Cycling UK Forum

IIRC one of the GC contenders (Quintana I think...?) isn't anywhere near the same size as any of his team-mates. To allow him to use another bike in an emergency, those riders in his team that are anywhere near the same size as him have bikes that have QR seat pin binders.

At least the 'neutral service wheel' situation is (disc brakes asides) easier now than it was a few years ago; 11s systems are all close enough that they can be mixed and matched, if push comes to shove. By contrast 10s systems were a bit more different to one another.

In times past the last resort in stage races was to borrow a bike belonging to a spectator. I'm not sure this has happened in recent years though...?

cheers

I remember a desperate Greg Lemond begging spectators for a front wheel..." any wheel, otherwise I lose the Tour de France". He didn't get one, though - maybe they were all French .

can you cross the finishing line on a spectator's bike if needs be?

One thing that surprised me was that when Froome was having the problems which led to the wheel change and the long chase to get back on, we missed most of the lead up to it because of an ad break (ITV4) but when Ned mentioned that, he didn't know much about what had been happening for the same reason. Does that mean that commentators lose track of what's happening like we do, every few minutes?

Re riders using borrowed bikes, I've a memory of a photo of Shay Elliott desperately riding what was described as a postman's bike with his own over his shoulder. I believe the actual incident was in 1957, but the picture was republished a couple of years later so the caption writer assumed readers knew the story. I've a feeling he'd been in a winning position in a big race when he'd crashed. I've been unable to find the pic on the internet. Perhaps somebody with heaps of cycling mags from the 1950's and who reads them from time to time will have seen it. (Mirroir du Cyclisme or Coureur possibly )

One question.
Has Warren Barquil and George W Bush ever been seen in the same room together?

PS, sorry Warren

PPS,or Rigaberto Uran and Mick Jagger

I wonder if something will happen on tomorrow's stage, it would be ironic given all the commentary and punditry just seemed to keep glossing over it and assuming the time gaps at the end of today will be the time gaps going into the time trial on Saturday.

It's possible that after the TT, the first two or three places could be almost tied. The "unwritten rule" that the last day is an étape promenade might be tested.

If they need to race they'll race.

It's anyone's tour,the closest on record.
Think how the green jersey category has panned out.....
But if anyone deserves the polka dot jersey it's Barguil,very aggressive riding and beautiful to watch on the bike,poetry in motion......

We won't know how close it is till Sunday, of course. It will still have to go some to be closer than the 8 seconds margin in 1989.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Tour_de_France
With only one stage en ligne still to go before the TT, the organisers have come up trumps. Had the leader's margin been greater at this point in the race, the TT would simply have been a formality. I think today (Friday 21) is almost certain to be a two-races-in-one affair. All the GC riders will be conserving their strength for tomorrow and watching each other very closely, while a stack of riders with nothing left to ride for but a stage win will be down the road as soon as Christian Prudhomme gets out of their road, all aided by a general downhill from the Alps towards the Med.

Let's hope that there are no crashes: they've had too much influence on the race already.

thirdcrank wrote:We won't know how close it is till Sunday, of course. It will still have to go some to be closer than the 8 seconds margin in 1989.....

But that was at the finish in the TT,this TdeF has been close throughout with Aru,Dan Martin,Bardet,Uran and Porte until his crash,all looking threatening to Sky/Froome dominance.
IMO the most unfortunate rider still in the race is Dan Martin who was on top form until the crash and is only now coming back to something like a competitive.
When you think of the dream team Froome has around him he's still vulnerable,considering only Bardet has anything like real support the other GC contenders are doing a great job,literally on their own.
I also wonder what Mikael Landa could've done given the support Froome has,hey ho,you never know

Let's hope that there are no crashes: they've had too much influence on the race already.

I hope not,theres been too many riders in top places suffered as a result already.

Landa has been amazing, he looks like he's riding downhill when everyone else is struggling uphill. It does seem that Froome only gained time on the rest of the GC contenders in the time trial, looks like his attack was at the wrong time yesterday, it might have been better to go on the final climb. It looks like his plan was maybe get a bit of a gap before the short downhill section and then press on to the finish but Uran looked to find it quite easy to catch him on the downhill.

Landa, like Quintana, looks comfortable until the moment he blows. Others gurn and grimace even when they’re comfortable. These faces don’t mean much either way.

I think Froome’s plan was to get the gap and then press on with the help of Landa, whom he caught. But yes, Urán closed that gap quickly (in the process saving Bardet). Urán is obviously a top climber, but he’s also very handy on the flat or in a TT. I think he poses a significant threat to Froome tomorrow. A single mechanical could wreck Froome’s Tour. And as we’ve seen, mechanicals are common these days. (Armstrong has some thoughts on that in his Stage 17 commentary here.

Hi,

mig wrote:can you cross the finishing line on a spectator's bike if needs be?

Can you proceed to run either like froomey last year?
Without bike..............

Hi,

reohn2 wrote:It's anyone's tour,the closest on record.
Think how the green jersey category has panned out.....
But if anyone deserves the polka dot jersey it's Barguil,very aggressive riding and beautiful to watch on the bike,poetry in motion......

Stage 18, After Aru has been dropped to extinction, Bardet obstructs Froomey to the line, is then forced to overtake on the otherside but not quite making it
I hope Froomey swats the French on the TT or today and Landa gets podium after all his efforts............