diphthong

hay all,

this can be the thread for all things le grande boucle related...except that fantasy nonsense. that's an entirely different thread-thank goodness.
yes, there will be blood...er...spoilers.

USAZorro (many thank you's!!!) has already done the heavy lifting by posting all the stage profiles for ye:

2023 Tour Week 1 Profiles
2023 Tour Week 2 Profiles
2023 Tour Week 3 Profiles

race starts on saturday, july 1st. let's get after it.

diphthong

some decent sprinters afoot. does rule #87 actually stay in the race long enuff to get a win, much less get a win?

GrainBrain

I want that Aussie bullet to finally show what he's got. His climbing has been very good too. I'll be looking to see what Kristoff can still do also, I think this will be an amazing first week to watch! Pello Bilbao will be another, hoping he's on form!

Much love to you Gino - now I'm ready for summer and the Tour!

gpsblake

Betting odds think this is a 2 man race for the GC. Vingegaard is 6/5 and Pogacar is 13/10

The next favorite is Jai Hindley at 18 to 1.

https://www.oddschecker.com/cycling/tour-de-france

diphthong

let's suppose, for a moment, that neither of the two favorites finishes the race for whatever reasons. there are 3-4 riders i'd take before hindley.

was hoping kämna and schelling would be riding the tdf. may we see them in la vuelta!

RB1-luvr

All I care about this year is Cav. Cav, Cav, Cav and Cav. Cav.

slcbob

I wonder what the dynamic in the laughing bunch will be with Jakobsen, Groenewegen, and Cav fighting the time cut as early as the first week. Among others. Strange bedfellows.

Eric F 

I hope Cav gets his win, but if the rest of the fast kids stay in the race, his odds are pretty slim.

I'm curious to see how Pogi approaches the first week. He was very aggressive last year, and I think he paid for it later.

I would love to see another big stage win for Pidcock. Any chance he might get an opportunity to be a protected GC rider, or will it be Bernal?

diphthong

since bernal’s tdf win a few years back, seems like the team has just tried to keep their options open and keep multiple guys in the running. carapaz, yatesie, tgh, gthomas, sivakov and pidcock have all hovered within sight of the maillot jaune for at least a stage or two in the last few years. team turned into more of an overqualified, stage-hunting team during that time (which was a nice change). we’ll see if they go back to the boring, gc team they’ve historically been. bernal or tpiddy or whomever is going to have their work cut out for them trying to hang with the two gc faves.

that j-v team is absolutely loaded.

GrainBrain

Vuelta is going to be so good this year!

I think Jai will do very well, still hoping to see the South Americans kick some butt.

eljayski

start is too early, Mountain Time, for an old guy but finish will go well with a.m. coffee. I'm stoked!

diphthong

going with laporte to win stage one. this will age well...

Fredo76

My wife told me the TDF was on channel 4 (NBC). I assumed that it was some short blurb, and over already, but to my surprise the coverage was still going, showing the podium ceremonies. I was surprised. I wonder if today is a one-off, or if the coverage will continue. The ad called it a "US Bank/NBC Sports Special Report". I tried streaming the TDF on Peacock last year, but it was hopeless mess. Hopefully this Saturday's coverage is not the last of it.

dstrong 

I pay for Peacock and haven't had any issues. I watch it on my TV the mornings when I can watch in the living room, and on the second screen in my home office during the week while I'm working. I get to my desk about 7:30, turn on the commercial free version on one screen and start working on my other screen. I have to mute the speakers or pause when I do a call but it all works out and I get to see a lot of the stages.

semroc

Peacock won’t work for me either. Total nightmare. Keeps saying I need to pick a plan to sign up with. Which I already have, and already signed in, and paid. But the race would not play this morning. Will probably cancel. GCN rules. Looked like a tough stage today.

USAZorro

I'm guessing that your '3-4 riders' is now '1-2 riders'.

Fredo76

Tomorrow's coverage on NBC is supposed to start at 6am ET. That's four in the morning here. That's a lot of Circadian rhythm-altering for me. Maybe if I go to bed early...

GrainBrain

Hey UAE - only Marc Soler and Almeida are allowed to butt heads! What was up with Majka and Trentin - Majka seemed unconcerned when Trentin crashed. Now they're still drilling it! How many years in a row are we not going to allow Neilson Powless into the yellow?

Points to Vegard Laengen for dropping the peloton, then turning around and giving an Italian gesticulation to Majka. That's absolutely wonderful! Hope Trentin doesn't see that on the replay

Seriously though give it everything Powless - I'd not worry about Edvald Boasson Hagen taking the win if he could take yellow.

Aardwolf

Just thought I'd mention TdF is shown live in full on ITV4 (UK free TV channel).
They've also got a particularly good commentary team - all retired pro riders.

So since I'm sort of retired I'll be watching it for the next 3 weeks

Google says with a VPN you might be able to access ITV4 from US.

Edit: And here's the catch up site https://www.itv.com/watch/tour-de-france/34067

GrainBrain

Oh you tufting tufted tuft of a talented tuft! Absolutely shattered that group.


Victor Lafay!!?? That was an incredible burst at a km to go! Cofidis!?

MinnMan

WvA doesn't look like superman this year.

Extremeengineer

Nice to see the home team get one. That was a well done jump, you could see Wout looking around trying to decide who was chasing, and turns out those couple seconds of hesitation were just enough.

I’m just not sure UAE are riding smart. I know Tadej is like Rocky and wants to win every fight, but make JV put in some work. Bjerg trying to get UAE to pull harder in middle of stage right after Trenton went down had me scratchin my head, just not getting their tactics right now.

gpsblake

Astana got all Four bottom spots of the red jersey of the Lanterne Rouge after 2 stages with all of the same times, 41:38 ahead the leader of the race. Mark Cavendish sits 4th from the bottom in his race for red.

Yevgeniy Fedorov of Astana is the current red jersey holder.
YEVGENIYFEDOROV
YEVGENIYFEDOROV
YEVGENIYFEDOROV

slcbob

Neilson you little tinker. EF a pois.

MinnMan

Google translate was absolutely no help here.