Tour de France 2025

[Dogtrousers]

That's only the "Souvenir" Edition. For £5 extra (or at least that's what it was in WHSmith) you can also get the "Premium" Edition which has coasters instead of beermats and a pair of blue socks with Allez written on them in yellow. Bargain!

I didn't stop to see if there was a "Deluxe" Edition or anything else above that level that has different amounts of tat.

Oh no! You mean I actually purchased the better value tat. I want my tat to be a total ripoff. I'm gutted that I could have paid £5 more.

One year a friend of mine and I each paid €20 from a nice ASO lady at the roadside for a bumper bundle of TdF tat. We then proceeded to wear it all. Including T-shirts far to small for us, silly hats, wristbands and I can't remember what.

 

[steverob]

I have a feeling (though did not check) that there might be a Standard version of the magazine as well, e.g. one that's literally just the magazine and maybe the wallchart and doesn't even come in a box. But where's the fun in that!?

 

[M.R.M]

that reads like the sort of bollocks ChatGPT throws out.
no offence intended, lets agree to disagree

Except it's exactly what happened this Giro and what happened in the Hautacam stage in the Tour as Phreak posted. I guess analysis based on actual reality is not your cup of tea. 😛
I never understand why people enjoy watching things and don't want to understand them. To each his own of course. No offence intended. 😉😊

You really think that WVA can catch Pogacar, with Jonas in tow? What about on a major climb?
Maybe the two working in tandem could accomplish this feat. Not going to happen otherwise.
Actually, there is more evidence of Jonas being capable of doing that on his own.


Your post reads to me as if you are talking about the WVA we have only seen on one previous occasion.
So far this season, there has been little in his performances to indicate he is on course to replicate that form.

No, I don't think WVA can catch Pogacar on a climb. I don't even think it's guaranteed he can catch modern day Pog between climbs, however he was definitely able to catch 2021-2023 Pog in-between the penultimate climb and the final climb. That is where the tactics come into play. If it's just the final climb, it's a W/kg test between Pog and jonas. No one is helping there.
However, in the reality of the race with there being GC gaps, IF Pog needs to attack on the penultimate climb in order to make up theoretical 30-40-50 seconds on Jonas (in both of Jonas' Tour wins Pog shipped time and was forced to try and make it up, before exploding entirely for minutes), WVA can pull Jonas to the bottom of the last climb. They will either catch Pogacar on the way there or Jonas will massively limit his loss, because he can recover prior to the final climb, while Pog is riding all out.

WVA up ahead is also a significant deterrent to actually trying to attack to get back time for this very same reason as well.

I understand it maybe sounding all theoretical and war gamesy, but it did happen in this Giro and has been a staple of Jumbo tactics for years. 🤷‍♂️