Whitewater Horn

Yep, Pog is gonna have to turn himself and Yates inside out tomorrow trying to break Jonas. We already know that he can gap him with that explosive acceleration, but hasn’t been able to break him. If he has to do that more than a few times on the Loze, that is going to be destructive to himself. The pressure is all on UAE, and I hope they make it exciting. What a race so far.

And Pogacar had an amazing ride. That was something special from Jonas. Somewhere Roglic is smiling.

Statement.

This. The Col de La Loze is a true monster of a climb. It’s a long ass slog before even reaching the start of the brutal part once you get above Meribel. Aside from the altitude, the gradient on the last 7k is almost constantly changing, disrupting any kind of sustained rhythm. Oh yeah, throw in a 20% wall a few k from the end and another short steep pitch before the line. There will definitely be selections made, and it’s going to be a blast to watch it go down. Hopefully the weather is clear enough to give us those incredible views from high in the Savoie. Full Bart Scott.

Fucking idiots. How much more close to the riders do you need to be? That shit is so dangerous and hopefully that doesn’t end up putting any riders out. Those things are hard to forget. Besides the recent ones like “sign lady,” I still vividly remember Thor Hushovd in a sprint finish wearing the yellow jersey getting lacerated by a spectator holding out one of those green PMU fans, and of course that Armstrong guy getting his handlers snagged on a spectators cheap musette in the way up Luz Ardiden. Kinda surprised we haven’t seen any significant jackassery or race interference involving drones.

That is so much more accurate and succinct point than my dumb, long-winded ass is capable of making.

This something that boils my blood about this tribalism based around MAGA and the new brand of conservatism embraced by much of the mainstream Republican Party. My family has a long history of adoption and involvement in the Texas foster care systems across several generations. I even adopted my own children out of foster care and have been heavily involved in advocacy and volunteer activities for almost 15 years. Unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot of the horrors of child abuse and neglect up close. Some of those things have required a good deal of therapy to keep from going full psycho vigilante on these monsters. My own daughter suffered unspeakable and rage inducing abuse and neglect for the first five years of her life. A part of my heart will be forever broken after a single reading of her case file. I’ve done my damndest to make her feel safe and loved, to try to be a living example of a good man and positive role model. She just graduated high school in May and is more happy and well adjusted that I dared to dream 15 years ago. But part of me still screams and rages for what her first five years of life were like for her The point I was getting to is that I’ve seen these victims and the criminal perpetrators close up and often for many years. The majority of people abusing kids do not fit the narrative being pushed by Qanon and MAGA. It’s complete deflection. So many of these pieces of shit try to hide behind phony Christianity and phony patriotism. It’s maddening that this nonsense has any traction at all.

Oh, for sure. I’ve known some of them and distanced them from my life when I knew they were actually bought in. I think the majority of these easily fooled and even easier led are just going through the motions to be “on the team.” They’re not the kind of people who make an effort to genuinely educate themselves or do any substantial research, they just want to stay current on the talking points and “what are we outraged about this week”. When I’ve engaged with these people and press them to support their claims, the common response is, “well, that’s what I heard.” They don’t really have many actual beliefs or well-informed opinions they can support with facts or knowledge. They have the narrative that was provided to them.

What’s even more disturbing to me is that I don’t think most of them actually believe it. When they’re alone and not online, they know it’s bullshit, but it’s bullshit necessary in furthering a particular narrative that fits their brand of political and social tribalism. Just like the election nonsense, it doesn’t need to be true. It just needs to fit the wishful thinking groupthink to have a rallying point around which to fling their shit. It’s delusional, self righteous fantasy fueled by tribalism run amok to push the notion that people they don’t agree with, like wealthy liberals, Democrats, and “Hollywood” (not sure if it’s only actors & producers, of if it goes all the down to PAs, caterers, etc), are the principal consumers of sex trafficked kids and women. You don’t have to do extensive research of arrests and convictions involving trafficked and abused children to see the factually ridiculous nature of that assertion. A soon as I started seeing “advertising” about this movie on twitter, I could sense where this was going.

Now that’s a podium!

I love days like today where the riders (and the television coverage) can see the finishing climb for literally hours before reaching it.

That’s the biggest difference in their respective abilities, IMO. That went down down pretty much as I expected. Shorter climbs like that where Pog can make those attacks suit him well. Jonas benefited last year from a more protracted climb at higher altitude and having the relentless tag team attacks from himself, Roglic, and G when Pog was isolated. Hopefully this race stays close in the Alps. Pog is such a beast.

Looks like one more vicious acceleration from Pog will bury Jonas.

Surely Pidcock will make a go for it at some point.

Hell yeah. Great win a very respectable acceleration in the last 500m to drop Jorgensen and finish emphatically.

That’ll do it! Wow.

Woods comin’!

How strange to see a leader climb up the Puy with no spectators save for the occasional gendarme. Like he’s on a training ride or going for a Strava KOM.

Somebody is going to get a legendary win. There’s a legit possibility it could be an American. The race for the stage win will be fun, then we get the GC fight. Epic day.

What an incredible piece of art. I figured he would have something on the bike referencing his granddad and the 1964 Tour. Also, I’m more than a little surprised that the peloton is going let the break go all the way. Finishing on the Puy-de-Dome is such a rare event that gives someone the opportunity to add something truly special to their palmares. I thought for sure one of the GC favorites, or even someone like an Alaphilippe or WVA, would be very determined to win the stage today.

Absolutely. Some of the most intriguing Tour moments outside of the high mountains have gone down on the Puy. Always a must see live stage for me. The non cycling people in my life have already been notified that I will be unreachable until after noon. LFG.

I love it when the Tour goes through the Massif Central, especially the Chaines des Puys area. Anytime the Puy-de-Dome is involved, I will always think of Eddy Merckx being fucking assaulted by a spectator on that climb. I think about that quite a bit when the riders have to climb through the insane throngs of fanatical and inebriated fans on narrow mountain roads. Hope it’s an exciting stage with minimal roadside jackassery.

These days you definitely want to do your best to at least preplan travel, transportation, and lodging. When I lived over there between ‘89-‘94, we did some planning, but were able to get away with improvising much of our itinerary and lodging/camping. It wasn’t uncommon to make friends along the way who would put us for a night or two. When I started going back over on occasion starting in 2001, I plan as much as I can as far in advance as I can. I’m eyeing a return in 2025 when my teenage kids will be young adults and can really appreciate Europe.

That was a real head scratcher. I know it’s his first TdF, but he’s a grand tour winner. Maybe he’ll make it interesting.

Disappointing and concerning that Pogacar barely twitched when Jonas took off. Nice bunny hop, Sepp.