Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2017
As many of you know, I write a monthly column for Cyclist Magazine where I answer Dear Abby-esque questions, and the most recent query pertained to whether I consider the Tour the best race of the year, or whether it’s an over-publicized circus. The question made me realize something about myself: I have a weariness around the Tour de France not unlike a romantic whose heart has been broken one too many times.
The fact is, as much as I prefer a race like Paris-Roubaix or the Giro d’Italia to the mid-summer shit show that is the Tour de France, nothing gets my anticipation going quite the way the Tour does, which is undeniably the pinnacle of the season; all the classifications and stages are prestigious enough that racers of all sorts are all arriving at the start in peak form. There is a promise of hard racing from day one, but the first week consists mostly of me worrying about the big favorites crashing out. As soon as we get through that mess, my heart is usually broken on the first day in the mountains, when the favorite takes a decisive lead and the rest of the race is most about stages than the GC.
At least, these are the dreads of a man who lived through the Indurain and Armstrong eras of racing.
Nevertheless, the Tour always manages to seduce me, and this year is no different. Maybe this year, she won’t be such a cruel lover. And, maybe this year, I won’t make horrible picks in the VSP. Just maybe, just maybe. You know the drill; get your picks in by the time the clock goes to zero, and you get some swap options on the rest day. Good luck!
[vsp_results id=”104413″/]
@stooge
Hopefully there’s some good racing in the mountains to come so we can stop talking about it – I don’t see it was a big deal either way.
It’s also distracted somewhat from Quintana’s complete no-show at this Tour.
@RobSandy
It’s not a big deal. I suppose it reinforces expectations, or something. Also, rest days and stages comprised of 180 kilometers or yawning followed by 20 kilometers of racing (if lucky) makes it hard to keep people tuned in. Media has to talk about something. A bit of etiquette drama helps with that.
Quintana looks tired, huh. I suspect several long, flat, windy stages can be tough for the small guys, as several hill stages are for the big guns. He often comes good toward the end. Maybe the rest days and a bit of lumpy stuff will perk him up? It’s a big gap, but it’s a long race (not a course that would’ve suited him well even in top form, is the problem with it).
@BacklashJack
Especially agreed with this point.
“The American was also very critical of Froome as he witnessed the three-times champion fiddling with his on-board computer on his new bike before making it back to the front group.
“It’s so bizarre to see him change his bike and then touch his computer. The main point is ‘get on your bike, get back to the front’,” said LeMond.”
I was watching the live feed and I see Froomie take his new bike while the race is going away from him and what the fuck does he do? He fucks around with his power meter.
Holy Merckx on Mount Velo I just about punched my computer! Lost a bit more respect for him right then and there (not that he gives a shit but what a fucking powermeter-addicted-tit!)
(also not sure why my cut&paste is all in HUGE font–maybe b/c it was quoting LeMan???)
@Buck Rogers
And then when it actually posts–the font is all the same. Fuck! I need a drink!
I am not sure how many of my fellow Velominati are in the Twittersphere. For those of you who are, I am posting the link to David Buonomo’s account. David is also known as DADOU and is a French sports cartoonist. For those of you who have viewed the Tour within French borders will be familiar with his work. French TV regularly cuts to DADOU drawings, which are constructed while the race unfolds. The humor and speed with which the drawings are posted are fantastic.
Link: https://twitter.com/davidbuonomo
I hope these drawings bring an occasional cycling related smile to each of you.
Sorry, thought I put in the link: https://twitter.com/davidbuonomo
@Buck Rogers
I noticed Quintana do the same when he changed bikes.
@Rick
Really great! He’s not the same guy who did the cartoons for Rouleur that were on the cover one time, is he?
Doesn’t look exactly the same but they are similar.
Surprised there’s not more love for Uran in here. Winning the queen stage of the TdF on a bike stuck in the tallest gear is pretty legendary stuff. Mad props.
@John Irvine
I guess it got lost in all the drama.
I kept think “he’s gonna gas soon, surely” and he just kept on trucking. Did his fair share of pulling, too. Legs of steel! He was pretty casual in the post race interview to boot.
@Teocalli
I think they swap bikes, but not computers, so I would assume they have to do a quick sync on the wireless. Maybe I’m wrong- I can’t say I’ve raced in the Tour de France lately.
What actually bothers me more is why the Tour yellow seems more sacred than the Giro pink. TomD stopped for (albeit emergency) bathroom break while the race was on, and nobody waited. What if he had a mechanical? Essentially, even as Geraint Thomas said when he was knocked out of the Giro this year- when the race is on and there is a crash, you can’t expect the entire peloton to wait. Then again, perhaps the behavior and policing of the peloton is more a result of the true power of the wearer of the jersey (i.e. Hinault, regardless of clothing). Froome clearly carries more weight in the Tour than TomD carried in the Giro, and the racers/races reflected that. Earned privilege?
@Teocalli
I did not see that and have not seen that video.
@Buck Rogers
He very well could have been. Everyone on my group ride to the Tour a few years ago was talking about the funny cartoons on the broadcast. I have been following him on twitter to get the cartoons live. I plug the captions into the Google translator for the English version.
@Buck Rogers
Give ’em all old school Avocet computers I say! Speed, distance, time, average speed. What more do you fuckin’ want?
I think the situation as described by LeMond hits squarely at the lack of passion many fans feel for Froome. He’s just too calculating and addicted to his damn powermeter. He’s a scenario, what if his bloody computer went on the blink mid stage. Could that be considered a “mechanical”? “Steady up lads, I need to switch bikes, my powermeter just crapped out and I need to make sure my ride’s registering on Strava!”
I think not. Busted derailleur, puncture, broken spokes, those are mechanicals. No working bike computer is tough shit.
@wiscot
A-Fuckin-men, Brother!
i think the peloton does a pretty good job regulating itself. if the riders feel like they need to slow down for some reason, they do it. if they don’t, they don’t. any time people try to impose the black-and-white rule of law on gray areas such as this, it always backfires with many unforseen negative consequences. leave them all alone, and let them race, i say.
@Cary
A-MERCKX
@wiscot
I actually had not considered that the computer was the main problem. If so, then definitely no way that’s a “mechanical”. Did they ever say what was “wrong” with the bike? To be honest, it thought could be a genius bluff to neutralize one of the hardest sections of the climb.
A-Merckx indeed. If the race is on, the race is on. Some caveats may include if a moto or spectator interferes with the race. Otherwise, if your damn $25,000 Pinarello F10 lets you down then so be it.
@BacklashJack
I think part of the issue too is that bikes are so hi-tech now, that mechanicals are more common. In the days of The Prophet, it was a steel frame, full Campag groupset, 32 spoke wheels and maybe a six or 7 speed block. Really not much that could be described as fragile. Today’s bikes, I’d suggest are more fragile, especially when you get into electronic shifting.This was the case with bikes pros rode though basically the 80s – bomb proof. Today, not so much.On the flip side, tires and roads are better so fewer punctures than in the past.
Oh, and Merckx used a V Meter. No batteries required!
i like Strava. i turn the app on, shove the phone in my jersey, and don’t look at it or otherwise even consider it until my ride is over. one thing that initially attracted me to the Rules book, is the reverence for the RIDE. all that stuff: quiet bike. as little as possible between the rider and the experience.
i do get my ass handed to me on group rides all the time by 25 and 30 year old riders with carbon bikes and power meters, but, that’s what i call efficiency! they do all the work, and i get the workout just by staying in the group! lol
a 50-80km ride at 30-35kph is what i call a win nowadays, so there’s that for perspective..
i’ve been accused of being too nostalgic, but i’m happy.
@wiscot
This morning before Stage 10, Froomey did say he changed bikes on the Cat because his shifter wasn’t shifting. But he also said he had to take a slash… oh, and he also said there was a “stone” in his brake pad, and he also said… Who knows. In my opinion he was a little too calm and diplomatic about the Aru question. I think it betrays his bluff.
@BacklashJack
Agreed. Aru should have said “fuck you guys, I’m going, and if Froomey is gonna be mad at anyone it should be his mechanic, not me.” It would have been stupid because he would have been caught,* but at least it would have shown he has a pair.
Then after he’s caught, Froomey could ask Aru “hey bud, how do you say what goes around, comes around in Italian?”
*and I claim caught by a group including Martin and Porte, because the group would have been more strung out for the chase and they wouldn’t have crashed.
@Buck Rogers
I think @teocalli is saying Nairo also went along with Aru when Froome changed bikes. He was definitely OK with attacking at that point. Ironic, given how the stage turned out for him.
@Pali65
They loved it! Thanks for your witty wisdom, cheers mate!
@litvi
I think Teocalli was saying that Quintana fiddled with his computer when changing bikes. But I think Quintana also went along with Aru’s attacks. Hmm. Movistar and Bahrain-Merida attacking when the race leader is having a non-racing problem…sounds familiar.
@RobSandy
Yes – I was referring to sorting out his computer before chasing back on. Quintana had stuffed it up his jersey so the first thing he did when he got going was to fish it out and fix it on the bar mount then sync it up.
A sign of the times I guess.
@Teocalli
Computers, “syncing it up”, powermeters, wattage. What is this madness? Can’t we just have a bloody bike race where you race how you feel? Bernard Hinault said (and I may paraphrase here) “As long as I breathe, I attack.” He certainly didn’t say, I’ll attack within the perameters dictated to me by my carefully calibrated powermeter.”
@wiscot
I think it was Boardman on the ITV highlights the other night who described how track riders are allowed to fit a bike computer somewhere on their bike to capture data, but aren’t allowed to look at it during the race, and went on to suggest the same thing is brought in for road racing. Might liven things up.
Oh, and no race radios either.
And you kids, get the fuck off my lawn.
Breakaway caught, Kittel wins……yawn.
Am I the only one that thinks Quickstep and Sky must be laughing their asses off as everyone else chases?
Aru and Quintana fast running out of supporting team for the mountains. Cataldo out for Astana today in the feed station crash.
@Rick
Yeah, it would have been fun for all the other sprinter teams to sit back and say to EQS, you want the stage win? You chase Bodnar down. We’ll just roll along here.
Nice to see Danny Martin in some all yellow shoes instead of the yellow and black things he was wearing, so at least there was one positive to the day!
Would Sagan and Cav been good enough to beat Kittel? I doubt it.
@wiscot
Kittel is obviously the fastest individual on the planet right now, but it doesn’t mean Cav and Sagan wouldn’t have beaten him. Everything changes with them in – the lead out trains, the composition of those trains, the intermediate sprints, especially for Sagan when it’s a bit lumpy.
Exciting times ahead for sprint fans I think, with Gaviria, Kittel, Ewan, and other fast younguns with still years to peak. It’s a pity Viviani didn’t get a ride here.
Sagan won one stage after all… The question is if his “second places” would be enough for green jersey with the points from stages where Kittel would stay behind due mountains which wouldn’t deter Sagan from fighting for the win.
@stooge
Kittel could have a tour for the ages… 6,7, even 8 stages ??? And 2017 will still possibly be remembered not for his performance but instead remembered as Le Tour that Sagan was wrongly bounced from.
@RobSandy
That’s ridiculous. How can they control their secret motors without “bike computers”?
@Harminator
Ha! For the win!
@Harminator
Oh come on! Everyone knows Froome’s bike motor is controlled by Sir Dave Brailsford in the team car. It’s a wee black box with a dial on it with power markings that go up to 11. When Aru attacked, Davy-boy was changing the batteries. Those AA alkaline ones don’t last more than a stage or two.
@Pali65
Yes. We’ll never know, of course, but you can add to his second places a bunch of points he probably would have went for and picked up outside of final sprints. Next year…
@Randy
Quite a prospect, isn’t it. He might go close to the record.The high number of pure sprinter’s finishes has certainly helped. Still, so very clearly the fastest. As you say, anything less than total dominance by the green jersey winner will have been remembered as ”… won the green the year Sagan was DQd”. Surely six plus wins would do much to counter that.
I didn’t realise he’s 29 years old. At a guess, I’d had said he was younger than Viviani, who I know is 28 only because he shares a birthday with a friend. Must be that baby face..
@stooge
Would Sagan beat Kittel in a pure drag race? I don’t think so. And the Slovak would have to rack up a shit load of points in the minor placings and intermediates to counter Kittel’s wins. Then add into the mix that Kittel would know Sagan was going for the intermediates and I think we’d have had a battle royale. I’d like to see Kittel win 7 or 8. My only beef is that I wish they’d declared a tie with Eddy BH.
Steve Cummings for the win today. Go Steve!
GO BIG STEVIE! GO!
@wiscot
Hope he has the right Bike Computer fixed……………
@Teocalli
I bet he’s not looking at it. SteVe rides on pure unrefined V.
What a guy.
@RobSandy
Ref #485……….above………
@Teocalli
Yeah, I got that reference. Tres hilare.
Just caught up in a bit of Cummings love.
Err, that sounds gross.
@wiscot
I don’t think anyone said Sagan would beat Kittel in a pure sprint, did they?The sprint final points as they are, you’re right – Sagan would have to have a sit load of minor placings and intermediates to equal Kittel or better him. He’d already won a stage, though. And there are stages coming up in which Sagan would have a better chance of winning the final and the intermediate than Kittel would. Also, I stand by my main point – with Sagan and Cav still in the race (Demare, too), it’s altogether different – the trains, the composition, basically the sprint as a whole.
You say Sagan would need a shitload of minor placings and intermediates to counter the wins, yet that if Kittel wa aware of this that we’d have a battle royal. It’s all a bit inconsistent…
In any case, it is backward speculation, which is a worse kind of speculation than forward, both being not particularly constructive.
Good god, Landa might as well be reading a book, looks so damn calm and relaxed.
And damn, that Aru jersey looks slick!
Well the last 2 minutes were exciting. Not too different from a sprint stage in that regard. But good on Aru for lighting it up, and Bardet, Uran and Martin to pile on. Froome may well take it, but will he win a stage?
Dang I’m working on site all this week till tonight and only got the ticker feed but I thought Froome was 18 secs up on Aru yesterday so 7 secs down today with 4 bonus secs for Aru ……. what did I miss for Aru to be 6 secs clear in Yellow…………..