Whitewater Horn

Those numbers for Tadej and Jonas are just stupid. Yes, amazing advancements in sport science, nutrition & recovery, bicycle tech, etc have been made in the 25+ years since those climbing records were set by Pantani, but pushing that many watts for so long is….it’s something. That’s the main tragedy of the whole shit show. I’m sure the vast majority of these riders, especially the high talent, high confidence, big ego type guys like Tadej, Remco, MVdP, Wout, etc, want to beat their opponents straight up if they had their druthers. Smashing your rivals under your own power without the assist of a syringe or blood bag is real macho shit. When sponsorships and big money are involved, so will be the agendas of team owners, trainers, and DSs. I obviously cannot speak from experience, but I’m guessing the shady methods for fueling up and recovering isn’t usually happening at the behest of the athletes. And yeah, Tadej is so damn likable. I hope those bastards haven’t ruined him.

Exactly. By this time, we know all the players. If you choose to continue to follow and support the sport, then you shouldn’t expect that all of the tigers have changed their stripes. It’s still Saunier-Duval vs Rabobank, as well as others. The other problem at the ASO, UCI, WADA levels is that they had to take the blow back of Operacion Puerto and the “reasoned decision” to disqualify wins from the biggest winners and fan favorites in the sport. After trying to rebuild the image of cycling, it’s doubtful they want another scandal of that magnitude. Maybe I’m way off, but it feel like these organizations are much more aligned and make small, but public busts on lesser named riders. With the likability, popularity, and exposure of riders like Pogi, Remco, MVdP, Jonas, etc, you have to wonder how much of an organized effort is being made to not look l too closely at these incredible results and open Pandora’s box again.

Good. Today I saw one fan on the side of the road try to kick the shit out of a jackass trying to run up the road between a rider and a moto.

It’s pretty hard to know exactly what “on the up and up” is at this level of world tour cycling these days, and a rabbit hole of questions and doubt that can drive you crazy. A lot of these great performances certainly deserve examination and comparison to the filthiest era of the sport. Knowing that this sport, as well as all other athletic competitions with high stakes, are always looking for competitive advantages, both within and beyond the rules, I just can’t stop watching. I’m sure all manner of methods are employed, but watching these dudes go to battle like we’ve seen in this Tour so far messes with my “give a shit.” I promise to stop watching the sport if irrefutable evidence is revealed of pro cycling being actively involved in human trafficking or kicking puppies.

Another perfectly timed attack from Pogi. He waited for Jonas to get back in the saddle to settle and went. Jonas is cooked.

Questions answered. If Jonas can’t answer in kind tomorrow, or at least stay with Tadej, he’s gonna need one of those days where he gains minutes on a single stage. Perfectly executed by UAE and Pogi.

Man, that is some truth. The start of Pla d’Adet is demoralizing. And I did it in my 20s when I still lived over there. My son graduates next year and I promised to take him to Europe to ride some famous climbs and scenic routes. The “Circle of Death” area is cycling Heaven and at the top of his wish list. That ought to be a different experiment this time at my age. I’ve been thinking about Stage 14, and here’s some questions hopefully we’ll see answered: Will the team strength of UAE contribute to any measurable damage to Remco or Jonas? Will Remco stay with Pogi and Jonas in the Pyrenees? Can Pogi gap Jonas on the climbs to gain time on the descents and make it stick? Will Jonas take back some time or pass and put time on Remco and Pogi? (The finish favors Tadej if it’s close) What an incredible route for today and tomorrow!

What a great race so far, but poor Roglic really is the Battered Bastard of Bora.

Man, fuck thieves. Teams are going have to start hiring security or stand security watches on these big races since the organizers don’t seem to be helping with this.

Let those nuts hang, JV. We’re watching a cycling version of the tortoise and hare tale. Pogi keeps needlessly burning matches with that racing on instinct in the moment trying to be something akin to The Cannibal or The Badger. High risk, high reward, but also potential for high consequence. Jonas racing with intent and measured effort, with consideration that’s it’s a three week race with a hard third week. Gangster level confidence.

I felt that. Real shit. I can’t imagine the crazy scope of emotions from injuries like that to clawing Pogi back and eventually starting that sprint and gutting it out for a stage win. That has to be huge for the confidence of Jonas. He still has a bit of a team problem, though.

And Jonas initiated the sprint. So much for no balls and a supposed fear of Pogi.

Holy shit. What a stage!

Even in a low stakes effort to collect some leftover bonus sprint points, he still just can’t seem to maintain his line. Must be in his DNA.

I don’t know if I’m at the point of optimism for him being able to win yet, but I’m 100% impressed with where Jonas is so far. Coming into the Tour as his first race after broken clavicle, ribs, and collapsed lung, and a diminished Tour squad, I expected him to be more than five minutes down by this point, and likely struggling to make the final podium in Nice. Maybe it all catches up with him. Right now I love the way he’s racing. I also love that Remco is living up to the promise of being one of the men to beat in his first Tour. Cav, Bardet, Girmay - so much greatness in this race so far. Jasper still shut out and no sniff of the green jersey. I hope Jonas continues to progress and makes this an even more exciting race. After the last two years, you know Tadej wants to just *crush* Jonas and despite what he’s saying now, fully expected to have more than 1:15 on him after the first week. Can’t wait to see the reactions of RemPog if Jonas starts pulling tile back.

There’s a good reason Remco shaded Jonas, suggesting he doesn’t have the balls to race. Tadej said he thinks Jonas is afraid of him. These comments are in response to Jonas riding smart and calmly instead of trying to blow up the GC on Stage 9 with 70k to go without teammates. How Jonas goes for the rest of the race is unknown, but I think both Remco and Pogi know that if Jonas continues to improve, they need him to make a tactical mistake on the road if they’re not able to bury him with attacks. I don’t think it’s Jonas who’s afraid. This is an already an incredible Tour, and shaping up to have the potential of being legendary.

That’s true, it’s not ideal. There is a two hour window on the live broadcast for rewinding the coverage, so you would have to tune in within two hours of the start to go back to the beginning. However, the replays contain the full broadcast and are available shortly after each stage. That’s a good feature without a dvr option.

Also, if you’re looking for totally free, you can also check YouTube. Sometimes people with paid subscriptions to different platforms will put up pirate livestreams of big races. They may not be in English and may get rebooted, but they’re free.

Check their pricing. It’s only like $5.99/month and free for certain providers. Subscribe for one month and cancel. I think it’s well worth it for everything you get for the price.

Peacock. You can stream the NBC broadcast live, watch full replays of each stage, highlights, interviews, and other media. If you tine in late to the live stream, there is an option to play from the start of coverage. If you don’t want to watch it in English and have a VPN, there are other options.

Saunier-Duval Performance Potion.

He put those impressive TT skills on display to catch the Pogi/Jonas group. Having another of the Big 4 tied on GC time was another reason to feel more optimistic about this race. Can’t wait to see how he impacts the race, whether it’s GC or stage hunting. With LuLu out, it’s always good to have another aggressive instigator in the race.

Pretty sure Pogi and Jonas broke Roglic’s record for the San Luca. He just isn’t showing anything impressive so far. Jonas passed an important test today. This terrain was perfect for Pogi, and everyone, even Jonas and his team, expected to lose some time to Tadej. Not only did that not happen, UAE didn’t look that great. Stage 4 is Jonas’ terrain. Long, relentless climbs combined with altitude well above 2,000 meters. This is where he slowly destroys people by slowly and mercilessly turning the screws until dozens slip off the back and stay dropped. I think Pogi needs to do his best to stay with Jonas up the Galibier and pick his spots on short, punchy climbs at lower altitude. Too much to speculate on this early, but I was impressed by Jonas today and now more hopeful of a good race.

Sad to see Bardet lose the jersey, but it’s justice that he got to ride in it for a day. Pogi tried to punch Jonas in the mouth with one of those explosive attacks, but instead of staying in the saddle and gradually pulling him back like he usually does, he was immediately out of the saddle and answered with his own explosive acceleration. And had the good sense to work with Pogi. Very impressive. Also impressive for Remco and Carapaz to make it up to Pogi and Jonas and finish together. Not good for Roglic.