globecanvas

I thought that too but it was Richie Porte who isn't his teammate any more. I just watched it again, I don't think anyone else passed him while he was on foot.

shovelhd

Really? It's pretty clear to me. You can't advance without your bike. The mitigating circumstance for Froome though is that his frame was run over by the moto and broken. It may have been impossible to carry a mass of broken carbon, wires and whatever used to be his bike 1km to the line. Remember every rule should be applied in the realm of safety and fairness. No safety issue here for the most part but the fairness part is highly debateable. What was fair for Froome is quite unfair to his closest competitors. It's a judgement call. I would not have liked to be the one to make it.

topflightpro

He was definitely passed by at least two Sky riders who could have offered him a bike. He exchanged words with one as he was looking back at Froome as they passed. I think Froome told him to go on, because he then got off the Mavic bike as the Sky car pulled up.

Oh, and one of the two who passed him was the guy riding with Dan Martin, who had been dropped from the yellow jersey group early in the climb.

As for the final results, I think what they did was fair. The race organizers didn't get the course set up in time due to the last minute change to shorten it by 6km. All the people who were in that last 6k, then walked down to the new finish line, meaning the crowds were much bigger than expected. There were no barriers. It was an unsafe situation, and the racers should not be penalized for it.

That said, I think it was absolute BS for the field to wait for Froome to take his "Nature Break." That was nothing but a delay tactic to allow his support riders to catch back on - one of the two who paced him up Ventoux until he attacked. And by slowing the field, a couple guys in the top 10 who had been separated earlier were able to catch on.

Grumpy McTrumpy

Now the mountain stages are less interesting due to no real competition, the excitement returns to where it had been early in the tour, the last few minutes of the long flat stages.

I can understand Kittel protesting the finish but the overhead cam shows that both of them actually veered equally into each other. Cav had position on Kittel though.

canuckbelle

Did y'all see this? Quintana held onto one of the neutral service wheels going up Ventoux past the mess.

https://twitter.com/assekevin/status...836673/video/1

Ygduf

i felt like Cav came across him, but it was decided at that point. Kittel was caught on the front a little too early and Cav is locked-the-****-in this year.

canuckbelle

He moved a bit, but there was plenty of room to the side (not like Cav put Kittel in to a barrier). Kittel was beaten at that point...clean sprint.

spdntrxi

Kittel was already a gonnah.. maybe would have got 4th @ best

carpediemracing 

+1 or whatever

Cav is more parallel with the road stripes than Kittel. It seems like he looks down and loses his balance when he looks back up. Bar moves, he swerves. I only watched the clip a couple times, maybe I need to watch it more.

mattm

It was a dick move by Cavendish, but legal, seems to me.

Grumpy McTrumpy

DeGendt. Is he giving up on the KOM jersey? Cracked?

globecanvas

Just watched the stage. I actually think the deviation is an optical illusion. The road markings curve to the left but Cav maintains a mostly consistent distance from the right-hand barrier. If you look at the sprinters relative to the barrier, it's Kittel who appears to move left more than Cav moving right.

carpediemracing 

quoting myself to clarify who I was talking about.

PepeM

He tried to get on the break today but was caught. Then he had not recovered so he could not follow the move that stuck. I'm sure he'll have another go at it.

mattm

Wow I thought Majka had that sprint for sure - guess Pantano has a decent sprint!

Homebrew01

Stage 16 - The importance of throwing your bike at the line.

Ygduf

Majika had been out alone for a long time and probably did 10x the work on the descent. Pantano was crazy on the downhill.

canuckbelle

Practice your bike throws, kids!!

grolby

I agree that there was no need to sanction Cav - Kittel was watching the paint dry and moved left at least as much as Cav moved right. But whether or not Kittel was going to win or not has ZERO relevance to whether Cav did an illegal sprint or not. First, the rule about changing lines in a sprint is about safety at least as much as it is about fair play. And second, the placings below first do actually matter, with prize money, sprint points and prestige all very much on the line. Kittel definitely lost a spot or three in checking up when he did. It's just wrong to say it doesn't matter cause Kittel already wasn't going to win. That's not the point.

mattm

For real.

Grumpy McTrumpy

Watching a GC group as risk averse as this does not make for interesting viewing. I think I'd prefer if the cameras strictly followed the break only.

Perhaps that's why I miss Contador's style. He's not one to ride to protect a top 5 spot. He takes big risks. Quintana doesn't, or so it seems. If I were Valverde I would attack Sky right from the gun and make their lives difficult on the early cat 3 climbs. So what if I risk losing my precious fourth place.

tetonrider

not sure about 4th, but there is a not insignificant (for cycling) amount of money for 2nd and 3rd, and i suspect a bunch of guys on the team can use that bonus. i don't like it as a viewer, but i get it as far as not racing for "1st or nothing."

agreed on enjoying contador's style.

Grumpy McTrumpy

That final chicane is gnarly.

Grumpy McTrumpy

Dumoulin was on the aerobars for a lot of the climb. Percentage grade which finally forced him to the bullhorns?

12%


Yikes

Flatballer

I can't imagine going fast enough on a 10% grade to be in the aerobars. Hell, I can't imagine going fast enough to be in the saddle.