Le Tour 2019 MN Peloton rides out.

[MrPan]

Mesdames et Messieurs, a votre service.

La Route

So it all looks quite hilly, and the idiotic pleasures of the Normandy and Brittany cross winds, and so splits, are denied us this year. Damn.
As also we are also denied the pleasure of Froome and Tom 'Action Man' Dumoulin.

For those who prefer the information in written form...

Stage Date Start/Finish Distance
1 Saturday, July 6 Brussels – Brussels 192km
2 Sunday, July 7 Brussels Palais Royal – Brussels Atomium 27km (TTT)
3 Monday, July 8 Binche – Épernay 214km
4 Tuesday, July 9 Reims – Nancy 215km
5 Wednesday, July 10 Saint-Dié-des-Vosges – Colmar 169km
6 Thursday, July 11 Mulhouse – La Planche des Belles Filles 157km
7 Friday, July 12 Belfort –Chalon-sur-Saône 230km
8 Saturday, July 13 Mâcon – Saint-Étienne 199km
9 Sunday, July 14 Saint-Étienne – Brioude 170km
10 Monday, July 15 Saint-Flour – Albi 218km
Rest day Tuesday, July 16 Albi —
11 Wednesday, July 17 Albi – Toulouse 167km
12 Thursday, July 18 Toulouse – Bagnères-de-Bigorre 202km
13 Friday, July 19 Pau – Pau 27km (ITT)
14 Saturday, July 20 Tarbes – Tourmalet (117km)
15 Sunday, July 21 Limoux – Foix 185km
Rest Day Monday, July 22 Nîmes –
16 Tuesday, July 23 Nîmes – Nîmes 177km
17 Wednesday, July 24 Pont du Gard – Gap 206km
18 Thursday, July 25 Embrun – Valloire 207km
19 Friday, July 26 Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne – Tignes 123km
20 Saturday, July 27 Albertville – Val Thorens 131km
21 Sunday, July 28 Rambouillet – Paris (Champs-Élysées) 127km

We have the comedy value of the TTT in Brussels, and then only one IT in Pau, which is Stage 13 and iirc correctly being in the Pyrenees is a bit lumpy....

Looking forward to it - although it will be strange to watch (initially) without the black kit with turquoise stripe of Sky

Really wish we could have gone out to the Val Thorens stage as we know the Trois Vallées well and have friends who live in Meribel Les Allues.

No Cav either...

From BBC...
Mark Cavendish will not ride in the Tour de France for the first time since 2007 after Team Dimension Data omitted the sprinter from their squad.
Britain's 2011 world road race champion has won 30 stages - four shy of Belgian legend Eddy Merckx's record.
However, the 34-year-old has struggled with illness since being diagnosed with the Epsten-Barr virus - which causes glandular fever - in April 2017.
This year's three-week race starts in Brussels on Saturday, 6 July.
Cavendish resumed racing two months after his initial Epstein-Barr diagnosis but broke his collarbone as he crashed out of the 2017 Tour de France.
The Isle of Man rider, who in 2011 was the first Briton to win the Tour's green points jersey, was eliminated from last year's race when he finished outside the time limit on stage 11.
Dimension Data team announced in August 2018 that Cavendish was taking a further break from the sport "due to the presence of Epstein-Barr virus".
Cavendish raced in last month's Tour of Slovenia, as he has done since 2016 for his Tour de France warm up and then finished 22nd at the British National Championships road race on Sunday.
His best result this season was third on stage three of the Tour of Turkey in April.
Cavendish has been replaced by Italian sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo, who won a stage at the Tour of Slovenia.
Steve Cummings is the only Briton in Dimension Data's eight-man squad.
The 38-year-old, who won the 2016 Tour of Britain, has won two Tour de France stages, both coming after he was involved in breakaways.
Team Dimension Data Tour de France 2019 team: Edvald Boasson Hagen, Stephen Cummings, Reinardt Janse van Rensburg, Michael Valgren, Roman Kreuziger, Giacomo Nizzolo, Ben King Lars Bak

And no fantasy league again. Is it going to be a boring tour this year?

And as DS1 just pointed out to me Sagan is listed to ride but this will be the first time since 2011 he'll be in team kit rather than World/Country champion stripes.

Also could someone please ensure I don't book a holiday halfway through the second week as that's what I normally do because I get overcome by the photo's of the countryside and sunflowers and end up driving my children 2,000 miles round the country with a car full of tents. We have neither the time nor money this year!

I think the no fantasy league works in my favour tbh. Don't normally cover myself in glory and this way it won't be my fault if one Yates crashes into another in front of Cummings sending them all home.

We could set up our own sort of velo...games?

It would a bit unsophisticated and unrefined.....but something like...choosing two 'climbers', one sprinter, two all-rounders for e.g. and awarding points for each stage win/placing on podium and length of time in particular jerseys.

Hello! No Velogames is very disappointing. But kind of agree with Mr Slant after I made Tom Dumoulin fall off in the Giro.

Had a look for an alternative, there doesn't seem to be one and the "official" site obviously needs to be boycotted. According to Twitter the Velogames chap may do a list of "prices" so perhaps we could use that to choose 100 points worth? Then like MrPan says come up with a basic scoring system.

Thanks for this. Shame about Velogames I have no idea why ASO are taking such a strict line on a free online game.

It may well be a jolly thing to get back to tour-watching without the distraction of velogames? I don't have the time now to do any prep for it in terms of points system or anything really. We ride out tomorrow and I'm otherwise engaged....
I see Renshaw is retiring this year - remember the Columbia days with Cav? That finish on the Champs still gets viewing now and then.

Looook.....
www.velogames.com/riders.php

I've picked 9 riders total 100 points and I'm just going to be personally happy if any of "my team" a) win a stage or b) manage to keep rubber side down for three weeks.

Wow!

I will pick 9 too and see how they do.

We can do a really rough scoring system beore the ride out?

Alaphillipe 16
The Valve 14
van Garderen 10
Fuglsang 20
Sagan 18
Viviani 14
Byston 4
Schmidt 4

The winning team
-----

Though I think teams are down to 8 riders, n'est-ce pas??

I've picked mine - comes to a bargain basement 98 points, but only 8 riders :

Geraint Thomas 24
Porte 24
Boassen Hagen 8
Pauwels 6
Cummings 6
Bardet 14
Greipel 8
De Gendt 8

I was torn between Bardet and Alaphilippe, but went with Bardet as I always like to see AG2R win a stage. The rest are a combination of wishful thinking and nostalgia! If I were being sensible, I really should put Sagan in there, but I'm not.

2 All rounders, 2 sprinters, 2 climbers and 2 Unclassed.

I'm thinking descending points for the first 10 riders in stages.
Points for possessing the yellow green white and polka jerseys.
Points for the most combative rider.
Points also for anyone who we think deserve them for doing something kind or sportsman like or for bravery like finishing a stage with a leg hanging off. Anything like that.
We could also deduct points for anyone being a fanny.

What do we think??

Ah, I picked 9 because there were 9 in the Giro Velogames. I'm keeping 9.

Here are mine:
Sagan 18
Alaphilippe 16
S. Yates 14
Caleb Ewan 12
Dan Martin 12
George Bennett 10
Thomas de Gent 8
Steve Cummings 6
Daniel Oss 4

Wanted G but he was too expensive and after several "eggs in 1 basket" experiences thought I'd spread the risk a bit.

I'll volunteer to do a spreadsheet if you like - I enjoy a good spreadsheet.

How about - points for first 10 like this, same as Velogames. I'm not working out all the assists and intermediate sprints though.

How many points for being in a jersey for a day do you think? 20? and how many for most combative?

1st 150
2nd 120
3rd 100
4th 90
5th 80
6th 70
7th 60
8th 50
9th 40
10th 30

Had a rethink and will have 8 as well. Just dropped one off the bottom and swapped a Yates for another Yates.

Sagan 18
Alaphilippe 16
A. Yates 18
Caleb Ewan 12
Dan Martin 12
George Bennett 10
Thomas de Gent 8
Steve Cummings 6