Tour De France 2018

can I add Bollywood to my middle name?

They re-released the jawbones as racing jackets, so they are a model you can currently buy

Hah yeah. Prime twat. Dignity sold for 20k instagram followers. Time to be alive...

I thought your middle name was DBAD? If you want to add 'Bollywood' you need to at least re-paint it in appropriate decor (including the Pauls):

Dignity sold for 20k instagram followers.

Should be put on the tombstone of Western Civilisation.

Very glad I've already done my riding for the week :)

Misread that as Planet X and had a proper wtf moment.

SDB says the plan was for Thomas to win all along:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/44997708

Well yeah, Sky clearly prepared Thomas to win the Tour in case Froome didn’t start. Not sure what to make of that.

You're right; having actually read it fully, the headline is (predictably, I suppose) quite misleading.

Towards the end it says:

"Brailsford said: "We had two leaders - Chris was the actual leader,
Geraint the protected second leader - and the moment it dawned on him
that he wasn't going to win, Chris immediately switched to supporting
Geraint."

Thomas was the perfect candidate to be the protected rider with the Froome case hanging over the team. If Froome was prevented from starting the Tour, then Thomas would have happily led Sky. With Froome starting, Thomas' lack of ego meant he was happy to accept the second leader role and, probably, happy to ride for Froome if required.

I think what few expected was that Thomas was the strongest rider in the race.

I think Thomas expected it ;-)

They’re his favourite. He lost his last pair in the Bardet/telegraph pole crashing was devastated. He had to search around for new ones.

Barguill not Bardet.

My bad... but managed to get the first 3 letters...

Warren Bardet is a new rider I created this morning

Luke Rowe wants a fucking pint

"Le Patron" Officiel?

Some good photos over here
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2018/jul/29/tour-de-france-best-images-from-2018-race-geraint-thomas

The final stage is so boring. Should be made into a quarter the distance it is.

At what point do the final times for the race get taken?

Technically, with all the fannying around that the winning team do on the last lap behind the sprinters, they could lose a fair bit and theoretically someone could win the race without getting the fastest time overall, unless the time stops on the penultimate lap.

This so much. I think he really knew from the off he could. He was so focused, no bad days and blessed with luck: stayed on the bike, and no mechanicals at bad moments. A lot has been made at Doumoulin losing so much time with that mechincal and subsequent time penalty for drafting. Could have been a lot closer.

Interesting story from yesterday: brakeless TT bike

https://twitter.com/Andymcgra/status/1023471621342986240?s=20

But if the GC race was being contested, team Sky wouldn't be fannying about on the last lap.

I'll watch highlights. Last stage a exercise in fremdschämen and with most of the sprinters missing lacking any tension. Bring back the green jersey competition. Sagan is bad for cycling.

If Sky are riding I imagine it is to avoid a crash. What would happen if the yellow jersey went down on the Champs d'Elysee? I assume it would all stop. What if he broke something though?