And suddenly, we are in the final third of this years Tour! And as always, I'm always stunned that it got here SO FAST!
Anyway, Stage 14...more WOW! Alaphilipe was fantastic! Stayed with the lead group all the way, and even after GT was DROPPED! Bernal hung in there and was better, but GC lost MORE TIME! I had goose bumps! Watching the other GC hopefuls drop off 1 by 1...I was really hoping Rigo would hang and even gain some time back, but even he dropped.
And if there was any more surprise, it was Team Jumbo! They were still there with 2 guys when Ineos was down to just Bernal and GT! I think the era of the Superteam is over....things are a LOT more even now...other teams staying with them, and that they are BEHIND blows my mind...in a GOOD way!
My other takeway is that I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to ride the Col du Tourmalet one day while I am still young enough to enjoy it. That climb looks fantastic! It's very similar in length and altitude gained to our own Figueroa Mt that I ride a few times a year...it's a 40 mile loop from where I park...one way it's 7 miles to the base of the climb, then a 10 mile climb with about 4000' of climbing, 10 miles down the other side, and then 14 miles back to my car where I refill my water bottles and get food, and then take off again going the opposite direction and do the entire loop a 2nd time, netting me 80 miles and just under 10,000' of climbing. This is the mountain that many teams come to our area every January to train on, as it's very similar to the big climbs of le Tour (Lance and US Postal/Discovery came here every year during his heyday, and they stayed in Solvang and trained on our local Santa Ynez valley roads including Fig Mt. I may not be fast but I can ride all day, and it's kind of funny that I dont' know anybody who wants to ride the double Fig loop with me. That's my kind of ride...a grinding hour and a half climb, twice (it's rated HC and there's only one other one in this entire area rated that, and it's out of Santa Barbara....Gibraltar Rd...which is also a great climb!)
OK. I need to get some sleep...did a road ride today with my local bike shop group, and hope to take the Mt bike out tomorrow and do a few laps on our local little hill....I REALLY need to get some saddle time in as I'm in just about my worst fitness of the year right now.
Tour ON!
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Stage 14 didn't disappoint...a real fight in the Pyrenees with the finish on top of the Tourmalet as the prize. Alaphilippe (FINALLY got his spelling right) didn't need to win, just to hold his time and make all the other hopefuls attack. Near the end he saw GT crack and put the hammer down, gaining time on the seemingly biggest threat.
ReplyDeleteThen we have Stage 15...last stage in the Pyrenees. Four ranked climbs, not quite as hard as 14 but with almost the same amount of climbing, sure to be a big day. As expected, Quick Step was unable to protect their star in Yellow very long once things got hot and heave, leaving him alone to defend. He did a pretty fantastic job too, only cracking in the last 2k, losing back about 30 seconds to GT, and a big more to Bernal (who I see as his #2 threat)...the big news being Pinot's attack and another Stage win, AND gaining time! Had he not been caught out on that crazy day in the crosswinds he would be solidly in 2nd place and a REAL threat and likely the favorite to win. Personally I think unless Ineos gets the cobwebs out of their legs, Pinot will be atop the podium in Paris. Either way (Pinot or Alaphilippe) the French have something to be really excited about, and it's a good thing for le Tour for sure!
The big disappointment this year once again (IMO) is Q. Once again his team put all their stock in him and once again he falters when things get big. I'd think old or not, Valverde every year seems to be their highest placed guy, and if everybody was working for HIM and protecting him all along he'd be even higher in the rankings. Considering that he's top 10 with everything we've been thru says a lot. But he IS pretty long in the tooth, and I just don't see him making podium with the crop of great riders that are always in le Tour.
So...rest day, HOORAY! Then into the Alps (though I think we have a flat stage on Tues before it gets ugly for 3 straight days).
All I can say is that IMO this has been the most entertaining and unpredictable Tour in a LONG time! And I'm LOVING IT! Love the commentary team that NBCS has put together (or more accurately, kept together). Bobke is doing great, as is Chris, but Bobke just doesn't yet have Paul Sherwins seemingly instant recall of all the sights of France...even though he was obviously reading it off a screen somewhere it made it sound like he KNEW it, and Bobke is more obviously reading it. Still I think Bobke was the obvious choice and is really doing great. Seriously, nobody can just step into Paul Sherwin's shoes. It's kind of neat that Bobke, Christian, Chris and last but certainly not least, Jensie on the commentary team...all veteran racers. Also Bobke seems to have naturally assumed the "correct Phil without calling him out or making him feel foolish" on all the things he gets wrong...I often thought that was one of Paul's strengths...and he did it so calmly that it was often hardly noticed. And Bobke and Phil have a good many laughs during their daily broadcasts, and one of Bobke's amazing strengths is his GREAT laugh! He is such a character, and that charisma really shines when things get light. Well done NBCSports!
OK...that's all I can think of at the moment, might chime in a few more times before the start of Stage 16 on Tuesday as things occur to me. Sheesh....I need to start taking notes during each stage!
I could barely refrain from blurting out about Ala-Panache's astounding TT last Friday!
ReplyDeleteAnd then this weekend! Whoo-hoo! The most upsetting thing is that NBC didn't show Primetime shows for either! The 2 most impactful days of this year's Tour! And Pinot, wow! This guy has CLAWED his way back into not just podium contention but for the win! He now sits 4th, a mere 15 seconds behind a shaky Geraint Thomas! And while 'Ala-panache' has been MIGHTY impressive, did you see him at the end of yesterday's stage? Just EXHAUSTED! I don't think he'll be in yellow by Saturday morning.
And you are so right, Matt - Team Deathstar (AKA Ineos) are the weakest they've been since 2014 & maybe ever at the Tour! Of course, Geraint could suddenly "find his legs" but I'm thinking it will be either Pinot or Kruijswik on the top step in Paris. Of course, one bad day for ANY of them, & bam, off the podium!
I do feel a bit guilty that I'm so ANTI- Ineos as I like Geraint very much, but I just want another team to win the Tour! And hopefully, one not massively doping (as I believe Nibali was in 2014).
I also agree with you assessment of Bobke & the guys. Bob may detest giving the 'castle & cow' updates but he is getting better at it & I actually LOVE hearing about it all. And I think the chemistry between Phil & Bobke is better than between CVV & Horner. Maybe the latter will gel better as they work together more.
About Quintana - I think his time at the top has been over for a while but we couldn't believe it. And that 'team' is a joke! Right now, they are all riding "every man for himself".
I'm hoping that one of these years, Matt, you go on one of those Tour trips where you bring your bike & they take you to various Stage locations & you can pre-ride the courses. You'd love that, don't you think?
Rae & Barbara - who do you think will win, based in what we've seen so far?
Question - is Andre Greipel still a sprinter? Or has he "transitioned" to a road lieutenant guy? I ask because I don't think he's even finished in the top 10 of any sprint stage this year! If he's there to "sprint", I'm assuming this will be the last time we see him at the Tour. Does anyone know of he's retiring from cycling?
ReplyDeleteAnd Kristoff isn't setting the sprint stages on fire in this year's TDF either. It must be so disheartening & demoralizing for sprinters when their legs just don't have it anymore. And it can happen so quickly! One year you still have "it" & the next, it's gone forever.
I've been thinking more about Alaphillipe. If he actually "wins" this Tour, something stinks. He did NOT train for the GC in this Tour & could it really be possible for such a rider to win the TDF unless EVERY other GC guy crashed out of the race? PLUS, how many stages has he put himself "in the red"? Multiple! Every GC guy saves energy every freakin day until a few selected moments. It's depressing but if Alaphillipe does not crack on at least one of the upcoming Alps stages & lose many minutes, I will assume he's doping with something. What do you all think?
I've been kind of wondering about Alaphilippe's performance for over a week now...sad that in this day and age when somebody performs well we are suspect. However he's been on fire all year, so it's hard to say. His ITT performance made me hugely suspect...THAT was very out of character...to WIN the TDF ITT? Against the best TT'ers in the world?? Something smells pretty fishy...and being has he doesn't have a GC team around him, I just don't see any way he will hold on thru the Alps Thurs, Fri and Sat. I'm rooting for Pinot to keep attacking and not crack...really hoping he can beat the Superteam.
ReplyDeleteAs to Griepel and Kristoff, no idea what to think...I guess it's that way...the new younger legs (aka Caleb Ewen) are always arriving, and the older sprinters just lose that kick at the end...I remember rooting hard for Robbie McEwen in his later years but he just wasn't able to deliver.
Stage 16 was kind of a snoozer, except seeing Fuglsang drop out...that was very sad. And GT's strange crash...what the heck was happening? Just shows...there is no ho-hum stage to GC guys...anything can happen at any moment.
And...did you all see that 2000 year old 3-level Aquaduct the Romans made? They not only showed it but rode across the lower level yesterday...I don't recall ever seeing that before...what amazing engineering that it's not only still standing but the entire race went over the river on the lower level (assume it was made for chariots). Pretty freaking incredible!
Who will win? I still think that G has the best chance, although I would be quite happy to see Pinot on the first step. Alaphillipe will likely implode tomorrow, he doesn't have a team (Mas should have been more help than he has been IMO). And, for all the talk from the riders and management about great morale, teamwork and so forth, Education First hasn't seemed able to support Rigo as much as he needed either.
ReplyDeleteI was really miffed when Wiggins jumped the Slipstream ship to move to Sky, especially when he was so tactless about it, but in retrospect I do get it -- he wanted, needed a team that could win the TdF. Slipstream got him to 4th (as they did for VandeVelde) but... and all these years later it is still but.... Rigo sounds like a great guy & I would like to see him AND the team win!
Suspicions? any thoughts about how fast the peloton overall is completing the stages? Phil & Bobke keep remarking on this, it seems most stages this past week.
THURSDAY SPOILER! -
ReplyDeleteSo, I haven't SEEN today's stage, but followed along the LIVE blog for the last mt & descent & I am NOT HAPPY! WTF?! Maybe certain guys couldn't 'go' but WHY did ALL the teams let a GC guy into the day's break who was only 9 minutes back?! And WHY would Pinot & Kruijswik let Bernal attack without chasing him down?! Are they just waiting for the final 2 mt stages as they do not end in a long descent? Yeah well, NOW they MUST attack probably on both stages to just get on the podium, let alone win the Tour.
If Deathstar wins this freakin race AGAIN, when they are not even close to being the Terminator Team of the past, sheeeeee-it! I'd rather see suspected doper Alaphillipe win!
Right now, I'm FURIOUS. Maybe when I see the TV coverage tonight, I'll understand or at least have more empathy.
And I agree with you Rae, about EF. Of course, they did lose Riggo's appointed mt helper Tejay before the mts really began. And Riggo was dropped a couple times in the Pyrenees & lost a chunk of time on one of them. I haven't yet seen how he did today. And as much as I've liked many of the riders on Slipstream/whatever-their-name-at-the-moment, I can NOT STAND Vaughters. Every single time I hear him talk, he makes me want to throw something at the TV. He OOZES arrogance & for what?!
Wow what a crazy Stage 18! I can't believe the GC teams let Q into the break, let-alone played the "I'm not gonna chase, YOU chase" as he built up a lead over 8 minutes at one point. I will say that IT'S ABOUT FREAKING TIME that Q had a good day in the TDF mountains! Sheesh...it's been since his first TDF that he's ridden like that from what I can remember...when he pulled away from the Yellow Jersey group it was with a vengeance...continued to gain time all the way to the top. Nice to see Superteam doesn't have the firepower from years past, as G and B were pretty alone. Then when B went and G stayed with JA, I was wondering if this was when B leaped over G...and he did (tho not by much). I was actually rooting for JA after he caught the GC group on the descent to continue pushing and gain MORE time on them...they must have been crapping themselves when he passed them! But he slowed and stopped taking so much risk, realized THEY need to gain time on HIM, not the other way around. Though I wouldn't mind to see more gap there. And finally, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH MOVISTAR? WHY did they give a free ride to the GC group, chasing their own guy (AGAIN)?? Q might be up another place or 2 in the GC had they not done that...is team mgmt ticked at him or something? I just don't get it. The top 5 guys are quite close now...pretty much anything can happen...a flat tire or any other mechanical would crush any one of them...let-alone a crash. Can Q do it again in the next 2 days, taking back even MORE time? Bernal is obviously stronger than GT...what does the team do now? No more TT's...2 more big mt stages and then into Paris...JA really needs to be crafty and really be careful w/ his effort...I was hoping Pinot would gap the Yellow group and gain some time on them, but not today.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, fun day of spectating, and we have TWO MORE! Oh...and I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to climb the Col du Galibier one day while I'm still able...what an amazing looking road that is! I have tomorrow off (HOORAY! and plan to go on a good long bike ride somewhere. It's time I got my 2019 comeback 2.0 rolling...I haven't done squat in coming up n 8 weeks. But it feels like this every year at the end of le Tour. And thankfully it's NOT 100F here! (though it's likely rather hot away from the coast, tho not that hot).
Ahhhh....Friday morning, tasty coffee, the day OFF (woo-HOO!) and le TOUR on the DVR! Life just doesn't get any better than this! Taking a pause (the race just started on my TV...the break hasn't formed yet). Just wanted to take a moment and ponder how wonderful days like this are...having it off means that I have literally all day/evening to watch the ENTIRE STAGE! I hate the compressed days as I have to FF thru so much of the race and miss all the commentary. Jeannie HATES that (hour after hour of Phil n Bobke, Paul, Christian, Chris, n Jens n Steve...they truly do such a wonderful job and I hate to miss any of it!) To think that I only have to up my DTV programming to the higher level for a month (normally don't have NBCSports)...well, it's a good deal. I COULD just do the NBCSports Gold internet thing, but we only have DSL at home, and the streaming is hit or miss as it's not that high of bandwidth...I LOVE having stage after stage available on the DVR, making every precious second at my fingertips to FF, rewind, pause...can't imagine NOT having a DVR! It would be like taking away my bikes (all of them)! Or my CAR! GASP! I could honestly live w/out my phone...I'm not yet surgically connected like most of the world seems to be. Anyway...Stage 19 awaits! The I'Isigard (sp?) looks like a real MONSTER! Over 9000', highest point on this years Tour...and that's saying a lot! I'm hoping for some real fireworks today...who will falter, who will dig deeper than they thought possible...will G work for B and light it up and drop JA? Any of the top 6 guys have a shot today...but will they TAKE IT, or play more of the "you do it" game? Today and tomorrow are IT...whoever REALLY wants to win has these 2 stages to show what they've got. After sleeping on it, I have to say I am very happy that Q finally killed it yesterday! And I truly hope he has more in that tank and can do it again. He's not really in contention unless he can..he's just to far back still. OK. I am heading out to refill my super-awesome coffee (have fresh Kona beans I brought back from Hawaii, grinding each batch just before I brew it)...mmmmmMMMM! Happy Friday everybody, it's GAME ON! Let the fireworks BEGIN!
ReplyDeleteI guess since you've already seen the stage & I just sneaked peaks at the Live Blog, you probably know more than I do but I can talk about today now! WARNING for anyone else - DON'T READ my comment until after you watch Friday's stage!
ReplyDeleteWell! Today ended in tears & not just for Pinot! The entire country of France must be crying over their croissants as BOTH of their guys will not be winning the Tour this year! At least I understand why Pinot didn't go with Bernal yesterday. Poor guy. And then, for the stage to be STOPPED, not on the last mountain but the top of the penultimate? I hope they warned all the teams at today's start that this was a possibility. And they should have known - I read a MONTH ago that mudslides were causing havoc in that area & surely they saw radar for today's weather?
As for that sorry excuse of a "team" Movistar , OMG they are PATHETIC! Here's what I think is happening - Quintana is leaving the team & Landa may be staying. They do NOT want a guy who could possibly win the Tour or at least be on the podium to be shown leaving their team. Bad look. Plus, it gets them no UCI points. I'm sure they'll say they "knew" Quintana only had that one stage in him & would falter on the remaining 2 Alp stages as it took too much out of him & Landa is overall stronger & their best chance for the podium, blah, blah, blah. Bullshit. I actually remembered on Sunday how much I dislike Landa - the way he just rode right past Quintana with no shoulder tap, no fist pump or NUTHIN?! He is ALL about himself. No way in hell would he ride for Quintana!
Anyhoo, it looks fairly certain that Team Deathstar will win the freakin Tour AGAIN! Honestly, I can't stand it! All those idiots that bitch that of course Lance & Postal were doping because look how they dominated the race for 7 years, well HELLLLL-OOOOO!
At least I'm enjoying the Swimming World Championships! Even if I am driving myself batty clicking back & forth between them at night. My girl Katie (Ledecky) got sick right when she got there & had to drop out of 2 events. I watched her swim in an 800 Free heat last night & she's still not herself. You know, athletes can train & do everything else "right", be the "best" but still be felled by sickness at the worst time & it's over. For a year, two or FOUR! Or even ever if that competition was to be your swan song. That Michael was able to stay healthy at all his Olympics & World Championships, contributed to his dominance.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, "Flybabe" (my nickname for Caeleb Dressel) is kicking ass! For the 2nd straight World Championships! He had a down year last year that had many of us wonder if he was a one-year fluke but NOPE! He's won 3 Golds & 1 Silver so far & just this morning in the 100 Fly Semis broke Michael's World Record. Less than 30 minutes later, he swam to the #1 seed of the 50 Free. Did I mention he's a sweetie & um, super hot? :) :) I'm even getting used to that "full sleeve" tattoo on his left arm that continues across half his collarbone in front & his upper back. Plus, he's only 22, which means he COULD swim in at least 2 more Olympics for Team USA, maybe 3! I'll never forget my boy & the one & only legend Michael (also from MD, as is Katie; must be something in our "water" :) ) but at least now I won't cry watching the swimming at Tokyo next year. :)
Have a great weekend everyone!
I was only able to see part of today's stage, although had it on in the background as I packed up and got ready to go OOT for a week. Will be in Cleveland for a family thing. I am sincerely hoping that my Vue DVR will allow me to see the finish of today's stage (What? What!!???) and tomorrow's after all the family "events".
ReplyDeleteAlthough I guess I found out just how much I know about who will win, who will implode and so forth!
UPDATE - they've changed & vastly shortened tomorrow's stage - now just 59K! Basically just a Time Trial! What a horrible ending to this Tour!
ReplyDeleteHoly catsickles! Stage 19, canceled at the top of the Col d L'Iserane...JA got robbed! He had taken back a big chunk of time, was almost up to GT...and they negated all that. I'd bet he was almost still in yellow as he was catching up to Bernal too. Granted they couldn't have gone past the snow/hail...but they could have stopped it at the village where they stopped the riders...keeping the insane descent they had done as part of the race. Also very sad for Pinot...no wonder he wasn't looking strong yesterday...rats. He was the world's best chance to beat Superteam. Hadn't heard yet about shortening tomorrows stage...that's sad as it was a monster too. Wow...just wow. Been a lot of madness this year...yellow jersey changing hands on Stage 19 for crying out loud! Can't get much more exciting than that. Still, crap. CRAP CRAP CRAP!
ReplyDeleteAnd Stage 20 is in the books. Rats. Again. The super-shortened stage is over. Poor JA...honestly, even tho I think he was robbed yesterday by not counting his descent, he was going to get killed today (and did)...and that was the shortened version. Had it been the long 'scheduled' route he would have been crushed. Down to 5th I think. Alas, he was never expected to be in yellow for more than a day or 2...so all in all he did pretty great. I think Pinot dropping out was the real hurt. The world had high hopes he could have catapulted onto the podium. I don't think anybody was going to beat Bernal head to head in the high mountains. Now the question is: will be be a 1-tour Wonder (like Q) or is this the start of the NEXT Superteam dynasty? Anyhoo...It's all over except for the crying (and the ceremonial ride into Paris tomorrow). This is always a sad time (the impending END of le Tour) however, I get my life back...my cycling comeback 2.0 can proceed without the distraction of wanting to watch a 5 hour stage EVERY NIGHT after work. The only real thing left is WHO will win tomorrow on the Champs? It's been a CRAZY Tour...maybe THIS will be the year a breakaway will succeed, stealing the glory from the sprinters.
ReplyDeleteSorry to be so absent, guys! TOTAL SPOILERS if you haven't seen up to 20.
ReplyDeleteCrazy week at work, but I managed to watch most of Le Tour.
My first comment now is, HOW THE HELL did Movistar win the team competition? Imma hafta check the math on that one.
Amazing footage of the snow plow trying to clear the road, and the mudslides. As I understand it, they couldn't stop Stage 19 at the bottom because there is no timing apparatus there. But I agree, Matt, Julian wouldn't have survived all the climbing in the originally planned 19-20 anyway. Bernal grew up climbing, he's the best at it right now. At the ripe old age of 22. And I couldn't help but cry seeing his emotion and his family and all the Columbians.
I LOVE that there were so many stage winners - I thought it was one of the best Tours in a long time. It's been so long since we didn't know the winner till the last few stages. I loved the day-to-day wondering how Alaphilippe would manage to keep yellow - and he found every way to do it. Glad they gave him the Most Aggressive. Anyone who doesn't understand how the Tour works would think Bernal came out of nowhere to win, but he was up there all along.
Wonder what I'll do this week?
Hey Barbara...agree completely...this was the most entertaining Tour that I can remember! And I can't help but be happy for Bernal, even if he is with the Yankees of cycling (highest budget by FAR). Gotta give GT huge credit...sure he was hoping to win, but he was the consummate teammate once it became apparent Bernal was their guy. And the first to congrat him when the crossed the line on the Champs. I have to admit, I kept wondering what would happen if Bernal would have flatted say on the last lap...the clock IS running...the last lap is at a FURIOUS pace set by the sprinters teams...even if a teammate gave him a bike he'd NEVER be back in the peleton...but I guess he had enough time that he'd survive...but what if he CRASHED? (sorry, but I think like this when I ride too...maybe it's why I descend like Grandma). If there was one of those crashes up near the front and he went down...I wonder if it's ever happened in the history of le Tour...that would be a good question for Bobke and Phil to research.
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo...I'm sad that it's over as always, but also I'm glad that it's over. I get my LIFE back! (things to do, people to see, stuff like that). Taking the Mt bike in tomorrow...really need start putting some hours in the saddle...2019 comeback 2.0 is in it's infancy...I have a LOT of work to do to get back where I WAS. I don't know how the Pro's do it year after year...but I guess they're a lot younger...I do know the older I get the harder it is to get back where I was. I assume they all ride a lot even in their pretty short off-season...but still...to come back to world-class form over and over again? They really have to love it, cuz it's HARD WORK!
OK...I'm off to bed...viva le Tour!
Hey everyone, hope you're having a nice final month of summer. The Vuelta starts tomorrow & once again, the Olympic Channel is showing some LIVE daily coverage & a repeat at night. I think the shows are only the final 2 hours of each stage & the commentators are not actually THERE (I'm assuming either Bobke, CVV, Phil or some duo of the two, I'll let you all know Monday) but its better than nuthin! A few days ago, one of the favorites (Carapaz, who won the Giro this year) crashed during training & is OUT! But Tejay & Quintana will be there & I'm crossing my fingers Tejay can have some a good result.
ReplyDeleteEarlier today, I saw the surprising news that Marcel Kittel is RETIRING from cycling; just doesn't want to put in the effort/make the sacrifices anymore to be a world-class athlete. His right to do other things & he is over 30 now so his sprinter days may have been numbered anyway, but wow, I guess I thought he'd get his head together & make a go of it again.
Sorry that I vanished at the end of the Tour, but honestly, I felt COMPLETELY different about how this year's race transpired over the final 4 days & was furious, disgusted, & depressed BEFORE we even got to Paris. I feel the race format was a TRICK & that the mt stages, especially in the Alps were failures, not even counting the travesty of the stage that was stopped & the next day where that stage was curtailed to the length of a Time Trial. Yes, the ASO has no control over the weather but it was known WEEKS/MONTHS before the Tour even began that there was trouble in that area. They should have had a back-up plan.
Anyhoo, the Columbian kid seems humble & talented & I was happy for his country but do you REALLY want to watch the Tour for the next 10 YEARS with the same guy & same team dominating? I just don't. The UCI & ASO, along with the teams, riders, & owners are DESTROYING this sport by allowing the mega-buck teams to dominate. The entire sport should be demolished & rebuilt. TV money needs to be SHARED among the teams. And there should be a cap on spending for all teams so one or two teams don't dominate year after year, race after race. Why other cycling fans are not having fits, I don't know. When US Postal won with ONE guy over 7 years, there were constant complainers. Now we have ONE team with FOUR different riders winning the biggest race over 10 YEARS & NO SIGNS of that dominance not continuing.
The last few weeks I've debated about finally giving up my annual July obsession & then I got all teary, remembering how much I used to love it & still do love parts. But watching a sport destroy itself so a FEW European powers continue to control everything is chipping away at my 35 year fandom.
Anyhoo, hope everyone is well. Rae, hope you had a GREAT birthday & did some fun things. You'll have to let us know.
I'll check in next week with some Vuelta updates. I don't know if I'll be able to watch every night, but I did print out the days that looked impactful.
Have a great weekend, everyone! :)
I'm back with a weekend Vuelta update! The Race started Saturday with what I like to call, a "TTTT: (yes, that's 4 Ts) : a Tiny Team Time Trial. :) It was only 13k long, barely enough for all the fellas to have a go at the front. Anyhoo, the Vuelta started in the southeast part of Spain, right along the Mediterrean Sea, in a salt mining location. In fact, there were these HUGE WHITE MOUNDS of salt on either side of the riders as they lined up & it looked like a winter scene in the Alps! Very unusual & quite picturesque. Team EF had the best time for most of the day but were eventually bettered by 3 other teams, with Astana winning the day. Ineos only finished 11th but since the course was so short, it was only about 20-25 seconds back. The biggest shock was the 1st 5 of Jumbo's guys all CRASHED in a turn; it looked wet right there & I guess that's what led to it. Apparently, another team did the exact same thing & all but one of their guys hit the deck (we didn't see that footage until Sunday). Jumbo is considered one of the heavy faves for the GC as they have Roglic & he wants to WIN. Bad start - losing 40 seconds!
ReplyDeleteSunday was even a bigger shock, at least to me, as I thought it would be either a sprint stage or breakaway & thus, I didn't watch closely (I clicked back & forth to Animal Planet, watching one of the zoo shows) till it was too late! I missed the "big move"! It seems some of the GC guys decided to attack & got away & that group split even more so that Quintana ended up winning the stage out of about 5-6 guys! Riggo was in that final bunch & is now 3rd overall. Darn, can't believe it turned into a GC battle & I missed most of it! The Astana guy that had been in red after the TTTT, didn't make the move so lost the red jersey to Nicholas Roche.
Almost forgot - Phil & Bobke are the commentators. We don't see them but hear them. I believe most race days will be LIVE coverage between 10am-12noon Eastern time on Olympic Channel & then a rebroadcast at night. There are 8 summit finishes & fingers crossed, NO torrential rain storms leading to flooding of roads & cutting of stages! I noticed that most of the stages are kinda on the short side already (few if any over 190k).
I've only been able to watch daily coverage of the Vuelta about 3 previous years, I think. A few other years, I saw taped & highly condensed coverage weeks AFTER it was all over on what is now NBCSN. So, this race is still "new" to me. The landscape is SOOOO different, at least till we get into the Pyrenees. On Sunday's stage, there were palm trees everywhere, all along the roads & in the towns.
I think today's stage ended in a sprint. I don't know if I'll be able to get here everyday to update, but I'll try to get here at least a couple days a week. Hasta la vista! :) :)
Hey Susie, glad you checked in...I typed up a big reply the other day and lost it on my stupid work computer...meant to redo it at home that night and was busy right till my head hit the pillow (back yard-hill sprinkler system...I FINALLY FINISHED IT...HOORAY!!) Anyway...sorry you were less than delighted at this years tour...sure there were problems, and in that final week the shortened stages were pathetic...but you mentioned it, I don't think they were ready...caught w/ their pants down and had to make a tough call. Certainly wans't fair to everybody...such is life. Anyway, at least a new guy won (that he is on Superteam, well...I can't fix that so wasting energy fretting about it is wasted). I thought this year Superteam was less than super...lots of crazy stuff due to them NOT being crazy...made it exciting for a change. anyhoo...on to the Vuelta...thanks for the update! What a crazy Stage 2 for sure! So Q is looking better than he did in the Tour...nice! (better late than never). I wish I had the TV coverage...crazy that P&B aren't even AT the race but still commentating it...but hey, in this day and age it's the way of things...much cheaper, and in the big scheme of things it's still no different where they sit and watch monitors and commentate.
ReplyDeleteOK...gotta scoot...hopefully THIS one makes it!
VUELTA UPDATE!
ReplyDeleteMonday's & Tuesday's stages both ended in sprints. I only watched a little of Monday's & I PLANNED to watch all of last night's (Tues) but fell asleep on the couch a little after 9:30 & didn't wake till midnight. Darn it! :)
Today (Wed) was the 1st of the summit finishes. It didn't look like an actual "mountain stage" going by the profile, but the final 11k were all uphill & of that, the final 7 were between 8-12% with one section at 16% (ouch!). Hence, there was some shuffling in the GC. I wasn't able to click over to the LIVE Blog until about 10 minutes to go & quickly skimmed what had gone before - it seems there was an all-day breakaway for 3 guys, who actually made it to the finish about 47 seconds ahead of the 1st GC guy - Lopez of Astana, the guy who HAD been in the red jersey after Stage 1 & is now back in it. Once again, Movistar "races" to a "plan" ALL THEIR OWN as Valverde ATTACKED on the climb & dropped Quintana, who HAD been sitting 2nd overall, a mere 2 seconds back. Valverde & Roglic ended up 5th & 6th on the day, finishing together, roughly 20 seconds behind Lopez. Riggo had been dropped on the climb too & finished over a minute and a half behind Lopez & over 30 seconds behind Quintana.
The GC after today's stage : Lopez, Roglic (14 seconds back), Quintana (23 back), Valverde (28 back), Roche, & then Riggo at 59 seconds back. Roglic has clawed back some of that 40 seconds his team lost in the TTTT so I'm thinking HE & Lopez are the guys to beat. Of course, once they get into the real mountains, we'll see.
It seems Tejay is there only as Riggo's helper & MAYBE some stage hunting if Riggo is mostly out of the GC later on.
I'm not sure if Quintana is going for the overall win or just stages. But with a "teammate" like Valverde, how can he 'lose'...? ;) ;)
Oh, oh, I saw video of a team car from Saturday's TTTT that completely misjudged a turn on the course & CRASHED into the corner of a building! I'm not sure if it was during the race or before, during team practice but they were following their guys & the guys on the bike were successful on the turn but NOT the car! Goodness, I don't think I've EVER seen that before in a GT! And yes, that car's front was smashed in & smoke was coming out. They "killed" the car!
I have to confess that I don't know MANY of the riders in this race. It seems the majority did not race in the TDF. But there are 9 Americans, whoo-hoo!
I'm looking forward to WATCHING today's stage tonight & HOPE I don't nod off again, especially at the end, as that's where all the action happened!
Question for you, Matt - did you ever watch the TV series JAG? I loved that show & was always amazed at the access they got with the Navy. If you did watch, was any of it realistic? Not the daring-do of (Commander) Harm, but the military stuff & how the legal system worked. I'm asking now as I'm watching repeats these days on a channel I found right before the Tour started (& had to delay until after & then also after the Swimming World Championships). I hadn't seen JAG repeats in over a decade & it's been fun watching the episodes all over again. :)
Well, must get going. I'll check back in at least once more this week. Hasta la vista! :)
Hey Susie, keep the updates coming! As to JAG, I've only ever watched a few episodes (I know my dad loves it and watches it all the time)...from what I saw it's pretty realistic...tho I was never involved in the legal JAG side...(never was in trouble...er, never got caught I mean..GRIN!) But the stuff dealing w/ the regular sailors and Marines seems pretty well done...they obviously have military advisors keeping the details right (whenever I see somebody in uniform I'm checking out their ribbons...all medals/ribbons are in a hierarchy...the CMH (Congressional Medal of Honor) is the highest award there is, then there's the Navy/Air Force/Army Cross, and then all the lower medals...Silver Star, Bronze Star, and a ton of group and individual awards...the PUC (Presidential Unit Citation), MUC (Meritorious Unit Citation), Good Conduct, gosh...literally another few dozen between the services. I just like to see they have them right (I'm sure you've seen the Tom Cruise movie "A Few Good Men" where he's a lawyer defending the 2 marines and Jack Nicholson is the Commander of the forces in Cuba...in that one scene where he gets all riled up and the marines have to grab him, his enormous stack of ribbons is all bent up when they finally let him go...that's a cool scene. Tho I doubt very much in real life that being a Navy lawyer is so exciting...probably not too many Navy fighter-pilots working in the JAG office.
DeleteWhat can I say...I'm a details junkie or something. I think it's a sickness...
VUELTA UPDATE!
ReplyDeleteWell, 1st I need to add more info about yesterday's stage. When one can actually SEE a stage, you notice a lot more! ;) Alrighty, remember the 3 guys in the All-Day Break? Two of them were of the same team & the other was Jesus Herrada from Cofidis. The duo's team jerseys are ALL purple & I love that, partly because it's one of my fave colors & partly because it's UNIQUE in the peloton. My gawd, I'm SICK of white jerseys & yellow jerseys! In fact, I don't think jersey tops should be allowed to be more than 20% yellow! It makes looking for the Yellow Jersey too confusing! Anyhoo, the winner of the stage (one of the purple boys) was a guy named Madrazo. What I didn't realize is that he was DROPPED repeatedly by the other 2 breakers! Just couldn't keep up. BUT, he clawed back, time after time. Bobke & Phil could NOT believe it & it was so funny listening to them exclaim in disbelief when they saw Madrazo up there again & again. He was dropped yet again with about 5k to go & then, thanks to the horrific Spanish TV cameras/director, we don't see the leaders again until about 1k to go & who do we see, clawing back AGAIN? Then, with about 500-600 meters to go, Madrazo ATTACKS & drops the other guys like they were stuck in molasses! He couldn't believe he won, Phil & Bobke couldn't believe he won, his teammates couldn't believer he won & I'm guessing poor Herrada couldn't believe he won.
Which brings me to today (Thursday). GUESS who was in the break again? Herrada! And he had "something to prove" I'm guessing as HE won the stage! The LIVE blog was very confusing but I'm thinking Astana & Jumbo didn't care to stay (or get into) the Red jersey at this time & thus, let the break get many minutes ahead. So, there was a LARGE GC shuffle & the new race leader is Dylan Teus (1 of the breakers). Lopez & Roglic are back in 3rd & 4th. Some awful news today is that there was a BIG crash which took down a chunk of the peloton & Riggo & one of his teammates are OUT of the race! Damn! And so is Roche, who was the race leader for a couple days. Tejay had been one of the breakers but crashed late in the race. Luckily, he was able to continue & I HOPE he can start tomorrow! With Riggo out, I'm assuming he'll be able to go for stage wins, if able.
Yesterday's stage was in what I guess could be called "low mountains". The terrain is SO different that the mountains in France & Switzerland! Lots of dirt on all the surrounding land, dotted by a tree here & a tree there. If you squinted your eyes just so, it seemed like you were looking at cheetah skin. (I've been watching a lot of Animal Planet shows lately).
As mentioned above, the Spanish TV feed is ATROCIOUS! It makes the Tour's TV director look like friggin Scorcese! Constant jumping back & forth between various groups & just when you're finally realizing WHO you are looking at, the camera moves again! And of course, NO picture-in-picture! WHY NOT?! I just don't get it!
Guess that concludes my "report" of the day. :) Thanks, Matt for info about the medals. It's always interesting to hear from people who work in a certain field that is dramatized for TV - what is totally bogus & what is nail-on-the-head. If you ever do start watching the JAG repeats, you'll have to let me know more. :)
Hasta la vista! :)
Thanks for the "report of the day" Susie..."cheetah skin"...LMAO!! Seriously...I was chuckling pretty good on that one! Wow...so Riggo is out...damn, that man has had a hard year. I keep rooting for him but it's like he's been hexed. Maybe TJ can indeed step up and do something big...I keep hoping but he just hasn't been able to string it together lately.
ReplyDeleteanyhoo...Rae & Susie, have a great HOLIDAY WEEKEND! Tomorrow is my Friday to work...but NEXT Friday I have off...AND I still get a 3 day weekend this weekend, AND NEXT WEEKEND! (plus a 3-day week next week)...woo-HOO! Bike-ride CITY for the Mattster! (and I'm FINALLY done w/ my backyard/wall...well, mostly...I finished installing the new sprinkler system Tuesday evening...hooray! Now I just need todo a bit of re-shaping the hill (all sand) and then plant ground-cover and turn on the sprinklers and let it go. Next project is to do some concrete work on the back...there are a few spots of dirt where the original owners didn't brick it (most of the back and sides are cement and brick)...I want to get rid of ALL the dirt...just need to dig down (thro the sand on the hill) and lay about 2" of cement, leaving enough room for the deco bricks to go on top...THEN I will be DONE! Of course, this all will take me a while...hope to have it done before we get our rains.
Happy Labor Day Weekend!
VUELTA CORRECTION!
ReplyDeleteWell, MY face is as red as the leader's jersey! It seems the "J.Herrada" of the Cofidis team that won yesterday is NOT the same "J.Herrada" of Cofidis that was 1 of the 3-men breakers the day before! Nope, they are BROTHERS! Geesh! I had no idea until I was watching the coverage last night & Bobke & Phil said something like "oh, this Herrada will be able to do what his BROTHER could not do the day before". My head literally snapped around & I almost choked on my Diet Pepsi! Soooo sorry for the faulty information! I told ya'll I didn't know many/most of these riders. Anyhoo, one of them is "Jose" & the other is "Jesus". I THINK. ;)
Yesterday's TV coverage didn't even start until there was only 30k to go! There was NO coverage of the big crash that took out Riggo & Roche & various others. And then, it didn't go to whole 2 hours. The rebroadcast was over at 9:30. And the terrain looked even weirder (for a mt stage) than yesterday's! Lots of ROCKS & terraced-like barren land. Trees only in sporadic clumps. It LOOKS like they may be doing "clear-cutting" of trees in that area & that's why spots look so desolate.
I'll come back to update today's stage & hopefully, I'll do a better job of "reporting"! :)
No worries Susie, I have never heard of any of these guys either...(not that I would be an expert of any sort of the Pro Peleton). 95% of what I know about the teams comes from le Tour every year.
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo...LONG HOLIDAY WEEKEND, woo-HOO! Have a great weekend!
Holy smokes...just saw that Jumbo Visma signed Dumolin for next year! Wow...IF they can keep everybody healthy (and happy...not everybody can be the captain) they truly could challenge superteam! Certainly they will be one of the top teams with their roster! Hooray for JV!
ReplyDeleteVUELTA UPDATE for FRIDAY 8/30/19 :
ReplyDeleteToday's stage was 184k & roughly the 1st half was flat as a pancake (going by the profile). Then there was a Cat 3, then Cat 2, then Cat 3 mt, then a long descent, then a long Cat 2, a descent & then, the piece de resistance, a final 4k climb called "Mas de la Costa" that had inclines at the following % : 10,13,14,15,17,22 & 25 (not in that order on the road but OMG)!! My goodness, I hope the Spanish TV feed does a better job as it will be UNREAL to watch these guys go up that!
Anyhoo, a break stayed away until about a few kilometers right before that nightmare climb. At about 3k to go, 4 GC guys gunned it : Quintana, Valverde, Roglic & Lopez & I'm thinking already that barring any calamities, these will probably make up the final Vuelta podium. These 4 stayed away & Valverde & Roglic apparently crossed at the same time but Valverde was "1st" so won the stage. About 6 seconds back, Quintana & Lopez crossed together. The next closest guy was 42 seconds behind Valverde.
GC after Stage 7 : Lopez back in red once again ("Never gonna give you up, never gonna say goodbye...." ;) ) , followed by Roglic at 6 seconds back, Valverde (16 back), & Quintana (27 back). Then there's a LARGE gap of over a minute & a half before the 5th place guy : Majka.
Team EF is having a DREADFUL race as not only did they lose Riggo (collarbone & collapsed lung possibly) & another guy from 1 crash yesterday, but Tejay fractured his finger fromm the crash he'd be in & while he did start today, he eventually abandoned. Crap! Poor Tejay!
I'm enjoying this race so far but if it looks like Valverde will WIN it all, I will turn it OFF. He may be the greatest guy (I have no idea what he's like personally) but he has never admitted to his doping & that just ticks me off. Lance is considered to never have existed, going by the record books, even though 90% (OR more!) of the riders during his time used PEDs, etc while Valverde was caught at the SUPPOSED "end" of that era (HA!) & he's able to keep riding after a brief suspension, even "winning" the World Championship last year! How old is that guy, anyway?!
Matt, I am totally confused at Jumbo - HOW can you keep ALL those GC guys happy AND the sprinter Groenenwegan? It will be almost as crazy as Ineos (who will have 3, count 'em, THREE former Tour winners on the same TDF team next year if all get/stay healthy! Even if you 'split' the Grand Tours ("you take the Giro, you take the Vuelta, & you'll take the Tour"), it's not a fair split! The Tour is MILES ahead of the other two in terms of money, prestige, worldwide notice, etc. Heck, if they were all real BROTHERS, I'd still see problems.
ReplyDeleteWell, have a great holiday weekend too, Matt (& Rae & Barbara if you're out there). And congrats on all your 'yard' work, you always IMPRESS the heck out of me that you seem to be able to do EVERYTHING!
Almost forgot, cyclingnews chose TODAY to completely revamp their website yet again. AND the Live Blog! I think I will like the new format for the Live Blog but in the middle of my viewing, the order of the info FLIP-FLOPPED! I like the newest at the top & that's how it started. Then, all of a sudden, the screen vanished & it came back with the newest info at the bottom & you couldn't click on anything to make it switch back! Then, after 10 minutes or so, it switched back on its own! Also, for some reason the entire site doesn't look right in Explorer (our default browser) so I had to use Firefox instead. Hopefully, they'll get all the kinks out in the next couple days.
Hasta la vista, everyone! "See ya' Tuesday! :)
VUELTA UPDATE! (Better late then never! :) )
ReplyDeleteSaturday - Stage 8 : Consisted of a climb or two but the final third of the course was a descent & then FLAT. The rainy (boo!) stage was won by one of the guys in the 15-man (or so) break : Nikias Arndt of Sunweb. Nine and a half minutes later, the PELOTON finally crosses the Finish line, which meant we had another new race leader : Nicolas Edet of Cofidis (one of the day's breakers). Lopez is now 3rd, 3 minutes back, followed by Roglis, Valverde & Quintana, all within 28 seconds of Lopez.
Sunday - Stage 9, all in ANDORRA. Sky was overcast when TV coverage began, but got oh-so much worse as the day went on. The little-bitty 94k (!) stage consisted of two big mountains (each equivalent of "HC") in 1st half, then a descent, then an odd final 20k - a Cat 2 climb then flat (i.e no descent) then another Cat 2 climb then flat & finally the final "HC" climb. There was a BIG break early but all except one were caught before the final 20k. JUST when it started getting exciting, the RAIN & HAIL CAME & with it, WENT the TV coverage! Lopez had attacked with about 19k to go & no one was able to go with him. He'd gotten up to about a minute lead & that's when we lost ALL TV coverage of the race (except for the Finish Line) from between 13k to go to 5k. CRAP! When the TV coverage came back, Lopez was back in the GC bunch! What happened?! We finally found out AFTER the stage was over - he'd crashed on the anticipated "gravel section" which we got to see none of. We found out the NEXT day that Roglic had crashed in there too. A 20-year old kid named Podagar (henceforth named "Babyface" by me as without his helmet or sunglasses, he looks 10 years old!) won the stage. Quintana was 2nd (23 seconds back), then Roglic & Valverde another 25 seconds back. Overall, Quintana is now the leader! Roglic is 2nd, 6 seconds back, Lopez 3rd at 17 back, then Valverde at 20 seconds.
Oh, oh, some 'Movistar drama' in addition to Mother Nature! Marc Soler of Movistar was actually in the LEAD by himself (had been one of the breakers) & was riding strong. It looked like he could have won, but his TEAMMATE Quintana actually attacked the GC guys (which meant he "attacked" Soler too) & DRAGGED the eventual stage winner all the way to the line, passing Soler as Movistar had apparently told Soler he had to wait for Quintana. Soler was NONE TOO HAPPY & made numerous "gestures" while on the bike. I understand his frustration as it really looked like he could have won that stage, BUT the TEAM wants to win the entire race & Quintana or Valverde are their only guys for that. Still, it's not usual that you see a team 'attack' one of its own riders, who at the time, was quite far in the lead.
That's "THAN" never! I can spell, I just can't type. :) :) :)
DeleteMORE VUELTA UPDATES!
ReplyDeleteMonday was a rest day.
Tuesday - Stage 10 was a36k TT, all taking place in FRANCE. Roglic won the stage & put some major time into all the GC guys (Valverde 1:38 back, Lopez 2 minutes back & major disappointment Quintana was 3 MINUTES BACK. This is why I stopped having faith in Quintana ever winning the Tour - he just doesn't care to improve his time-trialing. Some good news for EF is that Lawson Craddock finished 4th.
So, after the TT, the NEW leader is Roglic, followed by Valverde at 1:52 back, then Lopez at 2:11, Quintana at 3 minutes & then Babyface at 3:05.
Wednesday Stage 11 - the kind of stage I usually HATE as the peloton & the GC guys don't give a "f" & let the break finish so far ahead, the moon is starting to appear before they saunter their asses over the line. (MAYBE a 'slight' exaggeration). Anyhoo, the winner of the stage was of course, from the 14-man break : Mikel Iturria (who?). Somewhere along the way, he attacked his fellow breakers & SOMEHOW stayed away the final 20k when there were about 4-6 of his fellow breakers mere SECONDS behind! With the peloton lagging behind like a pack of sullen teenagers, I would have clicked off this show, but watching Iturria try to stay away from his chasers had me on the edge of the sofa! He won by 6 seconds! The chasers would not cooperate with each other & doomed their chances. EIGHTEEN & a HALF MINUTES LATER, the peloton crossed the line. No change on GC.
Forgot to mention that Iturria is on a Basque team (Eusakadi) & they were riding in Basque "country" for the stage so it was a PREETEE BIG DAMN DAY for the winner & his team. :) :)
DeleteVUELTA UPDATES!
ReplyDeleteThursday, Stage 12 : Another day for the breakaway. Out of the 19-rider bunch was winner Philippe Gilbert. Luckily, the peloton ONLY finished a mere 3 minutes back this time! No change on GC.
Friday, Stage 13 : I can't wait to see the stage tonight! It was a mountainous day with 7, count 'em SEVEN climbs, the final one "Los Machucos" (which going by the profile must mean LEGBREAKER) had inclines between 10-25%! OUUCH! An even LARGER breakaway (29 guys) eventually formed but this time, didn't quite make it to the Finish line 1st. The Legbreaker was fairly short (about 7k, I think) & the GC guys had caught up with most of the breakers by then. Quintana tried an early attack on the climb, but he didn't have the legs today. Around 3k to go, race leader Roglic attacked & only Babyface was able to stay with him. BTW, both of these guys are from SLOVENIA! The two of them made it all the way to the line, with Babyface winning the stage. Valverde & Quintana finished 27 seconds back & poor Lopez had a bad day & finished another 34 seconds behind them (so, he lost a minute to Roglic).
GC after today's stage : Roglic, then Valverde at 2:25 back, then Babyface at 3:01 (he leapfrogged Lopez & Q), Lopez at 3:18, & Quintana now in 5th, 3:33 back. So, if Babyface doesn't have a bad day, it looks like he'll end up on the podium! Goodness, are Grand Tours becoming a playground for rookies? I guess time will tell see if this year is the 'New Normal' or an aberration.
Tomorrow doesn't look too impactful but SUNDAY looks like a make-or-break stage!
Hope everyone has a good weekend & I'll check back in Monday. Hasta la vista! :) :)
Hi all, I 've been watching the Vuelta everyday, either live or on DVR. I decided to spring an extra $5 to have the Olympic channel for this month to do so. I've been really enjoying the race -- I like seeing all the different stage winners, and the finishes have been pretty exciting even if I often am not always so familiar with the guys in the breakaway. Can't believe how Gilbert dominated the stage that he won, and how competitive Valverde remains. And so sad about EF's bad luck - they do seem to have a black cloud always over them -- but now they have had both Craddock and Higuita come through with good showings. Plus the other American riders, although in support roles, so lower in the standings, are acquitting themselves well, it seems.
ReplyDeleteLoving the crowds all along the roads in Basque country, too, so really glad to see some home boys do well!
About Valverde -- do you remember about the death of Xavier Tondo? He was a Spanish pro who had been cooperating with the authorities about a doping ring, and had been outspoken about doping, but was killed in a "freak accident" by his garage door - with I believe Valverde and another pro present. He trained with Valverde at the least. I have wondered if it wasn't so much an accident, as a hit, and a warning to the other Spanish pros including Valverde to not talk or rock the boat. That's my conspiracy theory.
I had a nice birthday, thanks both! Had an ice cream binge, played outside, and only cried a little about hitting 65 and signing up for Medicare (ouch! How is it possible?)