Cycling 2021

[Aceon6]

Roglic has abandoned. As expected, van der Poel is out as well as he is focusing on the Os.

 

[Garden Kitty]

Today reminded me of the old HTC-Columbia days. What a lead out from the team.

Ventoux tomorrow should be fun.

 

[Belsornia]

I really enjoy how much Cav likes cycling. He's such a fanboy. (Also enjoying him winning too, of course!)

I don't think we can say that the GC's wrapped up because if this Tour's told us anything so far it's to expect the unexpected... But it's looking like quite a fight for the lower steps of the podium, possibly involving none of the usual suspects. And there could be a real competition between actual climbers for the polka dots, for once - here's hoping Quintana, Pouls and Woods keep it up. And then Cav v. Matthews/Colbrelli for the green. Or perhaps more realistically Cav v. the time cut. Anyway, the second half of the race could be as exciting as the first.

 

[Aceon6]

Waiting for Cav’s group to finish is agonizing. They are right at time and can’t afford to lose one second.

 

[kedrin]

Yes! Normally, I'm all about the mountains in the tour, but this year, it's the sprints, for obvious reasons. Although today's stage was beautiful!

 

[Garden Kitty]

Cav's wife posted a cute video on instagram of their youngest son mumbling in a sad voice about Daddy having to climb the mountain.

Amazing stage today. Wout's versatility to come second on a sprint and then win today is very impressive.

 

[Aceon6]

Holy cow! I have no idea how Morkov threaded through to bring Cav to the line. Brilliant riding.

 

[kedrin]

This tour has really given me an appreciation of the work done by a great lead-out train.

 

[Aceon6]

This tour has really given me an appreciation of the work done by a great lead-out train.

Ineos brings 4 GC leaders and has squat to show for it. DQS brings a unified team in the service of one GC and one sprint contender and they’ve got 5 stage wins. It’s great to be a fan when a team clearly is enjoying it.

 

[kedrin]

Yeah- the whole 'Let's have multiple team leaders' strategy doesn't seem to work very often.

 

[Garden Kitty]

The Wall Street Journal had a nice article about Cav and "the best story in sports right now". It's behind a pay wall, but there are some nice quotes:

A close-to-unbeatable tornado in his 20s, Cavendish fell apart as he entered his mid-30s. He endured bad luck, bad crashes, awkward fits with mediocre teams, and was flattened by successive bouts with the Epstein-Barr virus, which drained his energy and stripped his unshakable sprinter’s confidence. Depression reared from the darkness.

A once-swaggering phenom was humbled. The man they call “Cav” collected 30 Tour stage victories by 2016, and then, abruptly, he couldn’t win at all. He kept pushing on, turning the pedals, but it became difficult to watch. After a grueling race last fall, he tearfully told a reporter: “That’s perhaps the last race of my career.”

Cav’s joy has been—well—a joy. Late edition Cavendish brims with gratitude, to his teammates, to Deceuninck-Quick-Step boss Patrick Lefevere, to the entire sport, his family, and to his fans who never gave up. It seems he, too, can’t quite believe it. The Brash Missile has gone Warm and Fuzzy. A sport is swooning.

 

[Garden Kitty]

I liked the interview after the stage when they asked him how it felt to tie a legend and win 34 sages and he responded "It's tiring".

He looked so beat after today's stage, I worry about him in the mountains, but it's been an amazing story no matter what happens from here.

 

[Aceon6]

He looked so beat after today's stage, I worry about him in the mountains, but it's been an amazing story no matter what happens from here.

Tomorrow is the test. The last climb is pretty steep. I hope DQS can get him to the line a bit better than they did on Stage 11 (Mont Ventoux double). 6 minutes was one crash/mechanical too close. If they get to the rest day, he might make it to Les Champs.

eta, I hate frantically refreshing the live data after LeTour takes down the stage map. The grupetto came in with 20 minutes left on the time limit. No prob today. Nail biter tomorrow.

 

[Garden Kitty]

Merckx on Cav:

“I haven’t seen him in a long time, but in his first period with Quick-Step Mark Cavendish sometimes slept at my home, with some other riders, during the criteriums,” Merckx told Le Soir. “Mark was the only one who cleaned his room, and left it neat and tidy. A gentleman of exemplary politeness. We don’t really know the character of the man behind the image he presents, but what I get from him in the first place is simply his kindness. He is charming even.”

I just love the idea that Eddie lets a bunch of cyclists stay over at his house. Can you imagine a bunch of skaters going to Mid-Atlantics and camping out at Dick Button's apartment?

Glad for Bauke Mollema today. Trek had been livening up breakaways for a couple days, so it's nice to see them get a stage win.

 

[Aceon6]

Nice win for Sepp today. And DQS got Cav to the line with 10 minutes to spare. Win-Win!

 

[Garden Kitty]

Happy for Sepp today. The stages are more interesting to me this year than the overall GC which hasn't been too exciting (although the fight for the podium is).

 

[Skate Talker]

Does anyone by chance have a link where they will show a live stream?

 

[Aceon6]

Does anyone by chance have a link where they will show a live stream?

It’s on Peacock in the US. You can get a free trial and VPN in.
The Canadian rights are held by FloSports. They may have a freebie or low cost trial.

 

[Skate Talker]

It’s on Peacock in the US. You can get a free trial and VPN in.
The Canadian rights are held by FloSports. They may have a freebie or low cost trial.

Thank you for the reply. I was asking for an in-law and he investigated flo - said he had to subscribe for a full year for $180 or something like that. I am not VPN savvy but he was hoping not to have to go to those lengths and thought I might have some easier way since I stream so much figure skating from around the world, lol.

Nonetheless, thank you so much for the info. I will pass it along to him. If he is bothered enough he can figure out the VPN for himself. If he isn't bothered enough I'm not going to spend my time figuring it out for him. (I haven't even progressed to smart phone technology yet so he's already much more up to date on the tech of the day.)

 

[Aceon6]

@Skate Talker If he has $50 to spend, have him get a cheap tablet and use it to access the many less than legal streams. Dedicating a device saves a person from the hassle of viruses and malware. If the tablet gets infected, he can wipe it clean and start over.

 

[Skate Talker]

@Aceon6 Thanks! - I may try that trick myself. I received a gift card to Best Buy and had been planning to get something like that - just so I have a backup in case my laptop dies or needs repair again. Wasn't thinking of the advantages for streaming from maybe questionable sources.

 

[Garden Kitty]

This interview is actually after Cav's 31st stage win, but I hadn't seen it before - an interview with Mark Renshaw

My favorite part may be when he's asked about whether he misses the Tour, he pointed out that he saw the crash on stage 1 and normally he'd be lying at the bottom of the crash but instead he's lying on the couch watching.

 

[Garden Kitty]

Outside Magazine article about Lachlan Morton and his "Alt Tour"

He carried all his own gear, made all his own repairs, and prepared his own food. He camped en route. And in a twist that those who know Morton say is perfect for him, he did not just ride the 2,082 miles of the race’s 21-stage route. He rode the transfers between the stages too, which added roughly 1,300 more miles to his tally for a total of 3,424.

Morton had to do all of his own bike maintenance and repair, prepare his own food, and carry his own gear (almost 30 pounds of it, not including his Cannondale SuperSix race bike). He fixed his own flat tires—seven of them as of Sunday, when he answered a few questions for Outside—and when his last spare inner tube punctured, he used the repair kit from his sleeping pad to patch it until he could buy a replacement tube. He slept outside, on the ground.

 

[text_skate]

Great documentary from 2014 about Lachlan and his older brother Angus doing some ultra-distance cycling in Australia: From their home town Port Macquarie to Uluru. Funny, endearing.

Thereabouts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqoKsDBQCTY

 

[Belsornia]

Here we go again. Why does this always happen in Pau?

 

[Garden Kitty]

Sad to think it's the last two days. Even though the GC contest has been pretty dull, I've enjoyed the Tour and it's been wonderful to have it back as part of my summer routine.

 

[kedrin]

I've really enjoyed this tour, too. I almost forgot it was tour time, until my brother reminded me. But, as always, there is one aspect of the tour that grates on me. So rather than keeping it all bottled up inside, I've written a letter to address the issue.

Dear Tour-de-France Advertisers (US Edition):​

​

Every rockstar ever in the history of rockstars became a rockstar BECAUSE they chased the spotlight. Your catchphrase is the opposite of truth.​

How much money does it take to buy a smartphone so you can use an app to teach your children how to manage money?​

Thank you for letting me know that your coffee is alt-right coffee. I don’t drink coffee, but now I know that if I ever start drinking coffee not to drink your coffee.​

Nobody sane gets that excited about seeing an eagle through a pair of sunglasses.​

If the only thing between and death is a penflashlight that will break a window, it’s probably curtains for me.​

I don’t care how fat your candybar is. I care how fat your candybar makes me.​

Especially because my idea of fun has absolutely nothing to do with working out.​

Guys: we really don’t care what underwear you wear, as long as it’s clean.​

We also don’t care if you go bald. So relax. Just don’t drink alt-right coffee.​

Children who ask a million questions make me tired. Very tired.​

Even more tired than children who spend their entire lifespan jumping rope.​

​

Sincerely, can we just get back to the pretty French countryside?​

​

Thank you. I feel much better now. Carry on.

 

[Garden Kitty]

Andre Greipel announced his retirement from pro cycling after the 2021 season, although he said he wants to remain active in the sport somehow.

 

[Belsornia]

Michael Mørkøv was back racing at the Tour of Denmark today. Someone give that guy a holiday!

 

[Aceon6]

Michael Mørkøv was back racing at the Tour of Denmark today. Someone give that guy a holiday!

A lot of the big names are hitting La Vuelta that starts Saturday. I guess many feel they are in peak fitness.