Le Tour 2021

[Baz]

That time of year again!

Schedule has been moved up this year due to the Olympics being postponed from last to this year:

The 2021 Tour de France will be the 108th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three grand tours. Originally planned for the Danish capital of Copenhagen, the start of the 2021 Tour (known as the Grand Départ) was transferred to Brest due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Copenhagen hosting four matches in the UEFA Euro 2020 and that event also being rescheduled to 2021 due to the pandemic.[1][2] Originally scheduled for 2 to 25 July 2021, the Tour was moved to 26 June to 18 July 2021 to avoid the rescheduled 2020 Summer Olympics.[3] This would have been the first occasion on which the Tour de France had visited Denmark.[4] Denmark will now host the Grand Départ in 2022.

Official website

Stage 1: Saturday, June 26: Brest to Landerneau- 198 km (hilly)

Stage 2: Sunday, June 27: Perros-Guirec to Műr-de-Bretagne - 182 km (hilly)

Stage 3: Monday, June 28: Lorient to Pontivy - 183 km (flat)

Stage 4: Tuesday, June 29: Redon to Fougčres - 151 km (flat)

Stage 5: Wednesday, June 30: Changé to Laval - 27 km (individual time trial)

Stage 6: Thursday, July 1: Tours to Châteauroux - 161 km (flat)

Stage 7: Friday, July 2: Vierzon to Le Creusot - 250 km (hilly)

Stage 8: Saturday, July 3: Oyonnax to Le Grand Bornand - 151 km (mountains)

Stage 9: Sunday, July 4: Cluses to Tignes - 145 km (mountains)

REST DAY: Monday, July 5: Tignes

Stage 10: Tuesday, July 6: Albertville to Valence - 186 km (flat)

Stage 11: Wednesday, July 7: Sorgues to Malaucčne - 199 km (flat)

Stage 12: Thursday, July 8: Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux to Nîmes --161 km (flat)

Stage 13: Friday, July 9: Nîmes to Carcassonne - 220 km (flat)

Stage 14: Saturday, July 10: Carcassonne to Quillan - 184 km (hills)

Stage 15: Sunday, July 11: Céret to Andorra la Vella - 192 km (mountains)

REST DAY: Monday, July 12: Andorra la Vella

Stage 16: Tuesday, July 13: Pas de Case to Saint-Gaudins - 169 km (hills)

Stage 17: Wednesday, July 14: Muret to Col du Portet - 178 km (mountains)

Stage 18: Thursday, July 15: Pau to Luz-Ardiden - 130 km (mountains)

Stage 19: Friday, July 16: Mourenx to Libourne - 203 km (flat)

Stage 20: Saturday, July 17: Libourne to Saint-Émilion -- 31 km (individual time trial)

Stage 21: Sunday, July 18: Chatau to Paris -- 112 km (flat)



=================
Results from last year:

Final general classification (1–10)[67] Rank Rider Team Time
1 Tadej Pogačar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates 87h 20' 05"
2 Primož Roglič (SLO) Team Jumbo–Visma + 59"
3 Richie Porte (AUS) Trek–Segafredo + 3' 30"
4 Mikel Landa (ESP) Bahrain–McLaren + 5' 58"
5 Enric Mas (ESP) Movistar Team + 6' 07"
6 Miguel Ángel López (COL) Astana + 6' 47"
7 Tom Dumoulin (NED) Team Jumbo–Visma + 7' 48"
8 Rigoberto Urán (COL) EF Pro Cycling + 8' 02"
9 Adam Yates (GBR) Mitchelton–Scott + 9' 25"
10 Damiano Caruso (ITA) Bahrain–McLaren + 14' 03"

[Baz]

�� ��-�� before the writing of a new chapter of a great story.
�� ������ #TDF2021 ������������!

�� ��-�� avant d'écrire le nouveau chapitre d'une grande histoire.
�� ���� #TDF2021 �������� ������������ ! pic.twitter.com/a5zFtrBIA7

— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) June 21, 2021

[jyl]

Cav!

[Esel Mann]

How are folks watching it this year???

NBC Sports Gold had an annual cycling package which allowed one to watch streaming coverage no 'mercials of the uncondensed stage coverage. One could of course HDMI it to the big screen. Cheapest way to go on a European vacation without actually going lol.

NBC (National Ball Cocks) chitcanned that package and is trying to roll it into their peacock package. To add insult, they are charging noticeably more and it now will have 'mercials. No information as to if it will be the uncondensed stage coverage or the condensed stage coverage they would do for cable viewers in the prime-time slot.
This skin boat smells something fishy in tuna town so I've yet to take the plunge and sign up for it.

Are there other streaming online options be it pay or free for folks that have VPN capability with *wink* server location selectability.

[Baz]

I have cable and will be watching it on NBC-SN, same as previous years:

https://www.nbcsports.com/cycling/tour-de-france

[Scott Douglas]

Thanks Baz!
I actually got my bike out and wiped it down as I waited for the rags to go thru the wash this morning.
I really enjoy the racing and coverage of places I'll never get to see in person.

[Tobra]

McLaren has a cycling team?

[jyl]

I have a subscription to Eurosport and use a VPN to log on “from the UK”.

You can watch practically any bike race on Eurosport. As well as all the European sports except top football (soccer), F1, MotoGP - sadly.

[Esel Mann]

Originally Posted by jyl

I have a subscription to Eurosport and use a VPN to log on “from the UK”.

You can watch practically any bike race on Eurosport. As well as all the European sports except top football (soccer), F1, MotoGP - sadly.

Thanks for the pro-tip JYL!

My hope was that I could watch Le Tour stages say in the evening and if for some reason I wasn't able to watch for that day, catch up the following day.

Might you know if the replays are on demand? They look almost like a scheduled line-up and can only be viewed according to their schedule?
Their website unfortunately isn't clear on this as it's more geared to teaser clips and getting me to open my wallet first and then find out after.

[Baz]

2021 Tour de France
2021 TDF preview: Can Ineos slow Roglič, Pogačar?

https://www.nbcsports.com/video/event/2021-tour-de-france

[Baz]

What kind of idiot holds their sign out in the path of the peloton?

The fan was watching the TV cameras and not the riders. #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/hHtNkx6gFu

— CyclingTips (@cyclingtips) June 26, 2021

[jyl]

Oh WTF with 6 k - so many are f—ked

[Baz]

Originally Posted by jyl

Oh WTF with 6 k - so many are f—ked

Two big crashes on the FIRST day!

Results from Stage 1:

#TDF2021 - Stage 1 - Top 10 pic.twitter.com/536OWr1Q9t

— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) June 26, 2021

[jyl]

There are now two pelotons, one 14 min behind the other. Any GC contendor in the second peloton is no longer one. Marginal contendors in the first peloton are now looking less marginal - hmm, Quintana, Thomas, Nibali? Sitting pretty in peloton #1: Roglic, Podagcar, Lopez, Carapaz? Can’t be thrilled but at least not in peloton #2: Yates, Geogen Hart. That second crash was a disaster for most of the peloton. Really wish it hadn’t happened.

BTW: awesome to see Matthews on the podium.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by Esel Mann

Thanks for the pro-tip JYL!

My hope was that I could watch Le Tour stages say in the evening and if for some reason I wasn't able to watch for that day, catch up the following day.

Might you know if the replays are on demand? They look almost like a scheduled line-up and can only be viewed according to their schedule?
Their website unfortunately isn't clear on this as it's more geared to teaser clips and getting me to open my wallet first and then find out after.

Yes, you can watch live or on demand. I just watched the La Course stage 1 and happened to watch the finish of Milan San Remo. Stuff stays available on demand for months.

You can subscribe to Eurosport with a US debit/credit card, unless they’ve changed policies. I use VyprVPN but there are many others. Costs me around $12/mo total I think.

[Baz]

Originally Posted by jyl

There are now two pelotons, one 14 min behind the other. Any GC contendor in the second peloton is no longer one. Marginal contendors in the first peloton are now looking less marginal - hmm, Quintana, Thomas, Nibali? Sitting pretty in peloton #1: Roglic, Podagcar, Lopez, Carapaz? Can’t be thrilled but at least not in peloton #2: Yates, Geogen Hart. That second crash was a disaster for most of the peloton. Really wish it hadn’t happened.

BTW: awesome to see Matthews on the podium.

Really good analysis, JYL!

Agree on Matthews....that was awesome!

[jyl]

You too can watch any freaking bike race you want. Spanish National Championships? Giro d’Italia? La Course? It’s all on Eurosport, on demand and (usually) live.

[jyl]

Why don't WT riders have their names on their jerseys and helmets? I know sometimes you can identify a rider from his posture and pedaling style, but its not exactly viewer-friendly. Watching the bunch and trying to figure out which of those guys in yellow is the one who needs to be up front - would be a lot easier if the jersey back said VAN AERT or even just GVA.

[jyl]

Here’s the list of sports available. It’s crazy. Reminds me of watching the Olympics when I was a kid and seeing sports I’d never heard of before.

[jyl]

The damage to the GC race is not as bad as I’d thought. See list of “GC contendors” and where they finished. Some of these were never seriously contenders - Soler, Valverde, Woods. I guess there’s now a bunch of guys who are free to go for stage wins.