TDF 2021: Stage 18, Pau > Luz Ardiden 129.7 km **Spoilers**

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Comments

  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    Not the Pyrenees, but doing the Izoard loop in the pissing rain resulted in three of us plus driver and bikes in a Fiat 500 L from Le Laus back to Briançon. Those things are ROOMY! Fiat can have that story for an advert if they want.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • elbowloh
    elbowloh Posts: 7,078

    Not the Pyrenees, but doing the Izoard loop in the pissing rain resulted in three of us plus driver and bikes in a Fiat 500 L from Le Laus back to Briançon. Those things are ROOMY! Fiat can have that story for an advert if they want.

    I considered one of those when I was looking at a family car last year. They do look very practical
    Felt F1 2014
    Felt Z6 2012
    Red Arthur Caygill steel frame
    Tall....
    www.seewildlife.co.uk
  • elbowloh
    elbowloh Posts: 7,078
    elbowloh said:

    I once did Luz Arididen after a long long day in the saddle. A "bonus" col as it was sold to me.

    Real mistake. 2/3rds of the way up we all were bonking. Turned back down to the final cornershoppy place and I remember we walked in like zombies and just started eating stuff straight off the shelf. It was like i could feel the sugar coursing through my veins, all the way to ends of my fingers and toes.

    Eventually the guy carrying the kitty shuffled over to the counter and just asked how much it all was.

    The top is really disappointing. Just a big carpark. I was sold a stunning view but it was all in cloud.

    I did Tourmalet as part of L'etape in 2014. It started to get foggy and mizzly near the top, couldn't see sod all.

    On the descent, they had marshals posted on every corner blowing whistles, so you could hear where the corner was, as you couldn't see it!

    At the bottom in the town (sorry don't know the name) the main square was full of hundreds of riders wrapped in foil blankets suffering from hypothermia. Me and my ride buddies went to a café to warm up and have coffee as we were shaking uncontrollably.

    The course ended with a mountain top finish at Hautacam.

    then had to cycle back down the way we came to actually get to the the pasta party place etc.
    This describes the experience quite well

    https://www.sportive.com/etape-du-tour/514656/wet-cold-and-hard-riding-the-2014-etape-du-tour
    Felt F1 2014
    Felt Z6 2012
    Red Arthur Caygill steel frame
    Tall....
    www.seewildlife.co.uk
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 18,878
    neonriver said:

    First Tour since there founding that Ineos/Sky haven't won anything

    What did they win in 10 and 14?
    Weren't in the race in 10

    11 and 14 they took combativity awards on stages with Flecha and Nieve

    Unless I've missed something, nothing this year
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • r0bh
    r0bh Posts: 2,163

    neonriver said:

    First Tour since there founding that Ineos/Sky haven't won anything

    What did they win in 10 and 14?
    Weren't in the race in 10

    Yes they were

  • elbowloh said:

    elbowloh said:

    I once did Luz Arididen after a long long day in the saddle. A "bonus" col as it was sold to me.

    Real mistake. 2/3rds of the way up we all were bonking. Turned back down to the final cornershoppy place and I remember we walked in like zombies and just started eating stuff straight off the shelf. It was like i could feel the sugar coursing through my veins, all the way to ends of my fingers and toes.

    Eventually the guy carrying the kitty shuffled over to the counter and just asked how much it all was.

    The top is really disappointing. Just a big carpark. I was sold a stunning view but it was all in cloud.

    I did Tourmalet as part of L'etape in 2014. It started to get foggy and mizzly near the top, couldn't see sod all.

    On the descent, they had marshals posted on every corner blowing whistles, so you could hear where the corner was, as you couldn't see it!

    At the bottom in the town (sorry don't know the name) the main square was full of hundreds of riders wrapped in foil blankets suffering from hypothermia. Me and my ride buddies went to a café to warm up and have coffee as we were shaking uncontrollably.

    The course ended with a mountain top finish at Hautacam.

    then had to cycle back down the way we came to actually get to the the pasta party place etc.
    This describes the experience quite well

    https://www.sportive.com/etape-du-tour/514656/wet-cold-and-hard-riding-the-2014-etape-du-tour

    The photos like the ones in that always make me laugh. People spending £ks on aero bikes, then having to attach an A4-sized piece of card to the front
  • r0bh
    r0bh Posts: 2,163
    Best result was a 2nd for Geraint Thomas behind Cancellara in the Cobbled stage

    https://cqranking.com/men/asp/gen/race.asp?raceid=17882
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406

    neonriver said:

    First Tour since there founding that Ineos/Sky haven't won anything

    What did they win in 10 and 14?
    Weren't in the race in 10

    11 and 14 they took combativity awards on stages with Flecha and Nieve

    Unless I've missed something, nothing this year
    2011 EBH won two stages.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,595
    Remember when Dave Brailsford said Sky would win the Tour in 5 years and everybody laughed? How times change.
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,091

    On the other hand it lets me do my Carol Decker joke every year, so I quite appreciate going back t'Pau.

    Carol Decker invented rap. In 1987. Which will come as something of a surprise to e.g. The Sugar Hill Gang

    Does that mean UK drill is both black and Decker?
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 18,878

    neonriver said:

    First Tour since there founding that Ineos/Sky haven't won anything

    What did they win in 10 and 14?
    Weren't in the race in 10

    11 and 14 they took combativity awards on stages with Flecha and Nieve

    Unless I've missed something, nothing this year
    2011 EBH won two stages.
    Mea Culpa

    2010 was indeed the first Tour for Sky.

    Flecha took a combativity award that year

    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 18,878
    Great believer in the maxim that it's quicker to post something on the internet and have someone correct you than look it up for yourself

    Occams Razor I believe it's called

    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,741

    neonriver said:

    First Tour since there founding that Ineos/Sky haven't won anything

    What did they win in 10 and 14?
    Weren't in the race in 10

    11 and 14 they took combativity awards on stages with Flecha and Nieve

    Unless I've missed something, nothing this year
    2011 EBH won two stages.
    Mea Culpa

    2010 was indeed the first Tour for Sky.

    Flecha took a combativity award that year

    Should he manage it, does not Carapaz finishing on the podium count as something?
    (not much I know but.....)
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,217

    neonriver said:

    First Tour since there founding that Ineos/Sky haven't won anything

    What did they win in 10 and 14?
    Weren't in the race in 10

    11 and 14 they took combativity awards on stages with Flecha and Nieve

    Unless I've missed something, nothing this year
    2011 EBH won two stages.
    Mea Culpa

    2010 was indeed the first Tour for Sky.

    Flecha took a combativity award that year

    Was that the Hoogerland crash stage or was that the following year?
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,217
    r0bh said:

    Bahrain Victorious were raided by Les Flics last night- it's just like the good old days!

    https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/police-raid-bahrain-victorious-hotel-at-tour-de-france/

    I assume there was some form of intelligence behind this as surely a random spot check would have been better focussed on UAE?
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,242

    Just reminding everyone not to take us back to those times

    Lance?
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,646
    neonriver said:

    First Tour since there founding that Ineos/Sky haven't won anything

    What did they win in 10 and 14?
    Ebh won a stage 2010?
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,646

    neonriver said:

    First Tour since there founding that Ineos/Sky haven't won anything

    What did they win in 10 and 14?
    Weren't in the race in 10

    11 and 14 they took combativity awards on stages with Flecha and Nieve

    Unless I've missed something, nothing this year
    Lol what year did ebh win a stage for them?
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406

    neonriver said:

    First Tour since there founding that Ineos/Sky haven't won anything

    What did they win in 10 and 14?
    Weren't in the race in 10

    11 and 14 they took combativity awards on stages with Flecha and Nieve

    Unless I've missed something, nothing this year
    Lol what year did ebh win a stage for them?



    2011 EBH won two stages.

    Correlation is not causation.
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    Pross said:

    r0bh said:

    Bahrain Victorious were raided by Les Flics last night- it's just like the good old days!

    https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/police-raid-bahrain-victorious-hotel-at-tour-de-france/

    I assume there was some form of intelligence behind this as surely a random spot check would have been better focussed on UAE?
    According to this https://theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/15/police-search-bahrain-victorious-hotel-and-team-bus-at-tour-de-france it was some other team making allegations...

    "In June this year, anonymous doping allegations against the team were made by rival team managers in Le Parisien, after the team took second place overall in the Giro d’Italia and also three stage wins in the Critérium du Dauphiné stage race, in the French Alps."
    Correlation is not causation.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,646
    Total speculation
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,741
    Surely not?
    Too easy if it is.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 13,200
    I'm enjoying the fact that they took training data as evidence. Like we're going to see a criminal conviction based on someone riding 6.6 w/kg for 15 minutes at a training camp :smiley:
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,741
    Pross said:

    r0bh said:

    Bahrain Victorious were raided by Les Flics last night- it's just like the good old days!

    https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/police-raid-bahrain-victorious-hotel-at-tour-de-france/

    I assume there was some form of intelligence behind this as surely a random spot check would have been better focussed on UAE?
    Whatever it was, I am sure it has nothing at all to do with Mark Padun's performance as that other ASO little number: the Critérium du Dauphiné.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,242
    Yikes
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,242

    I'm enjoying the fact that they took training data as evidence. Like we're going to see a criminal conviction based on someone riding 6.6 w/kg for 15 minutes at a training camp :smiley:

    Yes, measuring output in professional sports to determine doping seems rather stupid.
  • davep1
    davep1 Posts: 836
    I'm loving the Tour this year, and the Giro back in May. Even though the weather has been pretty cack, it makes me yearn for the pre Covid/Brexit days when you could just load up your car and head off anywhere you wanted in Europe... :'(
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196

    neonriver said:

    First Tour since there founding that Ineos/Sky haven't won anything

    What did they win in 10 and 14?
    Weren't in the race in 10

    11 and 14 they took combativity awards on stages with Flecha and Nieve

    Unless I've missed something, nothing this year
    2011 EBH won two stages.
    Mea Culpa

    2010 was indeed the first Tour for Sky.

    Flecha took a combativity award that year

    Should he manage it, does not Carapaz finishing on the podium count as something?
    (not much I know but.....)
    Isn't a podium worth a lot more than a few combativity awards?

    I have absolutely no idea who's won any combativity awards in this Tour, although I would guess at Schelling having won a couple as he was in the break loads earlier on.

    I couldn't tell you any combativity award winners in last year's Tour, but I can name the podium.
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,032
    davep1 said:

    it makes me yearn for the pre Covid/Brexit days when you could just load up your car and head off anywhere you wanted in Europe... :'(

    What? You can't?
    BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
    Instagramme
  • gsk82
    gsk82 Posts: 3,439
    pblakeney said:

    Remember when Dave Brailsford said Sky would win the Tour in 5 years and everybody laughed? How times change.

    He could say it now and we'd all laugh.
    "Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago