Pro-cycling thread

See I would to go and watch a bike race in a crowd like this

Mihai Cazacu (@faustocoppi60) Tweeted:
Zipaquirá, Egan Bernal's hometown at the moment when their hero arrived in Yellow on Val Thorens. Imagine the epic reception he will get in a few days! 🇨🇴 (🎥 via @JulianiMartinez ) #TDF2019
https://t.co/mjP18GiX7q https://twitter.com/faustocoppi60/status/1155149066562678784?s=17

Well they won a stage and the all-important team classification.

If only brailsford had copied some of movistars excellent tactics then ineos wouldn't be devastated tonight at having lost out on the team prize to landa and the rest by 10 seconds...

I’m sure it’ll dampen the celebrations

It must have been a weird tour for Ineos: all their major rivals were helping themselves to stage wins and days in yellow and they just sit all back of the bus and pop up to steal the win.

Explains the Valverde and Landa attack at the end, beer and burgers all round!

Pretty much that Subway Sandwich advert from a couple years ago where the guy chooses a different filling.

Also I really want to watch the stage, will it be on catch-up on ITV4, or should I suffer condensed 5 minute replay before commentary on the procession tomorrow?

Each programme is on the itv4 web page so you can watch from the start in brussels . Plus la course 1 dayer.

Oliver naesan is riding a custom steel bike tomorrow. First time Steel has been used since 1998.

More bicycle pornography: https://www.instagram.com/p/B0bUc9iorD6/?igshid=1lgdxrv51rz0j

Columbus xcr

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Oh nice. Thanks.

Has the start time for tomorrows stage been put back? Half heard something. What time is tomorrow starting and what time is it kicking off on the champs?

This I am a fan of.

Stage starts at 5pm BST

#tiggedridley

I'm pretty sure this is a dumb question, but hey ho:

Breaks often get away a bit in the final laps of the Paris stage; has anyone ever actually gained a lap on the peloton? What happens if they do?

Cheers

Nothing of any interest will happen for the first hour, maybe two!

I'm not sure if they have before in the Paris finishing circuit, but it happens a lot in road races.

I guess the peloton would still carry on and do the extra lap, because their time would be taken and they could make up quite a bit while Ineos are faffing round with their champagne.

I think it’s (unofficially) neutralised until Paris so champagne attacks seem unlikely. Attacks always fly once they are on the finishing circuit and by then the sprint teams are on patrol. I don’t know how long each lap is but i think it’s pretty big so you would need a big gap and I don’t recall ever seeing the break get more than 30-60 seconds.

Yeah, I realise how unlikely it is, was just wondering what happens. It seems antithetical for a breakaway group to recover the protection of the peloton.

In theory, if there was a crash in the pelaton behind the break, the break could win.

But wouldn’t etiquette mean that they would normally sit up for the Yellow Jersey had crashed?

Watched the replay (thanks @pacef8 ). Didn’t realise I quite like Nibali, he makes a race interesting. G was quite humble, too.

Alaphilippe to lead the peloton onto the Champs I reckons

Yeah, I don’t know what the rules/Commissaires say, but if the circuit is 6.5km then that would need a c.8 minute gap.

I think that if this ever became a genuine risk, mr Prudhomme would just yell at the peloton over the radio until they woke up a bit.