Tour de France 2018

[J-hop]

Starting here in a few days, Anyone else planning on watching a bit this year? I think I’ll try to catch some of the climbing stages.

Was reading up on the Chris Froome controversy, he is under the gun for using the same asthma medication I use. So silly though when we all know things like EPO didn’t disappear with lance

[kJUMP]

ya will prolly watch what i can before going to work and catch the highlights after.

this is a good stage preview:

http://road.cc/content/feature/244378-tour-de-france-2018-stage-stage-preview-all-you-need-know-about-cyclings

[Buster]

just let them dope.

[civic_stylez]

Ill definitely take in some of the TV coverage this year.

[jampack]

Gonna be an interesting one. Tom Dumoulin will be there.

[Penguin_Racecar]

Oh snap: https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-france/2018/chris-froome-blocked-from-racing-tour-de-france_sto6828327/story.shtml

[J-hop]

Oh snap: https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-france/2018/chris-froome-blocked-from-racing-tour-de-france_sto6828327/story.shtml

Crazy! I don’t really get it, I use the exact same medication and as workload increases I need to use it more just to breathe like a normal human does. I doubt anyone who has a normal functioning airway would see much if any benefit but ok!

Edit: yea looks like according to a few studies zero performance improvement when non-asthmatics take the drug. Silly...

[Penguin_Racecar]

Not to mention that the levels they found were not ones you could achieve through inhaler use, if I recall correctly.

[buh_buh]

The UCI limit allows for 16 puffs within a 24 hour period, and Froome tested over twice the legal amount. I don't have asthma, so I don't know what's considered a normal amount. Froome has also had asthma his whole life. They also took into account dehydration and recalibrated for that, but he was still over the legal limit.

I'd like to see Froome in the Tour, but I could still see Team Sky competing without Froome. Geraint Thomas and Kwiatkowski both looked good last year before Froome took over. Maybe they can pull a Froome themselves and dethrone him the way Froome took over from Bradley Wiggins.

[kJUMP]

i honestly don't think froome has "asthma" despite what has been said. think about it -- he is the most elite of all the elite cyclists in the entire world. if you even had a hint of asthma (according to a true medical definition of it) there's no way you could reach such a level by controlling symptoms from a drug that is available to the general population. he is using it for some perceived and calculated benefit -- we just don't know what it is yet.

i agree though, team sky will be a contender given the talent they already have.

[Penguin_Racecar]

I was under the impression that this asthma issue was relatively new to the media. I'm also agree that asthma would potentially put a hamper on your performance even with medication. Katie Compton (most decorated female cyclocross racer) has battled with asthma and there are races she has to drop out of because she can't breathe. Other times she seems unaffected indicating the medication is doing its job. It never seems like Froome is really suffering from asthma.

[J-hop]

From what I’ve been reading today all studies show zero performance enhancing for non-asthmatics, so you can puff all you want on that thing and it isn’t going to help. 16 puffs is excessive however if it isn’t performance enhancing then holding him back is about as intelligent as stripping Ross rebagliati of his medal for smoking pot.

Athletic regulators make me laugh, everyone knows all high level sports are plagued with doping. It’s like malware, people doing it are always one step ahead of people trying to stop it. Worrying about asthma medication is so stupid. But I guess they have to string someone up to make a statement

[buh_buh]

This is far from scientific, but I read something like 7% of Olympic athletes have asthma, and they're twice as likely to medal as non-asthmatics.

[buh_buh]

Wouldn’t be shocked if it was a tactic just to stir up more drama, but https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jul/02/chris-froome-cleared-by-uci-in-anti-doping-investigation

[jampack]

Wouldn’t be shocked if it was a tactic just to stir up more drama, but https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jul/02/chris-froome-cleared-by-uci-in-anti-doping-investigation

Yap. Saw the news today. Lots of different reactions around the world as expected.

[jampack]

I was watching the team presentation. LOTS of big names (of course, it’s TDF). I’m just sad Mike Woods is not there. They boo’d Froomey, it’s just kinda awkward to watch for some reason lol

[buh_buh]

Gaviria was someone I was looking out for before the Tour started, but wasn't expecting him to dominate the sprint stages.
Another good sprint finish today, Cav and Kittel nowhere to be seen :dunno:

[jampack]

Gaviria was someone I was looking out for before the Tour started, but wasn't expecting him to dominate the sprint stages.
Another good sprint finish today, Cav and Kittel nowhere to be seen :dunno:

I'm not actually sure what Cav is protesting there at the end. Awkward to see him stopping as he dropped his radio and trying to pick it up in the bushes lol :nut:

Yea, Gaviria seems to have been very solid but still hoping Sagan will get the green at the end. They have only 4 points difference from each other. Not sure also what's happening to Kittel. One of the BMC cyclists pulled Sagan in the middle of the peleton but I think it's unintentional.

[buh_buh]

Cav’s got no chance at touching Merycx’s record now. He whines about the S5 being slow, but hasn’t even been near the front to sprint, let alone win a stage. It’s still early days, but the green jersey should be Sagan’s now as long as he can finish the tour.

Kittel just doesn’t look as strong this year. Part of it is making the switch to Katusha, even though it seems like the team is built around Kittel to sprint. Guess they’re just no Quick Step at the end of the day.

The cobbles today lived up to the hype. The split peloton today made for some interesting racing. I’m getting bored of the sprint stages though and looking forward to some mountaintop finishes.

[bigboom]

Cav’s got no chance at touching Merycx’s record now. He whines about the S5 being slow, but hasn’t even been near the front to sprint, let alone win a stage. It’s still early days, but the green jersey should be Sagan’s now as long as he can finish the tour.

Kittel just doesn’t look as strong this year. Part of it is making the switch to Katusha, even though it seems like the team is built around Kittel to sprint. Guess they’re just no Quick Step at the end of the day.

The cobbles today lived up to the hype. The split peloton today made for some interesting racing. I’m getting bored of the sprint stages though and looking forward to some mountaintop finishes.

I thought it was going to be even more decisive though, especially when Landa crashed and Bardet had a late flat, but they both chased back on and only lost a few seconds. Too bad for Porte though, two years in a row he's been knocked out on stage 9 while in great shape in the GC.

And Cav has always been a huge crybaby when things don't go his way. He's just lost it after those huge crashes in the last couple years, i think that will make many lose their edge. Took Degenkolb a couple years to get back to it as well.

[buh_buh]

Yeah, definitely seemed like guys were just trying to get to the finish rather than push the gaps. I was just waiting for the second group with Gilbert/Sagan to close up to the first group, but things just never happened.
Was a pretty good post race interview with Degenkolb and a good sprint finish with him in front for most of the last 2km.

[buh_buh]

https://streamable.com/gks5a

The 0:24 mark of the video is the talk of the rest day. I'm guessing he spun his pedals to check for brake rub or get it into gear, but tinfoil hat wearers are saying there's a motor in the bike.

[kJUMP]

wow incredible! that wheel started spinning fast when he picked the rear end up. people are sharp - i would have never noticed that.

[bigboom]

wow incredible! that wheel started spinning fast when he picked the rear end up. people are sharp - i would have never noticed that.

He's just following proper post crash bike check. Spin the cranks to get the chain back on, a half revolution of cranks would get your wheel spinning like that.

[kJUMP]

He's just following proper post crash bike check. Spin the cranks to get the chain back on, a half revolution of cranks would get your wheel spinning like that.

i'm no expert and maybe that video footage isn't included but i didn't see him touch the crank on a frame by frame advance. but i don't doubt that you're probably right

[J-hop]

Quick google shows a clear vid, nope no evidence of mechanical doping. What big boom said is exactly what Toms described he did and exactly what the vid shows:

https://www.velonews.com/2018/07/tour-de-france/skujins-laughs-off-motorized-cheating-accusation_472426

[jampack]

He's just following proper post crash bike check. Spin the cranks to get the chain back on, a half revolution of cranks would get your wheel spinning like that.

This.

Today's stage was awesome to watch! I love mountain stages! Sad for Nieve :(

Another exciting stage tomorrow!

[bigboom]

This is going to be a pretty cool unfolding of events with Thomas in the yellow. Curious where Froome is going to try and attack to get it, do they hold off until they are in the Pyrenees? Or try something tomorrow on Alpe?

[jampack]

This is going to be a pretty cool unfolding of events with Thomas in the yellow. Curious where Froome is going to try and attack to get it, do they hold off until they are in the Pyrenees? Or try something tomorrow on Alpe?

I actually would like to see other favourites for the yellow Jersey or have Froome give Thomas his chance. It's only halfway through the tour though. The thing is.. Froome is just a monster in climbing so we can only wait if Thomas will have the energy to finish the tour and not pull a Yates towards the end like in the recent Giro (I still really feel bad for Simon Yates on that Giro whenever I remember Stage 19 :( ).

[jampack]

That was a good race in Alpe D'Huez. Lot's of boos not just for Froome but to Team Sky. A spectator tried to either push or "punch" Froome at one point.

Almost all the favourite sprinters are gone now: Cavendish, Kittel, Greipel, Groenewegen, Gaviria. Really, the only ones left are Sagan and Kristoff. That's quite sad. It's basically Sagan's green jersey now as long as he lasts until the end of the tour. I would love to see him on green jersey at the end of the tour but it's sad that there's like really no "real challenge" for him getting it.

[rage2]

1019210065218359296

[lilmira]

I like this one more, backflip on a road bike no less.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8TLp2t8bJI

[speedog]

Wtf is up the spectators at the side of the road? Can they just not observe and encourage the riders without becoming possible race hazards themselves? Personally I think they should liberally hand out cans of pepper spray to every rider and the accompanying support vehicles/entourage with instructions for it's very liberal use on the too many self centered fans.

[lilmira]

Like most things, the majority of people are respectful while some people are either too stupid or don’t care.

[buh_buh]

I get the tradition of Alp D’huez and having a veryone go nuts right beside the riders, but with Nibali out with a fractured spine as a direct result of this, the organizers have to relook at the 100 year old rules of the Tour.

[bigboom]

Something like this happens every GT and the problem is how do you fix it? Do you have to set up barriers and security for 100km? I think that's the big issue, as they keep ever increasing distances and such it's hard to block it off from spectators and legally what can be done? It's like those stupid flares with the colored smoke, could you imagine heart beating at 190bpm, sucking for all the air you can get and breathing that in? Ouch.

[buh_buh]

Never a dull moment, maybe another argument for barriers across the entire stage, not that I'm for that.

https://news.sky.com/story/tour-de-france-halted-by-protest-as-riders-hit-by-with-pepper-spray-11447097

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/cycling/2018/07/24/TELEMMGLPICT000170189506_1_trans_NvBQzQNjv4Bqng10RN4OACF490UF0AcEIobWUZ1NZq1KmewGMBYJNYo.jpeg?imwidth=1240

[jampack]

Never a dull moment with Sagan's interviews. This one is after his crash yesterday, Stage 17. lol :rofl:


https://youtu.be/xon1tI4Ron0

So happy he's ok.

[buh_buh]

Froome is done after Stage 17. He may not even make it to the podium, but still a couple stages to go.

[lilmira]

Sagan is almost as blunt as Raikkonen but more talkative lol.


Froome got taken out by the security yesterday while riding back to the bus from the finish. Poor guy can't get a break from the Frenchies lol.