Tour de France 2024

[Jeremy McCreary]

Stop being suspicious, she is his personal masseuse.

Not really suspicious of Campenaerts. My brain just went into sitcom mode.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Vingegaard's now aiming for 2nd place in the GC after Stage 19, and he seems genuinely OK with that:

Not sure what to think about Pogacar's decision to take the stage win from Matteo Jorgenson after the latter's impressive solo lead from the base of the final climb up Isola 2000.

Tend to agree with fellow American rider Neilson Powless, who said that there are no gifts in pro sports, and none should be expected. Someone also pointed out that the stage wasn't entirely Pogacar's to give. His teammates sacrificed a lot to position him for the repeated attacks that took him to the win.

Finally, if Pogacar had the legs — and he clearly did — why not buy all the bad-day insurance he could on this stage?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

The Stage 20 finish couldn't have been more exciting!

As an added bonus, 2 running "fans" who got too out of control got their comeuppances just after 11:20 — one from a real fan, and the other from a motorcycle cop.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Final Stage 21 has started. Cavendish was 2nd in line to start. Everyone's pulling for him to make the 33% time cut and finish the race.

Question: Some riders who have no real stake in this 33.7 km time trial are choosing their road bikes over TT bikes. Why?

 

[BlackHand]

Road bikes are lighter than the TT bikes and are better on the climbs. It's possible that some of those riders are swapping to their TT bikes at the top of the last climb.

More likely, they are just riding the road bike because they are far enough out of it that they would rather have a comfortable ride. What's a few seconds when you are already 4 hours off the lead?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

One nice thing about watching the TdF: It gives you ideas for your next bike.

What a work of art!

 

[Chargeride]

The dream frame of my youth was the MKM, all we talked about was rear tyre clearance and front wheel foot strike

 

[kevinmccune]

these guys will actually urinate in their shorts rather than stopping and losing a position (not always of course) imagine that gets rather smelly toward the end, ugh, mixed with sweat rather noisome.competitive sports are a harsh mistress. perhaps an application of "eau de cologne" would help?

 

[Sparky731]

Best quote from Pogacar, “It is how it is. You don’t brake in cycling.”

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Agree. I want Pogacar to do it his way — he's earned it. Doubt that he gobbles up as many wins as he can out of malice or vengeance. He just loves racing bicycles, and to him, that means giving every race all he's got — which right now happens to be way more than anybody else has.

Seriously doubt that a world-class, all-in competitor like Vingegaard wants Pogi to hold back, either. He needs to know what he's really up against when he gives his all.

Imagine the racing we'll get to witness if Pogi and Vingegaard keep swapping TdF wins and seconds for another 3-4 years!

 

[Chargeride]

Not a quick reply guy

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The Polish female racer Katarzyna Niewiadoma has won Tour de France 2024.