2022 Tour de Francis

[Txzen 498]

Spectators who cause a crash should be put in the race director’s car, and thrown out at 35mph. 
 

What a Tour. TP seems to be fading. Race of truth will tell us. 

[Hornius Emeritus 12473]

On 7/16/2023 at 11:21 AM, G650 said:

It's way too short imo. But we are fixing to find out

It's short but that steep climb toward the end will be huge.  I wonder how many riders will change bikes during the TT.

[locodos 5387]

Dear Zoomers,

You traveled across France (or perhaps across your yard) to find a good spot to watch the tour!  The helos, crowds, flags, flares, motorcycles, cameras, team cars, impromptu roadside art, and cyclists wow it's quite the spectacle, no?!

PUT YOUR FUCKING PHONE DOWN AND LIVE IN THE REAL WORLD FOR ONCE!

The entire tour is televised.  If you looked up from the mini screen you have placed 4" from your nose it will be a lot better for you and everyone else.  The world streams live in 4k+

You'll leave the tour with shitty 15 second videos none of your friends will want to watch.  You are not going to be TICTOC famous for any media you upload.

You know who might become TICTOC famous?  The guy who didn't have a cell phone, but ran alongside the race leaders in a cape and bare assed.  I don't like that guy either, but you can be damned sure he's living a better life than you are by a country mile.  He's better than you, let that sink in.  Is this how you want to live your life?  A guy without a cellphone once said "Comparison is the thief of joy"  Write that down.

PS Everyone on social media hates you and you aren't good enough, not enough followers, not enough likes, and your phone is like 6 months old!

 

 

[G650 14267]

If I have one regret in life, it's that I missed my chance to be the guy with the giant asthma inhaler who ran after Chris Froome.

 

 

[locodos 5387]

5 minutes ago, G650 said:

If I have one regret in life, it's that I missed my chance to be the guy with the giant asthma inhaler who ran after Chris Froome.

 

 

I don't know how I missed that...  outstanding!

[Braff Zacklin 13627]

Truly LoLing here. Thank you, gents.

[Whitewater Horn 968]

On 7/16/2023 at 11:35 AM, G650 said:

Yeah it definitely can. I suspect we see a swing of multiple minutes up on the Loze though.

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. 

[tx ind 7013]

16 hours ago, G650 said:

If I have one regret in life, it's that I missed my chance to be the guy with the giant asthma inhaler who ran after Chris Froome.

 

 

this is awesome; someone following Contador with a massive steak would have been great as well.

[Jerry Callo 8705]

A stage like today's make one wonder . . . why Uno X's wind tunnel prefers penises.

[G650 14267]

Man, this is crazy. Really curious to see how this climb goes.

[Whitewater Horn 968]

Statement. 

[Jerry Callo 8705]

JV kicking all kinds of ass today.

[G650 14267]

Jesus.

[Captain Ron 12883]

I’m in a work meeting, but just here to say HOLY SHIT!!!

[Whitewater Horn 968]

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

[G650 14267]

Pog beat Wout, but he didn't look good. I think it's catching up with him, but we get the moment of truth on the Loze tomorrow. Pog has to attack now so should be fireworks.

[Jerry Callo 8705]

Should make the next couple days interesting.  Pogar will have to take some risks in the mountains if he has any chance.

[Horn Dogg 3926]

Jonas ride was suspicious, like motor doping level suspicious.

[Captain Ron 12883]

1 minute ago, Jerry Callo said:

Should make the next couple days interesting.  Pogar will have to take some risks in the mountains if he has any chance.

In pretty sure this is over

[G650 14267]

Jonas scared the shit out of me downhill. He got most most of the early gap with downhill and cornering.

Just now, Captain Ron said:

In pretty sure this is over

Yeah but it can be exciting still

[Captain Ron 12883]

2 minutes ago, Horn Dogg said:

Jonas ride was suspicious, like motor doping level suspicious.

[G650 14267]

Robbie McEwen was hammering all day a bike change was dumb. Looks like he was right. Sean Kelly thought the same.

[Whitewater Horn 968]

1 minute ago, G650 said:

Jonas scared the shit out of me downhill. He got most most of the early gap with downhill and cornering.

Yeah but it can be exciting still

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. 

[Horn Dogg 3926]

12 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

In pretty sure this is over

Agreed.  And we have someone as unlikeable as Froome in yellow.  

[G650 14267]

1 minute ago, Horn Dogg said:

Agreed.  And we have someone as unlikeable as Froome in yellow.  

 

Let's not get carried away here.

[Captain Ron 12883]

On 7/15/2023 at 7:46 AM, tx ind said:

 

Pog has never been faster than JV in a time trial at the end of a Grand Tour (per The Move). Found that surprising and interesting.

 

On 7/15/2023 at 7:54 AM, Horn Dogg said:

Yeah, but I can only think of 2 times they have raced against each other in a 3rd week TT.  In 2021, Pog had a 5 minute lead and was riding not to crash.  Jonas was racing to hold off Carapaz who was close in 3rd place.  Last year, Pog was out of gas from attacking to catch up all week (not to mention put himself in a hole chasing Roglic early in the Granon stage).  That’s kind of an aggy type stat.

This big ass crash delay sucks.

[Whitewater Horn 968]

11 minutes ago, G650 said:

 

Let's not get carried away here.

Jonas isn’t exactly charismatic, but lumping him in with Froome is pretty harsh, lol. 

[Horn Dogg 3926]

4 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

 

I’ll eat the crow on that one.  I didn’t expect Jonas to come out and blow him away.  

[Hornius Emeritus 12473]

WTF?  I like JV. Seems like a decent, low-key sort who lives to ride his bike.

[G650 14267]

 

[EastHorn 281]

6 hours ago, Horn Dogg said:

I’ll eat the crow on that one.  I didn’t expect Jonas to come out and blow him away.  

Yea I didn't expect it either.  For Jonas to pick up that much time when Tadej had a great ride is wild.  He was flying through the opening corners so I applaud the tenacity to go for it.  

[Whitewater Horn 968]

1 hour ago, G650 said:

 

I knew it was an incredible TT by Jonas, but was wasn’t sure if it was historic. Now we know. Vingo is a bad man. 

[idigTexas 2289]

I avoided this thread and any cycling news until I could watch the replay.  I just finished.  What a ride.  I thought Jonas would win it, but not like that.  The Tour isn't over, but that will certainly help his cause.  

[idigTexas 2289]

8 hours ago, G650 said:

Pog beat Wout, but he didn't look good. I think it's catching up with him, but we get the moment of truth on the Loze tomorrow. Pog has to attack now so should be fireworks.

Pog didn't look good?  He beat Wout, the third place finisher, by 1:13...over 22 kilometers.  He absolutely destroyed the rest of the field in spite of the bike change that everyone is criticizing.  If not for Vingo's historic ride, everyone would be talking about Pog's incredible performance.  They should be anyway.      

[Whitewater Horn 968]

1 hour ago, idigTexas said:

Pog didn't look good?  He beat Wout, the third place finisher, by 1:13...over 22 kilometers.  He absolutely destroyed the rest of the field in spite of the bike change that everyone is criticizing.  If not for Vingo's historic ride, everyone would be talking about Pog's incredible performance.  They should be anyway.      

I think I get what G650 is saying. Pog had a great time and a second place finish, but his aero discipline, position on the bike, and overall body language wasn’t the peak, powerful, focused, and relentless Pogacar we expect to see. There was great effort there, but lacking the focus and savagery you see when he’s “on.”  

Edited July 19, 2023 by Whitewater Horn

[Horn Dogg 3926]

2 hours ago, Whitewater Horn said:

I knew it was an incredible TT by Jonas, but was wasn’t sure if it was historic. Now we know. Vingo is a bad man. 

Jumbo Juicy!

[Txzen 498]

10 hours ago, Horn Dogg said:

Jonas ride was suspicious, like motor doping level suspicious.

I mean, there’s always going to be a question of how clean the peloton is. On the other hand, with all due respect, GTFOH with that weak-ass shit. 

[Firemans4Horn 18117]

Is this like a top 3 ride of the last 20 years? Pogacar is incredible and dusted the rest of the field today and Vingegaard went Vince Young Rose Bowl on him. 

[G650 14267]

10 hours ago, idigTexas said:

Pog didn't look good?  He beat Wout, the third place finisher, by 1:13...over 22 kilometers.  He absolutely destroyed the rest of the field in spite of the bike change that everyone is criticizing.  If not for Vingo's historic ride, everyone would be talking about Pog's incredible performance.  They should be anyway.      

 

What @Whitewater Horn said. His numbers obviously pretty good, but his face and body language were not. Sunday he looked pretty rough too.

[G650 14267]

Got my shirt out for today

 

[idigTexas 2289]

1 hour ago, G650 said:

 

What @Whitewater Horn said. His numbers obviously pretty good, but his face and body language were not. Sunday he looked pretty rough too.

Fair enough.  From where I'm sitting, Pog has always had a talent advantage, but Vingo has better form and discipline.  The talent advantage is often enough, but in a time trial, form matters.  Pog is a talented beast, and if he ever perfects his form he'd be unbeatable.  Or maybe the missed weeks of training due to the wrist injury are starting to take a toll.  

[G650 14267]

29 minutes ago, idigTexas said:

Fair enough.  From where I'm sitting, Pog has always had a talent advantage, but Vingo has better form and discipline. 

 

The thing you have to remember is the Jonas has reportedly the second highest VO2Max ever recorded, as a 17 year old no less, so I'm not so sure about that. Pog to me is just a pure racer, his mentality is his biggest weapon. Obviously crazy talent too, but the way he rides I think is what makes him great.

 

30 minutes ago, idigTexas said:

  Or maybe the missed weeks of training due to the wrist injury are starting to take a toll.  

This has been my concern.

[idigTexas 2289]

7 minutes ago, G650 said:

 Pog to me is just a pure racer, his mentality is his biggest weapon. Obviously crazy talent too, but the way he rides I think is what makes him great.

And sometimes not so great.  I'm personally glad that he rides the way he does, because it is fun as hell to watch, but it takes a toll.  

[G650 14267]

Oh no doubt, that's why I love him. Dude is wildly entertaining and just loves racing his bike. It's awesome.

[Horn Dogg 3926]

9 minutes ago, G650 said:

 

The thing you have to remember is the Jonas has reportedly the second highest VO2Max ever recorded, as a 17 year old no less, so I'm not so sure about that. Pog to me is just a pure racer, his mentality is his biggest weapon. Obviously crazy talent too, but the way he rides I think is what makes him great.

 

This has been my concern.

I’ve heard the same thing.  Pog measures around 90 and Jonas around 97.  Bernal was around 92 a couple years ago.

Where it doesn’t add up for me on yesterdays TT is how a little skinny climber can outmuscle a guy like WVA (and Tadej who is a mini WVA) on the flat like he did.  

[idigTexas 2289]

Just now, G650 said:

Oh no doubt, that's why I love him. Dude is wildly entertaining and just loves racing his bike. It's awesome.

I couldn't agree more.  He's Sagan with GC chops.  

[G650 14267]

3 minutes ago, Horn Dogg said:

Where it doesn’t add up for me on yesterdays TT is how a little skinny climber can outmuscle a guy like WVA (and Tadej who is a mini WVA) on the flat like he did.  

I don't think he did actually, I think it was his cornering and descending. He was hitting the apex so close it was terrifying. Apparently he did a huge recon of the course awhile back specifically for that.

[G650 14267]

Shit just heard Simon Geschke is out the back. Caveman beards everywhere are gutted.

[Horn Dogg 3926]

2 minutes ago, G650 said:

I don't think he did actually, I think it was his cornering and descending. He was hitting the apex so close it was terrifying. Apparently he did a huge recon of the course awhile back specifically for that.

WVA has about 30-40 lbs on Jonas and is a 3X world cyclocross champion.  Being on the same team and being a guy that likes to win TdF TT’s, I’m sure he did the same level of recon.  

[G650 14267]

5 minutes ago, Horn Dogg said:

WVA has about 30-40 lbs on Jonas and is a 3X world cyclocross champion.  Being on the same team and being a guy that likes to win TdF TT’s, I’m sure he did the same level of recon.  

Could be, but watching those two yesterday, Jonas probably gained 50 seconds in the turns alone. About 1 or 2 k into it you could see some shit was going down.