Cancellera is the mule during the tour, He's the go to guy later for chasing breaks and dragging guys back into the thick of things. The true heros are Poppvych (A true champion who has accomplished so much at a young age) and Voigt. They rode tempo all day long.

I just tuned in as I was getting up this morning to see the peleton regrouping from another "big one" Many important players involved .
Ouch, its like restrictor plate racing in NASCAR, just waiting for it to happen.
They are still figuring out the carnage.
Great finish for Sagan

Cheers Richard

Today certainly changed the face of the Tour.... Chances are looking much better for a repeat.

Zabriski said......"it's just a bike race".

But - it sure didn't seem like "just a bike race" today :eek:

The crashes continue...Sagan continues to win stages......and tomorrow we start the mountain stages.

Come what may - tomorrow will be a very interesting stage - that is for sure!

Yes - Cadel is still in the hunt but so is Bradley Wiggins ;)

Sorry to see the departure of Ryder Hesjedal and Tommy Danielson...they will be missed!!!

Onward.......

Can't believe they were insinuating that some folks' tour was over in regards to winning because of a 2 minute gap. It's always possible to crush your opponents in the clouds, as I- er, Lance did to Jan and several other people along the way.

Recorded the 5 hour NBC TDF coverage....40 minutes in and already 5+ commercial breaks....thank God for the FF button.

A terrific finish today! Won't spoil it for those who have it recorded.

angela

It really was a fantastic finish today, Angela.

I don't think it would spoil anything if we post here - it's not like a hugely popular thread anyway.

But just in case --- please consider opening any future posts - SPOILER-!!! ;)

For me it was very telling that CE couldn't get the stage win. And Wiggins was right there!

I predict Wiggins to win, barring any future incidents.

Nice to see a Brit win the stage! Even though we didn't see any Gump or Hulk theatrics!

Sagan interviews like a limp dish towel.

You have to factor in he is young and his English is not that good. I give him a pass for those 2 factors.

He makes up for it in cycling skills....will be interesting to see how he does in the mountains.

Good stage today......and IMO very telling performance by CE.

Always love to see a young rider make good a breakaway. His team manager was hanging out the car window, pounding on the door and shouting encouragement those last few thousand meters - thought he might actually fall out at one point!


angela

I agree Angela.....it was historic!

The Inner Ring

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) won today’s stage of the Tour de France. The youngest rider in the race, he delighted French fans with a big win to confirm the hopes invested in him. But there was nobody more delighted than team manager Marc Madiot.

Marc Madiot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marc Madiot (born April 16, 1959 in Renazé) is a French former professional road racing cyclist and double winner of Paris–Roubaix. Retired from racing in 1994, he is now best known as the directeur sportif of FDJ-BigMat, a UCI ProTour cycling team.

In 2008 he was made a knight of the French Legion of Honor. It was presented by French president Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysée palace in Paris.

I love this event!!!

Madiot is one of those hard men of the old days and they know how to read a race well. This is way before race radios where team managers are racing behind team cars. These were my sporting heros (hard men) growing up reading about them in various papers and mags. Have a look. Paris Roubaix 1985 Finish - YouTube

I missed the past two days of TDF. I must read up on it now.

Epic video - really puts things into perspective. I love the comments on the You Tube page too:

Thanks Look 171!

Wiggins is giving me flashbacks of Armstrong catching Jan in an ITT.

ed: Holy Moses! What a ride for BW.

Individual Time Trial = The Race of Truth...


Stuck at the airport right now. Soooo glad that I've got the TDF being recorded at home!


angela

How about Mr. Chris Froome? Wow. :)

Stage 10 - Climbing 101 - not for the faint of heart!!!

Chris Froome in third place!

:D