Tour de France stage 1 Leeds-Harrogate *Spoiler*

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  • Yellow Peril
    Yellow Peril Posts: 4,466
    just catching up on the last two or three pages.

    So the verdict on Cav's shoulder is that it is a conscious uncoupling and he won't ride tomorrow?
    @JaunePeril

    Winner of the Bike Radar Pro Race Wiggins Hour Prediction Competition
  • goonz
    goonz Posts: 3,106
    Not confirmed yet, waiting till tomorrow morning but I bet Cav knows deep down he wont start.
    Scott Speedster S20 Roadie for Speed
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    n+1 is well and truly on track
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  • hammerite
    hammerite Posts: 3,408
    Did anyone notice the state of Froome's elbow? Considering it happened 3 weeks ago it shows how much damage he'd done originally.
  • Macaloon
    Macaloon Posts: 5,545
    edited July 2014
    FocusZing wrote:
    Bry2eBXCEAEec3V.jpg

    Bit more than 4/10 for that crowd. It was an unforgettable event. Feel the joy :D
    (no joy in the pic, obv)
    ...a rare 100% loyal Pro Race poster. A poster boy for the community.
  • goonz
    goonz Posts: 3,106
    hammerite wrote:
    Did anyone notice the state of Froome's elbow? Considering it happened 3 weeks ago it shows how much damage he'd done originally.

    It also shows how brittle these guys are and how low their immune systems are. The dude has no meat on him at all, hardly surprising!
    Scott Speedster S20 Roadie for Speed
    Specialized Hardrock MTB for Lumps
    Specialized Langster SS for Ease
    Cinelli Mash Bolt Fixed for Pain
    n+1 is well and truly on track
    Strava http://app.strava.com/athletes/1608875
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Froome also asking fans for more room...saying they had 1.5m only at times on the climbs and were forced to stop.


    Too many people in this country. Do not think I am going anywhere near the fan parks on Monday.

    Apparently there were two million people out today.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    Yellow Peril wrote:
    So the verdict on Cav's shoulder is that it is a conscious uncoupling

    Ha ha ha. Well played.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • arran77
    arran77 Posts: 9,260
    diplodicus wrote:
    arran77 wrote:
    What was the extent of Gerrans injuries?

    Cuts and bruises apparently.

    Got off pretty lightly in comparison then.
    "Arran, you are like the Tony Benn of smut. You have never diluted your depravity and always stand by your beliefs. You have my respect sir and your wife my pity" :lol:

    seanoconn
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Kittel and Greipel also saying about fans on the road rather than the side.

    Amazing there were not more crashes or spectators getting taken out.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • stagehopper
    stagehopper Posts: 1,593
    Nothing really wrong with OPQS tactics - Cav was perfectly placed on Sagan's wheel with 260m to go with Kittel in the wind to his right and a slower Gerrans to his left - if he'd waited 50m or so more he'd have had the perfect springboard.
    @stagehopper
  • Turfle
    Turfle Posts: 3,762
    Good day! Entirely forgettable stage, but I felt more
    pride than I was expecting to. Terrific show from everyone involved.

    Also have thoroughly enjoyed reading the "real" British fans on twitter getting angry about the praise the "part-time" British fans were getting.
  • dougzz
    dougzz Posts: 1,833
    iainf72 wrote:
    Agreed. Nice crowds and what not today (although to achieve the estimates they're talking about you would've needed it 5 deep for the entire route, on both side of the road)
    I think the 4 mill was over the whole weekend. Still a pretty large number I agree. But factor in the fan parks and the screens in other parks and a mill each day might be about right, no?
  • FocusZing
    FocusZing Posts: 4,373
    Macaloon wrote:

    Bit more than 4/10 for that crowd. It was an unforgettable event. Feel the joy :D
    (no joy in the pic, obv)

    Ha, it looked brilliant. Good weather, lots of fans/spectators and great scenic views.
  • Harrogate Velo50
    Harrogate Velo50 Posts: 70
    Fantastic day. Proud to be Yorkshire, think everyone involved have done a great job
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    Classy from Gerrans:

    Simon Gerrans ‏@simongerrans 26m

    Well I've had better days & I've certainly had a lot worse. Crashing is just part of what we do. I hope @MarkCavendish & Julien Simon are OK
    Correlation is not causation.
  • keydon
    keydon Posts: 144
    Milton50 wrote:
    Cav and Gerrans brought each other down.

    Yet another great sprint from Kittel.

    Nothing to do with Gerrans!!
  • Macaloon
    Macaloon Posts: 5,545
    Above The Cows wrote:
    Classy from Gerrans:

    Simon Gerrans ‏@simongerrans 26m

    Well I've had better days & I've certainly had a lot worse. Crashing is just part of what we do. I hope @MarkCavendish & Julien Simon are OK

    And he's probably lost a serious chance of taking yellow tomorrow. He must be the most admired wheelsucker by now?
    ...a rare 100% loyal Pro Race poster. A poster boy for the community.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,163
    Ah, the annual 'the crash was Cav's fault' 'no it wasn't debate'. Just a racing incident from what I could tell, if Cav hadn't fended with his head track style it would have just looked like a big standard collision. First time I've seen him properly injured after a crash though.
  • ducknumber1
    ducknumber1 Posts: 1,172
    Macaloon wrote:
    FocusZing wrote:
    Bry2eBXCEAEec3V.jpg

    Bit more than 4/10 for that crowd. It was an unforgettable event. Feel the joy :D
    (no joy in the pic, obv)

    That picture is from Huddersfield, not bad for somewhere not on the route until tomorrow.
  • napoleond
    napoleond Posts: 5,992
    I had the most amazing day!
    Wonderful riding in closed roads and the atmosphere on the climb was just unbelievable!
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  • gattocattivo
    gattocattivo Posts: 500
    Re: the whole 'did OPQS take it up too early' thing - has anyone seen what actually happened? They seemed quite comfortable at the front with just over 1km to go and then Cancellara launched himself off the front - the camera followed him and by the time the chasing pack came back into shot Giant had taken over.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,031
    Watching the crash again it doesn't look as bad by Cav as at first sight. If he says he went for a gap that wasn't there then it's hard to argue against that but he was squeezed a bit on both sides and it looks more like he was just trying to defend his position with his head and got caught up with Gerrans more than anything else. Real shame for the race as the battle of the sprinters was set to be the best for a number of years.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • PuttyKnees
    PuttyKnees Posts: 381
    I can definitely recommend the butter tubs blonde ale by the yorkshire dales brewing co. Top quality. The denizens of Muker were also fabulous. Great day.
  • sagalout
    sagalout Posts: 338
    Amazing day to be a cyclist in Yorkshire. Cycled down to Pool to watch them come through, then back to harrogate to pick the kids up and headed for the fan park, then later to Prologue cycling cafe.

    Harrogate was rammed, but in a good way. Some great PR by the Police too, including one outrider that got off his bike to have pictures taken with the crowd. Cycling on the closed roads was surreal - and we get another day of it when it comes through tomorrow :)

    I'm going to feel a bit depressed on Monday though!
  • IanLD
    IanLD Posts: 423
    Incredible crowds in Skipton today and well worth the effort of getting a train from Glasgow at 05:50.

    Once on the Lancaster to Skipton train, it very quickly filled up and lots of people were left behind on various station platforms.

    Skipton was heaving, so walk up the climb out of the town got us to a spot with reasonable viewing. Pretty soon got four deep on both sides of the road. Unbelievable numbers.

    After they had passed through (great seeing Jens in the break) we walked back in to watch the rest of the stage on the big screen. Great up until the last few seconds as you can imagine.

    Looked like stunning numbers of spectators over the whole stage, but too many who were interfering with the riders passage by standing too far out. Had the usual ipad photographer :roll: next to me who got right in the way of me taking pictures. Got about 270 or so though, so going to wade through them to see what is presentable.

    Hope everyone else out today and the rest of the stages enjoys themeselves and for me it's my first two grand tours in one year (OK neither in their home country...)
  • stagehopper
    stagehopper Posts: 1,593
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    Watching the crash again it doesn't look as bad by Cav as at first sight. If he says he went for a gap that wasn't there then it's hard to argue against that but he was squeezed a bit on both sides and it looks more like he was just trying to defend his position with his head and got caught up with Gerrans more than anything else. Real shame for the race as the battle of the sprinters was set to be the best for a number of years.

    Not sure you've seen full replays but Gerrans never once made an attempt to take Cav's position - Cav panicked as he thought he was boxed in behind Sagan with Gerrans to the right and Kittel to the left. He then initiated the "head action" pushing Gerrans into Coquard in his attempt to get a clear run.
    @stagehopper
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,031
    Just watched it back on HD superslow and it still looks like I called it above. I wouldn't disagree with you that Cav did panic a bit but I don't think it was quite as bad as it first looked which was that he was trying to push his way through with his head.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • cesco
    cesco Posts: 252
    Got home in time to watch the last 30km. Didn't look too exciting, except from the flamme rouge. Cancellara's attack was nice. Hopeless, since he put a lot of work in for Van Poppel only kilometres before, but he did cause quite the confusion.
    Cav's uses his head like Suarez does his teeth. If he wasn't British (or French) I'm sure he would be taken out of the race, but he punished himself enough already. Apologising on social media before talking to the other party; sounds very familiar.
    Hola's been a bit dodgy lately, so I couldn't stream Sporza properly. I didn't enjoy ITV's cycling-for-dummies crash (no pun intended) course too much, but then, I get why they do that.
    Good for Marcel "du hast die Haare schoen" Kittel. Zicke Zacke!
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Cancellara = dude
    _
  • TMR
    TMR Posts: 3,986
    People need to STFU dissing Cav, it's getting on my tits. He doesn't 'always use his head'. He's taken responsibility for something that I still don't accept was entirely his fault. Regardless, he's paid a massive price. Be content with the fact he's unlikely to start today haters.

    For me, TdF without Cav is sh*t. I now have zero interest in any sprint stage. Am gutted for Mark.

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