Tour de France *LIVE* *SPOILERS*

[galgal]

Originally Posted by soulspinner

Pinot rode himself back into contention with a superb ride. I could see Thomas looked good on the yellow jerseys wheel and knew it was coming. Go Pinot!!!!!!

If Pinot hadn't lost 1'40" by getting caught out in the crosswinds....

[rain dogs]

Originally Posted by peanutgallery

Post stage commentary =>

Rider #15 is right and CVV is an idiot

JP made a bunch of tactical errors on the final climb and Thomas was little lucky to have a teammate on hand to steady things when he blew

Pinot...wow

JP is Alaphilippe? If so, curious to hear more

Anyway. Ala only lost 28 seconds to the defending champ and can lose 30 seconds per "big mountain" stage and still win. Today was a success for him, although in terms of others' morale maybe a failure.

I foresee two things. Something of a "French Alliance" ... Pinot looks good to attack and has to and then Ala can follow wheels and....

Quickstep starting to call everyones bluff. Alaphilippe can't chase everyone when he has no team without exposing himself. So, understand that everyone will defend their position and make them do the work and follow Ineos and Lotto wheels.

Easily the best Tour in decades this is.

[VTCaraco]

What happened to Mas today?
I thought/hoped he'd be more of a factor. He crawled in with the sprinters.

[OtayBW]

Originally Posted by peanutgallery

Post stage commentary =>

Rider #15 is right and CVV is an idiot

JP made a bunch of tactical errors on the final climb and Thomas was little lucky to have a teammate on hand to steady things when he blew

Pinot...wow

Very interesting and assertive convo in the recap today between CVV and CH, who actually seems more poised and informative each time I hear him.

[peanutgallery]

Eating and typing, JA

JA should not have gone with Pinot, should not have pulled Thomas. CVV was gloating that Thomas made a show of strength, in reality he was just lucky that JA rode poorly in a tactical sense (rider #15's point) and he was saved by a teammate settlingthings down. JA, put in a great effort and is still in yellow, he looked stronger but brain farted. Thomas was smart and lucky

Alps will interesting

Originally Posted by rain dogs

JP is Alaphilippe? If so, curious to hear more

Anyway. Ala only lost 28 seconds to the defending champ and can lose 30 seconds per "big mountain" stage and still win. Today was a success for him, although in terms of others' morale maybe a failure.

I foresee two things. Something of a "French Alliance" ... Pinot looks good to attack and has to and then Ala can follow wheels and....

Quickstep starting to call everyones bluff. Alaphilippe can't chase everyone when he has no team without exposing himself. So, understand that everyone will defend their position and make them do the work and follow Ineos and Lotto wheels.

Easily the best Tour in decades this is.

[jlwdm]

Originally Posted by galgal

If Pinot hadn't lost 1'40" by getting caught out in the crosswinds....

A really stupid mistake for a GC contendor.

Robbie Mcewen talked about which side of the round a bout you needed to go around, but it looked like it did barely came back together after that.

Then just before the wind was changing Robbie said this is the kind of situation Pinot has a tendency to get caught out in. Great call.

Jeff

[galgal]

Originally Posted by peanutgallery

Eating and typing, JA

JA should not have gone with Pinot, should not have pulled Thomas. CVV was gloating that Thomas made a show of strength, in reality he was just lucky that JA rode poorly in a tactical sense (rider #15's point) and he was saved by a teammate settlingthings down. JA, put in a great effort and is still in yellow, he looked stronger but brain farted. Thomas was smart and lucky

Alps will interesting

Agree with this, tho I can well see why JA went with Pinot, probably hoping for a repeat of yesterday. Problem was he couldn't stay with Pinot and was then in no man's land by himself. Main mistake might have been still trying to attack at that point rather than riding within himself, which cost him later when Thomas group attacked. But he fought back, terrific ride really.
Pinot is now 15" from Thomas and looking the strongest climber with 3 stages in the Alps.
What a terrific tour this is turning out to be. 5 riders in position to win. Could it be a French 1 and 2?

[soulspinner]

Originally Posted by galgal

If Pinot hadn't lost 1'40" by getting caught out in the crosswinds....

Right?

[tony_mm]

Originally Posted by peanutgallery

Post stage commentary =>



Rider #15 is right and CVV is an idiot



JP made a bunch of tactical errors on the final climb and Thomas was little lucky to have a teammate on hand to steady things when he blew



Pinot...wow

Who is CVV?

[LegendRider]

Originally Posted by tony_mm

Who is CVV?

Christian Vande Velde.

[galgal]

Originally Posted by jlwdm

A really stupid mistake for a GC contendor.

Robbie Mcewen talked about which side of the round a bout you needed to go around, but it looked like it did barely came back together after that.

Then just before the wind was changing Robbie said this is the kind of situation Pinot has a tendency to get caught out in. Great call.

Jeff

Fair enough. Tho you know Pinot is also the rider who has released 6 years of his training and race data. Anyone on Team Skineos do the same? For a team that prides itself on an attention to detail, they do have a habit of surprisingly losing their medical data, which is something other than a stupid mistake.
Btw, for the JA isn't suffering enough crowd, have a look at him after today's stage, crying and puking over the barriers.

[john903]

I just have to say that this years tour is shaping up to be real exciting. It feels like racing now instead of watching a fast group ride where no one attacks. My wife is really happy having two French riders in contention this year, she is hoping for two Frenchmen to podium. I is really cool when your significant other gets excited about the things you enjoy too.

[LegendRider]

I want a Frenchman to win - either Alaphilippe hangs on by the skin of his teeth or Pinot rides away from Ineos and Jumbo Visma in the Alps with an epic display of strength.

Both are likable characters and I think it would be a much-needed shot in the arm for French cycling.

[Ray]

Back for a visit after a long time away, because where else to find good TdF discussions?!?! This is some really exciting stuff. As Vaughters was saying earlier in the stage, JA will likely either win going away or crack spectacularly in at least one of the Alpine stages. I think today was a preview of Door #2.

He's pretty strong, but he finally showed some serious limits today, has NO team in the mountains, and didn't show a lot of tactical smarts. If that minute and a half is gonna disappear, I suspect it'll happen all at once in the second or third Alp stage, more likely third. Eneos still has the best team, but Pinot is the strongest looking guy and I don't think the 15 seconds or so between he and Thomas is gonna matter in the end. He doesn't have a lot of support out there either, but if he can avoid a bad day I think he grabs the lead either Friday or Saturday.

Regardless, this is the most exciting and unpredictable Tour in a good long time. I'm not riding any more (asthma limits me to piddling around town on my town bike), but I still love watching this stuff as much as ever. There's a bit of TdF talk happening on the guitar related forums I spend more time on these days, but I figured I needed to check in here. Enjoyed reading the last few pages and will probably stop by a few more times before next Sunday...

-Ray

[peanutgallery]

Soo ....

After watching all the commercials today, who pays 800 to 900 dollars a month to lease a Jaguar or an Escalade?