Irishj9

Yes March 8 or thereabouts. Its now March 10 and we are in the middle of a rainstorm

The rainstorm in Capetown is much appreciated. The worst of it hit last night, March 9, only one day after the normal Cycle tour date. Sunday itself was overcast with rain showers, no spectacular cape scenery shots for the TV. But thanks to COVID19, there was no "real" event and I did not slide down Chappies and Suiker hoping to get home in one (wet) piece. The storm strengthened and continued last night, D-day plus1 for cycling fans. I suggest everybody in Capetown go out their front door and take a picture to send the race organisers. My neighbours bins are blown open and the debris is everywhere. In case they forget the changing Cape weather patterns, first week of March Next year, same again? J

Yes certainly But Sam is assisted by the early in the stage nature of those intermediate sprints remaining Trentin will climb better, for no green points gain Then face Sam on the Champs Elysee in a flat sprint

Trentin always a more likely challenger than Sagan

15 riders over a minute clear soon the 45minute rule kicks in and the peleton stops chasing Sagan's green jersey challenge puts one foot into the grave

It is a tough one to call however Bennet has the lead Sagan does not have the pure speed. He used to overcome this by cleaning up in intermediate sprints. Thats no longer possible. Bennet has the wolfpack. A team of high quality rouleurs. The points will be gone when Sagan hits those intermediate sprints

Well done Sam Bennett. Finally the pressure is off. Sagans lack of grace at the finish tells you all you need to know. He's not as strong as his publicity machine. Ewan may win tomorrow. Doesn't matter. I don't see him finishing this tour. The green jersey is still undecided.

Round 2 of the Tech wars: Alaphilippe won on clinchers! https://cyclingtips.com/2020/08/tubed-clinchers-just-won-their-first-tour-de-france-stage/?fbclid=IwAR3P7_H2zqYmak6QEgaB8JT7bdX5jZhmcjsLPa_3ewwCYnTgxy7nDCCKnic lol

Hmm I actually did ride stage races, back in the day in Ireland. That 8 day Ras is a bitch. Particularly since there are constant attacks every one of the 8 days

The fans stop watching. The TV paycheck goes away, and so do the salaries.

WTF? The books?????? We are cyclists not accountants! ( well, ok I am an accountant - full disclosure) Let the sodding Ineos outfit P*ss off and read books This is the TDF. not a local junior crit whose result gets posted in the local free rag outside SPAR. They are not racing for the books. They are racing for me and you, the fans. Let them go out and F**********king earn strava segments if thats all they want

What would DQS do?. Well that's easy. DQS area Belgian outfit. The first thing a Belgian thinks when assessing tactics is "What would Eddy do? The answer is always the same. Eddy would attack. But Wiggins, Froome, Thomas, Bernal would not attack. They would sprint the final climb only. Another boooooooooring victory. Does anyone care?

Finally COVID forced me to work from home where I can have a large screen running the Tour all day and no boss to object. But will it be the usual 6 hours clubrun plus a dash up the last climb?. Initial signs are not good. Again the wait for the final climb yesterday. Again Alaphilippe ( Go Wolfpack!) the only bike racer worthy of the name. He single handedly carried the 2019 tour. Probably will do so again But there were a lot of sore bodies out there after the stage 1 crashes. A bit too early to pass judgement....... And I can always enjoy Ineos struggle.....

Thats hilarious! Imagine capitalising your ransomware fees!. 2020 is a blast!

Yes it works through Express vpn. ITV live coverage every day. very simple to set up. Not free of course