Weight loss won't help your ftp, but it makes a big difference on anything above about a 4% gradient. The hills down there might not be long, but they're generally steeper than you'll find on the continent, and w/kg makes a bigger difference on steeper gradients. Closest we've got to a proper climb locally to me is Sheephouse Lane - it's less than 3km in length in total but my PB up there is a minute quicker at race weight than it is at current weight (7kg heavier) - and that's almost entirely due to the steep (12% or so) kickers at the start and in the middle
Got to stay of those Higos con Miel dude.
I am a gordito so too late for me.
OMG - I would KILL for those right now. Been on cardboard and leaves for three weeks and am so hungry I could eat my own arm
I think the Spanish only stay slim because it is so bloody hot most of the year, apart from ensalada mixta I can't think of anything slimming! Maybe the biscuits made by nuns as you can only eat one.
Fascinating Green jersey battle today. This is the best tour I can remember since I started watching 15 years ago. Great that there is only one Time Trial and it comes at the end. I would like to see time trials dispensed with altogether from the grand tours.
Riders seem to have lost their ability to collect food bags and bottles. Don’t remember seeing so many failed attempts to pick up food bags and bottles.
Fascinating Green jersey battle today. This is the best tour I can remember since I started watching 15 years ago. Great that there is only one Time Trial and it comes at the end. I would like to see time trials dispensed with altogether from the grand tours.
Riders seem to have lost their ability to collect food bags and bottles. Don’t remember seeing so many failed attempts to pick up food bags and bottles.
Yup fascinating today. Last year was my favourite ever but this is up there so far.
Tirreno Adriatico Simon Yates currently leading, Geraint Thomas 3rd
My mate's riding that 😁
Good solid Wigan lad called Matt Holmes. Won a stage of his first ever world tour race this year on Wilunga at the TDU. Been a fixture of the racing scene in the NW the last few years but the racing in the UK doesn't really suit him as he's a proper mountain goat. Difficult for him to get noticed here as a result, but Red Lotto took a pint on him and seems its working out. He was in the break the other day and was last man to be caught after hitting out on the last climb. He might even get a go at the Giro, which would be mint in his first year as a world tour pro.
His dad is a local coach, he's coached a few riders that I race with - and also pretty handy himself, national age group road race champ the last three years in a row.
Tirreno Adriatico Simon Yates currently leading, Geraint Thomas 3rd
My mate's riding that 😁
Good solid Wigan lad called Matt Holmes. Won a stage of his first ever world tour race this year on Wilunga at the TDU. Been a fixture of the racing scene in the NW the last few years but the racing in the UK doesn't really suit him as he's a proper mountain goat. Difficult for him to get noticed here as a result, but Red Lotto took a pint on him and seems its working out. He was in the break the other day and was last man to be caught after hitting out on the last climb. He might even get a go at the Giro, which would be mint in his first year as a world tour pro.
His dad is a local coach, he's coached a few riders that I race with - and also pretty handy himself, national age group road race champ the last three years in a row.
Still think Roglic will do him in the TT, but that isn't a foregone conclusion - Pogacar beat him in the nationals and it's a mountain TT. This week will be absolutely mint. Expect Kuss, Bennett and van Aert to put the hurt on Pogacar every day with him being isolated early on and see whether he snaps
'Car enthusiast and experienced adventurer' Jim Ratcliffe's roaming advert is failing and his new SUV - a 'no-nonsense 4x4, engineered to overcome all conditions and withstand the daily punishment you put it through' - is a polluting menace. I feel a bit sorry for Egan Bernal.
'Car enthusiast and experienced adventurer' Jim Ratcliffe's roaming advert is failing and his new SUV - a 'no-nonsense 4x4, engineered to overcome all conditions and withstand the daily punishment you put it through' - is a polluting menace. I feel a bit sorry for Egan Bernal.
Take it somewhere else. This is a thread about the Tour de France - not environmental politics
Was quite emotional watching that. Not sure the Movistar leaders would do that. Great to see Kwiatkowski win. He's ridden a great tour and been the main guy on the front for Bernal this year. Hope he rides a top ITT, but shame he can't jump up much in GC.
Well that was an experience! Just watched the end today's stage on Danish tv. Listening to the commentators was reminiscent of that night Norway beat England 1-0
Not quite at the same level perhaps because it happens a bit more often (22nd Danish stage win apparently) but entertaining nonetheless
Well that was an experience! Just watched the end today's stage on Danish tv. Listening to the commentators was reminiscent of that night Norway beat England 1-0
Not quite at the same level perhaps because it happens a bit more often (22nd Danish stage win apparently) but entertaining nonetheless
I can imagine! Another clever breakaway by Sunweb ... amazed they let him go after his previous stage win.
Good to see Luke Rowe up there and finish in top seven
I started watching TV2 back in the day because ITV didn't have live coverage and Eurosport was cr*p. I know the pictures are the same but if you're going to watch live the commentary matters.
This year's constellation is entertaining: 2 ex-pros Rolf Sørensen (who has been a commentator for years now. I think he's 55), Chris Anker Sørensen who is a bit of a country bumpkin but comes out with quaint phrases and who started giving long entertaining interviews when he was still riding Le Tour and a man called Dennis Ritter who is an amateur cyclist and for 11 months of the year a serious journalist who wears a jacket and tie and reads the news on TV.
The chemistry is wonderful and for years now Dennis and Rolf have donned the lycra and ridden various climbs together with the cameras on them.
One thing that really struck me today was the enthusiasm of Rolf, who in his time also won a couple of stages, reacting to the achievements of a youngster.
Comments
Riders seem to have lost their ability to collect food bags and bottles. Don’t remember seeing so many failed attempts to pick up food bags and bottles.
Love the commitment from Bora and Sunweb.
Good solid Wigan lad called Matt Holmes. Won a stage of his first ever world tour race this year on Wilunga at the TDU. Been a fixture of the racing scene in the NW the last few years but the racing in the UK doesn't really suit him as he's a proper mountain goat. Difficult for him to get noticed here as a result, but Red Lotto took a pint on him and seems its working out. He was in the break the other day and was last man to be caught after hitting out on the last climb. He might even get a go at the Giro, which would be mint in his first year as a world tour pro.
His dad is a local coach, he's coached a few riders that I race with - and also pretty handy himself, national age group road race champ the last three years in a row.
I hate skinny people 😏
I feel a bit sorry for Egan Bernal.
Not quite at the same level perhaps because it happens a bit more often (22nd Danish stage win apparently) but entertaining nonetheless
1. Denmark TV2
2, Eurosport Sweden
3. ITV
I started watching TV2 back in the day because ITV didn't have live coverage and Eurosport was cr*p. I know the pictures are the same but if you're going to watch live the commentary matters.
This year's constellation is entertaining: 2 ex-pros Rolf Sørensen (who has been a commentator for years now. I think he's 55), Chris Anker Sørensen who is a bit of a country bumpkin but comes out with quaint phrases and who started giving long entertaining interviews when he was still riding Le Tour and a man called Dennis Ritter who is an amateur cyclist and for 11 months of the year a serious journalist who wears a jacket and tie and reads the news on TV.
The chemistry is wonderful and for years now Dennis and Rolf have donned the lycra and ridden various climbs together with the cameras on them.
One thing that really struck me today was the enthusiasm of Rolf, who in his time also won a couple of stages, reacting to the achievements of a youngster.
I admit to having soft spot for Slovenia but all the same?