Tour de France 2014

What a beautiful day.

Ritchie

Porte's best finish is 7th when he gained 12 minutes in a break.

Plan C?

Missed the highlights from today.
Does anyone have a link please?

This is shaping up to be an awesome tour, I'm looking forward to seeing what Porte can do in the mountains, was well impressed by G's ride today too.

Shameless little plug:

www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10956586/The-television-secrets-behind-the-Tour-de-France.html

Great read!

Plan C?

Thomas is 14th, 2 minutes and 16 seconds back....

Get him on a crash diet before the mountains, job's a good 'un

Plan C?

Nieve man, tellin' youse!

3' and change back but he was looking boss in the Dauphine...

Pete Kennaugh still leads in Austria.

#justsayin

I think the race is poorer for Froome being out but its still going to be fascinating. Contador is going to attack and that means entertainment. He's got to wait until next Monday to put a dent in it. Can't wait to see that stage.

Yeah Lemond and the French guy are dire. Lemond adds fuck all. He hasn't even got a neck.

It think Froome being out (not that I was hoping for it) will actually open the race up-Sky would have done their usual high tempoburneveryfuckeroffyourwheelontheclimbs and smothered the race, Contador's in form but his team doesn't have the depth to keep him fully insulated like Froome did, and Nibbles is obviously sitting on some hitherto unexpected form. Add in an ambitious Talansky and Van Garderen and you've got five teams with firepower and some really exciting tactics not just in the mountains to look forward to...

Froome's just never been that exciting apart from the key moments when he's done his alien thing, which is usually at a very analysed, select moment that's been determined a few weeks in advance.

Race will be much more spontaneous now, and every fucker will be seeing an opportunity to grab stage wins or the overall. Even Porte will have gone from being 'another super dom race for me' to being 'shit the bed I'm team leader' and be cranking it up a notch to further his own ambitions.

Kennaugh isn't riding the Tour. We know that, let's get over it and move on ffs.

We know

I caught the whole of Lemond on Tour today for the first time and I can thoroughly recommend it. A televisual experience like no other.

Well Sky have come out and said openly that Porte is the man now. Brailsford also said that Froome and Porte had always been on equal footing in the team so switching focus to Richie was the logical move. How much of that is true and how much is spin is hard to say, but Porte is on point for Sky now whatever way you look at it.

Geraint Thomas has promoted himself to Super-Domestique in the process and we'll almost certainly see him in the role that Porte played for Froome last year. He'll be looking to next year to move up.

Horner to sweep up and take yellow and polka dots #placeyourbets

^^He'll be hungry to make his mark that's for sure... Don't see him beating Contador but if he makes podium he'll be in the mix for a much more lucrative contract and a team leader position elsewhere.

Horner can fuck off.

Missed the highlights from today.
Does anyone have a link please?

I downloaded the itv program from cyclingtorrents.nl

I would put a fiver on Porte to win the race.

My attraction for Kittel is officially at full-mast.

^^ Quite. Wiggo out, Cav out, Froome out, Millar out.

Are there actually any Brits left?!

Yeah.

You can thank your Aussie overlords for that.

Bow down to OGE the Mighty

One assumes that the crash yesterday was worse than Sky let on, and Froome was in a lot of pain before the race even began.

His wrist looked to be very heavily supported and they'd padded the fuck out of his bars. Fractured perhaps?

I would love it if Porte won the Tour and then Froome was deemed to be his domestique in 2015.

Minimal difference I would think, tyre pressures are alot just personal preference.

What? Tyre pressure makes a massive difference.

Nieve pls. #noaussie

My attraction for Kittel is officially at full-mast.

You dirty boy...