Tour de France 2018 - General Thread

Some rest day news with a BMC merger with CCC confirmed. Looks like the team will be based around GvA and won't have a gc man?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ccc-step-in-to-save-bmc-racing-ochowicz-announces-at-the-tour-de-france/

Thud

Deleted User wrote: »

Some rest day news with a BMC merger with CCC confirmed. Looks like the team will be based around GvA and won't have a gc man?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ccc-step-in-to-save-bmc-racing-ochowicz-announces-at-the-tour-de-france/

Roche has another year on his contract i think (?), could be wearing luminous orange next year!

CrowdedHouse

Aww factor

https://twitter.com/DanMartin86/status/1018906772382322689

Le Course being covered live by ITV4 and Eurosport. If it's half as good as the race last year it'll be something for sure. Not that farce of a second stage though that was just ****. Who thought that was ever a good idea.

eeeee

Deleted User wrote: »

Le Course being covered live by ITV4 and Eurosport. If it's half as good as the race last year it'll be something for sure. Not that farce of a second stage though that was just ****. Who thought that was ever a good idea.

ITV4 won't show it on my TV :mad:

Apart from yesterday, the Giro Rosa has been a hell of a lot more entertaining than the Tour so far. The Monday finish though

Raymzor

dastardly00 wrote: »

He is often towards the middle/rear of the peloton.
He knows he should be up closer to the front, but is happier to accept the added risk of a crash so that he can hang out in the middle of the bunch.

Yes but compare Dans GT performances to this years Tours second favorite Porte! Dans GT career a better success. And Porte has a better team!

nee

nee wrote: »

ITV4 won't show it on my TV :mad:

Apart from yesterday, the Giro Rosa has been a hell of a lot more entertaining than the Tour so far. The Monday finish though

Eurosport were a day behind with coverage, it finished on Sunday. Some performance by Annemiek Van Vleuten on Zoncolan and in the finale. Hopefully she has more in her legs for tomorrow.

cunavalos

Thud wrote: »

Roche has another year on his contract i think (?), could be wearing luminous orange next year!

No BMC rider had a contract for 2019 due to doubts about the future of team and the focus of the CCC team seems to be focussed on the classics and built around GVA.


Roche's future may be linked to that of Porte as both have the same agent (Andrew McQuaid / Trinity Sports). In fact Trinity Sports will have a busy few weeks as Simon Yates, Geraint Thomas , Luke Rowe and Rohan Dennis are also on their books.

eeeee

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Eurosport were a day behind with coverage, it finished on Sunday. Some performance by Annemiek Van Vleuten on Zoncolan and in the finale. Hopefully she has more in her legs for tomorrow.

Today was the last day of the giro rosa though?
First time Mitchelstown Scott have won a GT #MonTheWomen
AvV is an animal this year, her and Anna van der Breggan are extremely dominant at the moment. Was surprised Kasia Niewadoma didn't place higher in the giro.

Lusk_Doyle

Another knife in Nico's heart...

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/richie-porte-i-think-the-vuelta-is-probably-a-realistic-goal/

devonp

are AgR2 still using Factor bikes
noticed the white frames but didn't see the branding/name on the frame ?


oh yeah.. where can i get one ?

dastardly00

devonp wrote: »

are AgR2 still using Factor bikes
noticed the white frames but didn't see the branding/name on the frame ?


oh yeah.. where can i get one ?

Yeah they still use Factor bikes

RIGOLO

Wasnt there a rumour that AquaBlue were going to get a WorldTour licence and some of the BMC riders would migrate to them, Richie Portes name was mentioned. 
It was posted in the Eurosport feed during Stage 9 Roubaix .

devonp

RIGOLO wrote: »

Wasnt there a rumour that AquaBlue were going to get a WorldTour licence and some of the BMC riders would migrate to them, Richie Portes name was mentioned.
It was posted in the Eurosport feed during Stage 9 Roubaix .

more on this here, Porte going to Trek and the other big names seem sorted as well


https://www.velonews.com/2018/07/news/bmc-racing-to-merge-with-ccc-sprandi-polkowice_472386

buffalo

Apparently some people still care what Wiggins says: https://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/cycling/brailsfords-divisive-tactics-could-cost-sky-wiggins-37126173.html

"He's quite self-serving," Wiggins said. "For him (Brailsford), it's about the team winning

He's very selfish, all he cares about is the team.

Also:

[Geraint] Thomas is the current 'virtual maillot jaune', meaning he is the best-placed general classification (GC) rider in the field.

:rolleyes:

jimbobaloobob

Stage 10, who do ye think will take the spoils today?


I take a guess on Zakharin.

RIGOLO

devonp wrote: »

RIGOLO wrote: »

Wasnt there a rumour that AquaBlue were going to get a WorldTour licence and some of the BMC riders would migrate to them, Richie Portes name was mentioned.
It was posted in the Eurosport feed during Stage 9 Roubaix .

more on this here, Porte going to Trek and the other big names seem sorted as well


https://www.velonews.com/2018/07/news/bmc-racing-to-merge-with-ccc-sprandi-polkowice_472386

I thought I was seeing things, but I found it ... 
La Flamme Rouge
[font=Helvetica, Roboto, "Segoe UI", Calibri, sans-serif]@laflammerouge16



[/font]
[font=Helvetica, Roboto, "Segoe UI", Calibri, sans-serif]
[ltr]According to L'Equipe, Richie Porte will be in Aqua Blue Sport next year and the Irish Team will be into World Tour

https://www.eurosport.co.uk/cycling/tour-de-france/2018/live-arras-roubaix_mtc999298/live.shtml .. just do a find on Aqua.

[/ltr][/font]

gmacww

devonp wrote: »

are AgR2 still using Factor bikes
noticed the white frames but didn't see the branding/name on the frame ?


oh yeah.. where can i get one ?

AG2R still use Factor bikes. The new white frame and white branding makes it hard to read. You won't find one for sale in Ireland. They are a top end UK brand and only make premium bikes in limited numbers. Basically the bike you buy is the one the lads are riding in the tour so serious money required.

I had a test ride of a One in the UK a few months ago as the store owner is a friend of a friend. The One is Di2 only so it had DA Di2. It retailed at £5,400.

CrowdedHouse

Great win for Annamiek in La Course - a lesson in stay going to the finish line.

Thud

gmacww wrote: »

AG2R still use Factor bikes. The new white frame and white branding makes it hard to read. You won't find one for sale in Ireland. They are a top end UK brand and only make premium bikes in limited numbers. Basically the bike you buy is the one the lads are riding in the tour so serious money required.

I had a test ride of a One in the UK a few months ago as the store owner is a friend of a friend. The One is Di2 only so it had DA Di2. It retailed at £5,400.

https://www.thetristore.com/product/factor-o2-dura-ace-di2

Lusk_Doyle

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

Great win for Annamiek in La Course - a lesson in stay going to the finish line.

Longest final 300m EVER!

mloc123

Are quickstep really wearing crivit gear? I assume it is something else rebranded?

cunavalos

mloc123 wrote: »

Are quickstep really wearing crivit gear? I assume it is something else rebranded?

No, the kit is manufactured by a belgian company Vermarc (Same supplier as Aquablue and Lotto Soudal ) i think the lidl sponsorship extends to adding the crivit pro brand to the shoulders but Vermarc logo is still on the chest and shorts



Actually it is a very prominent location for a sponsor on a team contesting a lot of sprint victories

Ginger83

Anywhere i can watch todays full stage? missed it and couldn't record.

Lusk_Doyle

cunavalos wrote: »

No, the kit is manufactured by a belgian company Vermarc (Same supplier as Aquablue and Lotto Soudal ) i think the lidl sponsorship extends to adding the crivit pro brand to the shoulders but Vermarc logo is still on the chest and shorts



Actually it is a very prominent location for a sponsor on a team contesting a lot of sprint victories

And it says CrivitPro not just Crivit. An easy excuse for an entirely different article.

py

Interested to see what sort of shape the sky bots are in tomorrow after today's tough stage. Perhaps another long solo attack by Froome?

mloc123

Tomorrow's stage looks interesting. No hanging around and only 100km

Few videos from today including that MTB guy who jumped the breakaway and one of a leprechaun

http://www.stickybottle.com/latest-news/mtb-rider-jumps-over-tour-france/

If you click into the mtb one there is a reverse angle

Lusk_Doyle

mloc123 wrote: »

Tomorrow's stage looks interesting. No hanging around and only 100km

A real Contador special back 'in the day'!

RIGOLO

The race within a race commences today. A race for top 20 positioning. We may be only on Stage 11 but riders will have an eye towards Stage 17 . Stage 17 is a short 65KM mountain stage, but for the first time it will operate a GRID system. 

The yellow jersey and the other top 19 GC riders will set off first. Without team support and with isolated team leaders its hoped to animate the race on this day. But I reckon it will enter the mindset in the next few stages. As riders will be set off in small groups based on placing. 
Not only is it key for Dan to remain in the top 19 upto stage 17 and he doesnt have much breathing room currently but he should comfortable make it in the coming stages. 
The potential of being in the first grid group of 20 riders on Stage  17 will I think animate the upcoming stages as riders who previously were in the 20-40 position might consider it worth battling to get into that top 20 position. And likewise those currently holding 10-20 position have an added incentive to fight to hold onto that position. Likewise teams have an incentive to get another rider into top 20 by stage 17 to help their leader. This week is not just about getting to Champs Elysess , its also about getting to Stage 17 best positioned.