Tour de France 2021

"Of course they are all bunch sprints. I won 34 stages in all areas, including uphill. But it won't change anything, I won't start again."

Merckx rules out a comeback to try and extend 34...

Long and flat(ish) day.
AreCav to bosh out 33?

I expect he'll see what happens and have a go if he happens to be in the right place, but my guess is he's saving himself for Thursday as that's really flat, only 159.4km and has the intermediate sprint ~30km from the end.

As the maillot blanc has been devalued by inevitably being worn by the same whippersnapper who wins the maillot jaune, I propose scrapping it. Votes, please, for a new maillot gris for riders of 35 and over, ensuring that Valverde will be with us until eternity and beyond.

Rest day is silly season.

I reckon Bora will make the pace up those first two inclines - put Sagan up for the intermediate and then he’ll launch a hundred kilometre odd solo attack to take the stage …. with Cavendish saving his legs to get over the mountain tomorrow ,and rightly waiting to win again on Thursday…. easy ….

RE wearing a coloured jersey in lieu of the actual holder, I vote they wear All The Jumpers at the same time.
Pogs would have 3 jumpers on ATM, which might slow him down a bit.
Also should be carrying the trophy from last year...

I have a similar idea regarding the Olympics and having to wear all your medals at all times (per event, so Usain Bolt has to wear all his 100m medals when running the 100m, but not when he is running 200m, there he has to wear his 200m ones)

On ribbons, or just in the kit/on you?

Good idea, although I think it should be a cardigan rather than a jersey. With toggles.

He’s five minutes down on Nibali in that classification right now.

Genius. Makes complete sense.

DethBeard for International Sports Tsar.

maillot gris

Actually a very good idea.

Alright, if anyone fancies swinging by LMNH tomorrow afternoon to watch Cab crack on the hills: https://www.lfgss.com/events/6198/

RIP poor Michael Phelps. 28 medals @ 568grams each. Tough to swim far carrying 16kg.

maillot gris

Presented to a rider by @andyp I hope.

Is this climb tough enough for a new breakaway to strike out?

maillot brun if you win a stage with #nogravel in it

Maillot beige for the over 35s.

The wind is kinda all over the place in this area. Should be steady (not rly sure which direction though) once over this cat 4 until the road turns nr the finish.

Most of the Ineos team are towards the back of the peloton, they must be very confident that the wind isn't going to be a factor today.

"
Houle and Van der Sande, both born in 1990

13:52

Hugo Houle and Tosh Van der Sande are from the same year, 1990. They'll both turn 30 later this year, in October and November respectively. They're no stranger to each other. Ten years ago, they took part in the Tour de l'Avenir: Houle was 5th in the prologue, Van der Sande was 6th on stage 5. Houle rides the Tour de France for the third time while Van der Sande is a debutant.
"

Hugo Houle was born in September (Caveat Wikipedia).

And both being born in 1990 means they're 30 already, soon to be 31.

Isn't it a bit early for them to be on the front?

Brad on a bike is back. Has he been banned from interacting with the riders this time around?

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Maillot beige for the over 35s.

Nah, the maillot brun is for the longest time spent wheel sucking, so a beige jersey could cause confusion. A maillot gris is a cracking idea though.

Maybe let all riders over 40 start with a maillot gris and if they are still in the saddle by the end of the tour they, well, get to keep it?

bradley biggles

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