The Ghost

My sincerest condolences for your loss Reinet. I’m really sorry that you have lost Cois, but I’m happy for you that you had the time with someone who loved and appreciated you. I wish you and Cois both peace 🌼

The moment Cav left Markova wheel I said to my wife “that could cost him”. To be fair I did lose sight of what may have led up to him doing so, but losing the guidance of that man…..

More and more I find people hating on things, and it’s usually just because they’re unable to see something in a way that others do. It’s a limitation on their part and it’s easier to hate on someone / something than to try and see the other possibilities. Peace ✌️

A lot of people have given their opinion based on their experience with bikes and various terrain, so I’m going to give you my opinion based on the information you gave us of your experiences. Is there one “do it all bike”? Based on your comments about wanting a road bike over a gravel bike on the road and a hard tail over a gravel bike on dirt roads I would say that for YOU there is no one bike that will do it all for you. WRT selling your road bike and getting a gravel / endurance bike to do “some gravel” , you already tried a gravel bike on dirt and you didn’t enjoy it, so I don’t think you’d enjoy some gravel on one of these, and if you like your road bike you’ll probably miss it. If I were you I’d get a decent hardtail for dirt roads, trails and gravel and keep the road bike for road rides - based on the information that you gave us.

https://www.bikeradar.com/features/pro-bike/unbound-2021-bikes/ any of these might do for you, Lael’s is interesting (although not for me)

????

Maybe the analysis has nothing to do with flogging or trying to change anything, but rather trying to understand various things. Clearly some people like to analyse and some don’t, it’s all okay and no need for either side to get excited.

Also there’s more to bike racing than just the results for those that want to look deeper and learn more.

FWIW - I see Lanterne Rouge’s take on the Booohani manoeuvre was that he was protecting himself from Cavendish who was ducking in (again). Also - Alpacin Fenix treating the TdF like an under 9 swimming gala trying to get a ribbon for everyone trying hard ????????????

The bigger safety issue here was the huge “lean” from Bouhani who got a finger waving from one of the other riders - I’m surprised nobody has mentioned this.

Relegation coming?

It’s possible, but I don’t think it’s probable. Time will tell.

Seems like it’s done for the win, barring any unforeseen oddities. Thought Pogacar would win it, but not like this. Great for UAE, not great for viewing.

Years, months, sweat, tears, millions of € spent in planning, preparation and a spectator can cause injury, wreck race results, hopes and possibly sponsorship deals and salaries. *If Kuss wanted a top 10 on his CV from this race that’s pretty unlikely now, how will Tony’s injuries affect the Jumbo train? Causing crashes or pushing riders along etc just continues to affect the riders, and they call themselves supporters. Something will need to be done soon enough.