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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@Grimace
When he was laid out on the deck afterward, I definitely noticed some yellow.
@Grimace
He loaded his saddle top side up with stickers of some sort that sure looked to have been rubbing off… saddle was shown on telecast. Recall he applied sand paper to his saddle in past and that made for bad visual too. He's got to either a) ditch the white bibs or b) sort out what he's trying to accomplish w/the saddle sticktion efforts.
He stayed in the saddle crushing it up the climb yes? Note the diff between his style and Froome's hyper spin up the hill. Froome stayed in saddle too but was whipping up his legs in a frenzy of a cadence. And then Bardet ? Just watching was painful.
@litvi
I just read that he had sandpaper on his saddle so he didn't slip. Hardcore.
RIP Panzerwagen's gooch...
my money is on Greipel today
for 25 years straight, nothing is as exciting to me as seeing the peloton round the place de la concorde, setting up for the best sprint finish in all of cycling. it's still every bit as electric today as it was the first time i saw it.
@Grimace
@Randy C
He's been doing this for a while...
@Frank
So, the results look wrong...
@Phillip Mercer
No translation necessary: http://www.steephill.tv/players/720/nbcsports4/?title=Announcers+freak+out+over+win&dashboard=tour-de-france&id=KfExNUTq1b_s&yr=2017
I don't think there was a stage winner I was more happy for than EBH. Damn, he deserved it. Pity Greipel went too late yesterday too.
Oh, and as for Tony Martin's sandpaper addiction, must be nice to be able to shred $200 shorts in one ride . . .
i truly missed Cavendish being in the finale on the Champs Elysees this year. easily the most brilliant road sprinter i've seen in my life. cycling in general will really miss this dude when he retires.
https://youtu.be/dPbpVkK1eUI