Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2016
A lot has happened in the last ten years of le Tour, and a lot of it stemmed from the race that took place in 2006. At the time it seemed like yet another “Tour of Redemption” as the organisers liked to claim every few years after something had happened to tarnish the race’s image, yet again. In 06, we were coming off the back of a seven year reign of very little in the way of competition, with most of those races decided in the Prologue and followed by a three week procession. 06 was anticipated as the start of a new era, we just didn’t know at the time how significant it would become many years further down the track.
The pre-Tour build-up had fans frothing with anticipation of an Ullrich vs Basso battle, but that was scuppered at the 11th hour by Operacion Puerto, just what incoming Director Christian Prudhomme didn’t need. Also ditched were Fransisco Mancebo, a young Alberto Contador (yet to be considered a GC contender), and one Alexandre Vinokourov (while not one of the Puerto accused, still unable to start as most of his Astana teammates were pulled, leaving him without a sufficient team). With the two favourites out, the race was anyone’s for the taking. Of course, there was more drama to come.
A crazy break was let go and produced a surprise leader in Oscar Pereiro, who then conceded the yellow to Floyd Landis, who then blew to bits and handed it back to Pereiro, before making the biggest comeback since Lazarus the next day and riding away from the race in a solo effort that still ranks as one of the best ever, no matter how juiced he was. I remember watching the stage live and talking to a mate on the phone, and his incredulity at what we were witnessing. As Landis drank with the fervour of an alcoholic and manically poured water over his head during his escapade, my friend (an ex-road racer at a high level himself) professed that Landis was “cooking” from some sort of drug cocktail and was doing his best to dilute whatever concoction he’d taken, and not blow a positive or do a Tommy Simpson on live tv. How prophetic his words proved.
Of course, that was just the beginning, and the resulting fallout became one of the biggest sporting stories of all time. Landis just about brought down the entire sport with his revelations, and no Tour since has been without some form of scuttlebutt, yet not on that scale. The last few years, while tame by comparison to those preceding them, have been pretty well dominated by each winner and not offering too much in the way of exciting competition; although last year’s end result was closer on paper than the actual race was… which once again leaves us in the same state of anticipation that grips us every year in the month leading up to the start, and then promptly lets us down about two weeks after that, and wondering when the Vuelta starts.
This Tour has all the hallmarks of potentially being a great one, with three guys who have to be considered genuine contenders, yet just one who is most likely to win. We really do need a positive test to liven this one up, or someone to juice themselves so comprehensively that the motor in their seat-tube can’t handle the power from their legs and melts the carbon around the bottom bracket and drops onto the road at the summit of Mont Ventoux. Maybe try and blame it on a chimera twin that drank too many whiskeys the night before and left their bike in the team truck with a bag of someone else’s piss strapped to it. That would bring the crowds back. But seriously, if each of the contenders is on form, we could have one of the best races of the last ten years with some real proper drama played out on the roads, not in the labs or courts and not two, three or seven years from now.
We’re giving you plenty of time to ponder the possibilities, and maybe come up with your own hare-brained scenarios as to what may unfold, or what will most likely bring you those precious VSP points and the honour of wearing the Maillot Jaune for the next year. Will you be daring and go out on a limb that doesn’t resemble that of an anorexic spider? Will you take short odds on a short-ass? Will you stake your claims on claims of a steak? Or will you tear yourself apart with internal conflict like a couple of bitchy Italians?
Whatever you do, there is absolutely no excuse to Delgado this one, we’re giving you plenty of time and it’s not like you can claim you didn’t realise that the race was this week… and don’t whinge if this Start List changes before the racing gets underway, it is provisional after all. Good luck and may the best, or second best, man win.
[vsp_results id=”49193″/]
@piwakawaka
27
Those are some pretty big GC time gaps for stage 1. Froome & Quintana have 10+ seconds already.
@The Grande Fondue
Barguil has 20 seconds on them all at 3′.
First Class Cav at podium and i’views with daughter and today just flat out looking good in yellow. Love the yellow bar tape. Nice and simple. He smashed the sprint. Coming around world champ like that? Wow. Something to be said for track training hey? What a cool cat.
@fignons barber
Geraint went down as well, both are OK.
@Randy C
Agreed. That as a masterclass in sprinting from Cav yesterday. Perfect positioning and timing. He’s still got it. And, on the podium he wore a proper cap! Dignified and respectful in the interviews later too – I hope he holds it for a few days.
This was bit confusing today as 1km before finish peloton was supposed to be still 1 minute behind the breakaway (in fact it was the group with Cavendish who lagged 1.06 min. at the time) and even Sagan thought that he is sprinting for the 3rd.
Great job by Kreutziger who pulled Sagan into the last segment and what a superiority by Peter at the finish line! If nothing happens the green jersey should be secured from now.
What a pleasure to be Slovak these days!
@Oli
I know, I was just pointing out to Denti when the last time that was.
@wiscot
Thinking exactly the same thing! Cav gave a master’s class in sprinting Stage One and Three, while being a good ambassador for cycling. And my god, say what you like about Cav’s personlity, watching him go head-to-head with Greipel, Kittel and beat them at the line. It was good viewing*.
* Even if I’m already really tired of Ligget. God bless NBC and their 5-hours plus of HD coverage, but really, Ligget, reminds me of my 80-year old mother and needs to retire.
@RobSandy
How about Contador? That replay of his crash made me cringe; hit the pavement and slide into the curb at 40-50kph. That road rash was nasty. Then, he starts the next day and crashes again on the same shoulder and starts Stage Three. He is one tough motherfu####. You know he will finish the tour if possible.
@Minnesota Expat
Have you seen the footage taken from the inside of the corner? Brutal…no doubt I’d be in the car after that.
@wiscot
@Minnesota Expat
I’ve watched the stages on a France 2 feed through Steephill.tv I just can’t do Phil and Paul anymore. At the end of stage 1 Grandpa Phil thought Cav had won but that it would go to the photo to decide. Really? It was pretty fuckin’ obvious who won – by almost a bike length. Now stage 3 – that needed the photo to decide. Added to that he can barely focus on more than two riders at once.
@Mikael Liddy
What’s crazy about that is that he has a shoulder left! Riders have snapped collarbones in far less nasty crashes. That collarbone should have snapped like a twig. I’m not the biggest AC fan, but he has my full respect for keeping going.
Hoo-wee! Some damn fine sprinting going on in this Tour! Another cracker today on what looked like quite a nasty uphill drag to the line.
@Mikael Liddy
Yeah, saw that. And NBC had a good shot right after the crash of Contador’s right shoulder. It looked like a pound of ground chuck. What were they doing, 50kph+?, he loses his front wheel, goes down, slides on the pavement, hit’s the curb and bounces over it to the other side of the median? He jumps up, grabs his ride, and takes off? Only to do a bike change a kilometer down the road? WTF? Dude.
@wiscot
I caught that too, was he even watching? I rewatched that and he was focused on Kittel, Sagan and Greipel, didn’t even acknowledge Cav accelerating and passing all of them until after they’d all crossed the finish line. Cav by a bike length.
@Minnesota Expat
Yeah, Grandpa Phil just has a hard time keeping up with what’s happening. Maybe there’s a horse-racing commentator who’d like a change of scenery? I know it’s all happening in real split-second timing, but Sherwen seems to sit back and let Phil bollox it up. I swear, sometimes you think he’s on some kind of time delay.
@wiscot
I’d wondered too why they let Liggett call the finish/sprint. His history and laconic delivery is color commentary, it isn’t suited to calling the Kentucky Derby, or a sprint finish including Kittel, Greipel, Cavendish and Kristoff. He just can’t keep up. His calling the finish is either professional deference by his peers, or contractual. Sherwen would be much better, he’s still quick and knows his stuff.
@Minnesota Expat
Pretty sure it’s contractual. We have 2 brilliant commentators that work beautifully together in Matt Keenan & Robbie McEwen, but they get subbed out with about 40-50k to go & we get PnP’s call for NBC, meaning every time Paul gives a measurement, Phil has to give the miles as well.
@Mikael Liddy
I’m loving the Keenan-McEwen combo, and would even more if Keenan would work harder on his awful pronunciation. I thought it was just because of his broad Aussie accent but Robbie does a fantastic job and he sounds just as Ocker.
Dang, these guys are hauling the mail in these sprints. The watts per kg have got to be off the charts for Coquard who looked like he was about to break his bars while reeling in Kittel. Two photo finishes in two days might help distract all these people who’ve been whining about the length of the stages.
By the way, anybody who counts out Contador is on a fool’s errand. I hope he rocks it in Stage 5 tomorrow.
@oldensteel
I know, right? What finishes!! I love that Kittel and Degencobble always wind up on the ground after a good sprint, but Greipel, Cav, Kittel, and the Cooked Chicken were all completely on their limit in both finishes, giving everything. If Coquard had gone in a straight line, he’d have won. Fucker did twice the distance in the finish than anyone else!
@Mikael Liddy
Also just him causing the crash; he just overstreered. Bummer.
@wiscot
Totally. Might be a positive sign of less doping; what limited understanding I have suggests that some of the popular techniques lower bone density…
@chris
I love my jawbreakers but have struggled a bit with them on the cap; I like Cav’s choice to flip them upside down like we do when they go in the helmet. Nice pull.
@Mikael Liddy
Finally in the UK they’ve got rid of them – the main coverage is now Ned Boulting and David Millar, with the post-stage analysis from Gary Imlach and Chris Boardman. Millar is very good and gives plenty of insight into what is really going on.
I don’t have to avoid ITV any more.
@ChrisO
Agreed. The last couple of years I was watching illicit Eurosport feeds for the race, then ITV4 for the post-race coverage. But now it’s Boulting and Millar, it’s fantastic.
I never had Ned Boulting pegged as a commentator – more of a pundit – but thus far he’s been great. And Millar’s colour commentary is fantastic (but I have an immense love of Mr. Millar, so I’m pretty biased on that one).
@Oli
I guess you pick up a thing or two when you live in Flanders for your whole career.
Nibali dropped!
Long way to go but did anyone have GVA in their top 5?
@RobSandy
Tactical I reckon.
He’s dropping time so he can either go for a stage win later, or be allowed to go up the road in a break and be there for Aru.
He knows it’s too big an ask to compete for GC in the Tour after winning the Giro.
@ChrisO
Not impossible. Glad I chose not to pick him and went for Aru.
I’d like to know what went on tactically today to let the breakaway get so much of a lead.
@RobSandy
Most likely that GVA is not expected to repeat throughout all the mountain stages so the GC guys were only interested in cross marking and keeping the gap to a sensible(ish) limit.
@Teocalli
Agreed. GvA is good, but he’ll ship 5 minutes and then some come the serious mountains. Nibs just took all the pressure off himself today. Danny-boy Martin is looking feisty.
My my, Greg van A. looks sharp on a bike!
I reckon Cavendish can really sit back and say if he does nothing else, he’s had a great career. After being largely written off and getting very, very little press from the major outlets…there he is in yellow, there he is in green. I can only imagine how good those two wins felt. And to come around the World Champ and to beat his replacement? Wow…I bet he’ll be smiling until he abandons.
GVA says he’s great in the mountains – for one day. :) Chapeau for a great ride, and this bodes well for him in Rio.
New leader in the TdF VSP after GvA crushes it to a V minute lead overall. And Holy Fuckballs, so much for my prophecy of an Italian Giro/Tour double. C’mon Nibbles. WTF.
@ChrisO
@Teocalli
No offence guys but I reckon the chances of GVA finishing in the top five and Nibali being there for Aru are about the same – if not very nearly zero then very actually zero.
@Mikael Liddy
Well I’ve never been to Flanders (or France) in my life and know how to pronounce things a fucksight better then Keenan does. It’s just lazy to not try harder. I thought three years of “Cancerella” was bad enough…
@osbk67
Haha, I agree entirely!
Go Cav, three out of six ain’t bad and 2nd on the list of stage wins.
Another bit of history, it’s the first time there’s been two British sprinters in the top three on a Tour stage (or anywhere else) for that matter. Unless of course @Oli comes along and informs us otherwise.
Marcel is not a happy bunny and wants the organisers to change the finals to a 5km straight run in with lanes marked out for each sprint train…
18:06:32 CEST
Marcel Kittel was a little subdued outside his team bus, saying that it was hard to organise a sprint train in the chaotic finish.
“He knew where he needed to be and when. I tried everything to hold him off but I couldn’t, it was really close in the end.
“To be very honest, in the finals this year, there is no tactic. It’s impossible to ride with a team here. I don’t know why the organisers do it like this with downhills in the city, we have all those small roads and corners. It goes wide, narrow, wide again and every team is struggling at this stage to be at the front.”
@frank
Hello, still trying to get my money back from you for the product I paid for, that you never delivered. A bit of research is showing me that I am definitely not the only person you have done this to.
Hey, kudos to your business plan – take money, deliver no product – nothing better than pure profit right?? But I don’t want to part of your plan. Please send my money back.
@chris
I’m quite a fan of Cav, in spite of his occasional idiotic outbursts, but I must admit I had always thought in a straight shoot-out with Kittel he’d always come off worst. I was wrong.
Kittel had a good lead out train and got beat.
@chris
Yeah, even Cav said it was “terrifying” and he knows of what he speaks. That being said, to anyone who thought Cav’s best days were behind him has been proved wrong – emphatically. He’s beaten the best three times so far this year. Love this quote from him: “I’m really happy with that. Half of the stages have been won by Dimension Data. It’s been a good Tour for us,” he pointed out, before giving an inside view of the stage finale and sprint.
And what about Dan McLay? Never heard of him before this Tour but he’s going great and giving his wildcard team lots of PR. Chapeau!
@wiscot
Cav did say it was terrifying but his tone comes across as terrifying but awesome. Kittel comes across as having a bit of a moan.
@RobSandy
He’s beaten both Kittel, Greipel and the rest of the pretenders in straight shoot outs. There’s plenty of life left in him.
Are there many more sprint stages left?
@chris
Stages 10, 16 and 21 look feasible for Cav, but I guess it remains to be seem how he gets through the mountains. And how much he wants to save for Rio. Whatever he does, his team have had a great tour so far and now some of the other guys will get free reign.
@Amy
DAAAAh-Am!!! Talk about awkward call out!
I can say in Frank’s defense that while it takes a while to get something, it does always eventually come. Trust me, he is not in the “product” business here to make money.
On that note: Any updates on the VVLV kit shipping? Personally I am flying out in two weeks and the address I gave you will no longer be good soon.
But, that being said, I truly and honestly know, after “doing business” here for many years now, that you are good for it!
Thanks, Mate!
@Buck Rogers
Ummm…
Awkward yes, but I can understand her frustration.
@ChrisO
FWIW, never had an issue with any of the gear I’ve ordered.
@Barracuda
Same for me.
Delivery to Australia no problem at all.
Thanks Frank