Tour de France *LIVE* *SPOILERS*

[Clean39T]

JA went so deep to try to keep the jersey...what a finish!

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[LegendRider]

Originally Posted by GregL

To me, $55 is cheap for HD-quality, advertisement-free pro cycling coverage. And that covers the TdF, Vuelta, World Championships (road, MTB, and cyclocross), and many one-day and stage races. You can watch live or replays anywhere with sufficient wifi coverage. For a guy who remembers getting cycling race coverage two-four weeks after the fact from VeloNews or a 30 minute ESPN daily highlight show at 12AM, the NBC Sports coverage is a bargain.

Greg

I called VeloNews' 900 number to find out Lance had won the worlds in 1993. (Told my girlfriend - now wife - ahead of time so there would be no misunderstanding )

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by redir

I love those slow motion finishes

Amazing that he stayed upright while doing his victory salute. 21% is stupid steep.

[galgal]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

JA went so deep to try to keep the jersey...what a finish!

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Indeed. And if Ciccone hadn't picked up the 8 second bonus by a whisker over Wellens for being first over previous summit, JA would still be in yellow. Have to admit, didn't think JA could hang with GC contenders over this stage. They guy doesn't cease to surprise.

[chiasticon]

Originally Posted by GregL

If your viewing from a PC using the NBC Sports Gold website, just select the ad-free feed.

why do even they give the option for the ad-filled viewing? or is that all you get if you want to use Chromecast or view replays or something...? the non ad-free one is ridiculous. it's three minutes of commercials, one minute of Bob Roll BS, show the guys in the break, then back to commercials...

[denapista]

Considering everyone was saying JA would fade on today's stage, what do you think his chances are in the Tour? Was today's stage one for the puncheur type of rider when everyone thought it was one for the pure climbers?

How did all of the pure climbers lose to the punchy guys?

I see stage 15 as one for the Pinot types to take control of the tour.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by denapista

Considering everyone was saying JA would fade on today's stage, what do you think his chances are in the Tour? Was today's stage one for the puncheur type of rider when everyone thought it was one for the pure climbers?

How did all of the pure climbers lose to the punchy guys?

I see stage 15 as one for the Pinot types to take control of the tour.

JA's chances in the Tour are still zero. Not his kind of race other than stage hunting and maybe the opportunistic polka dot jersey.

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

JA's chances in the Tour are still zero. Not his kind of race other than stage hunting and maybe the opportunistic polka dot jersey.

This. I don't think any of the real contenders did anything besides follow moves til the final km. i guess Landa tried something with 2.5k to go. They kind of let JA hang in there by not hammering the early climbs, and he's good on short steep stuff like that finish.

[cgolvin]

Two thoughts from today:

1. Those are some of the toughest mofos in the world (ok, that's every day but today's finish was incredibly hard).
2. That is the smoothest "gravel" I have ever seen, a better surface than many of our paved roads.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

This. I don't think any of the real contenders did anything besides follow moves til the final km. i guess Landa tried something with 2.5k to go. They kind of let JA hang in there by not hammering the early climbs, and he's good on short steep stuff like that finish.

Uhh, seemed like the hammer was dropped pretty hard from about 10K to go trying to bring back the break - and if QuickStep would have put guys on the front, JA would still be in yellow - maybe he wanted to keep the jersey more than Lafevere?

G. Thomas' bridge up to JA and passing him on the final steeps was a serious show of strength too, and may be indicative of his ambitions relative to where E. Bernal came in on the day.

[redir]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

Amazing that he stayed upright while doing his victory salute. 21% is stupid steep.

When he got that little push I was afraid he was gonna fall over!

[ntb1001]

Really liking the tour this year.
These have been interesting stages with great finishes.


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[OtayBW]

Originally Posted by cgolvin

Two thoughts from today:

1. Those are some of the toughest mofos in the world (ok, that's every day but today's finish was incredibly hard).
2. That is the smoothest "gravel" I have ever seen, a better surface than many of our paved roads.

Yep, for sure, I live on a road with a 20% grade ~1/2 mi from my house, so I can appreciate the magnitude of the heft. Looked like hard packed coarse sand for that first (~20% grade) stretch, and then 'chip seal' for the final, steeper stretch. Wicked awesome, as they say....

I wonder what kind of gearing Teuns was pushing on that last bit....

[summilux]

Just watching that finish made me hurt.

It nice to see a Canadian in the top 10, particularly since this is his first tour. I wonder if EF will let him try for a Stage win.

[GregL]

Originally Posted by OtayBW

Yep, for sure, I live on a road with a 20% grade ~1/2 mi from my house, so I can appreciate the magnitude of the heft. Looked like hard packed coarse sand for that first (~20% grade) stretch, and then 'chip seal' for the final, steeper stretch. Wicked awesome, as they say....

I wonder what kind of gearing Teuns was pushing on that last bit....

Not sure what Teuns used, but a local gravel race has a 1/4 mile climb that averages about 10% and peaks at 22%. I barely got up it with a 34/34 gear! Can't imagine tackling today's finishing climb at the end of a 160km stage with seven categorized climbs!

Greg