Criterium du Dauphine 2018 Spoiler nee chat

philbar72

Gary Imlach is best of breed. Carlton Kirby is not. Impey has always had an impressive jump but that jump last night was an absolute belter.

disquieting_museeuws

Rick Chasey wrote:

I think Gary Imlach comes pretty close to being pure good bloke.

I suggest anyone try and segue and summarise like he does.

I spent one evening, because I'm odd, trying to come up with a good one before the highlights came on.

Impossible.

Met Gary briefly in Utrecht at the 2015 Grand Depart. He chatted very pleasantly to me and GF despite being boiled to death in the heatwave and having his piece to camera constantly interrupted by the carillon.

gweeds

Rick Chasey wrote:

I think Gary Imlach comes pretty close to being pure good bloke.

I suggest anyone try and segue and summarise like he does.

I spent one evening, because I'm odd, trying to come up with a good one before the highlights came on.

Impossible.

Terrific bloke in person as well. I still chuckle as his description of watching people running alongside riders on climbs as the 'overhead nutter-cam'.

If you haven't read his book 'My Father and Other Working Class Football Heroes', it's well worth seeking out.

kingstongraham

Break is:
A. Duchesne
P. Perichon
F. Backaert
N. Stalnov

6"10 advantage after an hour. Not a breakaway day.

Alexis Vuillermoz is non-starter.

Mad_Malx

Kwia down 1.4 km out
looks bad

mrpowly

Kwiatkowski down holding shoulder

No_Ta_Doctor

Kwia down hard, in the last 3 km so will get same time....if he's ok. Looks like a collarbone.

No_Ta_Doctor

He's rolling in now, hope he's ok

shirley_basso

Kwait seeming ok. Impy takes yellow due to bonifications.

kingstongraham

Roll on Thursday when they actually go up a hill.

above_the_cows

NO! What has happened to MY MAN!

m.r.m.

Probably My Man Flowerman's mistake. Got pedal strike by pedalling one revolution too many.

knedlicky

RichN95 wrote:

ddraver wrote:

(Man, Gary Imlach looks old now )

Without looking it up, how old do you think he is? I've seen people say the same thing about Hugh Grant recently.

People seem to fall into two categories wrt to ageing - those who age a bit each year (so you hardly notice a difference from year-to-year and, if you do, you think it natural), and those who stay more or less the same for about 7 or so years, then suddenly age in one big step. Maybe Imlach and Hugh Grant fall into the latter category?

RichN95.

knedlicky wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

ddraver wrote:

(Man, Gary Imlach looks old now )

Without looking it up, how old do you think he is? I've seen people say the same thing about Hugh Grant recently.

People seem to fall into two categories wrt to ageing - those who age a bit each year (so you hardly notice a difference from year-to-year and, if you do, you think it natural), and those who stay more or less the same for about 7 or so years, then suddenly age in one big step. Maybe Imlach and Hugh Grant fall into the latter category?

Gary's 57 now (as is Hugh Grant), and he looks pretty good for it in my opinion. Of course there are people who never seem to age at all like Paul Rudd and my friend Morgan.

tailwindhome

What does Gary Imlach do for the rest of the year?

briantrumpet

davidof wrote:

phreak wrote:

The Col du Mont Noir looks like an interesting climb (there appear to be a lot of them in Vercors tbh), but I'm guessing they're not going at it from this end?

I've skied over the Col du Mont Noir :-).

Your photo is from the D22 Gorges du Nant, they are taking the D31, the other interesting climb is the D292 via Presles. So they seem to be avoiding the two most interesting climbs.

Missed this earlier.

The Col de Mont Noir is a rather odd choice - a narrow forest road hidden away in the trees. When I rode it, the descent to Rencurel was riddled with massive potholes.

jimmythecuckoo

Any excuse to show your bike off

above_the_cows

We need to talk about the saddle and bar tap mismatch.

briantrumpet

knedlicky wrote:

mididoctors wrote:

davidof wrote:

phreak wrote:

The Col du Mont Noir looks like an interesting climb (there appear to be a lot of them in Vercors tbh), but I'm guessing they're not going at it from this end?

I've skied over the Col du Mont Noir :-).
Your photo is from the D22 Gorges du Nant, they are taking the D31, the other interesting climb is the D292 via Presles. So they seem to be avoiding the two most interesting climbs.

not to mention the col d la machine...D76 IIRC
one problem I think with those AMAZINGLY under-rated drome climbs is getting the race convoy through the cliff tunnels. a lot are height restricted. perhaps even a car with bikes on its roof.
you next to never see those roads in the tour..would be interested to know if i'm wrong... the rousett is used a fair bit but it isn't one of those cliff huggers.

Acc to French websites, during its history the TdF has gone over only 12 cols in Drôme, although there are apparently 102 cols in the Departement.
Those 'main' ones (admittedly a subjective choice) so far not yet ridden include Col de la Machine and Col de Pennes but I doubt they ever will, in case a rider goes over their edges. I was once told by the Gendarmerie, that this has happened on several cols at amateur level, even on the much less dangerous (two-lane) Col de la Ramaz farther north (not in Drôme), near Cluses - he went over on the Meiussy side descent.

The other aspect, as mentioned, are the low tunnels – which are often unlit too. My 'favourite risk' is the tunnel which leads down to the Canyon des Ecouges, north of the uninteresting Col de Romeyère. I think even a 4WD would have trouble in it.

On the other hand, there are some cols, like Col de Soubeyrand and Col de la Chaudière which have so far been avoided by the TdF as so narrow. But the Giro recently showed how one can get around this, by replacing team cars by team motorbikes for the relevant narrow stretches – I forget on which stage in the Giro that was done, but it's surely a possible way-to-go for the TdF too?

I know I'm biased, but I do find it slightly odd why TdF has done so little in the Drôme and Vercors. The Dauphiné at least went down col de Grimone and up col de Rousset three (?) years ago, but when TdF went through Die last time, it was a boringly long flat stage, apart from col de Cabre (one of the least interesting cols in the area).

I think there are a few factors at play. Firstly there is the safety aspect - lots of them have their sketchy moments or are really too narrow (e.g. col de Pennes)



And yes, many do have tunnels, and I haven't yet had the courage to do the 500m unlit rabbit hole at Canyon des Ecouges:



...though this one didn't stop the Dauphiné doing col de Grimone:



Also, the population density in the area is very low, and I suspect the organisers are worried that much of the route would have few spectators.

Having said that, there are quite a few cols that I think would be fantastic on TdF: col de la Bataille, col de Menée, col de Rousset, col de la Chaudière (not actually that narrow), col des Limouches, col de Prémol, col de Bacchus, and col de Tourniol, for starters.

Most of the rest I'd probably rule out, however fantastic the scenery.

My personal list here of the 1000m+ ones: https://unanglaisendiois.wordpress.com/cols/

briantrumpet

Above The Cows wrote:

We need to talk about the saddle and bar tap mismatch.

Happy?

jimmythecuckoo

Phew

salsiccia1

The hoods...

r0bh

briantrumpet wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

We need to talk about the saddle and bar tap mismatch.

Happy?

No. Need to swap the brake hoods back to black ones

briantrumpet

r0bh wrote:

briantrumpet wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

We need to talk about the saddle and bar tap mismatch.

Happy?

No. Need to swap the brake hoods back to black ones

Would they make me go faster up the hills?

ShutupJens

briantrumpet wrote:

r0bh wrote:

briantrumpet wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

We need to talk about the saddle and bar tap mismatch.

Happy?

No. Need to swap the brake hoods back to black ones

Would they make me go faster up the hills?

Cycling isn't about going fast

briantrumpet

ShutupJens wrote:

briantrumpet wrote:

r0bh wrote:

briantrumpet wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

We need to talk about the saddle and bar tap mismatch.

Happy?

No. Need to swap the brake hoods back to black ones

Would they make me go faster up the hills?

Cycling isn't about going fast

If somone could tell the pros in TdF and the Dauphiné, we'd get longer to enjoy the scenery.

bompington

briantrumpet wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

We need to talk about the saddle and bar tap mismatch.

Happy?

I'm well impressed that you responded so promptly that you had redone the bar tape by the time you'd rode from Mont Noir to Rossas.

above_the_cows

briantrumpet wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

We need to talk about the saddle and bar tap mismatch.

Happy?

Much better.

above_the_cows

Oh hang on I hadn't seen the hoods...

mamil314

Team Sky: strong, but prone to.. prone.