Will we actually see the battle between Philipsen and Pedersen closed before the final stage?
It is incredible how Mads is simply grinding it out every single day, even getting into the breakaway on tough mountain stages!
A few days ago it looked like it would all come down to a possible sprint in Paris. But now?
F**king impressive either way!
It looks like there will be the highest amount of people ever watching the climb to Alpe d’Huez.
A legendary summit, a young French GC rider and the chance of seeing the generational talent that is Tadej Pogacar, - this seems to be the perfect combo for absolute carnage tomorrow.
So for all you happy and lucky folks who will be there watching… Please, please, please try to act with some degree of respect for the riders and the race.
Don’t treat it as your own personal 5 seconds of fame when a camera comes by.
Make room for the riders, and don’t run alongside them or throw stuff on them.
Drink responsibly, and maybe try to get the seriously wasted folk to the back of the line.
Stay alert and don’t try for a nice selfie with the riders in the background.
All in all, just have fun, and try not to ruin the race for anyone else - especially not the guys working all year to be in their best shape.
There is probably zero chance that everyone will just be calmly cheering, but I just hope this won’t turn into complete mayhem…. But tbh also a bit scared that we might see something bad happening tomorrow. Fingers crossed!
It ain’t the fuckin’ Superbowl… why the fuck do we have to listen to the US national anthem?
Trump with the trophy, commercial breaks, halftime show…
Don’t try to taint the event with all this bullshit!
As everyone else, he is sad to see Jonas leave the tour. But also gives a slight dig at the nighttime doping tests… quick to say that he doesn’t blame them, but I think he is right.
It is an uncharacteristic crash from Jonas. He is great at navigating the road normally, but if you are a bit unrested and lose a bit of your normal focus and your reaction maybe isn’t as good, accidents happen.
Would he have crashed anyway? Maybe, but I think it isn’t usually something you would see from him!
Not sure how to feel about it.
On the one hand I am all for an increased amount of checks. The integrity of the sport is only as strong as the general belief that riders can’t get away with doping. And while it is of course annoying to the riders, it is ultimately in their own interest as well.
On the other hand it seems like nighttime disturbances are an extreme disadvantage ahead of a tough stage while riders are recovering from an equally tough stage. It hopefully won’t have any major effect, but it absolutely could. Pogi was feeling a bit unwell yesterday, and what if he somehow has a bad day? The whole stage will have a questionmark on it - what if..?
At least they take both Jonas and Pogi the same night, but why not coordinate the time of the check as well then?
What if Seixas or Remco is on fire today, will their result be tainted by the disadvantage to the GC leader and the guy in second?
It is a complex and interesting issue, how you balance the need for anti-doping measures and the respect for professional athletes.
And would they ever be willing to knock on the door of the top riders, if the GC was much closer?
Any thoughts?
Great fight today, and I fully expect more of the same tomorrow. Tadej seems untouchable of course, but you gotta respect Jonas’ willingness to risk second to keep the fight going!
Seixas is looking like he can edge out Evenepoel for the podium imo. Remco has been better than prior years, but it is still doubtful whether he can avoid any drop in form.
If Seixas gets a podium in his first tour, Pogi will have his hands full next year!
But if nothing changes with the relative strength between Tadej and everyone else, he will probably get 2 or 3 more stages and win the tour by 6-7 minutes. Ridiculous!