“Appalling behaviour for a pro cyclist”: Thibaut Pinot joins fans in slamming Lenny Martinez’s “absurd” triple sticky bottle; “My body said enough”: Remco Evenepoel reveals he was racing with sinusitis during Tour de France + more on the live blog
SUMMARY
Ineos Grenadiers head carer leaves Tour de France as anti-doping authority launches fresh investigation into 2012 texts
Tour de France stage 19 shortened… due to a “contagious cattle virus” which has “necessitated the culling of the animals”
Well, here’s one you don’t see every year: today’s decisive mountain stage has been shortened by over 30km after an outbreak of a contagious virus was discovered in a herd of cattle near the Col des Saisies.
In a statement issued last night, race organisers ASO said: “The discovery of an outbreak of contagious nodular dermatitis affecting cattle in a herd located specifically in the Col des Saisies has necessitated the culling of the animals.
“In light of the distress experienced by the affected farmers and in order to preserve the smooth running of the race, it has been decided, in agreement with the relevant authorities, to modify the route of Stage 19 (Albertville–La Plagne) and to avoid the ascent to the col des Saisies.”
So, here’s what’s changed: the ceremonial roll-out will still begin in Albertville, but the race will now skip the Saisies climb entirely, joining the original route just before Beaufort — at kilometre 52.4 of the original schedule. The revised stage distance is now 95km, rather than the originally planned 129.9km.
There’s also a change to the clock. With the new, shorter route, the start in the neutral zone has been pushed back to 2:30 pm local time, an hour later than planned.
A shame for anyone who wanted a full Alpine monster stage, but there’s still plenty of brutality to come. Col du Pré, Cormet de Roselend, and the final haul to La Plagne are all still on the menu. Just with fewer cows.
“I gave it my everything”: Young Brit sensation Oscar Onley “knows what he has to do” on final mountain stage to grab Tour de France podium spot
Oscar Onley isn’t one for big statements. At the top of the Col de la Loze yesterday — soaked, wrecked, and barely able to speak, the 22-year-old Scot managed to sum up his day with a quiet, “Um, yeah, it was hard.” Fair enough.
He looked — as the young gen would say — cooked. He was cooked. And yet he’d just ridden himself into touching distance of the Tour de France podium.
After getting distanced on the Madeleine by Felix Gall and Florian Lipowitz, Onley found himself in serious trouble midway through the stage. Lipowitz, holding third overall and the white jersey, was up the road with time in hand. Primož Roglič wasn’t far behind either. The dream looked like it might be slipping away.
Oscar Onley following Vingegaard and Pogačar 🤩🏴#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/DyIo9YENQV
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 24, 2025
But thanks to some sharp teamwork, with Picnic PostNL’s Warren Barguil and Frank van den Broek dropping back to pace him through the valley, Onley came back. “The team did a super job to then bring me back ahead of the last climb,” he said. “From there, I just dug in and gave what I had to the line.”
And what he had was enough to go with Pogačar and Vingegaard — almost. “I felt good but I’m just not at the level of those guys when they attack really all out,” he said. “It showed at the end of the stage that they went pretty hard up there.”
He dropped just a few seconds to them on the Loze, crossed the line fourth on the day, and clawed back 1 minute 39 seconds on Lipowitz. The gap to the podium? Now just 22 seconds.
“I just did what I could there,” he said. “I gave it my everything.”
“We’ll give it everything tomorrow”
Oscar Onley spoke to Daniel after closing the gap to 3rd to 22 seconds on stage 18 🏴#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/dLRUv68H07
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 24, 2025
There’s still one mountain stage to go — up to La Plagne this afternoon — and Onley knows exactly what’s at stake. “The gap now to the podium isn’t much,” he said. “So we’ll give it everything we have tomorrow to see if we can get on there.”
He might not be grinning about it, but those around him are. “Sometimes, I feel like the rest of us are happier than he even is,” his team-mate Sean Flynn said earlier in the week. “He’s just very focused and he knows what he needs to do.”
So here we are. Rain, hail, and 5,500m of climbing down. Just one more alpine summit to go. And if Onley pulls it off, he won’t need to say much.
Last dance in the Alps: Tour de France stage 19 preview
It’s the final mountain stage of this year’s Tour — and after a late route change due to a cattle disease outbreak on the Col des Saisies, the stage has been trimmed down to 95km. But don’t let the distance fool you: it’s still quite the Alpine finish you’d expect from the Tour.
With the Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugine and Col des Saisies removed, the day now kicks off fast after a short neutral roll-out. The action will really ignite on the Col du Pré (12.6km at 7.7%) and the Cormet de Roselend, before a long descent into the valley sets up the final showdown: a grinding 19.3km HC climb to La Plagne.
It’s the last real chance for the GC contenders to make a move, but with Pogačar looking untouchable in yellow, you can bet that most of us would be watching Oscar Onley with bated breath as the Scotsman tries to chew down the 22 seconds’ lead Lipowitz holds over that coveted podium spot before we’re Paris-bound.
“My body said enough… I felt empty”: Remco Evenepoel shares raw statement after Tour de France exit and reveals broken ribs and sinusitis diagnosis
Remco Evenepoel has broken his silence following his abandonment on stage 14, posting a personal message reflecting on the pressure, setbacks, and physical toll that ultimately forced him out of the Tour de France.
“The Tour de France was my big goal,” he wrote. “After my crash in December, everything I did was with one clear purpose: to be ready in time for July. That goal gave me focus, but it also created a lot of time pressure.”
He described how what should have been a winter of base training instead became months of rehab and uncertainty. Once cleared to train, he was in a constant rush to catch up. “I always felt like I was playing catch-up… I never quite felt like myself.”
Evenepoel then suffered another crash at the Belgian national championships, breaking a rib just weeks before the Tour. “Not the worst, but definitely not ideal,” he admitted. Still, he started the race determined not to give up on the dream: “I lined up for the hardest race in the world with a broken rib and a tired body.”
Despite the setbacks, he won a stage, spent several days in white, and held third overall into the second week — until his body could no longer keep up. “I was holding on, but I knew deep down I wasn’t at my best,” he said. “Until finally, my body said ‘enough’… I felt completely empty.”
He cracked on stage 12, but tried to push through. Two days later, the effort caught up with him. That’s when he made the decision to step off the bike — and soon after, the first signs of an infection appeared. What started as vague discomfort became full-blown sinusitis.
He described the day as “one of the rawest and most vulnerable moments of my career” — and says he hopes it sends a message: “It’s okay to stop. It’s okay to feel tired. It’s okay to be human.”
Now, he says, it’s time to rest. “Sometimes stepping back is the strongest thing you can do… Thank you all for the support. It means more than you know.”
How does Tadej Pogačar fuel for a huge day in the mountains?
“It’s not just a race, it’s momentum”: Zwift report highlights rising impact of Tour de France Femmes
With the 2025 Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift set to roll out from Vannes tomorrow, Zwift has released a new report showing just how much the race has reshaped women’s cycling in four years — from prize money and team budgets to visibility, media impact, and who’s actually watching.
In 2024 alone, the race generated 80 million viewing hours across seven European countries, with nearly 20 million viewers in France. And it’s having a lasting effect: 80% of those who tuned in said they’re now more likely to watch women’s cycling, while 17% said they bought a bike after watching.
Puck Pieterse, who rides for Fenix-Deceuninck, summed up how the race has changed the feel of the pro peloton: “One of the biggest differences I’ve noticed is how much more organized the peloton has become. Sprint finishes now feature highly structured lead-outs and dedicated sprint trains. Teams are working tactically, positioning their sprinters with incredible precision.
“Another notable shift is the depth of talent across the board. Five or six years ago, there were a few dominant riders winning most of the races. Now, the top level is broader and more competitive. You see a range of specialists: pure climbers, explosive punchers, dedicated sprinters and more riders capable of contending for victory on challenging finishes.
“The rising competitiveness has transformed the racing experience. There are just more riders who can win now. The level is so high, and the field is deeper than ever. It makes the races more exciting and less predictable.”
Team budgets are rising alongside expectations. The average women’s WorldTour team budget now sits at €4.67 million, up from €2.35 million in 2022. Rider salaries have doubled in the last five years, with new WorldTour contracts starting at over €31,000 — and average earnings around €40K, according to the Cyclists’ Alliance.
But what’s made the biggest difference, according to Zwift’s Kate Veronneau, is visibility: “Women’s sport around the world is being lifted by a tailwind of interest and investment and yet, until 2022 women’s professional cycling missed the crown jewel of the cycling calendar, the Tour de France.
“To have such an iconic race as part of the Women’s WorldTour was pivotal to ensure that women’s cycling also benefited, to have other brands, partners and sponsors invested in growing the sport, on the biggest stage under the banner of the most famous race in the world.”
Pogacar vs Vingegaard - Tour de France 2025 Bikes Head 2 Head
“I ask myself why I’m still here”: Pogačar admits he’s “tired and annoyed by everybody” and “can’t wait” for Tour de France to be over to do “other nice stuff in life”
Tadej Pogačar might have cracked on the Col de la Loze two years ago — but on stage 18, he barely looked out of breath. He dropped Jonas Vingegaard in the final metres, added another nine seconds to his GC lead, and still found the legs to finish second behind Ben O’Connor. So why didn’t he go all-in for the win?
“I wanted the stage win, but the yellow jersey is my priority,” he explained afterwards. “When Visma pushed the pace on the Col de la Madeleine, I thought winning the stage might be possible. But maybe they went too hard, even on the descent. They attacked each other and there was no cooperation in the valley. I waited for my teammates, but that took a long time. And when we hit the final climb, I thought Visma would ride faster to catch the breakaway.”
In the end, he held firm — but he’s not finished with the Loze just yet. “I can’t wait to climb the other side of the Col de la Loze in the Tour de France. That’s the stage I really want to win. This side was much easier, but I want to come back and take a victory from the other direction.”
Despite the psychological edge, he says there’s no relaxing just yet. “That’s going to be another important day,” he said, looking ahead to La Plagne. “Visma-Lease a Bike tried everything, but we stayed strong. That’s the same approach we’ll take there too. If the stage plays out like today, I’ll feel relaxed. We’re just trying to survive, and I trust my teammates, but who knows, maybe we’ll go for the stage win on the Champs-Élysées?”
Still, even the man in yellow is starting to feel the wear. “I’m at a point where I ask myself why I’m still here,” he told Cycling Weekly. “It’s so long these three weeks. You count the kilometres to Paris and yes, I can’t wait for it to be over so I can do some other nice stuff in my life as well.”
He laughed off the frustration — sort of.
“It’s still nice to ride, even in the third week when you’re and annoyed by everybody around you, more or less, and yeah, you just want to go home,” he said. “But in the end, when you ride on these big climbs and people cheer on you and give you the extra motivation, you then realise that it’s not so bad. Especially if you have a good legs, then it makes everything quite good.”
No cyclists fined in part of town centre where cycling ban sign was wrongly placed, council confirms – as more riders slapped with £300 penalties for breaching controversial bike ban
“We care about the safety of the riders”
The more I look at it, the worse it gets…
“We care about the safety of the riders.” #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/kOaYvH65Jk
— Benji Naesen (@BenjiNaesen) July 25, 2025
But wait, it’s the wrong sock length and the narrow handlebars posing the biggest threat to rider safety!
Arensman in the lead, Onley hanging tough, and Pog vs Vingegaard still dormant… 2025 Tour de France is on its final Alpine ascent
We’ve had attacks, counterattacks, and a Roglič implosion, but the big battles is unfolding right where we expected: on the long, brutal slopes to La Plagne.
30 second lead for @ThymenArensman over the Yellow Jersey group with 10km to go ⏱️
30 secondes d’avance pour @ThymenArensman sur le groupe Maillot Jaune à 10km du sommet 🔛#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/Ivvek0H2rs
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 25, 2025
Thymen Arensman has attacked repeatedly and gone solo. Behind him, Pogačar, Vingegaard, and a select GC group are hovering around 30 seconds back. And much to your live blogger’s relief, Oscar Onley is still there, clinging to the podium dream with Florian Lipowitz right on his wheel.
The Scot looks calm, the German looks measured, but I fear one of them is going to crack. Probably in the next 5km. Possibly in the next five minutes.
This could get very interesting.
“Prankster” finish line invader handed suspended prison sentence after police tackle
The man who jumped the barriers and rode across the finish line during Wednesday’s sprint in Valence has been handed an eight-month suspended prison sentence, and ordered to pay €500 in damages to the CRS officer who tackled him to the ground.
The 31-year-old, reportedly from Montélimar, caused panic when he burst onto the course just before the final kilometre of stage 17, moments before Jonathan Milan won the sprint. He was wearing a Decathlon-AG2R jersey and, according to French media, may have been honouring a bet with friends.
The incident, not shown live on TV, ended when the man was flattened by a CRS officer just before the finish line. He was immediately arrested and taken into custody.
“Grossly insensitive” council trying to sweep cyclist’s unsolved hit-and-run death “under the rug” after destroying ghost bike, cycling campaigners say
“Appalling behaviour for a pro cyclist”: Thibaut Pinot joins fans in slamming compatriot Lenny Martinez’s “ridiculous and outlandish” sticky bottle, as Frenchman docked 8 KOM and 15 UCI points
It wasn’t just fans calling foul — even Thibaut Pinot couldn’t hide his disgust. After footage emerged of Lenny Martinez repeatedly hanging onto the Bahrain Victorious team car during stage 18, the French icon reacted with a single ‘puking face’ emoji under a post showing Martinez’ sticky bottle.
The now-infamous moment on the Col du Glandon showed Martinez taking three separate “sticky bottles” in quick succession, lingering behind the car each time, while handing gels back through the window mid-climb. Even Eurosport Netherlands asked: “Is this now the way to become king of the mountains?”
The UCI has now issued its verdict: eight KOM points docked, 15 UCI points removed, 10-second time penalty, and a 200 CHF fine. Martinez stays in the race, but it hasn’t exactly helped gain any support from fans.
Lenny Martinez loses 8 KOM points, 15 UCI points, a 10 second penalty and fined 200CHF for his sticky bottle(s) on Stage 18 at the Tour de France. #TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/qDv8QMKsm5
— NBC Sports Cycling (@NBCSCycling) July 24, 2025
Robbie McEwen, commentating for TNT Sports, was alo seen saying: “This is way too sticky. That’s not on… It’s just so plainly obvious!”
Luke Rowe was similarly unimpressed: “He took two gels, gave them back, gave a bottle, messed around with it…” While Rob Hatch pointed out the obvious: “If yellow cards were invented for something, they were invented for that.”
And then came the fan pile-on, as one wrote on social media: “This was outlandish and way beyond the norm. Obviously was cheating,” while another said: “Appalling behaviour for a pro cyclist.”
Others called it “absurd”, “ridiculous”, and “egregiously obvious help from the team car,” and there were even murmurings of the controversial “French discount” rearing its head.
Martinez scored 20 KOM points on the day, but after the penalty, drops to 72 — now third overall in the polka dot standings behind Jonas Vingegaard (89) and Tadej Pogačar (105). With Pogačar in yellow, Vingegaard will wear polka dots today.
The dream is gone… Oscar Onley loses time to Florian Lipowitz in podium battle, as Thymen Arensman and Ineos Grenadiers mark second win of the 2025 Tour with strong La Plagne climb
“The dream is gone / I have become comfortably numb.” It wasn’t supposed to end like this, but with two kilometres to go on the final HC summit of the 2025 Tour, Oscar Onley let go of Lipowitz’s wheel, and with it, maybe, the dream of a maiden Grand Tour podium.
La Plagne saw fireworks and heartbreak. In the end, it was Thymen Arensman who held off the GC big guns to take a second stage win of this Tour, attacking from the favourites’ group, grinding it out alone in the rain, and collapsing at the finish line in exhausted triumph. He’s been one of the stars of July, no doubt about it.
Scenes all over the road! 😮
Thymen Arensman takes his second stage win at the Tour de France, as Vingegaard and Pogačar make a last-gasp tilt for the line 👏 pic.twitter.com/nTJWea0iwO
— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) July 25, 2025
Behind him, Jonas Vingegaard finally launched a sprint for second. Pogacar took third, clearly happy enough to sit tight and watch Visma run out of ideas once again. Lipowitz followed a few seconds behind — and crucially, 41 seconds ahead of Onley.
It had looked like a fair fight all day. The two young podium contenders were side by side deep into the La Plagne climb, as rain and even hail hammered the peloton. But as the pace lifted and the tension rose, Onley cracked. Just a little, but enough.
Chapeau Oscar Onley 👏🏴
22 years old, 4th place at the Tour de France 🤩#TDF2025 #OnleyFans pic.twitter.com/7LTEX7nk4I
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 25, 2025
The time gap’s not huge — Lipowitz now leads the Scotsman by a minute and three seconds in the GC — but with only one proper stage left, it might be enough to decide third in Paris.
Still, the young Scotsman can take pride. He stayed with Pogacar, Vingegaard and Lipowitz for most of the final mountain stage of his first Tour. Not bad going at all. He’s still just 22, and this is only his second Grand Tour, but today might be just a little pinprick that leads to an ahhhh…
And for Arensman and for Ineos, it’s another reason to smile in what’s turned into a quietly impressive Tour.
Meanwhile, here’s your rundown of the rest of the general classification battle before the final two stages: Pogacar keeps yellow, with Jonas Vingegaard still 4 minutes and 24 seconds behind in second. Felix Gall’s big ride moves him up to fifth, Johannessen climbs to sixth, and Primož Roglič drops to eighth behind Vauquelin. Ben Healy is holding on to ninth with another impressive performance today, while Ben O’Connor rounds out the top ten, thanks to his win atop Col de la Loze yesterday.
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“The public made 150,000 video allegations across England and Wales in the last year, and most were prosecuted/ 2/3rds from drivers with dashcams, and 1/3rd from cyclists and pedestrians” This is obviously untrue- virtually none of a large number of submissions to Lancashire Constabulary are being 'prosecuted'. If you look at Benthic's A&S police 'database' above you will see that almost all of the claimed actions are 'Warning letter' and a lot of the rest are 'Positive outcome'
"I promise to make sure that I am seen..." Good luck with that. Hi viz doesn't work for stupid and inobservant, as we all know.
[Stupid comment editor - ignoring line breaks :o( ]
And it's not just the RSA, most Irish motorists believe that if they are barrelling down country roads, in the dark, in the lashing rain, travelling much faster than they can stop in the distance they can see, that if they encounter a pedestrian and only just miss that pedestrian, then it was _the pedestrian's fault_ the driver didn't see them in time cause they weren't wearing high viz. Just check out the number of comments in this insane reddit post backing the bonkers driving of the OP: https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/comments/1r7xczz/venting/ Shite driving and victim blaming is utterly normalised now.
Whenever I drive my overlarge car I'll make sure I know where people are And make it all the way safely home By putting away my goddamn phone!
The RSA is _obsessed_ with hiviz. They regularly have campaigns giving out hiviz to pedestrians, to school kids. I am convinced someone high up in the RSA is very good buddies with a hiviz vendor, and is funneling the government money to them in return for kick-backs. Only way to explain the insane level of obsession RSA has with neon-yellow plastic.
"According to the Hi Glo Silver Pledge, children in Ireland’s schools sign up to the following (not legally binding, I assume) agreement: “When I walk or cycle, night or day, after school or when I go to play, I promise to make sure that I am seen, in reflective clothing that is bright orange, yellow, or green.”" This is actually quite dark. How about, "When I drive I'll use my lights, 'cos unlike the dim drivers I'm quite bright, I look out for others because I should and, erm, the end."
This clip on Cycling Mikey's channel states: "The public made 150,000 video allegations across England and Wales in the last year, and most were prosecuted/ 2/3rds from drivers with dashcams, and 1/3rd from cyclists and pedestrians." https://youtu.be/rjnAiHOuIx8?t=113
In the world of work life Health and Safety the Hierarchy of Risk Management Prioritises Elimination, Substitution, Engineering Controls, Admin Controls, PPE - PPE is the Least Effective. An Engineering Control would be something built into vehicles that prevent driving when the driver is drunk/drugged up, on the phone, driving too fast, or slow it when approaching a vulnerable road user etc. But moto-normativity leads us to wrap up the non-drivers in brightly coloured clothing and make it illegal for them to go outside if not.
Per yesterday's piece about report submissions to the police... This clip on Cycling Mikey's channel states: "The public made 150,000 video allegations across England and Wales in the last year, and most were prosecuted/ 2/3rds from drivers with dashcams, and 1/3rd from cyclists and pedestrians." https://youtu.be/rjnAiHOuIx8?t=113
27 thoughts on ““Appalling behaviour for a pro cyclist”: Thibaut Pinot joins fans in slamming Lenny Martinez’s “absurd” triple sticky bottle; “My body said enough”: Remco Evenepoel reveals he was racing with sinusitis during Tour de France + more on the live blog”
There was a great moment when
There was a great moment when the le Groupe Onley caught the smaller Pogi/Vingo group, in Courchevel (?) – they zoomed past the GC leaders like a train.
As for today’s shortened stage, the farmers are distressed because the affected cow herds are being culled. Quite grim.
Miller wrote:
They were heading for the abattoir anyway, so can’t see why the farmers are distressed other than the loss of income………..
I strongly doubt farmers are
I strongly doubt farmers are as cold-hearted as that.
I didn’t particularly like
I didn’t particularly like the flippant, just with less cows,” remark. Farm animal culls cause enormous distress and heartache to good farmers who care about their animals.
Quite.
Quite.
There is also the fact of avoiding bringing thousands of extra people into an area where disease control measures are in place. The virus is spread by biting insects so additional people are not necessarily the risk that they would be for FMD (live outbreak in Hungary/ Slovenia) or African Swine fever (outbreaks in Poland and Eastern Germany) but it will be important to the authorities to have ongoing access to the area to monitor other livestock to spot any further cases quickly.
It is a shame for the race, as it is potentially reducing the possibility of Onley overhauling Lipovitz but it is the right thing to do.
I agree about the flippancy,
I agree about the flippancy, but as regards beef cattle the farmers were going to kill them anyway so they could be eaten – so they don’t care that much about them.
Agreed, I expect it is more
Agreed, I expect it is more the financial losses for the farmers that is harder for them to deal with than the loss of life.
Where did you get the
Where did you get the information that they were beef cattle? In that part of the world they are more likely to be dairy. Either way, you should perhaps get out of Harrogate and into the surrounding area and talk to a few farmers before guessing what their livestock mean to them.
In that part of the world
In that part of the world they are more likely to be dairy
Where did you get the information that supports your confident put-down assertion that a herd located specifically in the Col des Saisies is more likely to be dairy. My guess is that it’s beef, and you should perhaps study the maps and photos not of Spalding, but around Saisies where it’s pretty hilly and those daily milk tanker drivers would have a difficult job
In my experience, alpine
In my experience, alpine regions tend to specialise in dairy cattle and produce cheese. Beef cattle are bred to be heavy (more meat you see) and really aren’t very good in hilly terrain.
In my experience, through a
In my experience, through a lot of walking and climbing in the Alps and Pyrenees, the cows that are up in the hills are beef. Down in the valleys, they may well be dairy. The clue is in the name ‘Col’
Unless they’re Abondance,
Unless they’re Abondance, which are a dairy cattle that adapted to grazing in mountains and are numerous in the Auvergene Rhone Alps region
Savoie, where the Col de Saisies is, is famous for its dairy cows and the cheeses, like Beaufort, French Gruyere, Reblochon they produce from their milk.
But sure, these diseased ones were all going to make Maccie D beef burgers from.
SimoninSpalding wrote:
So if that is the case, these “good farmers who care about their animals” don’t have their cattle slaughtered (except when they are too old to be used for production, of course), they just make them go through incessant forced pregnancies after which their calves are taken away and slaughtered for veal so that the milk intended for the calves can go for human consumption instead. So that’s okay then.
I disagree, I regularly kill
I disagree, I regularly kill my cats and dogs because I care for them so much 😉
roboito wrote:
Yeah, me too. And it should be ‘fewer’ not ‘less’.
Quote:
Give the guy a break – he was so wrecked he couldn’t even figure out how to get a drink out of his bottle – I’m not sure he had the energy spare for grinning.
See also his interview on top
See also his interview on top of the Hautacam. The poor lad could barely breathe! Just goes to show exactly how much effort he was putting in.
Is Onley allowed to attack
Is Onley allowed to attack the podium 3rd place in Paris? Its just yellow that its traditional not to attack right?
Anyone can attack anyone. The
Anyone can attack anyone. The GC contenders normally don’t simply because there isn’t the terrain to make the necessary difference.
Secret_squirrel wrote:
It’s only really ‘traditional’ because given the final day route in recent years any attack has zero chance of succeeding. However this year ASO have stuck in three ascents of Montparnasse, as seen so wildly in the Olympics, late on, and that will be tempting for anyone who thinks a few seconds gap would move them up on GC. Although the current top 10 on GC have mostly yawning gaps between them. Ben O’Connor is 10th, great, but a stonking 29 minutes back.
The sprinters will feel resentful about the new route as their job gets more difficult.
Well done to the young Scot!
Well done to the young Scot!
“I just did what I could
“I just did what I could there,” he said. “I gave it my everything.”
He bloody did! I hope he does get increased pay- he deserves it!!
“In the light of the distress
“In the light of the distress experienced by the affected farmers and in order to preserve the smooth running of the race, …” that’s bureaucratic non-sense, highly qualified BS. This cattle contagious disease isn’t transmissible to humans. The ASO statement implies that WT riders aren’t humans.
That’s a very weird reading
That’s a very weird reading of that – it doesn’t say anything at all about the riders, or imply that there’s a possibility of human contagion, so I don’t really see how you reached that conclusion.
That is indeed a weird take.
That is indeed a weird take. Look, some farmers are seeing their cattle herd culled. Not good. And in France the agri lobby has a lot of public support and a lot of political clout. ASO have behaved sensibly.
Nor can I imagine many riders crying about 1000 vertical metres being trimmed from today’s stage given how knackered they all are.
Chapeau Oscar, you have been
Chapeau Oscar, you have been superb throughout the tour.
I wonder if the idiot official who knocked Pogačar off his bike after the finish line has been kicked off the last 2 stages.
A real shame for the plucky
A real shame for the plucky Brit to fail on getting a podium place. Good effort!
I wonder whether Vingegaard’s minder will get sanctioned for shoulder barging Tadej…