Le Tour 2018

[Baz]

ALERT: thread may contain spoilers.....don't click the thread if you don't want to know the day's results.....

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That time of year again!

The 2018 Tour de France will be the 105th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tours. The 3,329 km (2,069 mi) race will depart Noirmoutier-en-l'Île, in the Vendée department, on 7 July and will finish with the Champs-Élysées stage in Paris, on 29 July. A total of 176 riders across 22 teams will participate in the 21-stage race. The Tour will be the shortest of the century and will be the fifth time a tour has set out from the Vendée department.

Official website of Le Tour

NBC Sports - Cycling website

NBC Sports TDF website

TDF Route

Tour Map

Wiki page

This thread is dedicated to two time tour winner and now retired Alberto Contador of Spain. Enjoy retirement......you will be missed, Alberto!

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Can’t wait! I’ll be in France next month too - unfortunately not in time to catch the Tour but it’s on my list for a return visit!

[Baz]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Can’t wait! I’ll be in France next month too - unfortunately not in time to catch the Tour but it’s on my list for a return visit!

On my bucket list as well.

I can't even imagine how cool that would be to see the peloton go by in person!

[rwest]

Hi Baz,

Do you know if any websites will be having daily stage coverage, either of the whole stage or highlights? I don’t have cable or satellite, I do have Hulu though.

Thanks

[CurtEgerer]

I follow many of the races on Steephill TV. steephill.tv bike travelogue and procycling live coverage

[Baz]

Originally Posted by rwest

Hi Baz,

Do you know if any websites will be having daily stage coverage, either of the whole stage or highlights? I don’t have cable or satellite, I do have Hulu though.

Thanks

Good evening Rutager...

Go here for info on streaming:
https://www.nbcsports.com/tour-de-france

Looks like there's something called NBC Sports Gold.

Hope you and your pup are doing well.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

I follow many of the races on Steephill TV. steephill.tv bike travelogue and procycling live coverage

Thanks Curt....that's a very useful website!

[CurtEgerer]

Some wall graffiti at Le Tour today of Hinault in the good old days of Gitane Renault-Elf:



And my Hinault-LeMond tribute bike which I should probably dust off for a ride this Sat

[VincentVega]

Looking forward to stage 12

[rwest]

Originally Posted by Baz

Good evening Rutager...

Go here for info on streaming:
https://www.nbcsports.com/tour-de-france

Looks like there's something called NBC Sports Gold.

Hope you and your pup are doing well.

Thanks Baz,

No pups at my house currently , all of the ones I’ve had around recently have been fosters for the rescuee and are with forever families now.

Give yours a couple treats from me!

Best,
Rutager

[arcsine]

I was pleasantly surprised that the Tour is now allowing disc brakes. Feel stupid finding out it started last year and did not even notice it.

Hope that someone is able to challenge Froome this time. Or I guess i should say I hope someone is able to challenge Team Sky but that will be a daunting task.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by arcsine

I was pleasantly surprised that the Tour is now allowing disc brakes. Feel stupid finding out it started last year and did not even notice it.

Hope that someone is able to challenge Froome this time. Or I guess i should say I hope someone is able to challenge Team Sky but that will be a daunting task.

Froome & Sky are going to be hard to beat this year, but we'll see.

I like the young Frenchman, Romain Bardet, as a serious contender....he's got a bit of pluck.....

[Baz]

Then there's last year's runner up.....Rigoberto Uran...

[jyl]

Froome - the dominant GT rider of this era, has developed into a fighter and attacker instead of simply a spinning robot, has the strongest team using the best tactics. Others need to hope the Giro has taken something out of him. The TTT will help him because Team Sky, the ITT won't so much as it's not a classic TT course.

Quintana - the best pure climber in the peloton, but weak in other terrain, has been quiet so far this year, and his team is bringing three "co-leaders" to the tour.

Landa - talented climber, not clear he has consistency, plus the co-leader thing

Porte - on paper he can win it, he's a top climber and a good TTer, but he seems to have bad luck or crash or blow up in every GT.

Yates - wild card, his brother tore up the Giro then blew up big-time in the last few stages, team is 100% committed but how deep is the talent pool after the Giro?

Dumoulin - Belongs up in the top 5 of GT talents. But Giro fatigue, weakish team, and not the ideal ITT.

Bardet - sparkling climber but team may not be strong enough to get him through the other stages

Nibali - love the attacking spirit and he sure bossed the cobbles in the Tour he won, but vulnerable to getting dropped in the high mountains

I'm rooting for Q. Again. My other faves would be Froome and Porte.

[jyl]

Sprint wise, I really really want to see Cav get 35 TdF stages by the time his career ends, and I also love me some Gaviria. So I'd like to see Cav and Gav each win a couple.

However, in the last few tours, a single sprinter has won early then gone on to dominate the bunch sprints with 4-5 wins.

Going to be a great battle with the old guard (Cav Griepel Kittel) and the new guys (Gav, Groenewegen). No Ewan, no Viviani, sadly. I guess Sagan and Mathews may get wins on the tougher finishes.

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by rwest

Hi Baz,

Do you know if any websites will be having daily stage coverage, either of the whole stage or highlights? I don’t have cable or satellite, I do have Hulu though.

Thanks

tiz-cycling.com almost always has the eurosports feed, without the virus ads. Close the chat on the right side.

[matthewb0051]

The Froome lockout has made me re-focus my interest towards the King of Mountains and Green Jersey.

I'm hoping someone can step up and give the GC a good run this year. I don't think Quintanna can, he always seems to lack the final nail in the coffin in the mountains.

Glad to see Cav is back. Those sprinters truly amaze.

Like others, this is on my bucket list. I kick myself every time I think about it. I've lived in the UK and Germany and never took the time to go. I was living in UK when LeMond destroyed the Professor on the last day TT in Paris. I was watching on TV live which was really not available to the US back then. Epic

[Baz]

I want to see Sagan win some more stages...and not get kicked out this year!

[Baz]

Wow.....what a stage! Crazy stuff!!!

[Baz]

More carnage today.....a brutal stage indeed!

But a very satisfying stage win for my fav. rider.

Team time trial tomorrow will have an impact on the eventually winner.

Coverage starts at 9am.

Today's stage repeated at 4:30pm and 8pm in case you missed it.