Velominati Super Prestige: Tour de France 2017

Favorites ascending. Photo: Gruber Images.

As many of you know, I write a monthly column for Cyclist Magazine where I answer Dear Abby-esque questions, and the most recent query pertained to whether I consider the Tour the best race of the year, or whether it’s an over-publicized circus. The question made me realize something about myself: I have a weariness around the Tour de France not unlike a romantic whose heart has been broken one too many times.

The fact is, as much as I prefer a race like Paris-Roubaix or the Giro d’Italia to the mid-summer shit show that is the Tour de France, nothing gets my anticipation going quite the way the Tour does, which is undeniably the pinnacle of the season; all the classifications and stages are prestigious enough that racers of all sorts are all arriving at the start in peak form. There is a promise of hard racing from day one, but the first week consists mostly of me worrying about the big favorites crashing out. As soon as we get through that mess, my heart is usually broken on the first day in the mountains, when the favorite takes a decisive lead and the rest of the race is most about stages than the GC.

At least, these are the dreads of a man who lived through the Indurain and Armstrong eras of racing.

Nevertheless, the Tour always manages to seduce me, and this year is no different. Maybe this year, she won’t be such a cruel lover. And, maybe this year, I won’t make horrible picks in the VSP. Just maybe, just maybe. You know the drill; get your picks in by the time the clock goes to zero, and you get some swap options on the rest day. Good luck!
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frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

Teocalli says:

Jul 10 2017 at 9:20 am

@Rick

Note sure that mixing 11% of a single climb with 1% of the total duration of the TdF is a valid comparison. Smacks of a case of there being lies, damn lies and statistics! (Insert random punctuation of choice).
VbyV says:

Jul 10 2017 at 9:22 am

@Rick

@VbyV

@Rick

@Rick

Kudos to Froome. He attacked on the Mont du Chat and took his turns at the front on the run in to the finish. Froome has done the leader’s jersey proud the last two years by riding like a true champion.

Chapeau Monsieur Froome.

0

WHY did the others not force Froome to do all the work to the finish? They had nothing to gain by chasing down Bardet. That was Froome’s chase to make to keep yellow from Bardet.

0

Because save Aru, they were all going for the stage win. Also, all Froome had to do was shadow Aru. The only thing on offer for Froome were bonus seconds and they were only really important if Aru got them and Froome got none.

0

So then why didn't Froome just sit on Aru's wheel?
Teocalli says:

Jul 10 2017 at 9:22 am

@Buck Rogers

@frank

Somethings gone amuck with the rest day swaps code. I’ll see if I can get them working in time, but worst case is that no one swaps, which is not a terrible worst case…

0

This is obviously the Will of the Velominati Gods!

Merckx himself must have visited the site, saw the “Rest Day Swap” bullshit and decreed that it must stop now!

(either that or there is a glitch in the matrix???)

0

Wouldn't have anything to do with you sitting on a Royal Flush would it?
Teocalli says:

Jul 10 2017 at 9:23 am

@VbyV

@Rick

@VbyV

@Rick

@Rick

Kudos to Froome. He attacked on the Mont du Chat and took his turns at the front on the run in to the finish. Froome has done the leader’s jersey proud the last two years by riding like a true champion.

Chapeau Monsieur Froome.

0

WHY did the others not force Froome to do all the work to the finish? They had nothing to gain by chasing down Bardet. That was Froome’s chase to make to keep yellow from Bardet.

0

Because save Aru, they were all going for the stage win. Also, all Froome had to do was shadow Aru. The only thing on offer for Froome were bonus seconds and they were only really important if Aru got them and Froome got none.

0

So then why didn’t Froome just sit on Aru’s wheel?

0

Because save Aru, they were all going for the stage win.
VbyV says:

Jul 10 2017 at 9:24 am

@Rick

@VbyV

Anybody else find it strange that Froome’s tiny mechanical (not puncture) issues always seem to happen right at a critical point of a major climb? If Aru had crashed when Froome shouldered him, would Froome have been ejected from the Tour like Sagan?

0

I thought the same thing. Primarily as a result of Froome’s abuse of power in last year’s Tour. When three or four Sky riders crashed and Movistar stepped on the gas. At that precise moment Froome decided he needed to take a potty break. Cancellara rode up to Movistar and told them to ease off, which they reluctantly did.

In yesterday’s stage Froome had a so far unnamed mechanical at another critical juncture. When Aru slowed it took some time for the Sky train to catch back up. If it took them a kilometer to get back that shortened the roughly 9 kilometer climb by 11%. This in a race that is annually decided by far less than 1% of total riding time. Neutralizing the group for a significant portion of a difficult climb would yield great benefits to the leader.

Is it a coincidence that these things happen at crucial times or another way to reap marginal gains?

Post Script: I am not accusing anyone of anything, just wondering about their timing.

0

Remember when Froome had a "stone" in his brake when Nibali attacked him? So that's three times when he neutralized a critical climb for some supposed "Mechanical".
Teocalli says:

Jul 10 2017 at 9:25 am

@VbyV

You may (or may not) have noticed that it was Froome that encouraged everyone to rotate to set up the chase.
Teocalli says:

Jul 10 2017 at 9:26 am

@VbyV

What makes me think you are fundamentally anti Froome vs enjoying the TdF with an open mind?
VbyV says:

Jul 10 2017 at 9:27 am

@Teocalli

@VbyV

@Rick

@VbyV

@Rick

@Rick

Kudos to Froome. He attacked on the Mont du Chat and took his turns at the front on the run in to the finish. Froome has done the leader’s jersey proud the last two years by riding like a true champion.

Chapeau Monsieur Froome.

0

WHY did the others not force Froome to do all the work to the finish? They had nothing to gain by chasing down Bardet. That was Froome’s chase to make to keep yellow from Bardet.

0

Because save Aru, they were all going for the stage win. Also, all Froome had to do was shadow Aru. The only thing on offer for Froome were bonus seconds and they were only really important if Aru got them and Froome got none.

0

So then why didn’t Froome just sit on Aru’s wheel?

0

Because save Aru, they were all going for the stage win.

0

So then why did Aru and his teammate Fuglsang help? They were 50% of the chase group since Barguil was sitting on.
VbyV says:

Jul 10 2017 at 9:30 am

@VbyV

@Teocalli

@VbyV

@Rick

@VbyV

@Rick

@Rick

Kudos to Froome. He attacked on the Mont du Chat and took his turns at the front on the run in to the finish. Froome has done the leader’s jersey proud the last two years by riding like a true champion.

Chapeau Monsieur Froome.

0

WHY did the others not force Froome to do all the work to the finish? They had nothing to gain by chasing down Bardet. That was Froome’s chase to make to keep yellow from Bardet.

0

Because save Aru, they were all going for the stage win. Also, all Froome had to do was shadow Aru. The only thing on offer for Froome were bonus seconds and they were only really important if Aru got them and Froome got none.

0

So then why didn’t Froome just sit on Aru’s wheel?

0

Because save Aru, they were all going for the stage win.

0

So then why did Aru and his teammate Fuglsang help? They were 50% of the chase group since Barguil was sitting on.

0

For me the tactics would be for Fuglsang to attack the group, Aru forces Froome to chase, then once Froome catches Fuglsang, Aru attacks and gets away for the stage win.
Teocalli says:

Jul 10 2017 at 9:32 am

@VbyV

You missed my sarcasm in reposting part of the previous post. How the heck would I know what they were thinking beyond all wanting the stage win or when one decided they wanted it the others could not afford to lose time. If it was 100% predictable and logical there would not be much point in watching?