Tour '25

[Jeremy McCreary]

The rider's revenge...

Alaphilippe's definitely one of the coolest guys on the Tour. Glad he came back from his shoulder injury to take 3rd today.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Over in Ireland now & lashing rain all day so was able to watch the whole stage from start on Irish language TV (in Irish,) weird stage. They rarely cut back to peloton and it looked like a tacit agreement by Visma and UAE to have a quiet day - I'm assuming after the hellish last four days. Lot of action in the various splits of the breakaway.

Simmons strikes me as someone who is good at making the breaks but constantly misses the key move late on. And good at blaming everyone but himself. Not sure he's the brightest.

Wellens timed that move to perfection top of final climb so he could power to the finale. My money was on him or Campenaerts but like all the visma gang he looked knackered.

Alaphilippe is a hero of mine so good to see him attacking even if he's a shadow of the amazing rider he has been.

Rest day now then the infamous & deadly Mount Ventoux- The killer of Tom Simpson (put me back on my bike) then 2 massive alpine days and two hilly days including Paris & the mimicking of the Montmartre cobbled climbs from the Olympics. Good for the puncheurs not great for sprinters.

They need this rest day. 5 intriguing stages to go.

 

[BlackHand]

Quinn Simmons on Stage 15: "Great Cat 5 tactics today".

He's not talking about climb classifications. He's talking about American amateur racing ability categories, which starts at Category 5, Novice. That's a slam on Wellens for sitting on the back of the break and attacking to win. That's generally regarded as a novice move.

Totally agree with @Rás Cnoic 's take on Simmons.

Saw a longer interview clip than they showed on the stream - he also mentioned Campenaerts for wanting to wait for Van Aert, the rest of the break for not committing, his race radio for having him work for Milan early on, and the moto's for giving Wellen aero pull at the front.

Campenaert had a more measured take on Wellens:
"He's smart, he's sneaky, he knows how to play it. He wasn't allowed to do any pulls, he was sitting on, but he was very strong, he didn't miss any decisive moments, and he did a perfect move there on the highest point of the parcours," Campenaerts said of his compatriot.

"Of course, second is not what we race for, so it's a bit disappointing, but it is what it is. Wellens was really strong, very smart, and he didn't stroll this victory. I knew straight away this was the guy to beat. He has experience, he's going very well."

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Getting a similar impression of Simmons. Grievance and blame are quite popular in the US now. The official frame of mind in fact.

That said, I'm sure he hasn't been Mr. Popular amongst the Euro riders. Could hold some hard feelings around that. Problem is, he's not just American, he's in-your-face American, and that was his decision.

Wish they'd let us see more of Campenaerts. An interesting guy.