Great ride by Boom. I expected Boom to survive a breakaway not to win like this. I hope this is a good day for the Dutch all the way around!!

Was that your prediction?

Just out of curiosity, when does the Tour hit the mountains?

Thx, too lazy to look it up

With any luck they won't hit them, they will ride over them.

John

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Top notch coaching: Francois and Accelerate3 | Follow on Twitter: LifetimeAthlete |

Sometime this month. Yes, I'm too lazy too.

Good call.

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Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

End of Stage 8 fellas.

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Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

If it's rainy in the mountains...

Good on Nibali. He's taken a bunch of heat for no wins this season but he's ridden great since the spring.

This is going to be fun, watching AC et al attack him whenever possible. It ain't over by any stretch.
There is no team of doped up domestiques turned "climbers" to shut down any attacks in the mountains. Still wiiiiide open. This is the upside of a (mostly) clean peloton.

Where is that wizard who predicted the Giro TT near perfectly?

I want his predictions for the coming days.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Hehehe....

Not quite a broken collarbone... and not on the cobbles.

On Bastille Day.

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Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's

Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing): “You guys got your drama, but that takes the race down a notch when you got your top favorite [Froome] out. In theory, it could make the race less exciting toward the end. I think ASO need to rethink having days like this in the race. For me, It could have been worse, it could have been better. We will just have to move forward.”

I'm disappointed that TJ blames his crash on the fan's desire for "drama". Most of the carnage didn't happen on the cobbles. It was raining, so what? Slow down if you can't stay upright.


Tj's sour grapes are too obvious.

This.

Froome was out before the cobbles....Teejay himself went down in a roundabout. Not a cobble in sight. So what....we should just cancel stages when it rains?

Astana and Nibali took the race by the throat today....but AC is a pretty crafty rider and will attack at every opportunity to claw back time. A jour sans is a real possibility for Nibali.

Race got super-interesting today, but is far from over.

Greta stage today.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Looks like he's had some time to think about it according to his twitter:

"Now that I've had a chance to cool off, I'd like to apologize for what I said to NBC. Today was an epic day of bike racing!!!"

And

"I Have a whole new level of respect for cobbled classic racers. Those guys are fucking warriors!!!"

Thanks for posting this. It is good to hear.

It really was a great stage today. Nibali showed real guts, AC yet again is caught out, Talansky smashes into a spectator but scrambles back, Sky changes leaders on the fly and Geraint Thomas and Porte take up the charge. Wow! And of course, Sagan, always there.

Technically correct, but realistically, they were jousting for position even before they hit the cobbles. Every year in PR, it's a mad dash into Arenberg. This is no different today. So while they disnt crash on the cobbles, the presence of cobbles led to the extremely fast and aggressive racing that led to the crashes

I understand. I don't think the racers should blame the organizers or fans for that. That's racing and is why I love to watch. The rain just made it even more technically difficult. Not one Orica rider went down. Froome down twice, Wow! TJ said his rear wheel slid out from under him.

Great stage!

Today was awesome. When was the last time a grand tour stage was this watchable from beginning to end? Usually, I'll forward through sections of the race but not today. I watched it wire to wire and was thoroughly entertained. Forget the queen stage, this was the king stage.

Reminds me of the US Open when the golfers complain about the course being too tough. That's part of what makes these events so compelling - pros struggling just to keep the rubber side down. They seem like mortals, if only for a day.

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/kj

http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/

I agree, it's a bike race, not the fastest hill climb. As Fabian opined, should they take out the mountains to make it easier for bigger guys? OTOH, you see the true GC hardmen like Nibali and Contador and Cadel rise to the occasion when it gets nasty, and take advantage of it. Suck it up, Tejay.

Not only did Nabali SHINE on the cobbles today, but, he finally tucked it under on the podium.

Bingo.

Nibali could be Cadel with a better palmare. Still thought it was an amazing ride by him when he fought his way back to the front in Firenze last year after crashing with two laps left. That's some grit amd determination

I agree, it's a bike race, not the fastest hill climb. As Fabian opined, should they take out the mountains to make it easier for bigger guys? OTOH, you see the true GC hardmen like Nibali and Contador and Cadel rise to the occasion when it gets nasty, and take advantage of it. Suck it up, Tejay. //

I think if you have that still on the DVR, go back as listen to what Fabian really said. Yes he said what you pointed out, but what i got out of his whole interview was that he too thought that the stage was a little crazy. He wouldn't just come out and say it like TJ, but you could definitely see that he felt the exact same way. For a long stage race like this and to have one day of luck play such a big part, i think he was alluding that it was not really great for the riders.


Anyway that is what i heard him say, i already erased it so i could have mistaken his feelings. Personally it was a great race to watch, start to finish. I do feel for the riders and i think it is also too much for this tour. Yes the rain made it 10 times worse, but i agree with another here that they took many more chances in that rain because of what was coming. If there were no cobbles, there would have been a couple crashes, not dozens. The peleton would have been a lot more tame, even probably waiting for early crashes instead of attacking every time they heard metal crunching and skin ripping.

Fabian was not happy in 2010 and managed to neutralize the stage. Hushovd was not happy at all, he though the conditions were not bad at all. Not a shock that Fabian did not like it today either.
BTW, the day after Fabian neutralized the stage he got into a break on pave with one of the Schleck and suddenly he was happy.
Strange ;-)