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The 2021 Tour de France thread (spoilers!)

Last Post 07/21/2021 10:56 AM by Orange Crush. 156 Replies.

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mondonico

Posts:158

07/18/2021 01:32 PM
And they had just four riders for what the last week? Still a better year.

longslowdistance

Posts:2886

07/18/2021 05:52 PM
Great sprint. QS was gassed. Cav got boxed in. Very impressive win.

zootracer

Posts:835

07/19/2021 07:33 PM
cyclingtips.com/2021/07/a-photographers-love-letter-to-the-2021-tour-de-france/ Some real nice pics here. Hope this link works. Zoot

mondonico

Posts:158

07/19/2021 07:46 PM
Great photos thanks. Only caption I would change. A Big damn wall to a damn big wall.

Nick A

Posts:625

07/21/2021 09:49 AM
Well, I actully enjoyed The Tour... but I only watched about an hour total, covering about six stages, all after the fact, on YouTube. LOL. Nick

79pmooney

Posts:3189

07/21/2021 10:40 AM
I enjoyed it a lot. My disappointment was that so many teams showed up unprepared or rode without focus. (The crashes. Sky - "we'll throw half the team against the wall and see who sticks".) Two teams rode great Tours and deserved every bit of what they got. UAE and D-QS. Their leaders lead with class. (Yes, Pogacar has been second guessed many times for his answers on doping suspicions. So what? He's young and not a diplomat. Whatever he says is going to be wrong in some eyes. His words here really don't matter; just what he has done and what becomes known. Plus journalists are known for prodding for press worthy comments. Think Eddy Merckx's answer re: Cav tying his TdF stage win record, then the photo days later of Merckx and Cav, two great cyclists, hugging.) I loved seeing so many breaks succeed. Watching the GC standings getting rocked by breaks. The stories within the story. Van Aert winning three so different stages (and doing real work for his teammates). D-QS escorting Cav to timely finishes. A Tour that has been very close to scandal free. (Drugs will always be on the discussion table. That Pogacar so dominated has raised eyebrows. But no other rider/team rode a crash/serious mechanical/missed split free Tour. That's 5 minutes right there.) The final time trial was boring for me. But I even liked that. I enjoy seeing the race played out on the road, mass start. I thought it kinda cool that the top 18 places held after the TT. Don't think I've ever seen that before.

Orange Crush

Posts:4499

07/21/2021 10:56 AM
Yes, Pog's personal dominance aside I really enjoyed this tour as there wasn't really any single dominant team. Lots of successful breaks, interesting stages etc. On final mountain climbs domestiques setting a hard pace really didn't factor as much as it did other years, it was really the leaders battling each other (like in a typical Giro or Vuelta). Better than last year where despite Pog's last minute surprise the rest of tour was basically JV taking the peloton for a cruise across France.