Tour de France 2026 ***Spoilers***

[M.R.M]

Does the MvdP surge burn up his sprinter, or does Philipsen just not have the form atm?

 

[Pross]

Does the MvdP surge burn up his sprinter, or does Philipsen just not have the form atm?

Think he came off the wheel too soon into a headwind (from what McEwan said).

 

[mididoctors]

Does the MvdP surge burn up his sprinter, or does Philipsen just not have the form atm?

Later and a bit of both

 

[mididoctors]

Stage 8 Périgueux>Berge 180.4 km

Most important thing about this stage is it goes past what was my house
Small.roads . Harder than it looks heavy roads
Should be a sprint . Rollout 13:15 CEST

Go past all the palaeolithic caves and interglacial city

 

[Dorset Boy]

MvdP hit the wind too early (600+ to go) yesterday into the headwind, and then he dropped of Jasper too far out (250+ to go) with the others still in their wheels.

 

[Blazing Saddles]

At least today’s stage is a lot more scenic than yesterday.
Odd that it heads South again though.
Bergerac to Périgueux not an option?

 

[mididoctors]

At least today’s stage is a lot more scenic than yesterday.
Odd that it heads South again though.
Bergerac to Périgueux not an option?

How do you get two towns close enough together to pay for a start finish .?

 

[Blazing Saddles]

How do you get two towns close enough together to pay for a start finish .?

Dunno.
But I would have thought reversing this route was the better option.
May have been an accommodation issue.

 

[No Ta Doctor]

At least today’s stage is a lot more scenic than yesterday.
Odd that it heads South again though.
Bergerac to Périgueux not an option?

TBH, they're not really heading anywhere, it's less than 50km between the towns - they've ridden it as an ITT before. They are taking a step over toward the Massif Central though, sneaking up on Tuesday's Bastille day disappointment for the French stage, where they'll go up Colin's Pert Arse near the end

 

[Dogtrousers]

Bastille day disappointment

 

[No Ta Doctor]

Stage 8 Périgueux>Berge 180.4 km

Most important thing about this stage is it goes past what was my house
Small.roads . Harder than it looks heavy roads
Should be a sprint . Rollout 13:15 CEST

View attachment 814561

View attachment 814562
Go past all the palaeolithic caves and interglacial city

View attachment 814563

Also goes fairly close to where my mate's dad lived, near Issegeac, just off the N21 South of Bergerac. A little further south in Castillones was where I first drank Belgian beer as a teenager.

 

[No Ta Doctor]

To be fair, they've rather sensibly avoided making this a massive MTF on an HC for once. There are some big Cat 1s en route but this is very much looking like an epic breakaway stage rather than a GC fight. It might throw them up a French winner, which would be the first since Barguil in 2017. The last French Bastille winner pre Barguil was David Moncoutié in 2005.

Their worst Bastille day was probably when Tom Pidcock won on Alpe d'Huez in 2022. That or Froome running up Ventoux in 2013.

 

[Dogtrousers]

There are some big Cat 1s en route but this is very much looking like an epic breakaway stage rather than a GC fight.

So Pog then.

 

[mididoctors]

My Ghost of 1991to.1995 is 8 km into the stage at st Pierre de chignac, just to South of name on official map there's a d4 route symbol ...house under that I judge

 

[Exlaser2]

There is surely an element of it being boringly predictable, but there's also an element that this is professional cycling. A sport that throughout its entire history has been associated with people cheating to gain an advantage. Now, we have a quantum leap in overall speeds across the peloton, and a guy smashing times up all the climbs, all while dominating every kind of race in a manner never seen before. Oh, and he's in a team run by Gianetti.

Totally agree.