Pro-cycling thread

What about the Tour De Trump?

It's a different race so needs a different title. The "avec Zwift" thing can fuck off though.

Exactly this. No harm in having Femmes at the end to separate it from the men race.

Actual patent holder for EPO trumps Trump

Would be better if it was the Zwift Tour de France. But it's French, so forget about any concession to anglophone culture

Fem
Fom
Fam
I smell the bloody of an Englishman

It's a stupid name but we've got to grips with Giro and Vuelta over the years so give it time perhaps. Zwift can just get fucked though.

Can we call the the men's tour as such as well please?

I'd be happy with Tour de France Hommes

Yes, but call the women's tour just the Tour de France. Have women as the default for once.

@andyp or anyone else?
any idea why the English woman’s tandem pair, Georgia Holt and Sophie unwin, didn’t pick up bronze today?
Was at the stadium no announcement or any info…

Le col wahoo drops is available in a mens range or slimmer female.

https://lecol.cc/collections/le-col-wahoo-team-collection

Tour de France Hommes

The Scent of Competition™

Is it Christmas already? Seems a bit early for perfume/aftershave adverts.

Nobody understands the poetry of cycling like Julian Alaphilippe.

Dickie bow undone, he walks through the field of sunflowers

Shirt undone he wades through the stream

Trousers off he jogs up Ventoux

Pants off he glides through the Champs Elysees

Until he arrives at camera

“JE SUIS”

Trousers off he jogs up Ventoux

Trousers off he sprints up Ventoux. Accompanied by a wolf.

“JE SUIS”

Husky voice: "Tour de France. Pour Hommes. Pour lui. Pour vous."

Fade to black.

What does it smell like? Ketones?

Embrocation.

With sustainably harvested perspiration, undertones of embrocation and the merest soupcon of testosterone (cuts away to male model peeling off skinsuit, whose pecs prove he isn't a climber).

Coming soon, 'Machismo' for the sprinter in your life.....

There was plenty of talk about Mavi Garcia 'being taken out by her own team car' the other day.
https://www.eurosport.co.uk/cycling/tour-de-france-femmes/2022/disastrous-team-car-wipes-out-mavi-garcia-at-tour-de-france-femmes_vid1722212/video.shtml

But the DS has an excuse! Apparently she'd just had a bike change so he was waiting to give her a bottle, but she kind of forgot about the bottle and changed lane to grab a wheel instead. https://archive.ph/5KYwR#selection-1003.30-1003.50

Hmmm. I don't think he was watching her. If he had, he'd have had just enough time to react to her procedural error. I know he has lots of other stuff going on, but really....he almost squashed his star rider under a car. Unforgiveable. Sack him!

What does the panel think?

One of those things, a bit her fault, a bit the DS fault

Been thinking about this and could only come up with…
The DS only has one job, not run over the teams star rider.
If I looked at it from the other side they have to…
Drive the car
Pass over any bottles, gels, gilets, overshoes etc
Take back empty bottles, gel wrappers, gilet, overshoes etc
Talk tactics through the window with rider
Talk to the team via radio
Communicate with other support staff by radio
Drive in a straight line while the mechanic hangs out of the car and adjust bike setup (not really sure why the DS doesn’t do this too)
Read the road book and determine tactics
Watch the TV transmission on iPad on dashboard to see what the race is doing
Don’t squeeze riders off the road
Don’t brake too hard so riders go through the rear windscreen
Don’t run anyone over

The DS has all the responsibility in this situation.

Maybe this is the largest field of riders to negotiate. Surely flanders or similar has more riders.

She's experienced enough that just chopping back into a line without looking is silly, particularly as there's loads of cars in the line behind her team car. The DS definitely should also have been more aware but slightly better awareness from either of them would have stopped it happening.

At this level riders should be free to race without worrying about the position of cars (or motorbikes). The onus of responsibility is completely on the driver of a vehicle to ensure they do not interfere with the riders.

That's widely accepted and understood by those who regularly drive behind races. I was listening to a podcast recently, after the Jack Bauer incident at the Tour, and a DS said his number one priority when driving in the convoy was to ensure he never, ever hit a rider.

Are there fines if you knock a rider off?
If so do you get fined if you knock your own rider down?