Tour De France 2016 thread

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

Forget the last week and enjoy the European countryside! Oh and the bike race.
3535km over 21 days, 2 individual time trials, visits to Andorra, Spain and Switzerland, no cobbles, Tourmalet & Ventoux.

This year is being talked up as a straight fight between Froome and Quintana. Might be Contador's last attempt to recapture past glories, while who knows how the Aru & Nibali thing at Astana is going to play out. France also finally has a generation of riders to be excited about with Bardet, Pinot, Barguil and Alaphilippe improving all the time. Kittel & a resurgent Greipel should be contesting the sprints but no Bouhanni, who got in a fight last week in a hotel and punched so hard he had to go to hospital to get fragments of teeth removed from his fist! Oh and Sagan for green obv.

It'd be good for Geraint Thomas to have a proper go at GC one day but for now Froome has Sky in his damp iron grip. I'm predicting he'll win again this year, hoping Quintano will.

The mild chaos at Mont Saint Michel before it started really should have been predicted

Wow, Cav in yellow for the first time!

Felt very pleased for Cav yesterday.

Sagan also in yellow for the first time!
Orica Green Edge are now Orica Bike Exchange and have changed their kit into one almost indistinguishable from the Movistar one, really helpful there guys.

If this TdF carries on being this exciting I'm going to get piss all done for the next 3 weeks.

fuck that was a nailbiter! awesome for sagan to finally get the yellow.

off to a banging start holy shit

lol i just saw the post-race interview, sagan didn't know he was the winner til he finished, he thought there were 2 still in front

Have to say, I am actually warming to Sagan, but he is *so* uncool. That Grease video, argh.

I'm also liking the new commentary team on ITV4 a lot, now I'm used to not hearing Liggett and Sherwen's voices. Bit weird at first, that was.

i love him, he's dorktastic AND handsome

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/8c/ca/b4/8ccab4c7b61d6a664c424ded6f64f0ba.jpg

I'm also liking the new commentary team on ITV4 a lot

Yup

WOAH

Hell of an ending there.

Some classic Tommy face gurning today

O_O wow

I'm watching my first stage after having watched chuff all cycling since the last tour, which is unusual for me. Millar and Boulting are a great combo and it's looking wonderful in the Auvergne.

I've been watching on Eurosport b/c they start coverage earlier but might have to switch to ITV4 as the commentary is like cricket commentary in 1982 - it's all about food.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cmw-Xd9WIAA7ZLw.jpg

Amazing shot of twenty-odd llama's on the road to the Col du Tourmalet, where the runners will pass on Saturday. "They're very fond of their territorium and won't be chased away easily," French paper Sud Ouest wrote.

I'm guessing a producer or someone has asked Ned + David to talk more about the chateaus etc. so they're coming up with all these factoids. I like that though.

^^ part of the appeal. Belgian, Dutch and French commentators have been doing that for decades. It wouldn't be the TdF without it tbh.

Part of why I love watching the Tour, it's like a mini-travel show

that llama photo is a+

i hope we get footage of the organizers trying to shoo them away on sat, i would watch the hell out of that

So would I :)

Apart from the mini-travel show my fave bits of commentary are the utterly random, useless factoids during slow stages. "... and in second place is Alaphilippe. Did you know he was the son of a baker? He got his first bicycle working for his dad as a wee lad, picking up flour in the early morning from a miller nearby. The miller, Monsieur Dupont, was a well known ornithologist in his local area. He once spotted a rare bird of prey specimen not known to the area. Because of his reputation as a fabulist no one believed him, but on his death bed he declared he would not be able to find peace if the villagers did not believe that he actually saw that bird of prey. Dupont's daughter became a minor celebrity being a contestant on 'Nouvelle Star', the French version of Idols, but was eliminated one day waking up being unable to speak. Yep, that's Alaphilippe."

<3

Don't all the commentators get given a file of chateau info by the organisers?

I accidentally saw today's result on the Guardian app, boo (also yay obv). Will still watch the highlights.

Yes, Chateau and area info are provided. Those castles, starting and finishing places, pay big francs to part of this circus, be on screen for three seconds. Takes a really good commentator to know all the useless ins and outs of riders too, though.

Already watched Eurosport's highlights, now watching ITV4's for comparison. It's fuckin weird seeing Daniel Friebe's face after listening to him on the Cycling Podcast for the past year. Where they also talk about food a lot but somehow it's charming?

lol, yeah i enjoy the podcast

i thought the italian guest commentator (name escapes me) was a comedy bit for like half the tour last year til i realized oh shit that's a real dude. oops

Chiro! the Kilometre Zero episodes have been excellent so far.

amazing we still have all 198 starters in the race

Class act by Cummings

Lol flamme rouge punctured, holding up the peloton!

Cummings chewing (gum?) during post-ride interview is nagl tho

Jeez, DDD, save some scraps for the other teams eh?

unlucky timing for Yates, a second each way and he'd have been ok
https://twitter.com/Cyclocosm/status/751651269891153920?s=09

Very impressive win from Froome

yeah that was a pretty canny move

Human after all.

Froome already made my day punching some asshole in the face

any updates on LlamaWatch2016

(two days too late, but...) LBI - that 'commentary' was genius, thanks

Wow @ Froome today. Blasting down that mountain!

burst out laughing at david millar just now: "still trying to come to terms with socialist prime minister Françoise Hollande being a prince of famous tax haven Andorra"

in other news, i'm f'ing delighted to be having my first proper day of tour watching.

er françois. bit of gender confusion there.

what a crazy stage, that hailstorm was nasty

killer effort by dumoulin.

i really like quintana but i'm beginning to wonder when if ever he's going to attack. seems to be playing it boringly safe atm

At least he tried once or twice today, as opposed to whole of last year. Froome uphill not as good as last year imho.

Dumoulin killed it.

he went ahead so early, unbelievable that he held the lead uphill for so long

HI DERE,
Euro just finished, what's shaking over here on the TdF?

hailstones the size of cherry tomatoes is whats happening

With frogs inside?

he's pretty good at those throws across the line

that was a fun stage in the end! props to martin & alaphilippe for livening things up. bit of a crucible for lil alaphilippe having to keep up with a v8 like martin for so long, talk abt hauling ass

Until today I barely knew Martin and Cancellara were there, which seems very strange. Probably because of the time trial situation.

Man, Sagan pulling a rabbit out of a hat there.

For some reason, I read this as "Mrs Sagan pulling a rabbit out of a hat there" and wondered how I'd managed to miss this in yesterday's highlights.

Similarly I saw 'Ma Sagan' and had images of some sort of weird Peter Sagan origin myth. He seems like he should be the product of a conjuration.

Probably is.

phoenix egg iirc

nice to see everyone is waking up to quintana being a massive wheelsucker who attacks less than cadel ever did.

srsly

in other not-exactly-unexpected news, Cav has pulled out to prep for Rio. And Kennaugh has volunteered his spot on olympic team to Cummings

I'm really sorry Kennaugh can't go to Rio - he had such a great early season and I've had a soft spot for him since his auntie randomly tweeted me a couple of years ago. But the world seems righter with Cummings on the team.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LoQuoSydK8

lol yes! all of his sunroot promos (there's quite a few) are bizarre fever dreams

i wish he wd wrestle a bear

the pulp fiction dancing is hilar

Yeah I like that one best :)

Disappointing stage today. Quintana, Mollema just not good enough to deliver a blow. And what kind of self-destructing riding were Astana doing anyway? Aru, Rosa and Nibali all blowing their fuses to.... Not attack at all. Sky's got a firm grip on this. Froome still not looking as great as previous years, but that's mostly because he doesn't have to.

Loved that Zakarin won the stage. Pantano very good in second, too. Love that kid with his toothpaste smile.

zakarin seem fishy to me

Because he's Russian? Because he got banned for doping in 2009? Hardly the only one in the current peloton.

just smile and wave boys, just smile and wave.

shade aside, zakarin destroyed that climb, pantano too. awesome effort. And I thought it was a decent stage.

Astana looked p good but attacked way too early, Sky have too many dudes on these climbs, they can't hold any gain.

Adam Yates tho! Solid effort. Quintana sad trombone. hopefully they'll stop talking about his magical final week attacks

Because he's Russian? Because he got banned for doping in 2009? Hardly the only one in the current peloton.

weird beard imo

https://twitter.com/cyclinghubtv/status/756122505539121152

btw i had a chance to catch the ITV coverage and listening to david millar and that other guy was definitely a step up from the usual commentating with phil et al

Millar was a great TT'er himself, would've like to hear that!

just smile and wave boys, just smile and wave.

― wishy washy hippy variety hour (Hunt3r), Thursday, July 21, 2016 2:18 AM (20 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

No at all. But I've not seen you barge in here and throw shade on Froome, Pantano, Aru, Dumoulin, Sagan etc etc. So why single out Zakarin?

tbf i threw shade at zakarin and yeah i guess i am thinking of his past as a doper

but like his chinstrap beard tho

he sure is a skinny bugger

the only thing fishy is the lack of doping cases. they're all on something new probably. or maybe it's the alleged micro-dosing, to stay under the radar.

Watching this descent through the gaps between my fingers. Yikes!

Tour de France - Fury Road. Jeeesus christ that was stressful. Lotta sore bodies tonight

legit teared up for Bardet's win. dude is a fighter.

all i want now is for Quintana to be bumped off the podium. Yates, Porte, anyone, plz activate.

Bullshit 10 second penalty for Adam Yates. How much benefit can you get from a hand-sling 85k before the finish?

Anyway we might be in for another crazy stage, they're predicting thunderstorms at some point. I kind of hope not, the sight of people sliding metres across the road protected by nothing but lycra never gets any easier. It's a real shame about Dumoulin too he had a really great tour up to that point.

stoked for the madness

i didnt know yatesy got a penalty >:(

def bummed for dumoulin. sidebar: he is mega, mega handsome. like 90's calvin klein model zoolander ridiculously good looking

I think he looks like Jack Whitehall.

imo he looks more like bobby from twin peaks

https://popculturehasaids.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/10198976_gal.jpg

http://www.1limburg.nl/sites/default/files/public/styles/article-detail/public/tom_dumoulin_mgl_roger_dohmen.jpg?itok=QUtEVkHB

He does look like Bobby! Or Bobby being his little brother.

It's very sad, his main goal this year was a gold medal in Rio on the TT. Uncertain if he'll start now due to his fractured wrist.

awful twist of fate there, all that training & preparation

Not the most exciting Tour GC wise but it's been a delight seeing Pantano and Alaphilippe blossom this tour. Yates too. The kids are alright.

It's strange really - when you look back at it, there have been lots of surprises: Cavendish rediscovering the form of five or more years ago, Van Avermaet attacking when in yellow and gaining more time when everyone expected him to lose the jersey, Froome attacking down a mountain, Froome in yellow going clear with Sagan in green on a flat stage, Froome running up a mountain....and yet, it still feels quite boring because we've known who's going to win for almost the entire race.

Otm. It'll be a short paragraph in tour history but a lot has happened along the way. Works the other way around, too: Quintana will be in the books forever with his third place, while he's had an absolutely terrible, invisible tour.
Ventoux stage will be in our collected memories for quite some time though. (and not because De Gendt won it, poor lad)

glad that it wasn't a crash-fest today. hopefully better weather for the ride into paris tomorrow

awesome that kreuziger made it into the top 10 on the back of today's ride with sagan.

O_O vid of iazguirre's descent during tour de suisse timetrial

https://twitter.com/cyclinghubtv/status/756868098758705152

Just remembered another surprise: the flamme rouge falling on top of Adam Yates.

I'm spotting a pattern with Dutch cyclists in the last three Grand Tours. At the Vuelta last year, Dumoulin surprised everyone by showing he could do it in the mountains as well as the time trials and heading into the final weekend he seemed certain to win - then got blown apart on the penultimate stage and slipped way down the standings (fourth? fifth?). In the Giro earlier this year Kruijswijk also looked certain to win, but then crashed into a massive bank of snow and ice at the start of a descent with just a few days to go and ended up losing minutes and slipping down to fourth. And now Mollema - OK, he never looked like winning, but he's gone from a comfortable-looking second place to falling right out of the top ten in the final days.

I think most people were expecting that with Yates too, so the fact he narrowly missed the podium is pretty encouraging.

yeah that Dutch pattern is quite irritating. even though Dumoulin was a total surprise to be in that position anyway. Kruijswijk made a stupid mistake, and undoubtedly deserved to win. He might win the Giro next year. (if it happens agáin, then it surely ís a pattern) Mollema always slips in the third week. I think the 2nd rest day might be the hardest stage for him! (and for a lot of riders)

Quintana will be in the books forever with his third place, while he's had an absolutely terrible, invisible tour.

yeah I wonder what this says about his talent. Weird stuff..

I feel so bad for Mollema. And the way he tried to break yesterday but didnt have the legs was very :(

welp that's it for another year, what an empty tensionless race this year for GC tho :/
sorry to see Rodriguez go, have always enjoyed watching him race

i am sure the Vuelta will be espectacular

also Purito might be there too, I assume he wil, to do another farewell lap :)

Any word on why Tony Martin pulled out?

knee pain, apparently

:(