King of the Jungel! He ballin.

Wonder if GT still thinks UAE looks vulnerable…

I've always been super paranoid as a GC racer, but if I was the guy in 3rd at 1:17, I'd be really worried about the 6 guys behind me at 1:XX who've probably given up on TPo and JVin, but would take a crack at old bloke Thomas.

And the 2 guys behind those 6 are <checks notes> van der Quintana and Roglic.

OK, granted two of those guys are "Grenaders" (as Nico Roche pronounces it, hilariously).

TPo looks like he’s making them play his game by drilling it to the line everyday. I bet the last thing most of them want to do is sprint at the end of a stage like today (especially with his kick), yet he keeps piling on. No knock out punch yet but he’s landing a lot of jabs.

van der Quint....9.5

GT has been very solid since Suisse. I wonder if the old man (at 36, wtf) has some more kick in him. I mean, Horner and Valverde.......

Lots of big ass hills ahead.

Let Phil ride!

I've got the tour on but have to have it on mute for work. Why are they paused? Train?

Something about protestors on the road according to cyclingnews live feed

"Protest on the Road"

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

Ukraine-related deal. Bettiol is doing laps around the commissaire's car.

Edit: Ant was wrong. It's an environmentalism protest of some kind.

Let us now remember one of the great roadside distractions of Le Tour [one which did NOT cause a stoppage of the race]

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

Matty Jorgo. He's got this.

Was it Cort? He was my second choice after MattyJo.

That was a freaking chaotic sprint of exhausted-ass cyclists.

Cort. Great racing again.

And to think Pog would let the jersey slip for a few days...

Anyone else I'd say that's burning matches unnecessarily - thinking of Simon Yates' ill-fated Giro. But it sures looks like it's Pog's world and he's letting everyone else play in it.

I wouldn't mind seeing him chastened a bit.

I just want the tour not to be decided already. Can anyone explain how Majka is still riding with a positive covid test and bennett went home?

I think this is hella exciting. Even if Pogacar wins, it will be three different races. Sneak attack. No doubt about it. And then this year, he has sleeves rolled up and is swinging.

And with Ineos and J-V still intact, I think there are fireworks to come.

Apparently Jungle Bob too. Seems to be related to a PCR test showing low viral load and having no symptoms. As can happen if you had COVID weeks prior, but there's still viral byproducts working through your system.

Hirschi is now on the Lanterne Rouge Anti-Podium

161. Turgid Turgis
160. Ice Bjerg
159. Hirschi Syrup

Funny, the GC Results show them moving up four spots today, because of the DNS's

"Nope. You're still at the end"

"Tail of the Draggin'" as we call it in the Bike MS Tour rest-stop tent [we work the next to last station, so people are pretty beat up by then]

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

this stage probably worked out fine for the gc folks. that fight to get the break established and to stop folks jumping the often super small gap from peloton to break was intense but it didnt look like any gc guys stuck their nose in the front.
just like last stage a very high quality break but this time more guys were able to fight the varying grades for a shot at a stage win. classics winners van baarle and bettiol really dinged kamna's chances as they just kept trying to get away solo like their classics success. cort probably wouldnt survive the repeated hard uphill efforts w/o the skinnier types hesitating between those efforts. i bet schultz is kicking himself for not throwing a little more tempo on the front so maybe cort and others didnt make it back in those last 1.5k. the way the break finished they were definitely at their limit.

now the next 2 days are brutal huge climbs and tomorrow starts out with 40k easy flat, slightly down before throwing in the lacets on the way to telegraphe/galibier. certainly non gc will be going for the break from kilometer 0, but will gc guys take some digs on lacets?, on telegraphe?
majka's health will be apparent on the lacets - i can't imagine neither jumbo nor ineos testing him (and all of uae) there. if majka is a little off it could be 11-12 jumbo and ineos vs mcnulty and pog and the other gc guys. we saw how hard attack/ease/counter was on the break today..... hmmm.

is covid ahead of crashes now for taking riders off the race - definitely a shame.

i watched replay of that last k - i take it back that maybe schultz could have done more.
van baarle attacked as soon as he got to them and jorgenson took a massive turn to bring that back.
then it was maybe 550 meters to go.
ben thomas went all in to bring 2nd group back (even keeping his speed at 400 meters and going right around them) and it must have been so hard that only cort still finished in the top 5 (with the 4 front guys).
those guys were absolutely spent, but cort has a stage win (poor schultz - almost!).

Funnily enough they go to Alpe d’Huez on Thursday, which was the site of the original road gapping of the TDF in 2003. Wonder if it will be repeated.

Those were plain gap jumps

You gotta throw a backflip in there now, put some Red Bull on that

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

Thursday is Bastille Day. It's going to be insane on that climb. I hope they don't go nuts with the flares.