Official 2023 Tour de France Thread

Really doubt Powless is going to win it. The current point standings are basically meaningless when you think about how many further points there are on offer...

Powless has 46 points. Vinny won last year with 70-something points. So Powless likely needs at least 30 more points. He’ll need to get in several more breakaways or place really high in a major climbing stage to seal the deal

Maybe he was resting today. But from the images I saw (just finished watching the last 50 miles) he looks pretty cooked and ended up being waaaay off the peloton even by the end. Surely some fresher legs will start taking their shots at the jersey now that Powless has shown weakness.

The beginning of the race was brutal. With the GC group chasing the break down, everyone was hammering. My guess is that when powless didn't make the break that got away, he shut it down and cruised the rest of the stage, will use today as a 'rest' day, and try again tomorrow.

I will be on the Col du Feu on Saturday. Look for the idiot in the blue and white speedos and black-and-white Ciocc! 🚴

Supposed to be smoking hot again. Might not be able to convince my wife to do the climb, she might want to do drinks with some not-so-able friends in Orcier instead. Cut them some slack, they are 86 and 90!!

I will prob do a few climbs really early and join them in Orcier for much beer and pastis. It’s a pain getting around on the Tour route, they close roads all over, etc. Fortunately I know all the smaller routes. The logistics are huge!

Going to be another great day👍

It's weird how touchy the life of a sprinter is. Every year or so you have new guy who just cleans up. The previous guy just disappears seemingly. Notable exceptions of course--Cav, McEwen, Zable, Hushovd...

I could name 10 guys that were unbeatable then gone in a year.

Agreed. For all that goes into a sprint (positioning, timing, teammates, good luck throughout stage, crazy power, etc.) It’s amazing that year after year there seems to be a “guy to beat” who takes nearly every sprint stage.

Its such a mental game to put yourself in those committed situations and have the confidence and instinct to pull it off. In bike racing, wins = confidence = more wins, and that momentum of confidence is even more powerful for sprinters. Of course there is the fitness / sharpness aspect, but I think the confidence element is the x-factor. When a sprinter (or breakaway guy) gets that momentum they can't be stopped. But once you lose it, its hard to get it back.

I hope he doesn't win it. He's not worthy. Looks like at least 20 guys in the peloton can drop him on a climb on any given day. He's always off the back when the heavy hitters take off uphill.

That was so boring. Almost like vintage controlling Team Sky

Massive crash only 8km after the start due to wet pavement. The tour was stopped for several minutes. I'm not sure how many riders have abandoned the race... at least one.

Powless is done! Going to lose the KOM by the end of the stage.

I'm watching with a one hour delay, but the live blog says the race has resumed after a 25 minute delay. It seems like longer watching on TV. Five riders have abandoned.

Jumbo Visma training camps always start every day with a three hour risk management seminar in the AM.

"If you never try, what could go wrong?"

Pog neutralized by motos....

I really think Vinny should have tried to bomb the descent. He looked uncomfortable with the slow cornering sitting behind Pog. Excellent job at the top though with the counter after Pog’s attack was foiled by the motos.

Another exciting stage. A massive crash that delayed the stage for a half hour. A good KOM race over the first two Cat 1 mountains. A moto controversy over blocking one of the GC contenders. A change in the GC podium by one second. A nail-biting descent. Oh, and a great finish.

I hope the injured riders aren't hurt badly and can return to racing eventually. That's the most riders I've ever seen on the ground at one time.

.

Cycling is way dirtier now than it ever was with Lance. We are not the "post-EPO era", we never even left it. Basically everyone in the top 20 right now would drop Lance like he was a club rider.

Climbers are pedalling close to 7W/kg for up to 15 minutes, a physiological feat some thought unreachable in this post-EPO era.

Several mountain stages in the Tour’s opening weeks have finished up to 10 minutes faster than the fastest times forecasted by organizers ASO, and even the most vert-packed days bring average speeds close to 40kph.

velo.outsideonline.com

Fastest climbing on record? Pogačar, Kuss, Pidcock crush Strava KoMs all through Tour de France

Jim Cotton

High-profile segments are being raced faster than ever before as power numbers continue to reach higher peaks.

Link:velo.outsideonline.com/road/road-racin...

That part is wrong. While Pogacar, Vingegaard and some teammates are at Lance and US postal Level, others are far from this level.

Also in between Lance and current era it was globaly slower and more reasonnable overall.

Landa, Pinot, Bardet, Quintana, Gaudu, even Bernal or Thomas never did crazy climbs.
Only Contador and Froome seemed too good to be true. Nibali in between. Not saying everybody else is clean but at least not on full sauce.