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!
[vsp_results id=”104413″/]

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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litvi says:

Jul 11 2017 at 11:37 pm

@wiscot

@Buck Rogers

@BacklashJack

Greg LeMan chimes in on the Aru attack:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cycling-france-lemond-idUSKBN19U0XK

0

Especially agreed with this point.

“The American was also very critical of Froome as he witnessed the three-times champion fiddling with his on-board computer on his new bike before making it back to the front group.

“It’s so bizarre to see him change his bike and then touch his computer. The main point is ‘get on your bike, get back to the front’,” said LeMond.”

I was watching the live feed and I see Froomie take his new bike while the race is going away from him and what the fuck does he do? He fucks around with his power meter.

Holy Merckx on Mount Velo I just about punched my computer! Lost a bit more respect for him right then and there (not that he gives a shit but what a fucking powermeter-addicted-tit!)

(also not sure why my cut&paste is all in HUGE font–maybe b/c it was quoting LeMan???)

0

Give ’em all old school Avocet computers I say! Speed, distance, time, average speed. What more do you fuckin’ want?

I think the situation as described by LeMond hits squarely at the lack of passion many fans feel for Froome. He’s just too calculating and addicted to his damn powermeter. He’s a scenario, what if his bloody computer went on the blink mid stage. Could that be considered a “mechanical”? “Steady up lads, I need to switch bikes, my powermeter just crapped out and I need to make sure my ride’s registering on Strava!”

I think not. Busted derailleur, puncture, broken spokes, those are mechanicals. No working bike computer is tough shit.

0

This morning before Stage 10, Froomey did say he changed bikes on the Cat because his shifter wasn't shifting. But he also said he had to take a slash... oh, and he also said there was a "stone" in his brake pad, and he also said... Who knows. In my opinion he was a little too calm and diplomatic about the Aru question. I think it betrays his bluff.
litvi says:

Jul 11 2017 at 11:48 pm

@BacklashJack

@wiscot

@Buck Rogers

@BacklashJack

Greg LeMan chimes in on the Aru attack:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cycling-france-lemond-idUSKBN19U0XK

0

Especially agreed with this point.

“The American was also very critical of Froome as he witnessed the three-times champion fiddling with his on-board computer on his new bike before making it back to the front group.

“It’s so bizarre to see him change his bike and then touch his computer. The main point is ‘get on your bike, get back to the front’,” said LeMond.”

I was watching the live feed and I see Froomie take his new bike while the race is going away from him and what the fuck does he do? He fucks around with his power meter.

Holy Merckx on Mount Velo I just about punched my computer! Lost a bit more respect for him right then and there (not that he gives a shit but what a fucking powermeter-addicted-tit!)

(also not sure why my cut&paste is all in HUGE font–maybe b/c it was quoting LeMan???)

0

Give ’em all old school Avocet computers I say! Speed, distance, time, average speed. What more do you fuckin’ want?

I think the situation as described by LeMond hits squarely at the lack of passion many fans feel for Froome. He’s just too calculating and addicted to his damn powermeter. He’s a scenario, what if his bloody computer went on the blink mid stage. Could that be considered a “mechanical”? “Steady up lads, I need to switch bikes, my powermeter just crapped out and I need to make sure my ride’s registering on Strava!”

I think not. Busted derailleur, puncture, broken spokes, those are mechanicals. No working bike computer is tough shit.

0

I actually had not considered that the computer was the main problem. If so, then definitely no way that’s a “mechanical”. Did they ever say what was “wrong” with the bike? To be honest, it thought could be a genius bluff to neutralize one of the hardest sections of the climb.

A-Merckx indeed. If the race is on, the race is on. Some caveats may include if a moto or spectator interferes with the race. Otherwise, if your damn $25,000 Pinarello F10 lets you down then so be it.

0

Agreed. Aru should have said "fuck you guys, I'm going, and if Froomey is gonna be mad at anyone it should be his mechanic, not me." It would have been stupid because he would have been caught,* but at least it would have shown he has a pair.

Then after he's caught, Froomey could ask Aru "hey bud, how do you say what goes around, comes around in Italian?"

*and I claim caught by a group including Martin and Porte, because the group would have been more strung out for the chase and they wouldn't have crashed.
litvi says:

Jul 11 2017 at 11:57 pm

@Buck Rogers

@Teocalli

@Buck Rogers

@BacklashJack

Greg LeMan chimes in on the Aru attack:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cycling-france-lemond-idUSKBN19U0XK

0

Especially agreed with this point.

“The American was also very critical of Froome as he witnessed the three-times champion fiddling with his on-board computer on his new bike before making it back to the front group.

“It’s so bizarre to see him change his bike and then touch his computer. The main point is ‘get on your bike, get back to the front’,” said LeMond.”

I was watching the live feed and I see Froomie take his new bike while the race is going away from him and what the fuck does he do? He fucks around with his power meter.

Holy Merckx on Mount Velo I just about punched my computer! Lost a bit more respect for him right then and there (not that he gives a shit but what a fucking powermeter-addicted-tit!)

(also not sure why my cut&paste is all in HUGE font–maybe b/c it was quoting LeMan???)

0

I noticed Quintana do the same when he changed bikes.

0

I did not see that and have not seen that video.

0

I think @teocalli is saying Nairo also went along with Aru when Froome changed bikes. He was definitely OK with attacking at that point. Ironic, given how the stage turned out for him.
KogaLover says:

Jul 12 2017 at 12:08 am

@Pali65

@KogaLover

@Pali65

Will be visiting our office in Bratislava coming Tuesday, so I am keen to hear what the sentiment about Sagan is.

0

Be prepared that everbody is a cycling expert in Slovakia nowadays and it is completely certain that Sagan is 100% innocent. But you can show a great insight in our matters when you claim that previous government of Mrs. Radičová (read Raditschova) is to blame. Let me know then how it went… :)

0

They loved it! Thanks for your witty wisdom, cheers mate!
RobSandy says:

Jul 12 2017 at 1:16 am

@litvi

@Buck Rogers

@Teocalli

I think @teocalli is saying Nairo also went along with Aru when Froome changed bikes. He was definitely OK with attacking at that point. Ironic, given how the stage turned out for him.

0

I think Teocalli was saying that Quintana fiddled with his computer when changing bikes. But I think Quintana also went along with Aru's attacks. Hmm. Movistar and Bahrain-Merida attacking when the race leader is having a non-racing problem...sounds familiar.
Teocalli says:

Jul 12 2017 at 1:23 am

@RobSandy

@litvi

@Buck Rogers

@Teocalli

I think @teocalli is saying Nairo also went along with Aru when Froome changed bikes. He was definitely OK with attacking at that point. Ironic, given how the stage turned out for him.

0

I think Teocalli was saying that Quintana fiddled with his computer when changing bikes. But I think Quintana also went along with Aru’s attacks. Hmm. Movistar and Bahrain-Merida attacking when the race leader is having a non-racing problem…sounds familiar.

0

Yes - I was referring to sorting out his computer before chasing back on. Quintana had stuffed it up his jersey so the first thing he did when he got going was to fish it out and fix it on the bar mount then sync it up.

A sign of the times I guess.
wiscot says:

Jul 12 2017 at 5:45 am

@Teocalli

@RobSandy

@litvi

@Buck Rogers

@Teocalli

I think @teocalli is saying Nairo also went along with Aru when Froome changed bikes. He was definitely OK with attacking at that point. Ironic, given how the stage turned out for him.

0

I think Teocalli was saying that Quintana fiddled with his computer when changing bikes. But I think Quintana also went along with Aru’s attacks. Hmm. Movistar and Bahrain-Merida attacking when the race leader is having a non-racing problem…sounds familiar.

0

Yes – I was referring to sorting out his computer before chasing back on. Quintana had stuffed it up his jersey so the first thing he did when he got going was to fish it out and fix it on the bar mount then sync it up.

A sign of the times I guess.

0

Computers, "syncing it up", powermeters, wattage. What is this madness? Can't we just have a bloody bike race where you race how you feel? Bernard Hinault said (and I may paraphrase here) "As long as I breathe, I attack." He certainly didn't say, I'll attack within the perameters dictated to me by my carefully calibrated powermeter."
RobSandy says:

Jul 12 2017 at 6:06 am

@wiscot

@Teocalli

0

Computers, “syncing it up”, powermeters, wattage. What is this madness? Can’t we just have a bloody bike race where you race how you feel? Bernard Hinault said (and I may paraphrase here) “As long as I breathe, I attack.” He certainly didn’t say, I’ll attack within the perameters dictated to me by my carefully calibrated powermeter.”

0

I think it was Boardman on the ITV highlights the other night who described how track riders are allowed to fit a bike computer somewhere on their bike to capture data, but aren't allowed to look at it during the race, and went on to suggest the same thing is brought in for road racing. Might liven things up.

Oh, and no race radios either.

And you kids, get the fuck off my lawn.
Rick says:

Jul 12 2017 at 8:44 am

Breakaway caught, Kittel wins......yawn.

Am I the only one that thinks Quickstep and Sky must be laughing their asses off as everyone else chases?
Teocalli says:

Jul 12 2017 at 8:58 am

Aru and Quintana fast running out of supporting team for the mountains. Cataldo out for Astana today in the feed station crash.