FC also packed up and headed home as prep for Worlds, which makes the ITT a foregone conclusion--sans a crash. I can't remember a Tour where so many top names are out this early.

GC is Nibali's to lose, Sagan has points lead consolidated (baring a crash), field sprints are way less of a contest without Cav, and now the TT's not likely to be much of one either. Only half way and the Tour went from looking like of the best ever to snoozer.

I agree with you. Bob Roll and Christian VDV are pretty good. Paul isn't really that bad, pretty good a matter of fact. Phil on the other hand.....not so good. He's always referring to the wrong riders, not sure if it's a replay that he's seeing, can't figure out if people are going off the front or falling back. The big kicker for me was the other day when Astana gave up the yellow jersey, the had people working for NBCSN talk to team Astana and confirm that they would sacrifice the yellow jersey, yet Phil still said over and over again that they "lost" the yellow jersey, and had it taken away from them.

With that said. I still enjoy watching on my tv in HD. I could watch on my computer and check out Eurosport, or hook my computer up to my tv. But the picture quality wouldn't be that good. Part of that is also Im not too tech savvy. In fact I can only find slowtwich and porn on this thing

No schitt......in the blink of an eye, the biggest race of the year has basically become a promenade. Watch for more and more breakaways to succeed as there is little impetus for Astana to waste energy chasing and nobody will want to help Giant - Shimano chase, only to set up Kittel.

It is really too bad for Nibali.....he'll win this Tour (barring catastrophe), but it will be noted as one of opportunity rather than ability.

Astana didn't start to lead the peloton until after Contador crashed and changed dynamic of the race. With Contador gone, the fact that Kwiatkowski was way up front became more important so Astana started to chase the breakaway.

There have been many great races and more ahead, but that's not the point. The Tour is the one circled on everyone's calendar and brings out the most fierce competition. The Ronde and P-R might be the best test of strongmen, Ardennes the all-arounders, and so on, but at no other race is the collection of talent so great. That's why it's disappointing.

There have been many great races and more ahead, but that's not the point. The Tour is the one circled on everyone's calendar and brings out the most fierce competition. The Ronde and P-R might be the best test of strongmen, Ardennes the all-arounders, and so on, but at no other race is the collection of talent so great. That's why it's disappointing.

There have been many great races and more ahead, but that's not the point. The Tour is the one circled on everyone's calendar and brings out the most fierce competition. The Ronde and P-R might be the best test of strongmen, Ardennes the all-arounders, and so on, but at no other race is the collection of talent so great. That's why it's disappointing.

Ancillary thought to the above......the best racing for the remainder of the Tour is likely to be in the first 10K of each stage as a break tries to establish itself. IN that sense, I am gald that NBC Sports is showing every stage form start-to-finish!!

I don't think it is everyday, they get the footage from someone else and it is that group that decides when the coverage starts, not NBC.

Exactly. Sure, catastrophe could hit at any moment (as it has throughout this Tour), but that just goes to underlie the point we are making.

The major competitions (yellow, green and arguably the mailot pois) are pretty much locked up. All that is left are stage wins and the white jersey. And the stage wins are gonna be contested by long breakaways that succeed because the main bunch doesn't really care that much once they are established.

Sadly, it won't be exciting anymore for me. It was disappointing when Vroome got injured, now AC is out too. It's the shark to lose now, I guess I'll have to follow the Vuelta seeing as I didn't get my TdF fix this year, as long as Froome, AC and Quintana is confirmed to ride it. Do they even show the Vuelta in the US? Or we have to rely on EuroSport for video coverage?

I wouldn't say the Yellow Jersey is "locked up" at this point. We haven't even hit the Pyrenees or the Alps yet. If Nibali has one bad day in the mountains, the 2:30 or so that he has over Porte and Valverde could disappear pretty quickly. This could be one of the most wide open Tours in recent history. I'm sure we'll have plenty of guys that are 5-10 minutes out of GC trying to go on long breakaways (like Kwiatkowski yesterday), which will force everybody else with GC intentions to chase and chase hard.

On a different note, does anybody know whether Tiago Machado made the time cut yesterday? I know that he finished the stage and initially the tour organizers were tweeting that he was cut due to time, but that tweet disappeared. Heck, with stories like that, the Tour will never be boring.

I wouldn't say the Yellow Jersey is "locked up" at this point. We haven't even hit the Pyrenees or the Alps yet. If Nibali has one bad day in the mountains, the 2:30 or so that he has over Porte and Valverde could disappear pretty quickly. This could be one of the most wide open Tours in recent history. I'm sure we'll have plenty of guys that are 5-10 minutes out of GC trying to go on long breakaways (like Kwiatkowski yesterday), which will force everybody else with GC intentions to chase and chase hard.

x2. Nibbles having a bad day is a bit of a long shot as he's looking awfully strong, but you never know - a cold or some bad supper get him sick, a moment of inattention cause a crash... He was leading the Giro until the penultimate day, when Ryder Hesdjal over-took him in the TT.

The contenders can allow guys like Kwiatkowski, Gallopin, etc. to go because its known they will lose big chunks of time once the really big mountains come. Kwiatkowski is a great rider... as long as the road is not heading a Cat1 or HC climb.

D. - did you see his no-hands wheelie near finish line yesterday? That is freaky talented.

I saw the pic. Did a double take. Crazy.