RobynE 🚵‍♀️

She’s damn well fighting, 1.44 behind the leader at the start of the Madeleine.

Kim crash at ~64km, she’s fine, but now 3.44 behind

It won’t be something you’ll be throwing away but I’m looking for a GX 12 speed RD and shifter to buy if anyone has upgraded to AXS and has the mechanical stuff sitting around 😊

This is going to be a helluva stage, they’re headed out now. Exciting!

Bringing this one up again just to ask that people please, PLEASE, consider *daytime* lights on your bike, and if you have commuters in your employ, please get them lights. There are very decent lights on Temu for like a hundred bucks. The Fluir Elite lights from Rookie Sports are ridiculous value for money. The Ryder BlindEye front and rear set are fantastic for daytime use. The main problem I’m seeing when commuting or even doing Cradle loops is drivers on their phones. The second problem is drivers misjudging the speed of your approach (regardless of the speed). We can’t change these issues. We can’t get p*ssed off about it because nothing will change. But we can possibly add a flicker of light in their peripheral vision to show that we’re there, whether we’re/they’re approaching from the front or rear. And FWIW, my two closest “Hey dude WTAF” moments with passenger vehicles were SUVs with bike racks. Please can we think of it as adding a very cheap layer of protection to our rides. Lights are no longer about seeing where we’re going, but about being seen. We all want to make it home physically unscathed and without PTSD.

From what I’ve seen a bus was turning right into a viewpoint as the cyclists were descending at speed. This is just what I’ve read. I don’t have a dog in the fight but someone must have under- or over- estimated what the other was doing or not seen the other at all.

Also bearing in mind - they don’t have a rest day. They’ve been at it since the 26th. They will climb 17240m over 9 days. And if it’s your time of the month (as it’s been for Kim), trust me, take your worst suffer fest day and multiply it by two and then climb 2000+m in summer conditions. Chapeaux!

While I didn’t feel that TDF was Tour de Tadej, I am really enjoying watching the ladies. There’s a totally different ambience to the men’s race and watching them dig deep and get it done is very inspiring.

Young Maeva Squiban (UAE) with a back to back win in S7 - what an attack and another solo victory. Kim fought like a beast and retains the yellow. Ladies were hitting 90km/h on the last descent 😯

My Magura are the bees knees. I’ve not had much luck with SLX/XT brakes. Are you not enjoying the Maguras?

Stage goes to 23yo Maeva Squiban. 2nd to Labous +1.10, Kim 3rd.

Good grief, this UAE youngster, Squiban, has left the rest of the field looking for parking. 1’29 ahead with 1.9km to go, from a 30+km solo attack.

So much sense! The joy and exhilaration I get from clattering my way down whatever never touching the brakes is just… it’s just.

Oh no please don’t misinterpret my questions 😂 I am HT all the way and really don’t like the feel of the dualsusses I’ve sat on so have no desire for one. But, as splat mentioned, this is a reversal of the usual question posed.

I would also ask this. Are you bobbing? Does it feel too squishy? Losing too much power in the squish? Can you lock the rear and if you do does it feel better?

Kim on form; lobbed her stage winner bouquet and klapped someone or something with it 😂 Adrenaline clearly still flowing! This is a lot of fun to watch.

Kim just about giving me a heart attack now! Amazing performance with the S5 win, and she’s back in the yellow. Chapeau to Demi Vollering for the challenge on the line - beaten by a chin hair, so close that Kim reckoned she’d celebrated too early for a moment there. Phew.

PS I don’t see the Maxxis on their site but I saw them marked down in the store in Bryanston when I was there so maybe give them a call to see what they’ve got. I think they were R400 or so each.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them, I’m not sure their puncture resistance is as good as the Maxxis. Decathlon has some Maxxis at ridiculously low prices so maybe have a look.

A huge problem with this spot is the shadows from the trees - you drive from light into dark regardless of which direction you’re coming from. There are sometimes pedestrians walking in the shadows, or vehicles stopped, or, if someone is waiting to turn into Cradle Moon then vehicles pass them on the left close to the trees. Likewise, because you can’t see into the shadows and you’re going at least 80km/h, people tend to keep very right even if there’s no obstruction. It’s just a terrible, awful section. When I ride there with my daughter, we stop quite close to it in the light, then scan both directions, then sprint to clear it and only ever in the cycling/yellow line. The photo doesn’t make it seem even remotely as sinister as it really is. It needs a circle for sure.

If Wout knew then what he knows now…

WvA takes the stage after beating TP on the final climb. A proper bike race for the finish! TP takes the tour from JV and FL.

What an exciting finish!

I’m not criticising JV, but watching him on the wheel refusing to pull even for a minute with like 120km still left to go, but leaping on every TP attack and ending up right back on the wheel, is a little annoying to watch. I was rooting for him for a very long time this tour. Certainly not a hater.

He’s looked stronger this year than last, but the last few stages he’s been a wheel sucker of note. Very annoying to watch. Hats off to TP for not rising to what must be akin to a mosquito around your ear in the dark.