Le Tour 2025

[Baz]

[flatbutt]

Pogacar is just a soul crusher.

[CurtEgerer]

Visma Lease-A-Bike is not the same team as Jumbo Visma. Not sure what has happened. The personnel are there, they're just not performing. Or maybe UAE has just improved their team that much since the Jumbo days.

Also, Ben Healey was looking GREAT up in the yellow chasers group. Well, until he wasn't! Impressive tour for Ben.

[jyl]

Van Aert and Kuss have looked not-good all year. Yates may not be a good super domestique, he’s usually been a leader not a worker. Campenaerts is great, Benoot has shown himself, but they aren’t high mountains climbers. If Jorgenson and Affini are the only Visma domestiques that Vingegaard can count on at the end, that’s not great.

Granted UAE is missing Almeida, Yates hasn’t been very good, and Sivakov was sick (?), but Wellens has been great, Narvaez and Soler have been showing more, I can’t recall if Politt has done much? Both teams are not at full strength but as we’ve entered the high mountains UAE looks better.

[herr_oberst]

And Matteo is completely off pace and demoralized. Last year he was a diesel that Jonas could latch onto and hide behind for hour after hour.

[jyl]

Jorgensen was looking okay in the early stages. I wonder what is wrong. Did Visma’s incessant “make the race hard” tactics just burn up Vingegaard’s domestiques? Is there something wrong with Visma’s training methods? Jonas’ wife was in the news complaining about the training, she generally got dismissed as just a whiny wife, but maybe there is something to it.

Saw a post-race interview - Pogacar mentioned that he is “a little under the weather” and his nose is “a little blocked”. So Visma has some hope still - maybe Pogacar’s sickness doesn’t get better and Vingegaard can put him to the sword on Mont Ventoux!

[jyl]

https://www.domestiquecycling.com/en/features/what-next-for-remco-evenepoel-after-tour-abandon-analysis/

Remember how Cav lost two years to a virus? Could Evenepol have some hard to find illness?

[Baz]

After 15 years at the Tour de France, the Shimano mechanics who saved Tadej Pogacar after his crash are happy every time they help a rider, whether they are in first or last.

https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=775546784894880

[jyl]

Vingegaard says they sent Kuss and Yates into the break to chase the stage win, not to help his attack.

[herr_oberst]

This is a cool restoration. Unfortunately, Ollie, the presenter, knows nothing about cars, but the owner has done a nice job, and he's way enthusiastic. (I hope he doesn't need to replace the clutch plate or the starter motor after this).

[CurtEgerer]

^^^ Ollie doesn't know that much about bikes either I watched a piece where he was trying to compare a new bike and a vintage steel bike and he was fairly clueless.

So today, so far, first 60 miles (in very hilly terrain) in 2 hours That's just demoralizing - I feel pretty good averaging 20MPH these days

[Baz]

Today was a rest day. Some notes from yesterday's Stage 15.....

Congrats to Belgian national champion Tim Wellens who soloed to victory on stage 15 Sunday. The UAE-Emirates domestique attacked from a breakaway with around 40km to go on another chaotic and entertaining afternoon of racing.

Wellens is arguably Pogacar’s most important domestique — both a rouleur who looks after the yellow jersey on the flat, and a strong enough climber to set a punishing initial pace at the base of climbs.

Having spent several days in the polka dot jersey earlier in the Tour, those days appeared to be his only public recognition — his primary role now is as one of the world’s best support riders.

But Wellens is a fine rider in his own right — the winner of two stages apiece in the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana. In Carcassonne on Sunday, he completed the Grand Tour set.

Wellens’ history with the Tour has not always been smooth sailing. He described his 2015 debut performance for Lotto as “really bad”, while he had to retire two years later with heat and pollen-related issues — having refused to treat them with a therapeutic use exemption (TUE).

Crossing the line with a one minute and 28 second advantage over Campenaerts, Wellens began to celebrate from 800m out — veering to the side of the road to high-five fans. Alaphilippe edged out Wout van Aert for third, breaking up a potential Belgian 1-2-3.

[Baz]

Good read:

Mont Ventoux, one of the Tour de France's most famous and vaunted climbs with a deadly history

[CurtEgerer]

Interesting interview with Bob Roll from a few years back.

[jyl]

This is Wellens’ last year, I think. Great to see him doing so well. He’s been stronger on the climbs than I thought!

Simmons was complaining that Wellens drafted the camera bike at the start of his attack. Maybe, but what about the remaining 43 km when five chasers couldn’t bring Wellens back?

[herr_oberst]

I lost a little respect for Quinn Simmons after listening to him whine about Wallens. My question for him is "well, you had 7 riders and all the time in the world plus a downhill slope to chase him down. What happened"

[herr_oberst]

Chris Horner brought up a really good point today. Why was EF using energy to try and keep Ben Healy in the top ten? There's still 3 hard stages where BH can make up good time if he can find some legs after today's rest period. Top ten only matters after the 21st stage.

[Baz]

So far I have refrained from criticizing the race commentary.

But, especially after seeing how JV was basically dumped on by his team with their repeated attacking.....rather than hold up and provide him some support after his crash, can we finally be done with all the JV vs TP hype? Trying to make a story where there isn't one???

I mean what is it at this point.....7-0 TP over JV.

A week to go and some great racing ahead! Just ease up on the JV/TP drama, please......

[look 171]

Pogocar is just so dang strong. How is it that the pure climbers can't stay with him or give him any flack. What ever to the days when they send a climber after the leader and sit on until he blows.

I remember Tim Wellens coming on as a young man. They said he was going to be a great bike rider.

[jyl]

I want Vingegaard to win a stage. He’s strong, came in excellent form, with a strong and committed team. He had two bad days, I hope he can come good and get a result.