It’s been another successful Tour de France for Shimano, the Japanese company winning the race outright with Team Sky’s Chris Froome, but it went a step further this year and bagged every single stage and jersey in the race. That’s quite some feat and we’re pretty certain it’s the first time Shimano has managed it.
Shimano’s domination was helped by the fact it sponsors and supplies groupsets to more of the teams than Campagnolo and SRAM combined. Of the 22 teams racing in this year’s race, 17 were using Dura-Ace Di2 - Campagnolo had three teams and SRAM just two.
Shimano doesn’t sponsor all of those teams, some choose to buy Shimano, but the company offers support to any team using its equipment.
Having ridden Campy, Shimano and SRAM, I have somewhat conflicted feelings on this.
Does Shimano heavily target tour teams?Is Shimano throwing way way more dollars at this than SRAM and Campy?Is Di2 R9150 road group that much better? I’ve never ridden it, but it looks pretty sweet.
Believe it or not, LA was the first Tour winner to use Shimano components, in 1999.
Lemond was on Campy in 1986,90 and Mavic in 1989.
Oh shit maybe it was Floyd as first tour winner on Shimano in 2006. No, thats not right it was Contador in 2007. But does that count either ? Sastre in 2008?
I was surprised to hear Phil Liggett actually mention Lance on Saturday during the time trial broadcast.
Is Shimano throwing way way more dollars at this than SRAM and Campy?
Yes.
Is Di2 R9150 road group that much better? I’ve never ridden it, but it looks pretty sweet.
Better? Arguably. Better enough to be a decisive factor? Probably not. If you had swapped any of the Jersey and/or Stage winner’s Shimano group for Campy or SRAM, the results would probably be the same.
Better? Arguably. Better enough to be a decisive factor? Probably not. If you had swapped any of the Jersey and/or Stage winner’s Shimano group for Campy or SRAM, the results would probably be the same.
In this Tour I’m sure that’s right. What was the final verdict of Schleck’s dropped chain in 2010? I just seem to remember hearing the Sram rear derailleur didn’t have something the Shimano equivalent did and it wouldn’t of dropped on the Shimano. Not sure how people would know that for sure either way. It was a long time ago so even if it was Srams fault it wouldn’t be a concern with what we ride now.
I am not arguing the merits of either manufacturer. I only mention it because it is the only example I can think of a possible groupset decision deciding a stage. Personally I ride a mix of the two.
NBC Cycling app FTW… Keenan and McEwen on there. One day clicked the “other” feed only to hear “them” and quickly backed out and found the right stream, didn’t make that mistake twice. I’m not the most well versed on pro cycling but felt Robbie had great input.
"I was surprised to hear Phil Liggett actually mention Lance on Saturday during the time trial broadcast.
Oh you poor Americans still suffering the ramblings of that fool.
Robbie McEwan was ten billion times better. "
Yes, I’m sorry but Phil’s doddering old man act has worn out it’s welcome. He now constantly fills dead air with platitudes inanities and constant incessant repetition. “Yes, most of the riders are using round wheels these days and Warren Baguette (seriously - he did) is using his to avid smashing his gears on this climb!” The brief technical dropout that caused NBC to use the Australian commentary was a ray of sunshine.
I actually seriously suspect a large part of Shimano’s pro tour dominance now is because of their widespread accessibility and price-friendliness at the lower non-pro (non DA) levels.
If you’re a young up and coming rider with gobs of potential but new to cycling, I think it’s more likely you get a lower-end bike with Shimano grouppo rather than a SRAM or Campy grouppo. Once you get used to Shimano, it’s pretty natural to want to stick with it as you go pro.
I was surprised to hear Phil Liggett actually mention Lance on Saturday during the time trial broadcast.
Oh you poor Americans still suffering the ramblings of that fool.
Robbie McEwan was ten billion times better.
Here in NZ we got the Robbie broadcast too. It was pretty good, but for me, le Tour isn’t le Tour without Paul and Phil.
I liked last year when Paul and Phil would have Jens Voigt pop in from time to time, to give his 2 cents. Jens never got their jokes and rarely even listened to what he was being asked. Jens would just say what he felt like saying, then leave. Hilarious! I loved it.
"I was surprised to hear Phil Liggett actually mention Lance on Saturday during the time trial broadcast.
Oh you poor Americans still suffering the ramblings of that fool.
Robbie McEwan was ten billion times better. "
Yes, I’m sorry but Phil’s doddering old man act has worn out it’s welcome. He now constantly fills dead air with platitudes inanities and constant incessant repetition. “Yes, most of the riders are using round wheels these days and Warren Baguette (seriously - he did) is using his to avid smashing his gears on this climb!” The brief technical dropout that caused NBC to use the Australian commentary was a ray of sunshine.
Eurosport coverage was pretty decent except when they put Carlton Kirby on. He just spews a load of nonsense and seems to think the purpose of commentary is to perform verbal gymnastics. Utter BS the lot of it.They really need to rethink him. He’s can truly ruin your enjoyment of a stage.
There are 17 teams out of 22 using Shimano shifters, 21 stages and 4 jerseys.
If all teams had an equal probability to win each stage and each jersey, then the probability to have all 25 stages and jerseys won by Shimano teams would be (17/22)^25 = 0.16%
So either Shimano is providing a huge advantage, or the teams they are not sponsoring didn’t have much chance to win any stage to begin with.
or the teams they are not sponsoring didn’t have much chance to win any stage to begin with.
It’s this.
Edited to add which teams were on what (from DCRainmakers post)
SHIMANO DI2
AG2R
ASTANA
BAHRAIN-MERIDA
BMC RACING TEAM
BORA-HANSGROHE
CANNONDALE-DRAPAC
TEAM DIMENSION DATA
FDJ
LOTTONL-JUMBO
ORICA-SCOTT
QUICK-STEP FLOORS
TEAM SKY
TEAM SUNWEB
TREK-SEGAFREDO
COFIDIS
DIRECT ÉNERGIE
WANTY–GROUPE GOBERT
SRAM ETAP
TEAM KATUSHA-ALPECIN
FORTUNEO–OSCARO
CAMPAGNOLO
LOTTO-SOUDAL
MOVISTAR
UAE TEAM EMIRATES
Looking at this, only Tony Martin in a TT, Greipel in a sprint and Valverde in a punchy/climby/sprint really had much of a chance.
Martin had an off tour in terms of TT, same for Greipel in the sprints and Valverde crashed out on Stage 1.
I’m still a little surprised that Tony Martin didn’t win either of the TTs. That would have given SRAM one stage win, and was honestly SRAM’s best bet at a stage.
How many times did someone have a bike change due to electronic shifting? There were at least 5 I remember. Froome and Contador among them. Probably more if I went back and found it. Not sure they were all Shimano. I could argue Uran’s issue would not have happened to mech shifting. I’m still not a fan.
Statistically since they are so widely used in the field, the fact they won all the stages, jerseys, etc. isn’t that big of a surprise.
Campy and SRAM make nice stuff too. Friend of mine used to be a Euro Pro cyclist and told me you won on what they put you on… for the most part. Including flexing frames that dropped chains too often on hard climbs.