Shush!

He finished in a group of about 30 riders (including Demare) at +38’ 23”. Taylor Phinney was the last rider across another 2 minutes behind them.

Didn't he have a horrific crash a few years ago while descending in the Giro?

As someone who is not comfortable with high speed descents, I can commiserate with his unease.

https://www.velonews.com/...e-to-the-face_473385



BUT, he finished inside the time cut!!!

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

@taylorphinney says he crashed "face first into trees" during today's stage. He finished the race, face bloodied, saying "Some people freaked out with the way that I looked, but I was just thinking about my dad and Phinney style, you know?"

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Sure...but descending on the hoods is still an inferior way of approaching a technical descent, especially if you want to apply more brakes because you're scared of crashing. If it's a non technical descent where no braking is needed, then sure, descend on the hoods if you want.

I loved watching him on that last climb. Granted he had the most to gain by attacking since Froome was within reach and Dumoulin had realized he wasn't getting 2 minutes on Thomas, but Roglic went after it at least 4-5x. To keep pressing on during the descent after it came back together shows some real panache.

Also gotta give Froome some credit for not bagging it.

Thomas probably wins another stage if Roglic doesn't attack. The guy has been untouchable all 3 weeks. I'm calling it tomorrow that Thomas wins the ITT. I know he's normally an inferior TT'er to Dumoulin/Roglic/Froome...but the guy's form looks amazing and this may be the first time he's actually allowed to bury himself.

Yeah, Thomas must have looked infuriatingly chill to Dumoulin. Dumoulin tested him twice, shattering their little group, and Thomas did everything but stifle a yawn.

Let me understand ... G kicked at the line to grab the 2nd place time bonus, so Dumolin didn't get it and put more into Froome, so he'd still have a shot to finish on the podium, in spite of Roglic getting past him?

Does that sound right? He wasn't attacking Froome, per se?

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

This may be a stupid question but has the tour ever come down to a race to the finish on the final stage? Usually I just see the winning team side by side drinking champagne but they have it locked up by then. I guess it would be nearly impossible for a ‘team’ breakaway to put enough of a split ahead of SKy’s train and overtake yellow. So it comes down to tomorrow’s ITT - which really is how it should be. Win or lose it on your own effort giving 110% on the day.

Correct...he wasn't sprinting to the line to attack Froome. They were all going to finish on the same time and Froome is not a threat to Thomas. Taking the 6 second time bonus from Dumoulin does help Froome, but I think it was more about a display to everyone that he still had plenty more left in the tank.

Going into the stage, I thought that Thomas might attack the summit of the last climb just to show off...but with Froome still dangling trying to hold onto 3rd it wouldn't have been a good team move. Had Froome been completely dropped and 2 minutes back or if Froome was strong today and was having no issues marking Dumoulin/Roglic, I think Thomas would have done it. Then took it easy on the descent rather than having to follow someone like Roglic who was taking risks.

Beyond the final stage being an iTT, no I dont think so. With it being a flat stage there's no real "sporting" way to gain back time, unless you simply want to push yellow over and then attack from there. But even if the top 10 GC guys all wanted to attack/counter/attack/counter to beat Sky, Sky would have allies in the sprint teams to keep it together. 2 mins on an flat stage in an long long time that would only work with an mechanical type of situation. But in reality, the other teams would sit up and wait, on the last day of the Tour....you wouldn't want to win it that way.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

1989 had a time trial into Paris on the last day. Laurent Fignon had the lead going into the stage but lost out to Greg LeMond.

Thanks. That’s what I thinking too - it would have to be a time trial. Was that the last time they did it that way or have them been more recent final stage ITT’s?

I think there was a year where the yellow jersey got a flat during one of the last laps of the last day. He was in risk of getting gapped to lose the jersey due to the sprint teams being fully wound up.

Tomorrow's ITT is essentially the last stage for the GC.

Any yellow jersey rider would have to be extremely unlucky to lose time on the last stage due to a flat. It would have to be the perfect combination of the flat happening with about 3.1-5 km to go, a legit breakaway still ahead, and a poor wheel change. The yellow jersey should be near the front of the peloton with teammates...so once the flat occurs, a teammate should be ready to give them their wheel as the back of the peloton is still rolling past them. The yellow jersey should then be able to get back on their bike in the middle of the team car convoy...and slowly leapfrog their way up (with teammates) back to the tail end of the peloton. The Champs is very non technical...which makes weaving through the line of cars a lot easier as well. I suppose it is possible the yellow jersey could lose maybe 30 seconds in a worst case scenario due to a flat...but not much more than that assuming his teammates are there.

A crash however...that would be interesting to see how it plays out if the other GC guys will all sit up and let the sprinters go.

He makes no attempt to lower his center of mass, e.g. hands in hoods, body upright. Which doesn't help the physics of descending. Higher the enter of mass, the more lean angle you need. He makes life so hard for himself, descending upright, trying to go as fast as guys who are nose to stem.

It's counter-intuitive...when you start to get terrified, the instinct is to sit up, but that just makes things worse.

I sympathize, though. After a 40MPH yard sale, it took me 3-4 years before I was back to fearless descending.

Exactly. I tell this to triathletes who are scared of cross winds as well. Lowering your center of gravity always helps control. If you don't want to go fast, then you can scrub your brakes as needed, but don't sit up. That just makes things even worse.

After Roubaix and TdF and coming back from a very serious leg smash, he has earned much respect. Finished 10th or thereabouts yesterday.
Wacky and tough.

As a passive and bandwagon cycling fan, I enjoyed watching Stage 12 more than any other this year (that I saw).

I guess it's because the crowds were most insane that day vs all others.

Am I wrong about that?

Not a fan of how the salbutamol saga played out. But I respect Froome for how he handled that and now this year's TdF. The idea that Sky would go into the race with two leaders and then "let the road" determine who's number one probably grated on him. Then he gets caught out in a crash on Stage one so he's already behind. And once Thomas won Stage 12, the team's number one rider was decided. But Froome's been loyal, said all the right things, and he's still giving it his best effort. At least in some small way, he must be thinking, "I wish the team had been all in on supporting me from day one. Oh well, I'll give it a shot and see if I can at least make it back onto the podium."

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

That picture reminds me of Horner's crash in 2011 at 25 km to go. He had no clue where he was when he finished the stage. I can't find the video anywhere, but he was totally out of it.

The way I saw it before/during/now

Sky was prepping Thomas just in case Froome was banned.
Once allowed to race, they were all in on Froome.
Once Froome lost time with the crash, Thomas wasn't expected to be lead domestique, but at the same time was supposed to just sit patiently for Froome to make his move and mark Dumoulin if needed.
Thomas was only allowed to press the last 1 km of stages for time bonuses (also to block other GC guys from getting them).
Only at the end of stage 17, did Sky commit to Thomas once it became apparent that Froome's big move was never going to come.
Froome did nothing to help the team or Thomas. He constantly rode behind Thomas in the Sky train. All his efforts to cover Roglic today was to protect his 3rd place. Thomas was willing to let Dumoulin chase Roglic as he knew Roglic was too far down and it was too late in the stage for his attacks to threaten him. Froome stepped in (or tried to in small doese) as Dumoulin wasn't able to pull Roglic all the way back. If Thomas was really in any danger, he would have pulled it back himself.

Le Tour is my favorite of the Grand Tours because it's the prettiest. The French pool video feed is excellent from a technical standpoint, and they do a great job of showing natural beauty, great history, and the way fans engage with the race from the insane drunk Norwegians and Dutch to the cool farm field art.

I find the Giro to be stuck with kind of a bad point in the calendar from a visual standpoint. Seems like spring in Italy along the course is more likely to involve rain, grey skies, and mud rather than the beauty you get just a few weeks later on. (Though there is a certain amusement in seeing the leader in the GC standings lose the race because he went rear over teakettle into a snow bank on a high mountain stage during a blizzard in the last week)

For a long time, the Vuelta pool video feed looked like it was being fed through an old Betamax VCR from 1987 from a Basque separatist's garage that was serving as the race's international broadcast center. For all that the racing was often great, it was painful to watch. They've really improved though in recent years. I tend to assume they hired some folks away from the Le Tour coverage squad since it's got the same technical feel.

That’s all true, but until 2 or 3 days ago no one really knew if Froome was holding off or just spent. Both said all the right things which makes it a little boring, I get it. This wasn’t Astana with lance and contador who clearly hated each other and were pissed that the other was even there. Thomas definitely did more for Froome, but coming into the race Froome was the reigning champ of all 3 grand tours. He should defer to him. I think if Froome didn’t race the Giro he’s probably in yellow right now.

You want to get all over Froome because he probably dopes, go for it. You think Thomas is clean? Any of the top 10 GC guys? Would you bet a significant amount of money on it? I wouldn’t. Still fun to watch.

Froome is a Uber competitive guy who says all the right things. He was clearly going for the triple this year and ended up biting off more than he could chew. I’m glad he had the balls to try.

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--Chris