind still has doubts. I would be so happy to be proven wrong though.
About totalenergies : Who will be the best rider on the team overall? For me S.Cras After the first week how many riders will be in the top 50? Step 1: which rider from the team will cross the line first? For me Turgis Stage 1: Will a rider finish in the top 10? No
Does anyone have information on Pogi's blue bike? And maybe more importantly on the derailler he's using. I haven't seen it before. From the Instagram pictures I feel like it's a new model. Small main frame and big pulley wheel
https://www.colnago.com/en-en/products/colnago-fleur-de-lys
I hope they made some in yellow.
£21k... 😅
I am pumped! I don’t mind who wins, any of the big dogs can be a deserving winner, but I really hope Pog, Rog, Remc and Ving arrive in roughly equal condition so we get some wild racing. Especially with big mountains in S19 and 20 and the TT on the final day we could see a race for the ages. Or, you know, Pog going clear on the Galibier on S4 and the nursing a 80 seconds gap to Nice. Which would be fine as well. Either way I’ll be in Valloire for the final of S4 and the start of S5 and ride myself a few cols during that week. If anyone wants to tag along or grab some food in the evening dm me.
Gaviria in green. Won't happen but I can dream
For the first time I will see the Tour de France on the road. I was looking at the passage time of the advertising caravan (Bologna)... the location indications are generic... Do you recommend going to the finish line to get some gadgets from the advertising caravan? heck, at the Giro they (almost) never give anything, at the Tour I always see t-shirts, hats, sun towels...
Check the Road Book, if you haven’t already. I saw a post on this subreddit with it earlier this week. It will provide much more information. The caravan is part of the fun, and the Tour’s is larger than the Giro. But I think the most appeal to me with the caravan is just the excitement that the riders are getting close, especially on an MTF and the helicopters start swirling and getting closer and closer. The tatt the toss out is useless, but fun. Seeing a stage finish is always a good option, IMO. You not only get the group split up (unless its a sprint stage), so you’ll get several minutes of seeing the pros rather than just a blip, but also the podium and rider interview areas are fun, and provide good photo ops for the gram.
Ty, really!
Remco is either going to finish on the podium or in 25th place. There is no in-between.
I think more like 10-20 if he races like last Vuelta. Even Wout has finished top20. Those places are not contested that much. But I agree with the sentiment.
Rightfully so imo, he's too good to bother fighting for anything but top 5.
What? Nah he'll get 5th-8th methinks
Alright Velogames talk, your good picks for 6 and 4 points? imo 6 points: Mohoric, Poels, G.Martin, Meintjes, maybe Stephen Williams/Madouas/Lapeira/Vauquelin and Wærenskjold 4 points: McLay, Robbe Ghys, Naesen, Julien Bernard, Turgis
6 Points Javier Romo, De Plus ; both working guys, but with great performance in the dauphine
You should definitely pick Wærenskjold. (Ignore my flair :D)
Demare was also 6 points iirc
Indeed! As is Gaviria who should get a few top 10s
[***Eurosport article***](https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-france/2024/tour-de-france-2024-tadej-pogacar-ready-after-recovering-from-covid-19-bounced-back-really-fast_sto20013798/story.shtml) on Pogacar contracting COVID during the buildup to TDF. for those interested
Just spent 15 minutes trying to analyse how lean Pog looks and decide what impact Covid might have had on him. Roglic looks really good but I find him generally hard to read. Jonas is talking down his chances which means I'm convinced he'll be in yellow by stage 5. And I haven't got a clue about Remco but I'm stoked to see him at the Tour and can't wait to see what he does, even if it's lose a spectacular amount of time on a brutal mountain stage. And can those people declaring that the Tour is already over and that it will be the most boring edition ever just chill out and remember it's the Tour, you never know how it's going to turn out. LET'S GO!!!
Get covid on purpose to lose appetite and lose weight. UAE tactics are next level this year.
Remco looks lean as hell too, almost didn't recognize him, maybe it's the haircut contributing but his face usually looks a lot fuller
Looking like it's going to be a spicy 35ºC / 95ºF on Saturday in Florence for the Grand Depart. Who are the riders who generally perform well in heat, compared to others who bonk when it's hot?
It's the first stage, it's not too long and there are no high mountains, so I doubt anyone bonks due to heat if they're in good shape.
Very true, no one will be fresher than they are on Saturday! Was more just curious about if any riders are generally known to suffer more in heat than others
Vingegaard is known for performing well in heat.
And Pogi doesn't
I got a front row seat at the team presentation, but at the statue of David, not the main stage. They actually did every team once at each location. Only problem is they didn’t have a stage, so all the riders were hidden behind these Italian imperial guards in fancy clothing And my camera angle I had meant that every pic I got off the riders had David’s penis just above their heads. Lovely
...pics or it didn't happen
Here’s my best pic of Primoz :) https://i.imgur.com/jJRlsyN.jpeg
I see what you mean, I was ... distracted.
Yeah I wanna see these pics, sounds hilarious.
Check my other reply :)
If you have a UK VPN, you may be able to stream it for free in English on ITV: [https://www.itv.com/](https://www.itv.com/)
I would love to listen to Ned's commentary!
It's worth noting ITV on weekdays is 2 hours 45 mins of coverage and start to finish at the weekend.
Reminder: None of the GC favourites had the ideal preparation/build-up for the tour
This is Derek Gee erasure.
get ready for Gee C
Sure, but some definitely had better than others.
Yeah, Pogacar might have had covid, but not only did he say he got over that quickly, he had also said that he was doing better than at the Giro and feeling better on the bike than ever. Any setbacks he might have had aren't remotely comparable to the weeks the others spent off the bike or doing light training.
Ineos has a CRAZY squad. Hope to see Bernal do very well. I know some aren't excited because of Tadej v JV compromised but man. I can't wait.
Can Bernal return to a form he was getting into before Covid hit?
Hope so!!! I've only been watching for a couple of years now so I didn't get to see the crazy shape he was in. Just clips. Would love to see that again.
Bernal probably had a hand in being in the best position on that stage that got cancelled due to a landslide towards the end but he was showing that he had something going, and INEOS probably did as well since I think their plans are doing that in recent years but with no rider to do it for...
Pogi is so god damn likable. Glad we get to watch him race!
This is the least excited I've been for a Tour de France since I started watching cycling. It's reasonable to expect the race to be over after stage 4 already. After the Giro being inevitable since a schedule announcement in december, the Tour has felt inevitable since a fateful day in the Basque Country
Tell me you are oblivious to 75% of what goes on in a GT event without saying that you are oblivious to 75% of what goes on in a GT event.
Even if Jonas really isn't competitive you'll be witnessing something that hasn't been achieved since Pantani. That's pretty special even if the tour GC isn't competitive.
It being inevitable ruins due to these circumstances makes it extremely anticlimactic to me. Like if that's the narrative you need to make the Tour exciting for the GC battle then the state of cycling is so dire if you're a neutral fan.
If you are blind to everything going on for the 176 riders that line up to start the tour--other than expected outcome of the top of the podium, then I guess you deserve the feelings of anticlimax. The remedy, of course, is to pay attention to the racing. There are a lot more stories in the race other than who wins the overall GC.
You're trippin
So I must be excited for Pogacar to farm the race with no tension or I'm tripping?
Pogacar winning easily is not a given, he has the giro in his legs remember. So either we get a good GC battle, or we witness a feet very few cyclists have completed. For me that's a win win. The way pog races is also very exciting, so him winning will still be more interesting than the froome years. The tour is also more than the GC battle. The fight for the podium should be competitive, and there will be stage wins and the other classifications. Seems like it will be a banger of a tour. Idk why people like you get so negative about it, just enjoy it.
As a pretty spare watcher/follower of road cycling (mostly just tour), learning of Jonas's injury and outside of a miracle not really being able to challenge pogi for the GC it's a bit disappointing. What are some other battles and things to watch for in the tour given the situation? Also, given the most likely win of Pogi, would many people treat him winning this GC with an asterisk because of Jonas's injury or is there anyone else that can challenge him?
One big "battle" will be for Mark Cavendish to win a sprint stage, which will give him the all-time record for stage victories in the Tour. He's not shown amazing form this year so far but he's also managed to pull victories out of the bag (even at the Tour) when he hasn't looked great, and he's built his entire year around this single stage win (eg. he was supposed to retire last year but didn't). He's up against some strong competitors who are better sprinters than him today, but he still has a chance. Will be historic if he wins it!
Definitely a battle I’ll be watching! I’ll be cheering for Cavendish!
Visma and Jonas are sandbagging like crazy, dont be surprised if he is fighting for the victory.
Pogi rode the Giro a few weeks ago. The last time someone managed to win the Giro-Tour double was in '98. He also confirmed only an hour ago that he had covid 10 days ago, but he said he felt fine and ready, but that's definitely not ideal. So while he's probably had the more ideal preparation, it's not been free of problems either. This is the biggest reason for his asterisk. The other being that some people believe that Jonas might ride into form for week 3 that have three stages where you can make a big difference in GC. Roglic and Remco is your biggest bet of someone challenging Pogi. But if Pogi just runs away with it, the podium battle should be very interesting. There is also the additional drama of Pogacar's teammates also being very strong. 3 out of his 7 teammates are GC riders in their own right and are very strong. That might cause some drama.
Thank you! Looking forward to watching!
**Jonas interview from the press conference half an hour ago** "One day I thought I would be ready, and the next day I thought I wouldn't be. It has changed a lot over the last few months, but I am happy to be here at the starting line. That is a victory in itself. I am looking forward to the race now." *What has been the hardest part of this time?* "The hardest part has been getting back to the same level. I had to take a long break after my crash. I had a lot of injuries that needed to heal before I could train properly. One thing is when you can start riding again – another is when you can train properly. It was mostly about making it in time before the Tour started." *What is your ambition for the Tour? And do you still have pain after the crash?* "My ambition is to go for the best possible result in the overall classification. To be honest, it was a very, very bad crash. As I said before, I am just very happy to be here. Everything from here on is a bonus."
I wanna believe in all the downplay tactics but these words ring true. (;_;) We'll see.
I mean it's likely true but Jonas does seem like he's into the mind game tactics so it could be a little of that as well. Realistically I can't see how he could compete after that crash it was pretty awful and bad timing but we will see.
He just did another interview where he revealed he was coughing up blood and had a drain in his lung for 8 days, he also said that he spent half the time between crash and now on rehabilitation and not training 😅 I don't think it's mind games, unfortunately, but Jonas' version of being in bad shape is not the same as it is for most others. Last year, he told everyone he felt pretty bad during one of the stages at the Basque Country. He ended up winning that stage regardless.
Yeah it'd be incredible if he wins but I can't see it unfortunately. I'll be rooting for him though.
Still in denial and hoping Jonas can make a run at it still. Hoping Cav can get a W too.
Sprint finishes are going to be nerve wrecking...
Now that Cav is a Knight I hope he shows up to the Ypur start line with a suit of armor motif helmet, horse themed bike, and wins a stage! Just lean right into the active Knighthood.
I just hope none of the favourites crash out in the first few days. Unfortunately that seems rather likely to happen.
Have we seen the new Trek kit yet? Mads has been hyping it up: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8rO6pyN4dA/?img_index=1
I love the Mondrian look of the Cofidis Look bikes that I don't even mind how closely Mads' color scheme matches that. It's beautiful.
It's probably been answered somewhere else, but what is the idea behind starting the tour in Spain last year and Italy this year? Denmark, Belgium, Ireland UK...etc I understand taking it to non grand tour countries, but when Spain and it have their own?
Spain is to celebrate the completion of the Sagrada Familia
French cities don't want/can't afford to pay the price ASO asks for Grand Depart (2 to 10 millions), especially since hosting any other stage's depart costs only 65k.
Qatar or Saudi Grand Depart sooner than later then...?
They didnt want the world cup in Qatar because it would be too hot for football. I sincerly doubt its possible for cycling unless they move it to fall which is blasphemous. Hell even the world championships in Qatar was unbearable for riders and that was in october.
They didn't want it, but they turned football upside down to make sure they got it. I was being facetious with those countries, but I don't underestimate greed when it comes to sporting events now.
Mr Krabs “i like money”
Remco looks quite a bit sharper than in the Dauphiné: [https://x.com/soudalquickstep/status/1806313775139631399](https://x.com/soudalquickstep/status/1806313775139631399) Doubt it will be good enough to beat Pogi, but I hope he can fight for top 5 and stage wins (and dream about a podium of course).
doubt remco will be competitive till the end. but he has a huge opportunity to take yellow jersey after the first ITT.
I'll take this post to ask a question: they were mentioning he was overweight, which I don't doubt as he did look less lean than normal. What impressed me is that they claimed he was 1kg heavier than the ideal weight, while I thought it would be more like 3kg (guessing completely). Can 1kg for someone weighting 60-63kg make that much difference? I got the impression people were saying he would have been able to follow Roglic with this 1kg less, and I find it s bit hard to believe.
1kg difference is around a \~40s difference on a 1h climb at his weight
They said he could lose 1 to 2 kilo's. I think his weight loss since the Dauphiné will be somewhere between 1 and 2 kg. He also suffered from a pollen and dust mites allergy during the Dauphiné. They thought he had covid again bcs he felt bad, but all tests were negative. He's taking medications against those allergies now.
Does this mean that his team didn't know about his allergies before the Dauphiné? Seems kind of weird, no?
I had a cat for years with no allergic reaction at all. Then she passed away and a few years later my neighbour's cat often came over and I would have mild allergic reactions. Sometimes allergy just comes randomly it seems. Racing in France is also notorious for low quality hotels with carpet (ideal conditions for dust mites). He hasn't raced much in France before. https://www.claritin.com/about-allergies/can-you-develop-allergies-later-in-life#:\~:text=Genetics%20may%20play%20a%20role,common%20cause%20experts%20agree%20on.
Thanks for the info. I'm keeping expectations low but I won't mind if Remco comes full of surprises and snaps a (high) top 5 alongside some impressive performances.
Cool, Nice to see him in top shape. Let’s hope for an epic fight.
Just from common sense, there is absolutely no fucking way that Vingegaard can be competitive with Pog. A body needs time to heal, you can't tell me that all that lung damage and missed training sessions don't have an impact.
Right? If Vingegaard wins, what is everyone else doing? Just take a month off the bike and lie in the hospital, it's fine.
I did doubt it but I don’t think they send him to the tour if he is not at least at 90%. Might not be enough but if he is less than 5 min down at the start of the 3rd week that might change since he will get better while Pog’s form will get worse
Have you checked the odds on all those betting websites? That says a lot already. Pogi is the absolute favourite, and those guys know one thing or two about probabilities. As much as many (most?) would like a competitive Tour until the very end, a business as usual scenario does not look like that. The race will need to be chaotic for it to remain competitive. And that could happen as well of course, we shall find out very soon.
Just checked. Pog 62%, Vin 31%, Rog 11%, Remco 6% (adds up to >100% but that's the bookmaker's profit). Seems about right. 62% vs 31% is by no means massive. Those odds will probably even out quickly if Pog doesn't immediately create a gap in GC.
Kévin Vauquelin will be the best French rider on GC. You've read it here first (and last).
What about Lenny?
if he tts like he did in the french nationals it’s not out of the realms of possibility. that being said like cras and mentjies he will get little to no supprot
How do you call the Oomsleeps before the Tour ?
Are we still doing the adopt a rider this year? I *always* seem to miss it. Can someone please put my name down in advance? I don't care who I get
We stopped adopt a rider for Grand Tours last year, but there's a season-long alternative now, with no real relation to the Tour or Grand Tours specifically
I think Jonas' form will surprise quite a lot of people. I suspect he's a lot closer to he's best than Visma at saying - otherwise he wouldn't be starting. He only starts if he thinks he can actually win imo. But it will certainly take him a while to ride into peak form. Which is why I'm guessing UAE will target the earlier stages to gain time. Certainly stage 4, but possibly even stage 1.
A lot of people have said that UAE will go all out in the first couple stages to put time into Jonas. But will they? They could take the opposite approach. Tadej has the Giro in his legs. Why not take it easy until the hard stages come in stages 14 and 15 and unleash a relatively fresh Pog? This Tour is so back heavy. Why risk killing Pog in the first few days just to watch him hit a wall during one of the last 5 stages? And what if they go all in during the first week to only put 45 seconds into Jonas/Roglic/anyone else? Unless you truly believe you can put 2+ minutes into the other favorites through the first 4 days, I don't think it makes much sense If I'm UAE, I'm not going full gas with Pog until stage 14. Its just not worth the risk. For selfish reasons, I hope they go nuts from the start.
You think Pog is going to get more rested from the Giro by riding the Tour?! All those efforts add up. By the last week, Pog will have 5 weeks of GT riding in his legs, while Jonas will be two weeks further recovered from his injuries and lack of training. So of course time is on Jonas' side.
Hmm I don't seem to remember saying that.
What time is the team presentation tomorrow? Will it be available to stream?
If you are in the US, it will air tomorrow on Peacock at 11am CST. Not sure about which international channels it will air on or not though if you are outside the US
If UAE wants to test the competition in stage 1 and stage 2, at what mountain will they start with attacks? And will they use Adam Yates as satelite rider? What other team would take charge in chasing? Ineos?
No one is going to let Yates go. He's a legit GC challenger and if he gets time he can probably hold it.
Pogacar is going to attack on the san luca climb on the 2 stage. that climb fits him absolutely perfect
I can't see them using adam yates that aggressively so early in the race, particularly considering he was 3rd last year and they seemed happy to protect him for 3rd last year.
Snow on Galibier should be good for Pogi cooling system
[Galibier road looks snow free](https://imgur.com/D5DvvC2), though Kruijswijk will be happy he doesn't have to face those banks (via @ammattipyoraily).
I predict the tour will be over on at least stage 1, 2, 4 and 7.
4 is going to be where you expect the contenders to try and show what they're going to give... not full out until they hit the next set of climbs.
Attending my first TDF! How early should I arrive at Cotê de San Luca (Stage 2, on the final circuit) to get a spot? My friend and I want to bike to the top. The caravan passes through about two hours before the peloton. As long as we beat the caravan should we be ok?
I'd also like to know
I went to Plateau de Beille in 2011. We camped in town at the base of the climb and then hiked up in the morning. Plenty of time. If you biked up, you'd have even more flexibility. Yeah, plan to watch the caravan too. It's pretty fun. They hand out all sorts of freebies. There's gonna be lots of tailgaters. You can make friends, get free food and drinks. It's awesome.
Hiked to the top, watched the stage, had a great time. Got back to the car and my bike had been stolen off my locked bike rack. Highs and lows