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Tour de France Spoiler thread
Last Post 07/26/2017 07:05 PM by Mike Shea. 99 Replies.
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Cosmic Kid

Posts:4209

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07/06/2017 11:19 AM
Posted By Frederick Jones on 07/06/2017 10:49 AM
Demare weaves around just like yesterday. He's French.


Well....except the race jury is very international in their makeup. Led by a Belgian, in fact....
Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
longslowdistance

Posts:2886

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07/07/2017 07:35 PM
I still can't figure how they picked a single winner today. Coin toss?
79pmooney

Posts:3189

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07/08/2017 01:00 AM
I believe the finish line camera takes 1000 frames/second. At 40 mph, that's 1.8 mm/frame. They should have a frame at very close to exactly the finish line. (I heard that the winning margin was 4-6 mm. So the loser would take three more frames to reach the finish.)

Ben
Nick A

Posts:625

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07/09/2017 03:29 PM
I'm on strike. Not paying $40 for NBC Gold...so watching the compressed tape delay on free NBC. I "spoiled" it reading Velo News, but it was still exciting to watch. Richie Porte's crash though. Uggh. The older I get, the more I cringe at that stuff.

Nick
Cosmic Kid

Posts:4209

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07/09/2017 04:21 PM
The $40 for NBC Sports Gold is totally worth it just because you don't have to endure the senile babbling of Phil & Paul and their cast of idiots. The coverage is the Australian feed with Robbie McEwen and some other Aussie. No commercials and they are actually quite good at their job.

Plus you get coverage of a bunch of other races for the next year. With Tiz cycling being kinda spotty lately, the $40 is money well spent.
Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
Cosmic Kid

Posts:4209

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07/09/2017 04:26 PM
Oh yeah...today's stage. Lot to unpack...Thomas crashes out with a broken collarbone, Aru attacks Froome when he has a mechanical, Porter crashes out, and then all the contenders save Froome's ass by working with him to chase down Bardet.

That last part has me completely baffled, similar to BMC doing the work on Stage 5....in order to win, you gotta be willing to lose. Why is everyone willing to do the work for SKY and Froome? Idiots.

Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
79pmooney

Posts:3189

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07/09/2017 04:38 PM
Latest Tour news (Spoiler!)

Mountain Goat Wins Stage with Bike Throw Riding a 130" Single Speed!

Not kidding. Rigoberto Uran bent his derailleur hanger late in the race. Neutral services couldn't fix it so the mechanic told Uran to put the bike in high gear. Uran rode the final miles on a 53-11. Did a perfect bike throw to hold of a charging Barguil by 3(?) inches. Barguil also did a perfect throw.

Tough break for Tony Martin. He's been riding really well and putting serious spice into this race. I never saw his second crash today but the first was a hard one, a potential nightmare, and cost him any chance of staying with or catching the yellow jersey group.

Ben
79pmooney

Posts:3189

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07/09/2017 04:43 PM
CK, I think they are paving the way for transfers to Sky next year and better paychecks.

Ben
longslowdistance

Posts:2886

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07/09/2017 07:56 PM
Porte's crash was just terrible to see. The narrow road had been recently paved, creating a dropoff on each side. Ported just barely dropped off the edge on the inside of a tight curve at 45 mph with almost no chance of getting back on pavement and staying upright. He had no options. His wheels caught the edge of the pavement and he flipped across the road. In motorcycling it's called a "high side" crash, which is never good. (A low side is wheels slip out and you slide with the bike. In a high side, the bike violently flips over sideways. Much more energy, much more dangerous.) And for complete cluster f*ck the crash whipped him into a rocky cliffside at full speed. I read that Aru was somehow implicated but I never saw a slow motion enough replay to support that.
Bad break for Dan Martin. He'd be just a few seconds down now, breathing down Froome's neck.

Regarding the two NBC streams, I switch back and forth. The commercial stream has some advantages: more replays and much more and thorough commentary after the race ends. For example, The commercial stream interview with Vaughters was interesting. He's a good poker player. He knows a podium is possible for Uran. Time to get his troops on board. I'm sure at dinner he told Talansky, you are now a support rider for Uran.
79pmooney

Posts:3189

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07/10/2017 01:01 AM
I studied the footage of Porte's crash. It looked to me like he had a good line a foot or two outside the edge, lost traction momentarily, got traction back but was now leaning too far in (and the lost traction may have been more rear), and now had a new course to the inside. The rest was tough to watch.

Uran's derailleur got kicked by Porte or Martin, bending the hanger and being the driver of his later feats.

Edit: lsd, that is why I fear and back off or demand real road space on outside turns with curbs.  Losing tire grip on the dirt and sand on a downhill left turn bike lane, sliding out and high-siding is always on my mind when bike lanes are not swept, wet or I do not know it.

Ben
Spud

Posts:525

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07/11/2017 08:02 AM
Got home from a road trip to Colorado, so I just got a chance to look at the Sagan incident. The only question I have is did he hold his line, or did he squeeze Cav into the barrier?
Cosmic Kid

Posts:4209

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07/11/2017 08:27 AM
Posted By Spudly Crumpett III on 07/11/2017 08:02 AM
Got home from a road trip to Colorado, so I just got a chance to look at the Sagan incident. The only question I have is did he hold his line, or did he squeeze Cav into the barrier?


He definitely did not hold his line, but neither did anyone else....they were all drifting to the right at that point. And his move to the right was not (IHO) malicious in intent....deserving of relegation, but not disqualification.
Just say "NO!" to WCP!!!!
79pmooney

Posts:3189

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07/11/2017 09:11 AM
Spud, if you look at the footage several hundred meters before, you will see Brouhanni, Sagan et al entirely on the left half off the road and a lone dark figure coming up the barrier on the right, Cavendish. Cavendish was there the entire time, always a wheel or more behind Sagan but always overlapped. He had that lane. The famous footage shows him head butting Sagan, but this is just a tomcat fighting to stay out of the cage. A tomcat that won't touch his brakes if he knows he's right and one who knows every track trick out there. But he was just fighting for what was his.

The relegation? Maybe it did not match the offense (ending someone's Tour ride is pretty egregious), but the officials had stated earlier and clearly they were not going to tolerate dangerous riding in the sprint. The stakes, $$-wise are very high and the Tour (and pro racing as a whole is all about money) and UCI felt a clear message needed to be sent. I applaud them for doing so. More guts than I have seen from them in a long time, maybe even ever.

Ben
longslowdistance

Posts:2886

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07/11/2017 10:06 AM
The French stage winner weaved just as much or more.
Spud

Posts:525

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07/11/2017 11:15 AM
IMO Sagan's punishment does not fit the crime. I'm calling Bull$4it! It's not like he threw a punch.
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