S*** Small Races Thread - 2022

1…78101213…44

Comments

  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    Richie Porte heading for a dnf too.
    Sosa being brought back
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,165
    blazing_saddles said:

    Richie Porte heading for a dnf too.
    Sosa being brought back

    did Porte crash?
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    kingstongraham said:

    blazing_saddles said:

    Richie Porte heading for a dnf too.
    Sosa being brought back

    did Porte crash?
    Believed to be sick.
    Pidcock, Porte and Plapp too.
    Another Ineos conspiracy cooking.


    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • ocdupalais
    ocdupalais Posts: 4,317
    Dorset_Boy said:

    RichN95. said:

    blazing_saddles said:

    While in Catalunya, the stage

    And they go through a town called Argeles sur Mer where we used to go to on family holidays when I was a kid. I'm going back there in June.
    RichN95. said:

    blazing_saddles said:

    While in Catalunya, the stage

    And they go through a town called Argeles sur Mer where we used to go to on family holidays when I was a kid. I'm going back there in June.
    I spent a summer working just inland from there at Palau del Vidre, working at the restaurant L'Anciene Ecole. It's still running I think. Lovely part of the world.

    Le Perthus on the Spanish border used to be a duty free town and we used to go there to buy cheap Spannish gin to fuel the G&Ts we had in our water bottles in the kitchen!

    There was a nice cafe in Elne too and Colliore is really pretty.

    Palau had a pretty good rugby league team too, and got to the regional cup final that year. The whole village went along, and it was a real grudge match, with a couple of sendings off.

    Ooh luvly. One of my fav parts of France. Did some formative cycling around Maury and St Paul de Fenouillets - but might be a bit far inland if you’re just thinking of drinking yourself silly on the beach. Gorge de Galamus is a nice ride/drive - and the road up to Château Queribus for bird’s eye views is a solid 15% for about 1km IIRC…
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,165
    Going really fast - feels like there might be echelons a coming.

    More climbing earlier - a Euskaltel rider tried to cut a corner and found himself in the wrong carriageway on a motorway. Needed to climb over the crash barrier.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    Echelons in Catalonia.

    Quintana is basically a crosswinds specialist these days.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    Yates's boys and the motorbike doing well to limit his losses, but it's going to be about 30 seconds...
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    Yates looses 32" but win the stage with Groves.
    Woods and Hindley also loose the same time.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,165
    BikeExchange should buy the camera bike rider a beer tonight.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    edited March 2022
    Today's route finishes atop the often used, but rarely decisive, La Molina. Nevertheless, this one is important to the GC outcome.




    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    It’s not looking good for Tom Dumoulin.
    He’s about to quit the race:
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • JimD666
    JimD666 Posts: 2,293
    Gone. Mike Mathews not far behind by the look of it
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    So Simon Yates got slapped with a 20 second penalty yesterday.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    So, the rest left Ben O'Connor go up the road and they never saw him again.
    Instead they all danced the La Molina and waited for the inevitable sprint, which UAE's next Tadej Pogacar, Juan Ayuso, won from Old Stone Face and Sergio Higuita.
    Valverde continues to look off colour, languishing in 18th.


    Meanwhile, Ineos bossed today's stage of Coppi e Bartali, with Ethan Hayter taking the win, Ben Tulett in third and Eddie Dunbar taking the overall race lead.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,165
    I like watching O'connor win - he just went for it.
  • bm5
    bm5 Posts: 586
    S Yates looked unwell but he did finish the stage.

    Agree it was good to see O'Connor hold on for the win.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    Today would probably be considered the Queen stage as the second, consecutive mountain finish is the tougher (though not particularly difficult) climb.





    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 7,572
    bm5 said:

    S Yates looked unwell but he did finish the stage.

    Agree it was good to see O'Connor hold on for the win.

    Sounds like he won't be starting today.
    There's a lot of sickness in the pro peloton at the moment.
  • JimD666
    JimD666 Posts: 2,293
    Knew Michael Mathews was looking decidedly green yesterday but hadn't realised he'd actually stepped off.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,165
    JimD666 said:

    Knew Michael Mathews was looking decidedly green yesterday but hadn't realised he'd actually stepped off.

    Masnada, Dumoulin, Matthews, DeGendt (plus 3 others) dnf yesterday, plus kwiatkowski dns.

  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    Gastric flu someone said ?
    "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
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,165
    Yates confirmed out - Bike Exchange say it was a non-covid illness he already had before the race


    Pieter Serry and Corbin Strong also dns

  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,165
    Sivakov the latest to withdraw
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,165
    Couple of strong climbers in the break up the road today. Only being allowed 2:30.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    Coverage is a shambles with DePanne commentary
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,165
    blazing_saddles said:

    Coverage is a shambles with DePanne commentary

    Haha - I hadn't even noticed. Shows how closely I was paying attention. I did notice Carlton wasn't on though.

    The Swedish commentary is of the right race.
  • JimD666
    JimD666 Posts: 2,293
    I'm honestly surprised when all the Commentary is spot on from the first minute.

    I get it can't be easy to ensure that the right commentary (Race and Language) is attached, considering the shear volume of their output, but they should at least pick up the errors much faster than they do.
  • JimD666
    JimD666 Posts: 2,293
    That should cheer everyone up. CK is back :)
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,165
    JimD666 said:

    That should cheer everyone up. CK is back :)

    To be fair, it only took 25 minutes for them to work out he was just chortling to himself.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,726
    I am 5 minutes behind now…
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.

Categories