Le Tour 2024

[jyl]

Use the fleur de lys motif, just larger and with more contrast - would have worked ok.

Dang, I’m thinking about buying a jersey now.

[CurtEgerer]

[Baz]

Lol.....

[flatbutt]

Does anyone else think today's finish was magnifique?

[CurtEgerer]

Nice to see Girmay finally win a stage. He's been knocking on the door. Sprint seemed a bit disorganized.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

Nice to see Girmay finally win a stage. He's been knocking on the door. Sprint seemed a bit disorganized.

Waaaaay more crowded than expected is what I think.

[jyl]

The two best leadout trains, Alpecin for Phillipsen and Astana for Cav, fell apart from crash and mechanical, so sprint was up for grabs. It looked like Girmay lost his leadout, brought himself up from pretty far back, saw a hole open up, and punched it. Good job! He’s always had speed, wanted for positioning. Not sure it means Wanty has figured out the leadout thing though.

[flatbutt]

Today they start the day with a climb that lasts 25 miles! The speeds at which these guys can climb is truly amazing.

[CurtEgerer]

What a group climbing the Galibier - Primoz, Jonas, Tadej, Remco!

[flatbutt]

I usually keep it on in the background and then sit to watch the finish. Today's finish was a real thrill.

Imagine going 50 mph downhill on those skinny tires then slowing down for a hairpin at a mere 40 mph only to see the road soaked by snow melt!

[CurtEgerer]

Tadej put on a descent clinic today. To gain that sort of time on a 15K descent is a testament to his bike handling skills.

[flatbutt]

Originally Posted by CurtEgerer

Tadej put on a descent clinic today. To gain that sort of time on a 15K descent is a testament to his bike handling skills.

A few times he was seriously flirting with the edge of the road surface, and I thought "oh hell he's going to run off!". Obviously, his skill easily cashed the check his ego wrote!

[CurtEgerer]

This is going to be one long TdF for Jonas without Sepp Kuss. Today's stage would've played out differently with Sepp in the mix. Tadej may have still won but I think the time gap would've been different.

[jyl]

On stage 2, when Pogacar and Vingegaard were descending together, Vingegaard was losing ground to Pogacar in the curves and having to sprint back after each curve. Vingegaard finally took the lead - or Pogacar let him - and then was able to descend at his own pace.

Possibly Pogacar observed that and figured Vingegaard has a little bit of a descending weakness, maybe something mental from his big crash? and decided to hit that weakness hard.

On the climb, UAE did a great job, killed off all of Vingegaard’s teammates, dropped the other GC contendors. But Adam Yates didn’t last long on the front, and Ayuso didn’t come up to help until Almeida was waving and yelling. Pogacar wasn’t on their wheels, instead he was behind Vingegaard. There was wind and the two domestiques and Pogacar could have been a mini-echelon with Vingegaard hung out to dry. So not perfect by UAE and they may have left some minutes on the table.

[jyl]

I wonder how much tire technology the teams have?

If this were F1, they’d have rubber compounds for different weather conditions, rain tires, multiple compounds on each tire.

Instead, I *think* they just run the same tire whether it’s 95F and bone dry, or 50F and pouring rain, or 40F and freezing cold winds. Whether it’s a long flat stage, or a stage with hair-raising twisty descents. I guess they have a special TT tire, and a wider cobbles tire.

I also wonder why they don’t run sealant in their tires. I don’t know that they don’t, but flats are so common that I don’t think they do. Yes sealant weighs something, but might allow a thinner tire.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by jyl

I wonder how much tire technology the teams have?
I also wonder why they don’t run sealant in their tires.

Most teams use tubeless tires these days. Here's a little overview; I don't think they have different tire compounds; I wonder if the UCI prohibits that?

http://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/tour-de-france/every-tire-teams-using-tour-de-france-2024/

[jyl]

Pogacar beat Quintana’s 2019 stage 18 record for the Col du Galibier climb, at 20:50 versus 22:23 over the last 8.5 km to the summit.

Of course, Quintana didn’t have the UAE mountain train pulling him up the climb and launching him a km from the top. Movistar had abandoned Quintana, who was in the break, attacked at the start of the climb, opened a minute gap on his former breakaway companions in no time, and rode the whole thing solo with his own team trying to chase him down. It was stage 18, third week on tired legs, a long stage with three big climbs.

Highlights from 2019 stage 18 here https://youtu.be/-A6RKsxYOjw? That was a hell of an attack. The current generation of top GC riders can do it all - climb, time trial, even sprint - but it’s still fun to watch a pure climber like Quintana in his element.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

Most teams use tubeless tires these days. Here's a little overview; I don't think they have different tire compounds; I wonder if the UCI prohibits that?

http://velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racing/tour-de-france/every-tire-teams-using-tour-de-france-2024/

I don’t know what UCI rules are. It seems nuts to not at least have different compounds for hot days, cold days, and wet days. Surely 120F pavement, 40F pavement, and wet pavement deserve different rubber?

[Baz]

Just watched the end of yesterday's Stage 4. Missed it yesterday due to work constraints.

Worth getting up early today to watch. Stages like this are why we watch. Just spectacular and thrilling finish!

Agree with Curt: "Tadej put on a descent clinic today."

Love this broadcast team and camera work as well. Simply fantastic and really makes the whole event so enjoyable.

"Every second counts on the way to Nice!" ~ Phil Liggett

[CurtEgerer]

Fun to see Glen Plake spectating on the side of the road! When they first showed him, I'm thinking, hey, that guy looks like Glen Plake. Oh, it IS Glen Plake! He mentioned that he had rode up the Galibier earlier in the day. Looked it up - he's 59 yrs old these days.

I have a sudden urge to watch the Blizzard of Ahhhhs