Dumoulin looking to leave Sunweb and join Jumbo? That’d be a major powerhouse team. And Canyon & Alpecin apparently ditching Katusha to build a WT team around MvDP? Intriguing.

On the NBC feed I'm a little confused on why they used an English translator for Geraint Thomas.

Edit: Both those moves would be awesome.

I'm curious what Movistar is going to do since they're reportedly losing both Quintana and Landa, and Valverde is OAF.

breakaway with big gap, & best positioned in the bunch is only 1:43 down in GC. Interesting that Ineos haven't set the pace yet. Guess they don't care about the jersey, only worried about their position with other contenders. Will be interesting to see how hard quickstep will push to try and bring them back.

With Skyneos being in contention too although I think if Sunweb does release him moving to a Dutch team makes the most sense. Jumbo has had quite the turn around over the past few years. Really a hell of a squad.

Apparently Israel Cycling Academy is looking to step in with Katusha. I don't blame Canyon and Alpecin for bailing. Katusha has not done well at all in the grand scheme of things and hedging your bets on MVDP is worth taking.

I’m wondering how many years it’s going to be before they stop spending so much time educating people about bike racing.

This just in!!!

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

The rumors as interesting as the riding

Politt to DQS? Dumoulin to Jumbo would be interesting. The apparent demise of Megastar (in their minds)...Landa reportedly done...Quintana was seen riding alongside and talking to the Arkea-Samsic team car today....Prior murmurs of Carapaz leaving for Ineos (not sure how vaild) but believable even more so now with Froome's future dominance in doubt. Nibali already confirmed to jump to Trek-Segafredo for his last hurrah.

Will be a fascinating offseason.

As for the racing: Good on the breakaway. Love DeGendt.

It's on. Surprised to not see Astana anywhere yet. Ineos cold blooded as always. Who makes a desperate move, the Shark, Pinot, Richie?

So a couple of days ago I questioned Sagan and he responded to my concerns. Today I’m questioning Teejay. Does this tour intimidate him? Good results through the year, then struggling on early climbs in the tour.

And Carapaz to Ineos....Some serious have and have nots next year....

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"Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." T.S. Elliot | Cycle2Tri.com
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Riding well in the Dauphine is one thing, but riding against the best GC riders in the world who are peaking for the Tour is a different proposition. I just don't think he has the chops to hang with these guys.

I wonder what the maximum grade a human on any type of non-powered bike, with any type of gearing, could actually make it up say for 200 meters?

Me too. Dropped on the penultimate climb. Clearly doesn't have legs, then makes big effort, to chase on and catch the peloton at start of final climb. Only to be immediately dropped and finish 6 minutes behind his teammates Woods and Uran. But he did manage to get on TV a bunch.

Alaphilippe rode courageously in defense of yellow only to miss out by 6 minutes. There's a few stages coming up that suit him where he may get it back.

Thomas looked strongest. Nibali and Bardet probably out. Will we see Nibali give up more time so he can be a stage hunter? He said that he would make assessment based on his performance today.

What a season for Ciccone -- wonder if he knew he was riding for yellow in final KM.

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It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

Good thing you are still breathing.

Wonder if Wout was sick or feeling bad today.

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It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

I would say those of us who don't have to be on twitter or instagram or facebook 24/7 can do a decent job of not having the race spoiled and would prefer not to know the outcome before watching.

At some point grip becomes an issue and keeping your front wheel down at least from my experience of riding real steep stuff on a mountain bike.

There are rumors that they will try to sign Enric Mass since he is a young Spanish GC hopeful.

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Fun stage to watch today. Kudos to LFF for a valiant effort to try and retain yellow. Hard stage to really draw meaningful conclusions from the GC. The climbs were super steep, but not very long. Very different from some of the big mountains yet to come. If LFF can be there with the GC group at the end, then ride off the front of it, it kind of tells you it wasn't a true GC mountain day. Time gaps are time gaps though...I just don't know if we can extrapolate the gaps created today to what will actually play out at the end of 3 weeks.

Well Thomas started to put to bed the yearlong rumors of being "out of shape," as if a smart, mature pro like Thomas is going to shit the bed defending his title. People seemed to actually believe the GCN bits showing him partying every week, not realizing it was just for fun.

Me too. I suppose where I live isn't exactly France...so yeah...99% of the people around me, including my family and friends, have no idea the TdF is even going on now.

I completely missed all talk of him being out or shape or partying. The analyses I read merely suggested he was a bit of an unknown quantity as there were not many results or races from which to gauge his form. But seems to me that such is often the case with Sky/Ineos leaders going into Tour.

LRP still in the race. Good for him. Hoping he can at least race this one without incident.

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It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

Not really. The Sky formula has been pretty standard the last 6-7 years. Send their top rider to the Dauphine to show off their form. Usually throw in Romandie and a variety of other 1 week races early as well (Volta a Cataluna, Tirrena Adriatico, etc.). There normally is a good sample of results to indicate how strong Froome is going into the TdF. Last year was a bit different since he tackled the Giro and backed off on the May/June 1 week races. But Thomas won the Dauphine last year, so it's not like he was an unknown quantity when he performed at last year's tour. This year Thomas, Bernal, and Froome have all had their share of bad luck...which is why it may seem that they have a lack of results. But it's not because that's Ineos' plan to keep their form in the dark.

Everyone is sleeping on George Bennett.

Thomas looked every bit up for it today. That ridiculously steep finale isn't necessarily indicative of what'll happen in the last week but I'm sure Ineos will sleep a little better on their special pillows tonight.

Aside from that, good day for Bahrain and Trek. Should be an interesting couple of days to see if Alaphilippe can take the jersey back from Ciccone by hoovering up time bonuses.

I'd love for there to be a secret GC plan for Bennett. Also for Ciccone.

Seems like a lot of big riders on the market are linked to Ineos. Or more likely, a convenient negotiating tactic. With Quintana moving on it's hard to see Carapaz leaving Movistar, as the company has a huge presence in South America.

TD to Jumbo would be good, I think. They'd be a GT force to be reckoned with.