New Cycling season

[Rich Taff]

Good ride from Yates yesterday. Riding a lot smarter than he did at the Giro. One last big push....

If he does it that's all 3 Grand Tours to different Brits this year and 5 consecutive to Brits overall. Starting to understand what it feels like to be an AB fan.

Surely a Yates or 2 will end up at Sky at some point.

Another great ride today from Yates.

5/5 isn't bad

I imagine the Yates brothers will be there in the season after next.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Nasty, nasty crash for Froome. Top road cyclists are real tough nuts, but that's going to take some coming back from. Wish him well.

 

[Al Bangor]

Nasty, nasty crash for Froome. Top road cyclists are real tough nuts, but that's going to take some coming back from. Wish him well.

Tough is right. I raced in college and it was really hard. I can only imagine what the pros go through.

 

[Rich Taff]

Road rash is bad enough, without pesky walls and things getting in the way.

 

[Rich Taff]

Totally open TdF.
One of the commentators brought up an interesting point though. A lot of teams don't know what to do any more, as they're so used to following/chasing Sky.
Ineos still looking good, but crazy amount of mountain stages/finishes, and G has been known to hit the wall (no pun intended) in the past. and Bernal is still very young.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Fantastic TdF. Bernal is a hell of a talent.

What do Ineos do if Froome, Bernal and G are all fit next year? Could one team really field the winners of 6 of the last 7 tours?

If Froome's back I'd have thought most likely that G would either move on or be the leader at the Giro and / or Vuelta.

 

[Rich Taff]

Bernal was set to be leader at the Giro this year, but had to withdraw.
I can see the target being Giro-Bernal, Tour-Froome, Vuelta - G.

Very dependant on how the organiser go about trying to 'sky/ineos-proof' the race.

Also, I'm wondering if they're targetting the classics a bit more this year, as Pouls and Kwiatowski definitely didn't look in Grand Tour form.

 

[Leinster Fan]

Congrats to Sam Bennett, winning in Paris and taking the green jersey is as good as it gets for a grand tour sprinter.

Amazing tour from Pogacar too, and well done to Richie Porte to finally take a podium spot.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Great race all round. Fantastic from Bennett and a totally deserved green jersey. But Pogacar's TT was just from another planet.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Never seen anything like today's stage 1 of the TdF. Total carnage in 2 massive pile ups that may impact the whole race.

They're tough little buggers.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Never seen anything like today's stage 1 of the TdF. Total carnage in 2 massive pile ups that may impact the whole race.

They're tough little buggers.

Tour de France: Police seek spectator after crash

A spectator holding a sign causes a multi-rider pile-up during the first stage of the race.

www.bbc.co.uk

Due to this?

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Tour de France: Police seek spectator after crash

A spectator holding a sign causes a multi-rider pile-up during the first stage of the race.

www.bbc.co.uk

Due to this?

Yep, that was one of them.

And today riders were coming down all over the place including the main GC contenders like Thomas and Roglic. Absolute mayhem.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Great to see Cavendish winning again yesterday. Been a tough few years, but he's still got the instinct.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Great to see Cavendish winning again yesterday. Been a tough few years, but he's still got the instinct.

And repeat! Few sportsmen wear their heart on their sleeve more.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Cav now just one away from equalling the most TdF stage wins. Incredible given what he's been through.

Not that anyone's going to touch Pogacar in the GC if he manages to stay upright all the way to Paris. In a generation of exceptional talent he's a standout.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Kind of talking to myself here and a bit repetitive, but what an achievement by Lazarus Cavendish equalling Merckx's 34 TdF stage wins.

Chapeau, and the Champs Elysees on the final stage would be the perfect place to break it.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Geoff Thomas MBE: Ex-Wolves player completes Tour de France

A team of amateur cyclists complete the race route and raise £1m for a blood cancer charity.

www.bbc.co.uk

Fair play.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Finally a non-white, non-mestizo (South American) cycling superstar in the making. Wins a stage of the Italian equivalent of the Tour de France aged 21, despite taking a wrong turn (Giro on Eurosport and Quest in UK). Bit of a character, popped the champagne cork in his eye!

Giro d'Italia: Biniam Girmay becomes first Black African rider to win a Grand Tour stage

Juan Pedro López maintains overall race lead in Jesi

www.cyclingnews.com

He'll likely continue to be an individual stage chaser rather than a a Grand Tour contender, so probably won't get huge international fame outside of cycling diehards. But this could easily be the start of a hunt for more talent in that high altitude part of the world (famed for endurance and speed in athletics) to follow on from the high altitude hunt in Colombia.

 

[die_mole]

His win at Gent-wevelgem really put him on the map and should hopefully mean he's gonna go for some of the spring monuments (finished 12th at this year's Milan-San Mirino which is probably his best bet at a win) and maybe a world ***le depending on the route.

Besides we all know that the monuments are much cooler to win that a grand tour.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

And confirmed he has abandoned due to the champagne cork! One but of trivia for the pub quiz experts. Hope he is alright. Might see him rested for the TdF.

Girmay out of Giro d'Italia after podium eye injury

'I need some rest to give more power to the eye' says stage 10 winner after suffering hemorrhage from prosecco cork

www.cyclingnews.com

I'm not a monument man myself. A grand tour has about 5 or 6 such stages each edition.