Tour de France 2021

['Dale]

The longest stage in the TdF in 21 years - a Classic-style course. A day for the breakaway, I reckon. Otherwise the Classic specialists, like Sagan. ????

 

[dsw]

The riders were all over the road during the end. Cavendish went to the right to get pass Merlier and Philipson went to the left. After passing him BOTH slightly moved towards the centre of the road with Cavendish slightly ahead ( as 'Dale pointed out earlier). Therefore it was always unlikely for Alpecin Fenix to appeal imo.

[Mountain Bru]

21 minutes ago, 'Dale said:

Both the Manx Missile and Philipsen deviated from their racing 'lane' however, the maillot vert was slightly ahead and faster at the point of near contact. The Alpecin rider lost his nerve somewhat as he was right in the contest.

 

 

19 minutes ago, Eldron said:

The drifted together - the Cav a bit more but neither stayed straight to the line. No reason for a protest there....

All three drifting from left to right:

Left to right drift continues. At this point, they've all launched their sprint and should stay in their "lane". (Even though Merlier is about to finish his leadout and fade, he still needs to stay in his lane)

Cav starts moving from right to left across the Alpecin riders who are still drifting:

Cav back to middle of road, Phillipson has to either bump him or check his sprint:

Cav finishes to the left of the white line, Phillipson lost momentum and is now middle of left lane of road:

Clearly Merlier is the only one that sprinted straight as he's still on the white line. But Cav clearly cut back against the drift and across Merlier. You can see them both having to bump shoulders or lean over to prevent a crash in the one pic. Even though there was no crash, I think Cav deviated from his line once he started sprinting, and according the to rules, that should mean relegation. 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2021 by Mountain Bru

[Eldron]

5 minutes ago, Mountain Bru said:

 

 

 

Clearly Merlier is the only one that sprinted straight as he's still on the white line. 

 

Both riders are 1.5m from the line and they meet in the middle on the line - both deviated.

 

Edit: Rider 105 is Philipsen not Merlier.

Edited July 1, 2021 by Eldron

['Dale]

Meanwhile... 1700 km. Supper is served: “My day is done. I did 370 kilometres. I’m at this beautiful little campsite, about to set up my bag. Unfortunately no shower today, hopefully, this rain holds off too, but all in all a pretty good day.”

Pic credit: EF Pro Cycling

Edited July 1, 2021 by 'Dale

[Mountain Bru]

33 minutes ago, Eldron said:

Both riders are 1.5m from the line and they meet in the middle on the line - both deviated.

I would say they should both be relegated then. 
Phillipson is probably "less guilty" seen as they were drifting from left to right, and he kind of carried on doing that rather than changing direction towards contact with other riders. 

My issue is actually more with the protests and complaints about rider safety. If the pelo wants to bitch and complain about safety issues regarding the route, they should bitch and complain about safety issues in sprints too and force the UCI to enforce their rules. 

Edited July 1, 2021 by Mountain Bru

[Eldron]

1 minute ago, Mountain Bru said:

My issue is actually more with the protests and complaints about rider safety. If the pelo wants to bitch and complain about safety issues regarding the route, they should bitch and complain about safery issues in sprints too and force the UCI to enforce their rules. 

I'm with you 100% on that. Riders are quick to ridicule puppy paw rules but slow to be responsible for their own riding style.

For instance if Groenewagen had not flicked the hell out of Jakobsen the issue of safety barriers wouldn't even have come up.

[Frosty]

3 hours ago, lechatnoir said:

carlton kirby?

Brian Smith

[FirstV8]

8 minutes ago, 'Dale said:

Meanwhile... 1700 km. Supper is served.

Pic credit: EF Pro Cycling

Is this guy riding the Tour course unsupported . What is his name and how can one follow him ?

[Mountain Bru]

Intermediate sprint:

Morkov on the right of the bunch, Sagan on the left:

Sagan has clear road in front of him, so does Morkov.

Moving towards LHS barrier, Sagan trying to come around him:

Morkov now in front of Sagan on LHS barrier:

Sagan checking sprint due to Morkov moving closer to barrier:

I would feel a bit pissed if I was Sagan. Maybe Cav would still have been quicker than him, but that doesn't make it okay for Morkov to move across the entire road and pinch him towards the barrier

 

Edited July 1, 2021 by Mountain Bru

['Dale]

1 minute ago, FirstV8 said:

Is this guy riding the Tour course unsupported . What is his name and how can one follow him ?

An alternative route featuring the 1903 type Tour de France, about 12 hours a day rolling for 21 days. 

A feature article here: https://cyclingtips.com/2021/06/lachlan-morton-just-rode-two-tour-stages-in-a-day-wearing-sandals/

[Frosty]

3 minutes ago, FirstV8 said:

Is this guy riding the Tour course unsupported . What is his name and how can one follow him ?

Lachlan Morton - EF rider that does a lot of Gravel racing too.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/lachlan-morton-hits-1700km-in-his-mammoth-alt-tour-de-france-solo-challenge/

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2021/06/lachlan-mortons-tour-de-france-alt-tour-how-the-tracking-device-site-works.html

[Moult]

34 minutes ago, 'Dale said:

The longest stage in the TdF in 21 years - a Classic-style course. A day for the breakaway, I reckon. Otherwise the Classic specialists, like Sagan. ????

 

Dale where can we see the total elevation gain for the day? On the app it shows the start altitude and the end altitude but it doesn't show the total elevation gain over each stage. Where can I find that information. I'm purely curious to see how much these guys are climbing. 

[Frosty]

Go to https://www.procyclingstats.com/race.php?id=256320

Then select each stage to see the details

[Mountain Bru]

8 minutes ago, Eldron said:

I'm with you 100% on that. Riders are quick to ridicule puppy paw rules but slow to be responsible for their own riding style.

For instance if Groenewagen had not flicked the hell out of Jakobsen the issue of safety barriers wouldn't even have come up.

Exactly this. I would venture to say that all of the stage 3 crashes were caused by rider error and the way the peloton raced sections of the route, and not solely the UCI's fault,  yet they still protested (although more technical routes obviously increase the risk of crashes). If you want to protest safety issues, protest all safety issues, not just the one's that you're not causing. 

[Frosty]