this is hard to watch......Sagan is shattered, has nothing going up D'Aspin with 100k and the Tourmelet to go......damn........

By "protecting green" you mean "finishing," right?

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

indeed............he's 11 mins back now and on the Tourmelet wth gc group already on the 20k descent

make that 17 mins........
....Alaphillipe is having way too much fun, KOM sewed up, looks ready to win another stage

What are the odds the last 4 "sprinters" left miss the cut and Alaphillippe takes the polka dots and green jersey?

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If the guy covering is Bernal then it doesn't help at all, because he is too far down the standings to matter. That's why Bernal hasn't been jumping on the wheel of attackers, he's been gradually upping the pace from the front of the pack and reeling them back in with Froome/Thomas sitting on his wheel.

If the guy covering the attack is Froome then that changes the dynamic. Dumoulin and Roglic don't want to lose time to Froome, so if he's up the road then they need to chase, allowing Sky to sit in and have a rest.

It is also possible to impede an attack by repeatedly going in front of the attacker then dropping the pace and forcing him to go round you. That uses up a lot more of his energy as he's constantly surging rather than riding steady tempo, and probably pisses him off as well. It's arguably not a very sporting tactic and I haven't really seen it among the GC riders this year.

Anyone have any idea of the projected cut?

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"It's good enough for who it's for" - Grandpa Wayne

I don't want to hear any more about Movistar, AG2R, et al not racing aggressively.

Saw 40 minutes quoted somewhere, not sure how accurate that is. I think if 19 of them were to cross together then they'd probably apply discretion and allow them to stay in even if slightly over the cut. Reckon that as long as Sagan stays with Demare he's safe!

Thomas is isolated!

Hope people will also stop saying that Froome won't work for his team-mate, he just buried himself closing down a Roglic attack for Thomas and now suffering out the back as a result.

let's file that as the official "what could have been" snippet.
I like Bardet. he earned some major respect this year with finishes like Bianchi. I think he can do well in future tours.
I wasn't sold on Landa last year. I think this years start set him too far back.

[quote cartsman

Hope people will also stop saying that Froome won't work for his team-mate, he just buried himself closing down a Roglic attack for Thomas and now suffering out the back as a result.[/quote]

Well trying to close Roglic also directly protects his own 3rd-place position, so the team interest aligned perfectly with personal interest there.

Edit: I will give Froome credit for being the most graceful cracker ever. He just keeps going.

well, provided there's room in the car. Demare may have to slide over.

True, but a lot of people on here have been predicting an outbreak of in-fighting at Sky from the moment Thomas got yellow, and instead what we've had is 2 riders who have been nothing but dignified and complimentary about each other off the road, and have done nothing on the road that would hurt each other. Maybe that's simply because Froome hasn't been strong enough to try anything, but I think the fact that they've come through a potentially difficult situation with team unity and their friendship intact says a lot about both men.

And to prove your point, he and Bernal just work their way back onto the group!

Becoming a Roglic fan. He's throwing absolutely everything into this stage.

Yup, good to see. Thomas can't be enjoying this descent much, would have been much better for him if there was a break up the road and they weren't racing for stage win and bonus seconds.

Can see somebody crashing here

Zakarin is descending on the hoods... wtf

On the other hand, watching Roglic descend is an absolute thing of beauty. Incredible.

Yeah, that was master class descending, pulling away from Dumoulin and Froome. TT tomorrow will be fantastic. Risks will be taken.

Maybe reading too much into it, but interesting to see Thomas and Roglic having a friendly chat and warming down next to each other, while Froome nowhere to be seen.

Pulling away in the slipstream of a motor, not his fault, but that motor should not have been there on the straight part of the downhill. TD stayed right behind Roglic through all the corners but then on the straight bit Roglic pulled away using the motor riding in front of him.

Yes, not to mention it serves as a guide for how hard he can hit each corner.

You are reading too much into it - They have to stay around as the stage winner and yellow jersey - everyone else not wearing a jersey gets to go straight to their bus unless they are randomly pulled for drug testing.

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"It's good enough for who it's for" - Grandpa Wayne