Tour de France 2017

Have to lol how close our perceptions of that are- only dif is whether cav is also at fault- I think he tried to force a thing that he knew he couldn't do, and if I read u right, u think cav just innocently victimized.

you've prob done

Ha! No, I'm the guy getting bullied out of position just riding in the bunch, never mind in a sprint. My instinct for self-preservation is much greater than my desire to win (which means I will never win).

welp i know you know how the flow goes. i can only think of two finale incidents (loooong ago) where contact was my selection. anyone who doesn't put a shoulder into someone's chest or under someone's arm is def much smarter, and much safer, but in some finales, just shut out. it's time to sit up.

when i finally got a little bit more experienced when i was a shitty amateur racer, i was pretty surprised how much contact there was in races. even away from finishes, you only got much complaining if you took your hands off the bars, that was understood as a never-do/you're being a dick (and illegal), around here at least.

and "space and risk management" like sagan did to, i think greipel, a couple days ago? looked uncool, not super dangerous. in context not clear to me if that's considered unnecessary hostility for them. it's so next level, i'm not sure what pros say about that.

yeah it's interesting! that's where i was going with my refernce to the "submerged portion of the iceberg" that i referenced upthread

greipel was apparently pretty cheesed with Sagan & Lotto Sudal appealed to get Sagan DQ'd over Cav, *because* of that incident w Greipel. But Greipel later walked that back after seeing more footage so *shrug*

sidebar, Sagan's "goodbye" instagram video yesterday was so typically chill, like "thanks fans for your support, i am going to aiport now and then to Monaco to see my wife :D" lol

How rad would it be if Sag and Cav started showing up at random TdF spots soaking in an inflatable pool atop a rockstar bus towing a big BBQ

— Joe Parkin (@joeparkin) July 6, 2017

pls god let this happen

Or dressed from head to toe in red lycra while jumping up and down waving tridents

yeah but i sorta think the lesson cipo taught is that if sprinters aint sprintin', they maybe should just be rock-starrin'. maybe even in the race, they can just bag the laughing group/autobus through the mtns, and climb in mobile hot tubs with bbqs.

i didnt realize how much i want that in my life

I would approve of this being a thing.

Just caught up with a bit of today's footage. Annoyingly (since I'm using NBC Sports Gold) they didn't get around to posting the full footage until some hours later instead of pretty much right after the race day concludes, but seems like it was a pretty steady-as-they-go stage until the final sprint.

Also re: NBC, after five days of basically using the standard feed with the two Aussie commentators, they apparently got enough complaints from people who can only watch cycling with Phil-n-Paul to put up that feed too. Except that one has the ads and I think I've topped out with P/P at this point so hey, I still win.

I'm watching on VUE via NBCSports and only get Phil/Paul so I have to take what I can get lol

but god sometimes they are like a couple of elderly chihuahuas with the way they spin up over the slightest kerfuffles

Oh and (per my earlier post) unsurprisingly when I asked my sis what she thought about Elbowgate, the word 'bullshit' came up.

Every sport gets the inflategate it deserves, cycling deserves a few apparently

Still very glad UK commentary team is Millar and Boulting now. I do not miss Phil and Paul ugh ugh.

Hang on I though NBC paid pipi and popo's salaries. If NBC isn't paying them they who the hell is, surely they aren't the 'international feed' from the organisers?

NBC does pay them! Must be why they're on the NBCSN feed.

kinda crushing on 2017 andy schleck now that he's got some human flesh on his bones <3

i'm a stage behind

but holy wow Aru was a machine on that stage 5 climb. fkn beautiful work there

Aru was just amazing at that climb. But mostly I <3 him because he actually made good on that promise to do the Macarena, even though he clearly has no idea how the dance goes!

So, @LeTour , we promised, we did it! Enjoy! #TDF2017 pic.twitter.com/KnJ5vcTVW6

— Astana Proteam (@AstanaTeam) July 6, 2017

Can I just take a moment to salute Marcel Kittel's quiff, though? Five hours cycling in 35 degree weather, out in the sun, a hard sprint at the end, then he gets up on the podium and his hair is just geometric perfection. I did read that Le Tour has a mobile barbershop that accompanies the race everywhere, but that quiff is particularly spectacular.

Anyway, I am excited for the Mountains of Chocolate today!

Can I just take a moment to salute Marcel Kittel's quiff, though?

Especially for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnJYlwo5DdE

Watch till the end when his team mates sing 'Du hast die haare schön' (your hair is pretty) :D

Haha, Die Jungs auf das Geld. He has spectacularly schöne Haare. :D

Philippa York, who as Robert Millar was first Briton to win a jersey at Tour de France, joins ITV4 commentary team

This deserves a mention. Good for her.

Still very glad UK commentary team is Millar and Boulting now. I do not miss Phil and Paul ugh ugh

OTM

Oh, I caught the headline about Philippa York this morning but hadn't realised she was joining the ITV gang! That is a really good thing.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jul/06/philippa-york-gender-transition-cyclist-robert-millar

Awesome

@petosagan come and ride some mountain bike races. Here you are more then welcome. Makes anyway more fun, or? 😜

— Nino Schurter (@nschurter) July 5, 2017

um, god, about that thing i asked upthread? this instead. more compelling.

http://i.imgur.com/EhMgDI1.jpg

Sagan woulda won. #petobrosaretheworst

Wow, he was only pixels over the line!

Looks like he won it by...

*puts on sunglasses*

...A HAIR!

Yeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

i was looking forward to seeing him fly around that mountain bike circuit at Rio olympics and then *sad trombone* :(

That was an insane finish today. Might as well have flipped a coin.

I'm two stages behind - my goal in life is to do nothing this weekend except catch up :D

A fine approach to life!

I have just caught up! Feel rather sorry for EBH, I like him.

Well that was a wild one today. But kudos to Calmejane, that was a nervy attack and hold.

Yeah great ride by Calmejane, and Gesink for that matter

Calmejeane & Gesnik, kings of the mountain for sure

legit teared up for calmejeane, he mustve been pushing through some legit pain

scary though, gotta hydrate buddy!!

Gesink is only pro whose feed I follow, good to see.

interesting to see what happens tomorrow after today's fast pace. i imagine there'll be a fair bit of fallout. 3 HC climbs ... hoo boy

no better feeling than settling down on the sofa for a day of the cycling but jesus wept this stage is absolute murder. can't wait.

Gesink out :(

wow this is incredible. never seen a race blown apart so effectively on a descent.

geraint thomas *again* :(

This is chaos

why are ag2r riding when vuillermoz is in virtual yellow?

unless they're riding at a neutral pace I guess

the initial double attack on the descent smashed the peloton and GC contender support so maybe it's trying to push that further. it's slightly difficult to tell, they don't seem to be going that hard, but are at the front, which does suggest they're riding...

oh wait they have dropped back now.

fffffffff

wow super snidey from aru. froome will be raging

lol aru.