Tour de France 2026 ***Spoilers***

[Animo]

Renault ca

According to Innrng it's got a bit of a kick - steeper than the labelled 6ish % - around the Chaos de Coumély

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It's great fun coming back down that road. You can basically hold 40mph+ all the way and the bends are sweeping so you never have to brake.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I don’t see why sprint stages should now offer special protection for all against accidental time loss.

I think - but could be wrong - that the reason sprint stages are given special treatment is to encourage the GC riders to bugger off to the back and chill out while the sprinter nutters do their stuff. Whether that's true or effective I don't know.

 

[Pross]

Final climb could suit Remco or a similar rider with the climbing ability to handle the Tourmalet and then the ability to put down a constant high power. Of course, that also applies to Pog and Jonas too though.

 

[Legs]

When I went to the Pyrenees in 2000, we went all the way beyond Tentes to the Port de Boucharo on the Spanish border

which was a bit rough, but it seems that the road/track has really deteriorated since

My brother Matt (on the right) was scooping up snow from the side of the road and throwing snowballs at me.

 

[Dorset Boy]

I think - but could be wrong - that the reason sprint stages are given special treatment is to encourage the GC riders to bugger off to the back and chill out while the sprinter nutters do their stuff. Whether that's true or effective I don't know.

Which is why they have the 5 km rule now.
They therefore don't need 3 seconds as well as if the crash is inside 5 km they all get the same time as the fastest of the group they were in.

 

[mididoctors]

Race getting shaped by green jersey comp

 

[No Ta Doctor]

The whole race is a lottery. Historically the race is littered with bad luck incidents on the road. I don’t see why sprint stages should now offer special protection for all against accidental time loss.

Contrast yesterday with a mountain finish. A rider can be at the back of a file and leave a tiny gap at the line. Because of the slower speeds, this can easily end with a 1 second gap being called and cost the rider 20-30 seconds on GC.

I think the idea of a 2 second gap for all stages is a good compromise.

The point is to encourage safer riding. The issue for years now has been GC riders trying to minimise bad luck in getting caught up by crashes by riding at the front. On sprint stages this means it's elbows out with the big boys of the sprint teams and it's bloody crowded and ridiculously hectic and dangerous. Thus the 3km - and now 5km rule - an thus the removal of gaps by only counting 3" instead of 1". They want GC teams to piss off out of it and let the sprint teams do their thing. That's all.

In contrast, any serious GC rider that's at the back of the file on a mountain and lets a wheel go pretty much deserves the 20" seconds it's going to cost him - and if were his DS I'd either be finding our what was wrong with him or fining him a weeks wages for stupidity.

 

[Dorset Boy]

What time are they expected on the Tourmalet please?

 

[mididoctors]

Crash didn't happen in the sprint zone and it's not your fault and there's still to.little road to chase back

 

[mididoctors]

What time are they expected on the Tourmalet please?

16:30 CEST ( 3:30PM GMT) ISH top of tourmalet

So a hour to 50 mins earlier to base

 

[No Ta Doctor]

Three big engines in the break, but the sprint teams don't want to let Mads P take the sprint - at least not without a fight.
Tricky one for Campenaerts, in all honestly he should probably stop riding, even though they've got over a minute

 

[Blazing Saddles]

What time are they expected on the Tourmalet please?

They should start the climb about 2-50pm BST.

 

[mididoctors]

NSN trying to stop the team cars in

 

[mididoctors]

Here comes the team cars

 

[No Ta Doctor]

Looks like Huub Artz might have got a yellow card from the commis for illegal hand position on the bars. Long discussion with the race director car and not happy at all. That's what the Danish coms are suggesting anyway