And it is done. Boo hoo for SURE! Now what am I going to do with all that time?
Here are some of my final thoughts...I'm sure I'll have plenty more in the coming days. Rae, thanks for mentioning that Uran used to ride w/ Sky...wow...I completely forgot! Just another one of those REALLY talented guys who FINALLY went off on his own. They still have at least 4 guys who could be contenders, likely more. Only know of them losing Landa for next year...tho it wouldn't bother me a BIT to have them lose a few more and bring Sky down from the rafters and bit closer to the other teams (that don't have Yankees budget). Froome even WITH the super team this year wasn't unbeatable, he looked quite human for a change! And look how close it was! 29 seconds for TWO guys at the end of Stage 19? And just imagine if Porte hadn't crashed out (and taken out Martin), WOW...in some alternate universe maybe one of those guys won it this year!
But alas, it is what it is and Froome has #4. As to the green jersey and the final sprint today, missing the sprinters Cav, Sagan and Kittel really changed THAT game. Anybody think Mathews would have won those sprints earlier and taken the Green Jersey otherwise? Not so sure the lotto guy (can't even remember his name and I'm feeling too lazy to look it up) would have won today. But hey...they aren't here and his name is forever etched into the record books as winning THE BIGGEST stage of all. Can't take it away from him (well, they CAN if he gives them a reason...they took away a few WINS from other people, some they didn't give to ANYBODY cuz there's like nobody to give them to).
As to the mountains, it was nice to See Barguil in the Polka dots...he really earned that jersey! And winning on Bastille day was HUGE! And then the white jersey to Simon Yates...won by his TWIN brother Adam LAST year? Whoa....that's just CRAZY! I don't have anything to add to that...what are the odds?
And then we have all the crashes. Starting with Stage 1...Valverde. Does anybody else think that Froome MIGHT NOT have won if he was in the race and healthy? He was having a SPECTACULAR year...and w/ Quintana NOT having a great race starting from Stage ONE (pre-tired from the Giro?), obviously V would have been THE MAN to support pretty much from the get-go (he's certainly a better TT'er than Q). Having him AND Porte in the race all the way to Paris? With a HEALTHY Dan Martin? And THEN add in Uran and Bardet?? Oh man, THAT would have been the dream race. All those guys taking turns attacking Sky...I don't think even this super-team could have handled that. NEXT YEAR for SURE!!!!!
OK...I'm tired (gee Matt...why? Oh...you've been staying up LATE watching Tour stages for the last three weeks maybe?) It's time for bed...4am comes EARLY. I can now get my sleep caught up, AND get back to bike riding again....by the end of the Tour ever year I'm always at my worst form for pretty much the entire year...and all my hard/long spring rides and the form I HAD in late April is wiped out from May, June, July's very limited saddle time. So the comeback is on (again). Every year I say to myself "self, let's NOT lose our form this summer...we've worked SO HARD to get it"...and then one excuse after another and suddenly I SUCK in July. But it was fun watching the Tour as always.
OK...NOW I'm off to bed. Goodnight all.
Viva le Tour!
Cheers!
Howdy, sorry I've been absent! Work & then some sickness wiped me out. Anyhoo, the Swimming World Championships DID help with my PTD! And I'm LOVING the Olympic Channel! Do you get that, Matt? Tonight starts the Track & Field World Championships & that lasts a week. Unfortunately, there will then be 3 weeks (or so) before college football starts & honestly, my interest in that has started to wane. I'm so angry & disgusted with the NFL that it finally started to affect the way I feel about the college game too. Well, with the Olympic Channel, maybe I'll be able to keep seeing some of the sports I love!
ReplyDeleteOk, back to the Tour. It will be interesting to see what I remember next year as without many MT-TOP finishes, I doubt I'll remember much more than Sagangate, that Cav broke his shoulderblade & had to abandon, that Richie Porte had that HORRENDOUS spin-across-the-road-SLAM-into-the-rock-face crash which also affected Dan Martin, that Froome was vulnerable but his SUPERTEAM saved the day (more than once, actually) & that the times were VERY close till the final Saturday's TT. I read that some didn't like that Uran didn't attack much, well, look what happened to Bardet & Dan Martin in the TT - they had NOTHING LEFT! Looks like Uran was the smartypants! :)
I agree with pretty much everything you wrote, Matt. Next year COULD be very competitive but it depends on the route & most of all, who is healthy & injury-free at the start AND ALL THE WAY THROUGH! I'm not thrilled they are cutting the teams down to 8 riders each. I think they SHOULD just limit the teams to 20. Of course, then ASO couldn't throw their weight around (& possibly accept bribes to allow 'certain' wildcard teams into the race).
Did ya'll listen to Lance's podcasts? I listened to most but still haven't heard the last 3. I enjoyed them very much but don't understand what he has against Jensie!
Ooh, speaking of the Olympic Channel, I think they will broadcast the Vuelta every day! Gosh, it's been at least 5-7 years I think since I was able to see daily coverage of that race. And Froome & Bardet will have another go. Plus, possibly Contador. I assume Tejay will be there too but don't know for sure. Not quite sue they the TDF winner wants to ride another Grand Tour right after, but hey, I'll watch! :)
Er, that's "not quite sure WHY the TDF winner wants to ride another GT..." Geeze, my typing!
DeleteOnce more thing - did any of you read what the heck was the reason Talansky was basically a ghost in the Tour? VERY disappointed unless there was some physical injury that was not disclosed.
ReplyDeleteAnd Vaughters just kills me - he pretends like it was PLANNED that Uran was a podium contender! I know Uran podiumed in the other GTs several years ago but I do NOT believe for one second that Cannondale started this TDF with the idea of riding for Uran. It was a shocking but VERY welcomed development for both Uran & the team & I'm very happy for all but for Vaughters to pretend that any of that was expected let alone planned is just horseshit.
Well, hope ya'll are having great summers & have just been too busy to chat for NOW but will soon come back to tell us all about your adventures! :) :)
Matt - please tell me you did see the GEICO commercial "The Running of the BullDOGS'? I think of Sophie every time & it makes me laugh. :)
One more thing - I was very impressed with Landa & felt so sorry that he missed the podium by one second UNTIL I read his bitching & moaning after it was all over. For god's sake, he was PAID to support Froome in that race! Unless Froome crashed out or couldn't compete for the win, that was his JOB! For him to whine like that made my admiration of him completely vanish.
Alrighty, gotta get going. Have a great weekend, everyone! And have fun on the bike, Matt! :)