La Course 2018 **SPOILERS**

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  • shirley_basso
    shirley_basso Posts: 6,195
    SH!T ME!!!
  • amrushton
    amrushton Posts: 1,312
    Blimey - talked about pipped on the line
  • maddog 2
    maddog 2 Posts: 8,114
    brilliant
    Facts are meaningless, you can use facts to prove anything that's remotely true! - Homer
  • poweredbyidris
    poweredbyidris Posts: 848
    CLUCKING BELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,332
    WHAT A FINISH!
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • shirley_basso
    shirley_basso Posts: 6,195
    Moolman saving her strength for stage 2.


    Oh...wait. Mind you, noone behind.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,695
    edited July 2018
    Blazing Saddles wrote:
    Eurosport giving the racing the hard sell. Brilliant this, brilliant that.
    I think we have known who the winner will be from the top of the Colombiere.

    Say what? :P

    Edit
    Blazing Saddles wrote:
    OK, big face palm for me. :oops: :lol:

    Fair play!
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,821
    Well that was enjoyable
  • bflk
    bflk Posts: 240
    Incredible!
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    Above The Cows wrote:
    AvdB has this!

    Or not!

    Tsjonge jonge! :shock:
    Correlation is not causation.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
    The downside for me is that Hatch has either caught Kirby's disease, or has had a memo from Eurosport HQ.
    Too much forced hysteria.
    He's certainly read that BBC piece. :P
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    Ongefockinglofelijk
    Correlation is not causation.
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,332
    For those without a feed, VDB had it in the bag, with van Vleuten finding it impossible to get back on terms, but the last little rise to the finish saw VDB tie up slightly - van Vleuten saw it happen, put everything she had into catching her - and caught her in the last 10m.

    Staggering finish - just brilliant.
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,695
    A bit Like John Degenkolb, remember that most of us thought Annamiek had snapped in half in 2016.

    Proper inspiring comeback...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • hypster
    hypster Posts: 1,229
    TakeTheHighRoad wrote:
    Well that was enjoyable

    Really? I thought it was a good demonstration why there's no women's Tour.
  • phil485
    phil485 Posts: 364
    Good watching. close race between them.
    Heart breaking she must have thought she had that
  • shirley_basso
    shirley_basso Posts: 6,195
    hypster wrote:
    TakeTheHighRoad wrote:
    Well that was enjoyable

    Really? I thought it was a good demonstration why there's no women's Tour.

    Why so?

    Good attack, got a massive gap, brought back, a few more attacks, looks like the favorite is gonna clinch it, but is overhauled in the last 50m.

    Give me 20 days of that and I wouldn't be able to handle the anxiety.
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,332
    Ludwig in absolute bits chatting to Matt Rendell - seems to be happy, but hard to tell!
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • knedlicky
    knedlicky Posts: 3,097
    Above The Cows wrote:
    Totally different tempos. Annemiek is turning a massive gear
    I thought her wrong but she stayed with it and it paid off in the end - old style.

    Great racing those last 35 kms, congrats to Van Vleuten, sorry for van de Breggen, glad the Danish girl Ludwig held held off the small following pack for 4th too, pity she didn't catch her team-mate, Moolman-Pasio.
    Not only did M-P seem to descend poorly, her attack shortly before the top of the Colombiere was tactically wrong, it dropped Ludwig, her own team-mate.
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,332
    French TV fail to hang around for the presentations so nobody else can show it, FFS.
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,651
    underlayunderlay wrote:
    Ludwig in absolute bits chatting to Matt Rendell - seems to be happy, but hard to tell!

    I've just watched a Danish interview with her, and trust me, she's happy. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone happier to be honest. She won a jersey as well (young rider? combatitive?)
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    hypster wrote:
    TakeTheHighRoad wrote:
    Well that was enjoyable

    Really? I thought it was a good demonstration why there's no women's Tour.

    Were you not entertained? It went down to the last 10m.

    What more do you want? A procession? A bunch sprint?
    Correlation is not causation.
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    edited July 2018
    knedlicky wrote:
    Above The Cows wrote:
    Totally different tempos. Annemiek is turning a massive gear
    I thought her wrong but she stayed with it and it paid off in the end - old style.

    Great racing those last 35 kms, congrats to Van Vleuten, sorry for van de Breggen, glad the Danish girl Ludwig held held off the small following pack for 4th too, pity she didn't catch her team-mate, Moolman-Pasio.
    Not only did M-P seem to descend poorly, her attack shortly before the top of the Colombiere was tactically wrong, it dropped Ludwig, her own team-mate.

    José and Iris on Dutch Eurosport thought that the tactics were that Moolman would bridge to Ludwig and then attack, the problem was she couldn't make it stick and AvdB and AvV were just stronger and reeled her in super quick.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • Nick Payne
    Nick Payne Posts: 288
    hypster wrote:
    Really? I thought it was a good demonstration why there's no women's Tour.
    Yeah - you really think we'll get as much excitement out of the men's stage later today?
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    Above The Cows wrote:
    Ongefockinglofelijk

    Did you fall asleep on your keyboard or is that actually a Dutch word? (Judging by the middle part, if it is then probably best you don't translate!).
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
    Above The Cows wrote:
    hypster wrote:
    TakeTheHighRoad wrote:
    Well that was enjoyable

    Really? I thought it was a good demonstration why there's no women's Tour.

    Were you not entertained? It went down to the last 10m.

    What more do you want? A procession? A bunch sprint?

    Strength in dept be the problem.
    Pretty massive time gaps behind those front two, so it would a bit hard to run a race with more than two or three such stages.
    So, 10 days maybe, like the Giro Rosa, but over three weeks, there would have to be over a dozen, non GC stages.
    So, the potential for a snoozefest is high.

    ITV 4 finally bring us a shot of the podium.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • shirley_basso
    shirley_basso Posts: 6,195
    Would the riders change their strengths though?

    I think it would take time for the riders to adapt to the new route. It's basically a peloton of sprinters with a few classics riders and a few all rounders.

    The mens peloton is much more diverse, and I'm sure in time this will be the case with the ladies, if they are given back to back mountain stages.
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,332
    Worth pointing out that before massive investment in rider recruitment, sport science, support etc the mens races saw massive time gaps as standard too. Funnily enough this is now seen as a golden time in the sport's history.

    It cracks me up a bit that people attack the men's racing for not having attacking, then use the degree of attack and counter-attack in women's racing as a stick with which to beat it. So gaps open up? So what?
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    Pross wrote:
    Above The Cows wrote:
    Ongefockinglofelijk

    Did you fall asleep on your keyboard or is that actually a Dutch word? (Judging by the middle part, if it is then probably best you don't translate!).

    Ongelofelijk is a Dutch word, meaning unbelievable. We had a lot of ongelofelijks from José Been at the manner of finish.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,116
    underlayunderlay wrote:
    Worth pointing out that before massive investment in rider recruitment, sport science, support etc the mens races saw massive time gaps as standard too. Funnily enough this is now seen as a golden time in the sport's history.

    This.

    If you watch the "Stars and the Water Carriers" the racing is very similar to women's pro racing today. The speeds are probably the same too :-).

    Hopefully with some of the men's teams involved now there will be some cross over in training from the men's side. As others have pointed out Moolman needs to practice descending but even Van vleuten and VdB could do with some better technique in the descents. I guess there are not enough races with big descents outside the Binda and GR for them to invest in improving?

    Moolman was off the pace in the Giro Rosa on the last stage due to her descending skills, or lack of them. The women's teams need better tactics too. They still do stuff like chasing down their own riders etc. There is a lack of strength in depth in the field.

    The big gaps in the field make TV coverage more problematic on mountain stages, the Zoncolan was a bit like this. The G.R. mountain TT was very good though.

    Oh and yes it is very very hot and dry today.
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