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Txzen

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Everything posted by Txzen

  1. Two back to back banger stages, minus all the flesh shredding. Yeesh. WvA may have been one of the loudest voices against the new route though Paris, funny as it was made for him. Glad to see him get the win, and what a freaking spectacle today. Gorgeous, awful, parcours.
  2. Two weird stages in a row. Jonas kind of waiting for Tadej to go off, but he didn’t/couldn’t. Jonas might have been able to take a stage win today - woulda/shoulda with hindsight and all. Great for them to be on the podium, and the team prize, but a stage win would have been nice.
  3. Ok, who had ‘diseased cow shorten the Tour stage’ on their bingo card? https://www.flobikes.com/articles/14407318-tour-de-france-stage-19-changed-because-of-infected-cattle
  4. Beast of a stage. Jonas and his team tried but I think they all are starting to run on empty. Good on Ben. He was featured in last years Netflix special, and came across as quite the head case. Seems to expend a lot of energy when not needed. But that was a career win for him for sure.
  5. Jonas looks so, so good. Wonder if there is anything to the rumor Tadej is a bit under the weather. It did seem strange that given the legs he seems to have he didn't try to cement his legacy with a win on that iconic climb. Or, maybe - just maybe - he's starting to feel the effects of all the racing and knows there is more hard climbs ahead.
  6. Freaking PTSD watching that. Definitely saw a few familiar roadside trees that I hugged on the way up, too afraid to clip out on the 10% grades. What a stage, what a climb. Gutted Ben ran out of gas on that last kicker but watching them trade blows all the way up was amazing.
  7. I've made many trips there, all unguided and planned personally. Frankly, I'm not a strong cyclist. Sure, I want to climb the Tourmalet, but then I want a duck confit and a glass of rose at the top. I'm not some savage. I have hotel and route recommendations if you want. I have history with Ventoux. It was the first climb I did in France, first trip, in 2011. Was very concerned my Northern California mountain training was insufficient, so we did Ventoux from Sault. For a base of operations, the amazing Hotel Les Florets in Gigondas would do nicely. The restaurant is reason enough to visit - I recall having a foie gras three ways set menu for 50EUR in 2011. Accommodations are not luxurious, but the location makes up for it. Gorgeous courtyard in which you can have a bottle of rose and house-cured olives while entertaining the many friendly stray cats pre-dinner. You look out at the Montmiral hills, with the amazing Chateau St. Cosme at the base of the hotel.
  8. No experience there but plenty in Avignon, Bedoin, Sault, Vaison-le-Romaine, Gigondas… in the other direction, Toulouse seemed lovely and a totally different city style for France. Hope you find your place! Had heard similar grumblings about Marseille.
  9. Old habits die hard. But Wout was pushing from the third group 2 min behind the winning move 12k out. Lunacy.
  10. What a wild stage. Great route and a chaotic start. Gutty performance by Alaphilippe today after the crash, dislocating his shoulder, popping it back in and sprinting for third. Some reports say he thought he was first as he celebrated, but I find that hard to believe as Campanaerts was just in front of them. Anyone see that median that the peloton crashed over? They are often cobbled but this one was like round baby-head river rocks embedded in cement. Why the peloton was taken through there at speed is a mystery. JV’s tactics looked suspect. Letting Jonas fend for him self to rejoin after the crash is one thing. Two guys up in the break working for 2nd and sprinting for 3rd when it seems to me they might want to save some energy for what’s to come, no?
  11. What a monster stage. Jonas looks great. Gritty performances all around. Shame for Remco. Tadej looked to be riding defensively - bring on Ventoux and the Alps. Is the dude with the antler helmet the same Jackass from a decade ago? Seem to remember him particularly at the Tour of California. Waiting for him to trip and spear a rider or a spectator. Would be happy to see the gendarmes take him to the turf…
  12. Wrong. The answer is orange.
  13. Some real choices out there - not sure how much any of them played out in such a short stage other than mental advantages. Solid rear wheel? Aero helmet? Aero bars? TT bike? Or Tadej’s road bike, no clips, no paint, no tape, death black. Jonas far and above the best rider out there not named Tadej. Though Tadej beating Remco at the first (flat) checkpoint…until we saw that Remco looked terrible.
  14. Holy crap - just saw an interview with Pogi where he says Narvaez had joked during the Dauphine about going all out on Hautacam. When they hit the base, Pogi’s mic was not working so he couldn’t tell him to slow down. So, you know, he just decided to go with it. WTF. I can’t think of a more entertaining racer in my life, who also appears to be gracious no matter the outcome.
  15. 12k from the top? That was nuts. And yeah, he looked like he went deep at the end. Interesting that the top 10 on the stage is drawing heavily from the white jersey standings. Will be cool to see those youngsters develop.
  16. Soulor-Aubisque. An impossible road with a precipitous drop and a few short, dark and very wet tunnels. Saint-Savin and the magical valley. First trip up Hautacam in 2011 when I was young, beautiful, and quite a bit more fit than currently. Apparently this photo was taken with a potato.
  17. Hope it doesn’t linger. This is sizing up to be a great Tour. Into my favorite valley tomorrow - stayed twice at a cycling lodge in Saint-Savin, just by Argeles-Gazost. Two trips there - did the Soulor (beautiful high alpine scenery) and Hautacam (unrelenting, ever changing gradient from Hell) twice. There are such beautiful little towns here, none in any guidebook. On the way back from the Soulor, we did a little jog through the same route the tour is taking thinking it was a shortcut to the lodge. It was a mistake and it added a little climbing we really didn’t want. But we passed through the town of Bun. A nothing town, blink and you miss it. Still remember the sound of my freewheel echoing off the old stone walls of the buildings as we whizzed through. Beautiful. https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZYQBY33qVNGc6u6k7 Hoping for fireworks tomorrow.
  18. Love that Ben Healey. Love EF too - great way to bounce back k from the loss of their leader right before the TDF. They’ve been more than animators. A little strange UAE let the yellow go - my guess is with the loss of two of their mountain dudes they didn’t want to spend matches today. Agreed that Jonas and Tadej look closer than ever, minus that TT performance.
  19. Spot on regarding the dangers, though it was a necrotizing fungal infection - not a bacterial one. https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/ehp.121-a116
  20. Big difference from the Dauphine TT to today. A month ago JV was the strongest. Not sure what happened today, but he better hope his climbing legs don’t fail him.
  21. Having watched most of the races this season, tadej often seems to lack a little explosiveness that he seemed to have prior as the season has gone on. He creates gaps and outlasts people. Maybe burning all those matches are catching up with him? He’s still got more fast twitch than JV, but I’ve been impressed how he’s been able to bring Tadej back. Could be shaping up to be a very fun Tour…
  22. Strange ‘professional’ stage. I want to blame the Jasper crash but even before there was not much going on. Not sure I can remember a stage where the jury decided against awarding a most aggressive…because nothing happened.
  23. Yes because Peacock sucks. There’s also that nice ‘processing’ delay after the race has concluded before you can watch the replay (15 min or more). I’ve also had the issue where I’m watching it delayed, hit pause for a break and come back to have the telecast ended forcing me to wait for them to re-post it. The TNT/Max coverage is just so much better, and not just because of my crush on Orla. Better analysis in the studio and on the bike, the ability to ‘watch from start’ with stage in progress, a preview box as you fast forward. God I hate Peacock. The only positive is VdV on the bike. Worthless nothing input from Perino, dull and basic ‘analysis’ in the studio.
  24. Remco at least woke up and was keeping with the likely 1-2 podium. Primoz continues to drift back with each acceleration. He’s not that guy, not this year.
  25. I liked seeing Jonas take some pulls at the front today to split the group in the crosswinds. Good stuff. Primoz may be a nice guy, but he totally lacks any killer instinct. Frankly, a dumb racer. Losing time on stage 1? Not great Bob.
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