My folks 100 acre place is about two miles northwest of the Baker Hotel as the crow flies. No flames on the property yet, but completely choked with smoke. Can’t even let the dogs outside for longer than a quick pee. We’ve had some close calls with wildfires in the last 15 years, but this one is ominous.
It’s a great watch. Five editions, four GC winners spanning five teams with the highest margin of victory being four minutes. Very competitive, suspenseful racing that is fun and compelling to watch.
I was at that show, too. Not a spectacular talent, but he seemed like a very genuine guy and the various iterations of his career always stayed in my ears. Gone too soon. RIP
Good to see Sepp handle today’s results with more aplomb than I could likely muster under the circumstances. Now get into Paris safely and then go fix that toof.
Great stuff! I can’t wait to get back and spend the whole month there. I’m retiring from “9-5” work next year and have the 2028 TdF circled, and hope that plan holds up. So envious, keep the pics and vids coming! Chapeau!
Totally. Don’t understand why they didn’t barricade everything to the left of the traffic island making a single route and taking it out of play. So much stupid today. Good on Tadej talking to both English and French media bringing up the 2am doping control as a possible contributor in the crash that took out Jonas.
Apologies to everyone who replied to my stupid post that was made in frustration after reading a bunch of nonsense. Tried to delete later, bit too late. I’ll fuck off back to West Texas for a while and let this race play out before I offer any more opinions on it. 😂
Not really sold on the Jonas/TVL “waiting for terrain that better suits us” before getting aggressive or even genuinely attempting to answer Pogacar’s accelerations and attacks. I don’t see where conceding over three and a half minutes after stage 11 is setting up your master plan to “get them right where you want them.” I know Jonas can’t come out and say “I’m racing for a podium spot,” but if he had only a minor response to the attack on Tourmalet and zero response in the Massif Central, how do you realistically expect to both drop Pogacar on the long climbs in the Alps and make up the current time deficit? Despite winning the Giro against a diminished field, he hasn’t been the same since the crash, Kuss is getting older and not same Sepp Kuss of 2023 and prior, Matteo isn’t showing the ability to provide legit support in the mountains, and their “big engine” riders can’t match UAE. Jonas admitted being close to retiring in 2025, and it shows. Pogacar is the complete opposite, and we saw that fury of revenge yesterday to avenge the last place he list to Jonas head to head. I would love to be wrong on all of this. The TVL body language looks morose and checked out.
This is playing out a lot like stage 4 from 2024 where Pogi dropped Jonas on the Galibier and put time into him on the descent for the finish in Valloire. Let’s see what happens on the final climb
Completely agree. Jonas cannot match Tadej’s explosive bursts, but he has great endurance at high altitude and long, brutal climbs. We’ve seen him close significant gaps to Tadej after being initially dropped on those types of climbs. I hope he can make it interesting.
What G650 said is true. This race isn’t far enough along to have revealed anything to make emphatic statements or conclusions. So much racing still ahead. When it comes to Tadej vs Jonas, there is enough history from prior races to know a couple things. Tadej is an all-round, monster cyclist who will be canonized as a cycling legend, perhaps joining or supplanting Eddy Merckx in the GOAT category when the dust settles. Jonas is a three week race specialist who will be remembered as a great grand tour racer who won all the grand tours. Tadej can do everything Jonas can do, but Jonas cannot do everything Tadej can do. Knowing that, I’m hoping for a surprise to shake up the Tour. I was thinking about this the other day. “What was the last thing that happened in the Tour de France that truly surprised or shocked you? For me, it was either 2020 with Roglic’s epic time trial collapse and Pogi’s first TdF win, or 2023 with Vingo’s stunning time trial to put the nail in Pogi’s coffin, crushing him by 98 seconds. What’s the last thing that surprised or shocked you in a recent Tour, or what surprise do you think could happen in this race?
