Tour de France - This Friday!

[Pan2]

Okay, time to clip in, or out...fill those bidons, and get our merde together.....we roll out from Wonderful Copenhagen for the biggest push bike competition on the planet.
Not sure where velogames are actually up to, but nevertheless we go on Friday. Will set up the league later today. Time to consider options........and who we will curse with selections...will post the link shortly..

Hmm, just as well I don't mind where I am in the table, considering I'm bottom

Day 2, echelons day innit? I like the way the way the organisers have just moved the winds of northern France to Denmark for the early-stage challenge. It's a classic "you cant win Le Tour in week one but you can lose it on Day 2." Sort of thing.
All that time riding by the sea, and then across the bridge of 18km length should make for spectacular shots at least!

Watched the highlights last night, after watching Elvis at the Edinburgh Everyman. Very good film no cycling mostly singing.

Looking forward to a full days racing with extra bridges - slightly disappointed it’s not going over ‘the bridge’ but guess Denmark didn’t want to share with Sweden.

Coffee and Never Strays Car to start the day. Hurray for July and TdF

"Elvis on a bike!" could be a new exclamation!

It's interesting the venues, the competition etc this year and I will at least watch the highlights each day.

It does seem a bit like a play with the leading actor or actress missing though, without Mark Cavendish taking part.

Ned and David were talking about Cav yesterday and asked why the team could not have taken 2 sprinters. Might have made things interesting!

There speculation that the team wasn’t keen on being part of equalling Merck record given their nationality. 🤷🏼🤷🏻‍♀️

i think some of it may be an ego clash, cavendish and the team manager are both big egoists who want to be the centre of attention. I also gather that Cavs behaviour towards the mechanics last year didn’t go down well last year.

anyway as long as Pog, Rog Wout and VdP are there, I’m happy!

Great to see such a big league, even better to see I am fifth! Happy for people to post in real time I avoid the thread until I know the result

I'm feeling very guilty for picking poor Stefan Bissigger and thus causing him to crash twice. Glad that Never Strays Car has Pete Kennaugh, given there is no ITV tour podcast this year. Had a long train journey yesterday and was able to catch up on lots of pre Tour previews. Very much missing the late Richard Moore from The Cycling Podcast, but so glad the rest of the team are carrying on so well.

@Allthegoodnamesarechosen that may well be the case. When I saw a leg of the tour in Ypres in 2014, I could barely move for people with Quick Step cycling replica jerseys on.

There's no ITV podcast this year? I was looking forward to that later.

Oh hello everyone. I also feel really sad for Cav. He could've made history and he's been on borrowed time for so long, each season could well be his last.

OoOoh excellent gossip there, thank you.

From what I heard, Cav had considerably mellowed in the last few years, and wasn't nearly as arrogant as he used to be. But that's not first hand either.

Great advertising for the Maersk line as it goes under the bridge!

Hmm. That was slightly unsatisfactory somehow. All a bit messy and rather bad tempered at times. But I guess the early stages of the Tour are often chaotic like that.
The teamwork from EF to get Uran back on was the highlight for me, even though I don't have any of them in my team.

Just caught the end, and the result. More importantly, what's happened to Gary Imlach's jazz hands?

@Callmecordelia Never Strays Far (currently renamed Never Strays Car as it's being recorded in the car after the stage) has Ned Boulting/David Millar/Pete Kennaugh and the same vibe. Got a few looks because it made me laugh out loud when I was listening on the train.

First couple of stages always have lots of crashes for no particularly good reason other than lots of bikes being in the same place at the same time. Almost a punch-up too (more of a head grab).
I am blaming husband for talking me out of WvanA with some blather about a dodgy knee. Doesn't look too dodgy to me.

I've managed to "jump" from 16rh to 14th

I'm sure the trajectory over the 3 weeks will be my normal downwards one

Day 3 another sprinters stage, and less chance of echelons.....which obvs means they will happen! Not aware of any drop outs??
Is this one of those days where the break-away forms and then..........nothing happens....for 4 hours or so...........then....mayhem...and Jakobsen wins!
------

It's a bunch at the top for us too! You could throw G's gillet over the top 6.

Kung is lucky to still be there. Looks like Cav will definitely have to come back next year, imagine if all of your children had joined you on the podium on the tour except one.

Blimey. I wouldn't have liked to call that! Pleased though....might drag me up a place or two.

Blimey indeed!! I thought Sagan was shouting at van Aer initially, but not so.

From the post race interviews in Cyclingnews it was indeed WVA that Sagan was angry with - he felt he was being pushed into the barriers apparently

Up to 12th