Tour De France 2018

MPH? Wow

Ah whoops kph!

Cavendish wrote that Thomas helped him back into the front on stage one of the tour.

True champion.

Is landa a bitbdaft for leaving? Or is it just circumstances that got Thomas his yellow jacket?
I mean, he took them. But would landa ?

The same could be said for Porte.

There aren’t many riders who leave Sky and go on to greater things. In fact, apart from Porte, I’m struggling to think of any.

But to answer your question, Landa had a great second season at Sky, he’d have been given more opportunities if he’d stayed, but would he have accepted the position Thomas was in ahead of the Tour, i.e. being demoted to the back up leader once Froome was cleared to ride?

It's a totally odd concept giving yourself to a team and being recognised for that rather than as a winner.

I don't know if a salary cap would change that, it would stop the hoarding and rewarding of talent. But hasn't it always been a bit like that?

Also: quick step winning the team prize shows that they're also hoarding talent right?

Geraint was on the One Show and said he hadn't signed a 2019 contract yet. How many TDF winners as freeagents?

Movistar won the team prize.

Mainly because they seem obsessed with winning it. Bahrain-Merida has a little go at trying to win it, but realised no one cared.

Inrng did a good article about the team prize a couple of weeks ago.

There aren’t many riders who leave Sky and go on to greater things. In fact, apart from Porte, I’m struggling to think of any.

Cavendish, by some definitions?

Is there more to it then money? Is it the better team camps, the better organisation, the best kit, the best(?) bikes? Is it better to be a part of winning team or the leader of a team that doesn’t win?
Is it better to have been at sky’s post tour party as a domestique or B-M’s, Astana , the Lottos or Direct Energie as the team leader.
Movistar’s party must have been a nightmare with 3 of them trying to get to the buffet first.

I did consider Cavendish, but his best years were before Sky, it’s been a long and gradual decline since leaving High Road.

Mmm.

And that’s ok. He’s got a hell of a palmares, personally I think the crash in Harrogate may have been a significant turning point for him mentally. It must be difficult for him to hang up his cleats.

I must have got confused on the inner ring article, it suggested/I misinterpreted quick step won it. Which, i thought confusing as they'd said in a previous piece "this is why movistar have yellow helmets".

I've watched about 5 hours of the tour in total and none of the last 7 days at least.

Fernando Gaviria won the stage, taking the yellow jersey, points jersey, white jersey and Quick Step took the team prize meaning the Belgian team wore every jersey at some point during the race, the only prizes they missed out in July were the Souvenir Henri Desgranges (Nairo Quintana) and the Supercombatif prize (Dan Martin

Because I have five minutes to myself.

I think the Epstein barr was probably the turning point, he had phenomenal 2013 (5 giro stages, 2 tour stages, national road race), and 2016 seasons (madison world champ, 4 tour stages, silver olympic medal, silver in worlds), though he didn't win everything like he had at HTC.

He's also got a 2 month old baby, and doesn't appear to have been at his most successful in the years that his kids were born (completely understandable)

Saw Twitter claims that Thomas' slip during the TT somehow suggests a motor. I honestly have no idea where people get this from other than a desperation to makes something they see fit their narrative. I some him lose traction of the front wheel for a split second. I'm not even sure how a motor could cause something like that. Truly bizarre.

What did Tom Dumoulin have then?

Yes he was outstanding in 2016, very unexpectedly winning 4 stages and being the dominant sprinter. I still fancy him for one last hurrah but you do feel like it is the changing of the guard with Greonewegen and Gaviria looking like the young turks.

There's Ewan as well in the mix, the most aero of the lot of them.

I feel that if Cavendish felt that he wasn't competitive, he would retire, so just the fact that he is racing suggests to me that he can still win big races.
He doesn't bother contesting a sprint these days if he's not likely to win.

He has set up a sportive though, which is a close to retirement thing to do.

Link?

Mate in some minds everyone has motors and everyone is juiced to eyeballs. Then they decide whether they like the rider or not and then direct the appropriate levels of bile towards them. I honestly can't fathom how or why these people watch the sport.