Tour de France ITV4. Starts Saturday 29th

[rareposter]

Getting near the end today one of the commentators said - "they have eased off at the moment".
The onscreen speed meter was showing 51 kph. (30mph)
This was on the flat with about 20k to go.

Yep, that's pretty steady.
Normal pace on the run in for a sprint is up in the low / mid 60's kph.

The speed increase in recent years due to the understanding of aerodynamics has been incredible. You look back 10-15 years at riders on shallow wheels, flappy jerseys, open helmet vents, exposed cables; now everything is aero-optimised, riders have aero helmets and shoe covers, integrated everything, deep section wheels...

Current stage (5) on the run-in now, they're doing 70kph and the sprint trains aren't even fully formed yet.

[Bonefishblues]

I understand things just got rather exciting

[pjclinch]

That was rather special.

I had #35 as "possible, not probable", but that was absolutely textbook how to win a bunch sprint comfortably, happy to be proven thoroughly wrong.

[cycleruk]

Properly and expertly won !

[Norman H]

The TDF so far has exceded all my expectations; I can’t remember an opening week that was so entertaining. Yesterday’s gravel stage was a classic, never a dull moment.

[Jdsk]

How different are the bikes when there are gravel stages?

Thanks

Jonathan

[Pendodave]

How different are the bikes when there are gravel stages?

Thanks

Jonathan

I've not done detailed research (perish the thought), but I think they just do it in their standard road bike nowadays. Some of them use slightly wider tyres, at a slightly lower pressure, but they run wide tyres nowadays anyway, so some teams just keep their normal rubber :
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/products/ ... -de-france

The amount of tarmac between the gravel sections means that they can't afford not to be optimised for these bits. This even applies to races like Paris-Roubaix - the days of weird and wonderful modifications are (sadly) long behind us.

One thing they do (which manifested itself with visma yesterday) is have a domestique run a bike set up exactly for their team GC leader so that in the event of a mechanical they just hand it over and nothing is lost.

[Jdsk]

Thankyou

Jonathan

[Norman H]

How different are the bikes when there are gravel stages?

Thanks

Jonathan

Yesterday’s stage was in the Champagne region of France and was on a mixture of gravel and tarmac, very much in the style of the early season Monument Classics but with gravel sections replacing pavée. The main dangers on the narrow gravel sections are crashes and puctures, coupled with the fact that that the riders are isolated from their team cars. Most riders would be on their normal race bikes but set up would have been similar to that used in Paris-Roubaix, with an emphasis on tyre choice. These days most pro teams are using 25-28mm tyres on tarmac but I imagine many would have been on 32mm tyres yesterday.

[Paulatic]

I've not done detailed research (perish the thought), but I think they just do it in their standard road bike nowadays. Some of them use slightly wider tyres, at a slightly lower pressure, but they run wide tyres nowadays anyway, so some teams just keep their normal rubber :
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/products/ ... -de-france

The amount of tarmac between the gravel sections means that they can't afford not to be optimised for these bits. This even applies to races like Paris-Roubaix - the days of weird and wonderful modifications are (sadly) long behind us.

One thing they do (which manifested itself with visma yesterday) is have a domestique run a bike set up exactly for their team GC leader so that in the event of a mechanical they just hand it over and nothing is lost.

They happen to be the same size so rode together.
Not exactly the same setup as Jan rides with a longer stem than Jonas (15mm difference)
Visma Lease a Bike were riding on Vittoria Corsa Pro 30mm £90 a piece to you and I.

Edit 09/07 We also learn today there was also 3mm difference in saddle height. The bike was setup for Jan not Jonas but the closest available.

[cycleruk]

Bit of a boring stage today. I listened to it until the last 10K.
Cav's lead out team need to learn how to stay together

[pjclinch]

Blimey, another monster stage! if you missed it make sure you watch the highlights tonight!

Pete.

[cycleruk]

A lot more interesting today and a good finish. Maybe a race of it will be made after all?

[Norman H]

Roll on the weekend, two tough stages in the Pyrenees, both with summit finishes.

[xerxes]

As part of our BT package we now get Discovery+, which is a breath of fresh air after watching on ITV4 for years. The commentary team is good, but the thing I like most is that there are no ads, so no interruption every few minutes to hear about life insurance, funeral plans, cruises, Ian Botham's legs, etc....