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Froome goes into last stage 54 seconds ahead, there is 81km left to ride, why has he won it? Nobody is racing, if he came off or the second place guy beat him by 54secs then he could still lose it, no? Obviously it's no ha but enlighten me please... ta!!
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Tour De France simpleton question.. on 23:00 - Jul 23 with 1783 views
Tour De France simpleton question.. on 22:56 - Jul 23 by Gogs
I did an 850 mile charity ride 6 years ago, over a fortnight. I can confirm that endurance cycling takes it all out of you, you'll discover how fit or unfit you are, any injuries you never knew you had (and that's without having any sort of a crash) and ours was only what you'd class as a 'fun' ride (some bits of it weren't much fun though). The fastest day we did was Durham to York, about 83 miles in just over 5 hours, which works out to about a 16mph average, and we felt like we were really shifting, but it's *nothing* like what they do in the Tour, when they do much longer distances, much faster, over much tougher terrain, for a much longer overall time. The guys who can complete a grand tour are serious top level athletes. I have massive respect for them, and if they want to treat the last stage like a victory lap, they more than deserve the right to do just that.
Today around Paris the peloton was cruising at around 30-35mph....on a push bike after spending 19 days covering 2,200 miles across 3 mountain ranges, how can you not be impressed by that!
Tour De France simpleton question.. on 23:00 - Jul 23 by Hoppersblue10
Today around Paris the peloton was cruising at around 30-35mph....on a push bike after spending 19 days covering 2,200 miles across 3 mountain ranges, how can you not be impressed by that!
Exactly, the top cruising speed we hit on our ride for any distance was 26mph, and that felt seriously bloody fast to me. A grand tour is an astonishing feat of endurance and athleticism
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Tour De France simpleton question.. on 23:32 - Jul 23 with 1765 views
Tour De France simpleton question.. on 16:44 - Jul 23 by PhilTWTD
It's always a parade with a competitive sprint at the end by tradition. I suppose the leader could still lose if he fell off and was unable to complete the course but he'd have to a bit daft to manage that.
no not always, Greg LeMond won the Tour on the last day in 89 when the final stage was a time trial, he won the Tour by 8 seconds, and had gone into that last day stage 50 seconds behind Laurent Fignon.
the point is the final stage as its setup now, is a flat course with a sprint finish, anyone who tried to make a break to beat the yellow jersey would instantly be shut down by the yellow jersey wearers team, the peloton just wouldnt allow a significant breakaway to form because the sprinters teams are all looking for the last stage win which is the blue riband sprinting stage win of the year and the GC teams are protecting their results, so everyone informally just accepts the GC is neutralised in effect because if anyone did try anything fundamentally it wouldnt stick,, so it allows them to muck about with lots of nice team photos and drinking of champagne and normally the leading team gives all the other teams bottles of champagne to celebrate
the point being to get to Paris after 3 weeks and x many kms of riding is a major achievement, lots of riders dont make it, and its about respecting the yellow jersey holder who has earned the right to wear it over 3 weeks. all those time gaps have been made over the other 20 odd stages, so you know Landa could have sprinted for the line at least once in the past 3 weeks gained a couple of seconds, Bardet may well have then planned his TT differently, so its not about the final stage result, its alot like football in that the last game of the season never relegates/promotes you, its what went before.
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Tour De France simpleton question.. on 23:32 - Jul 23 with 1762 views
Tour De France simpleton question.. on 20:05 - Jul 23 by Superfrans
As a spectator sport, it can be a bit of a challenge. I tend to watch the highlights show, as it's not always easy to follow a four hour stage, when you've got 170 odd cyclists strung out across several miles of road.
If you fancy reading more, this is a brilliant book. So many incredible stories - especially when you consider how basic the bikes were in the early days of the Tour. The Daily Telegraph Book of the Tour de France (Telegraph Books) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1845135458/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_xlpDzbP4Z6XXR
The thing to remember is that each stage of theTdF is pretty much a different race in its own right. To win a stage is a huge victory and would probably be the first line of most rider's CV.
Though those competing for the GC have to stay vigilant to breaks etc each day, in many stages that is all they need to do. Generally these are flatter stages for sprinters to have a bunch sprint or for a breakaway.
The GC riders mostly compete for the time gaps they can achieve on mountain stages + time trials.
All this means the GC is generally considered to be over before the Paris stage. This is because it would be virtually impossible for Bardet or Uran to gain any time. This is because not only Sky would be chasing them down but so would every other team with a fast sprinter. The final stage is basically the unofficial world championship for sprinting. These sprinters would not take kindly to GC riders stealing their race.
So in short it's not because 2nd or 3rd wouldn't like to steal a few seconds, it because they couldn't even if they tried. Consequently for them it has become a procession.
[Post edited 24 Jul 2017 8:44]
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Tour De France simpleton question.. on 08:38 - Jul 24 with 1712 views
Tour De France simpleton question.. on 22:11 - Jul 23 by Throbbe
I'd really recommend David Millars books.
The first tells the story of how he got into cycling, and then later doping, how he got caught and came back as a self-appointed anti-doping spokesman. The second is a reflection at the end of his career, following his last year as a pro, and a much happier person.
Both revealing, uplifting and heartbreaking in equal measure and interesting as a personal view of what it means to be a professional cyclist.
He's been a revelation as part of the ITV commentary team.
Yes, I've read those too.
I must say, I've found the quality of writing around cycling far superior to that surrounding other sports, such as football, athletics etc. Maybe there's more intrigue, more politics, more controversy, but there are some riveting books.
Tyler Hamilton's book and the investigations by David Walsh are fascinating, as well as the biographies of Wiggins and Cavendish - plus the various Tour histories, of course.
Tour De France simpleton question.. on 08:38 - Jul 24 by Superfrans
Yes, I've read those too.
I must say, I've found the quality of writing around cycling far superior to that surrounding other sports, such as football, athletics etc. Maybe there's more intrigue, more politics, more controversy, but there are some riveting books.
Tyler Hamilton's book and the investigations by David Walsh are fascinating, as well as the biographies of Wiggins and Cavendish - plus the various Tour histories, of course.
The Death of Marco Pantani is a super read.
The documentary is well worth a view too.
Please note: prior to hitting the post button, I've double checked for anything that could be construed as "Anti Semitic" and to the best of my knowledge it isn't. Anything deemed to be of a Xenophobic nature is therefore purely accidental or down to your own misconstruing.
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