Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2014

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• A couple of my own pics from the Wallers sector yesterday. A bit redundant because a certain G. Watson was 5 metres to my left...(Thomas & Porte, Durbridge)

  It was a really crazy day for us. The VMH and Pedalwans understand my passion but don't necessarily share it. I was keen for them to have a good day too. We got to Wallers just in time for the caravan which was a good hook for the kiddies who stocked up on candy, useless booty and dotty caps...

  To the sector...The reality of live spectating involves extensive effort for a short and intense reward. We saw nothing of the whole stage, just a snapshot of the race 5k from the finish. No idea of the big picture but Merckx, the faces!

  Boom came through like a fkn train! Then Fuglsang towing Nibbles. Then in twos and ones and little bunches. You saw the order...Everyone is covered in shit. I remember Tony Martin trying to blink some crap out of his eyes. The diminishing mental states were plain to see: those who had some interest in time or result were still driving, hurting. Some in the groups looked to be fighting for the wheels. Lone riders had the thousand mile stare. Way back I remember Kittel, Greipel, Gerro, Ted King, seemed accepting of their suffering but well and truly ready for the end. Its such a blur. Too much going on to take in for my small brain. Hard to tell the shivering from the rattling...I heard some riders hadn't recce'd the cobbles, let alone wet cobbles. They will be forever altered.

  After watching the replays, massive kudos to Astana - Nibbles was very good but Westra and Fuglsang were monsters! Renshaw had a massive day. Maybe he's a classics man and not a sprinter? Sagan was mad at himself but says he lost the Astana wheels when the gap was opened by someone else.

  Bottom line is that the GC guys lost or made time because of their bike riding - not through flats or mechs or cobbled crashes. I'm not hearing any whinging from Bertie, Talansky, Porte, Kwiatowski - who all lost time. Respect.

  Froome seems a no fuss kind of bloke. No excessive crowing or winging about results. I think he was suffering more than he let on. Tough break for him but it was never the cobbles.

• 47 kph average puts things in perspective, BIG time. I don't really solo ride to set PRs, but I know on my 2-3 hour loops I'm doing well if I average upper 20s. 47 kph for hours, in those conditions, over cobbles, makes even a pretty decent cyclist like myself realize that the PROs are in a different goddamn universe.

• Did anyone else notice that Nibali was in the drops almost all day yesterday? Most guys seem to ride the pave either on the tops or on the hoods, but Nibali was down in the drops--attacking the roads all day.

• @Ron

  @VeloSix

  @Teocalli

  The thing that struck me most about what state Froome was in was that having got in the car he was unable to close the door himself. He clearly wanted it closed to shut out the cameras but was unable to grip or pull it himself and had to ask for it to be closed.

  I saw that too. The guy must have been half out it after that crash. It looked like he didn't know which part of his body to hold. When they got a new bike for him, he almost looked at it like he thought it was going to bite his good hand off.

  The guy had to be sitting in the car just devastated, confused and in dismay. How long did he sit in the back seat in the warm comfort of that Jaguar with his helmet still atop his dome?

  I was completely rooting against Team Sky and Froome, but to see the top contender withdraw is disappointing. A victory seems somewhat diminished when the defending champion isn't there to compete against.....

  Umm, didn't he go to grab it with his left hand, then realized, "Holy fuck, my wrist is killing me, I'm not pulling on the door frame with it"?

  The last crash, must have been quite a tumble.  And when I was watching it unfold, I think Froomy did want to press on, but seemed to know if he was to do so, would be on the ground many more times before making it to Arenberg.

  Geraint Thomas

  "... I think he was just behind me when he crashed again and when I heard it I thought 'that sounds nasty'..."

• @KW

  Did anyone else notice that Nibali was in the drops almost all day yesterday? Most guys seem to ride the pave either on the tops or on the hoods, but Nibali was down in the drops-attacking the roads all day.

  Whilst in no way do I claim any parity, but I found when riding the best equivalent I could find locally to Strade Bianche for the L'eroica Brit equivalent,that riding on the drops was far more comfortable that the hoods or tops.  For me it meant that my arm was more flexed at the elbow on the drops and better absorb the rough terrain without slowing and picking my way through it.

• @Mike_P

  @wiscot

  @Mike_P

  @Teocalli

  The thing that struck me most about what state Froome was in was that having got in the car he was unable to close the door himself. He clearly wanted it closed to shut out the cameras but was unable to grip or pull it himself and had to ask for it to be closed.

  He almost looked to be in a state of shock. Or maybe he was expecting a minion to do it for him (no offence @minion).

  I've stated before, Froome's not my fave rider. However, a couple of points to make. In just about ANY other sport, given his Dauphine injuries, he'd be on the DL for months. We're all armchair Directeur sportifs here and yell out "Rule 5, Rule #5!" but CF has shown massive mental and physical strength. You see these guys of the bike and they are frail. Light, thin, freaky fit, but they just don't have the bulk that would help in a crash or three. CF just reached the end of the line yesterday and had he continued, it would have required the attentions of a Sky team car and likely teammates to do what? Finish 25 minutes down? No, he made the right call for his team and teammates: that car was needed - especially on a stage like yesterday, to help the guys who were racing, jnot just riding to the finish.

  Is the tour diminished by his absence? Yes. Will it be less thrilling with an undeserving winner (I'm looking at you Oscar Pereiro), no.

  I haven't said the car wasn't needed. I haven't invoked Rule #5 at all. I'm saying he looked shocked at where he'd ended up so early in the race. That's a very different state for him. Regarding my minion comment, that's called humour.

  Mike, I wasn't picking a fight, honest! I totally got your Minion joke. I agree, CF was basically out of it mentally and physically and that for all our cries invoking Rule 5 on this site, we really have no idea what these guys put themselves through for a living and our entertainment.

• For my belated VSP picks, I'm gonna go with the proven winners:

  1. A. Schleck

  2. Sastre

  3. Pererio

  4. Armstrong

  5. Rassumussen

• Fuck'in Sparty!  Just when I thought I was starting to warm up to him he pulls this shit out:

  http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/cancellara-turns-against-cobbles-in-the-tour-de-france

  Sad fuckin day when Cuntador and Nibbles are more manly on a pave' stage in the rain than Sparty.  He needs to take a page from Merckx's fuckin book:

  http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/merckx-i-would-have-loved-to-race-in-this-tour-de-france

• @Shaun Kelly

  Just a point on this Wiggo thing.

  1. He has had no real form since winning TdF in 2012, British time trial champ and winning Tour of California (with all due respect) are not going to get Bertie and Nibbles shitting themselves.

  2. Wiggo is great when he gives a shit, average when he doesn't. Riding for Froome? I think I know which mood that would have put him in.

  3. Wiggo would have excelled in stage 5 because of his good showing in Paris Roubaix? Think back to last years Giro, he wasn't exactly flying over wet tarmac.

  Still the right choice for me not to take him, mainly because of point 2. There is no way he would have emptied himself for Froomey.

  That's my bit said.

  Anyway, isn't this a muvva-lickin' great photo?

  +1

• @wiscot

  Should cobbles be in the Tour? Yes. Just as mountains, TTs, flat stages, lumpy stages should be. I want an all rounder to win, not some billy goat who limits his losses on the flat. Nibali is an all-rounder. Froome is not.

  Here, here! On a 3 week race throw everything at the teams and may the best (and luckiest) rider enjoy his toast on the Champs-Élysées... it will be all the sweeter. Tours should be about the best rider, not the specialist.

  And my picks are now proper fucked. Seems I will have to swap the Spider for Nibbles at the next rest day.