Tour de France 2014

he's going to be sooooo grumpy

Sagans team seems a little bit shit

Sagan seriously lacking top end

2nd again

You've got plenty in common.

He keeps on dropping them! Poor fucker, given right team he's going to be winning a lot of stages.

If I was Matteo Trentin I'd be keeping well out of John Degenkolb's way.

Yeah - bit of a :-/ move that...

Looks like Kristoff is there to ruin Pete's day

Ha, can't quite believe I got that one right. As they came to the line I was thinking 'or Degenkolb. Or Demare. Or Trentin...'

That was probably Sagan's best remaining chance of a stage win.

Podium girls currently breathing a sigh of relief then...

Sagans team seems a little bit shit

He keeps on dropping them! Poor fucker, given right team he's going to be winning a lot of stages.

An earlier high pace suites him more than the pure sprinters.

Bernie dont even look like hes just raced for 4hrs.

Do you even Eisel?

I just got back from a ride, missed everything and have a delightfully muddled and strange impression of how the stage went, with an injured Gorilla, an Angry John and a dirty, filthy cheating Aussie to boot.

Highlights!

Chava was acting nonplussed by Greipel's accusations of causing them and Vanmarcke to kiss tarmac...

Not a straight line by Trentin at all indeed but I've seen worse this Tour

From tomorrow on it's going to be good, hope there's a decent tv at our little Ardennes training camp

Cheating Aussie.

Please explain?

Lazy 'stralian shirking his turn :-P

18:08:23

Clarke looks like he's about to take a bidon from the neutral service, but decideds not to take it after hitching a short ride. That could come back to bike him later when the judges take a look at it.

18:03:39
Simon Clarke attacks as Langeveld is taking a drink.

#tactics

He push started the scooter when the driver had throttled it.

Cannodale sprint train is shite

No it's not. The team is spread very thinly and, because of Sagan's brilliance, have to work hard on pretty much every stage. Because he is so far ahead in the green jersey competition other teams look at Cannondale to pull back the breaks, which they do, but that leaves them light on a lead out for Sagan. He's shown, repeatedly, that he doesn't need a train to win, so the team uses up most of the riders getting him in a position to win, rather than having 3 or 4 riders left over at the end to do a lead out.

Sean Kelly's article on Cyclingtips sums it up.

Basically the same problem fabs has been having in the early classics for the last few years, non?

He's too good. Solution, start taking performance retarding drugs?

Lazy boy.

For those that haven't seen it, it's here;

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2014/07/sean-kelly-tour-de-france-blog-i-know-exactly-how-sagan-feels/

Love SK - no nonsense.

It does seem a bit like Cannondale just needed to let a stage go earlier on, to show that they weren't going to be bullied into chasing the break all the time - as many people have pointed out, Sagan doesn't really need looking after in the sprint.
It's interesting to see that Giant rarely contribute to the chase, and then arrive at the front when they can smell blood at the end of the race.

“One doesn’t play at cycling.”

~Jean de Gribaldy, cyclist. Sean Kelly’s directeur sportif.

Well I fucking do.

^^ That's what they tried today – Sagannondale doing no work until a (fairly early) lead into the last 3.5km. Giant did the chasing after Europecar break.

Yesterday they did a lot of riding on the front. But again it puts the pure sprinters in trouble so I can't see a better tactic.

#armchair

Hinault on itv highlights talking about crashing in a sprint in Saint Etienne where he broke his nose and made "a hole" in his head, then getting up to ride his bike to the finish like it was nothing; shrug "I had many other worse crashes". Love that guy.

That's what I'm talking about Jimmy - none of this *"he's a bit wheezy and he's got a hurty back" *shit about Talansky.. ;)

www.plaquesuperieure.cc

For the very best cycling commentary and analysis.

in case anyone missed this, it's brilliant. a particularly good nugget being

*However, an unimpressed Peter was overheard saying on the team bus;

”This not kind of lady flower I ask make for me. It look like something hippy parent force fair trade childs to wear to school and everyone laugh at him, the sissy French man promise me that lots of girls like it and let me sign their boobies after race. I originally ask him design exclusive range of sexy toy and lubricant but he say this not good for Peter and girl think I am not nice boy, so then I ask if he design my own mobile disco and jacuzzi for put behind team bus but he not return my phone call any more. This not professional-Andy Warhol is proper designer who like party and sexy music even if not like boob so he would have designed very kinky team bus for me relax in with my most special 100 girlfriend.”*