**** Tour de France 2017 ****

[mcelliott]

Gonna lose my strava KOM on the Ornon decent today ;(

[Matt_N]

First of the two big Alp stages today:

[Gargamel]

Anyone see this ?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cycling/2017/07/19/cant...

Pic from Pawel Poljanski

[mcelliott]

Should be a war of attrition today, hoping Bardet and Uran can spring some decent attacks on Froome. Croix de Fer is an absolute bh to climb - constant gradient change. Weather could play a part too.

[okgo]

Again though, I do wonder how much will be saved for tomorrow's summit finish, could neuter today a touch. Hopefully not though!

[Dr Imran T]

Gargamel said:

Anyone see this ?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cycling/2017/07/19/cant...

Pic from Pawel Poljanski

doesn't look great but there is a lot of riders whose legs don't look so 'strained'. Obv. it varies per rider - that said I'm sure the demands of top level cycling or sport can sometimes be a strain on the human body.

[okgo]

Warm conditions make that far worse though. I'm a fat fker and if I am slightly dehydrated/in sun after a hard ride then I have veins down my thighs too. Obviously when you have almost no bodyfat it just looks very very obvious!

[Vocal Minority]

Dr Imran T said:

- that said I'm sure the demands of top level cycling or sport can sometimes be a strain on the human body.

Can.....

Sometimes......

Master of understatement

[Dr Imran T]

^^ Haha - depends who we are talking about in top level sport

[okgo]

Dr Imran T said:

^^ Haha - depends who we are talking about in top level sport

I think most can agree that a grand tour (probably not the tour tbf) is about as hard an event as you can find in professional sport.

[Dr Imran T]

okgo said:

I think most can agree that a grand tour (probably not the tour tbf) is about as hard an event as you can find in professional sport.

Agreed - if I had to pick amongst the grand tours I'd also go with the vuelta as being the toughest.

[okgo]

Dr Imran T said:

Agreed - if I had to pick amongst the grand tours I'd also go with the vuelta as being the toughest.

Reckon so. Though some years they do make the giro quite unpleasant.

But last years Vuelta with 9 or maybe 11? mountain top finishes. Gruelling.

[DP1]

Quick question. I've seen riders take wheels from the neutral Mavic service bikes/cars but never seen anyone take a bike. I would have thought this was quite hard due to sizes/build etc.

Does anyone know of any riders that have taken one as that was all there was at the time?

[Equilibrium25]

Wow, Kittel out. Spoils a big green jersey battle.

[S100HP]

DP1 said:

Quick question. I've seen riders take wheels from the neutral Mavic service bikes/cars but never seen anyone take a bike. I would have thought this was quite hard due to sizes/build etc.

Does anyone know of any riders that have taken one as that was all there was at the time?

Yes, Froome last year. He gave up and ran.

[blade runner]

Kittel has abandoned.

[lucido grigio]

Kittel crashing today and being off the bike for 2.5 minutes didn't help,had to catch up ,looked knackered and bashed about ,then about hour later the message came up he'd stopped.

[S100HP]

Contador

[Equilibrium25]

S100HP said:

Contador

No fan of his past, but he knows how to animate a race. Helped by his absence from the top of the standings, of course.

[CookieR32]

These spectators are a little bit rabid