Tour de France 2022

[Techniquest]

I've not seen a discussion on this yet, I am a little surprised I have to say.

Who else is watching Tour de France 2022? I am for the first time, really good race so far. I didn't know before yesterday how much Denmark loves their cycling. I had assumed the Netherlands were the leaders in Europe for cycling, but I have been proven wrong. Absolutely got plans to have some touring around Denmark next year now!

 

[Trackman]

I've not seen a discussion on this yet, I am a little surprised I have to say.

Who else is watching Tour de France 2022? I am for the first time, really good race so far. I didn't know before yesterday how much Denmark loves their cycling. I had assumed the Netherlands were the leaders in Europe for cycling, but I have been proven wrong. Absolutely got plans to have some touring around Denmark next year now!

First time? In the flesh or on TV?
Dramatic ending too, at least the GC (general classification) guys wont be penalised as the crash was under the 3 minutes.

 

[Ediswan]

First time? In the flesh or on TV?
Dramatic ending too, at least the GC (general classification) guys wont be penalised as the crash was under the 3 minutes.

3 km

 

[Trackman]

3 km

Indeed!
It's been one of those days.

 

[eastwestdivide]

Train in the background too on the Great Belt section!

 

[Techniquest]

First time? In the flesh or on TV?
Dramatic ending too, at least the GC (general classification) guys wont be penalised as the crash was under the 3 minutes.

Sorry, first time ever but sadly not in the flesh. I said to myself last year I'd go to watch it this year, but never organised it. Just as well, as I'm indoors after testing positive yesterday and feeling rather unwell

The ending was indeed dramatic, but what a sprint from the winner! He sure earnt that victory! Cort did very well to win KotM too!

Very fortunate that the big crash happened where it did really, for the non-penalty purpose, it looked like everyone managed to get going again OK so no obvious injuries

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

There is a rest day soon after only three stages, no cycling. They just have to drive (or fly?) from Sonderborg to Dunkirk, 900+ km.

I predict a third Welsh win after Cadel Evans (Australia/Wales) and Geraint Thomas.

Not so keen on the hysteria, I think it is mainly a marketing event like any other, huge consumption of resources, several helicopters etc.

 

[eMeS]

I've watched TdF via TV over several years, and 20 years ago we visited (by car) several of the famous climbs in the Alps.
Live, I've got us to decent viewing sites for both the UK Men's & Women's tours. It's a very variable thing - some years, the nearest either tour gets to Milton Keynes is half-a-country away; and then in others we've seen both tours do the Burton Dassett hill climb, which isn't far from MK.

 

[Ediswan]

I did once arrive at the Col du Galibier by bike, but we had only riden up from the car park at the Monument Henri-Desgrange. The main plan was to mountain bike down, ending south of Briancon, roughly a mile of vertical descent. It just seemed impolite not start with a visit to the Col (stage 12 this year). Even that little bit was hard work. Steep, thin air.

 

[Trackman]

I love the mountain climbs in Cat 1's or the best- HC's (Hors Categorie) , I walked up one in France once in my younger days and was out of breath. .. and the speed they do is incredible, then I was cyclist and was very fit.

 

[brad465]

I completed an event in 2016 called La Marmotte, which is an annual sportive that encompasses 4 of the Tour de France's historical finest Alpine climbs: over a distance of almost 110 miles it climbs the Col du Glandon (HC), Col du Telegraphe (C1), Col du Galibier (HC) and last but not least, a summit finish up Alpe D'Huez (HC). In subsequent Tours, when any of these climbs have featured (they don't all feature every year), I've had a bit of pride in knowing that, even if nowhere near as fast as the pros, I once climbed x climb. This year Alpe D'Huez features, which is known for 21 hairpin bends, each one named after a famous rider.

 

[Techniquest]

From the sounds of it, I'm in for a lot of exciting stages then! I'm not good on hills myself, and how they all ride for so long without stopping I have no idea. The pace is quite something too, I sure can't match that even on a good day!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Jul 2022 ==

That was a pretty epic Stage 3, what a result for Nielsen with conquering all 3 KOM again. I haven't memorised how to spell the name of the Dutch man who just clinched victory in the photo finish, what a way to win!

 

[Cloud Strife]

I completed an event in 2016 called La Marmotte, which is an annual sportive that encompasses 4 of the Tour de France's historical finest Alpine climbs: over a distance of almost 110 miles it climbs the Col du Glandon (HC), Col du Telegraphe (C1), Col du Galibier (HC) and last but not least, a summit finish up Alpe D'Huez (HC). In subsequent Tours, when any of these climbs have featured (they don't all feature every year), I've had a bit of pride in knowing that, even if nowhere near as fast as the pros, I once climbed x climb. This year Alpe D'Huez features, which is known for 21 hairpin bends, each one named after a famous rider.

The time trial in 2004 on Alpe d'Huez was absolutely insane. Something between 500,000-1m people were on the hill, the time trial itself was the hill plus a very short section at the beginning, and the riders were riding more or less through the crowds for the entire 15km. They won't repeat it for obvious reasons, but it was incredible just watching the best cyclists in the world battling it out against the clock. It perhaps wasn't much of a contest in the end, but it was an incredible spectacle live, especially as there was such a huge threat to Armstrong from the crowd.

Mind you, the 2007 Tour also had a fantastic time trial on Stage 19. Contador was hanging on for dear life to the yellow jersey, Leipheimer was tearing the course to pieces, and Evans took over a minute out of Contador himself. I remember watching it live, and Contador was riding like a man possessed in the final few kilometres.

Doing Alpe d'Huez by itself is a hell of an achievement, for well done for doing the Galibier and Telegraphe too! I don't know Glandon, but those three are absolutely murderous in their own right.

 

[Techniquest]

The time trial in 2004 on Alpe d'Huez was absolutely insane. Something between 500,000-1m people were on the hill, the time trial itself was the hill plus a very short section at the beginning, and the riders were riding more or less through the crowds for the entire 15km. They won't repeat it for obvious reasons, but it was incredible just watching the best cyclists in the world battling it out against the clock. It perhaps wasn't much of a contest in the end, but it was an incredible spectacle live, especially as there was such a huge threat to Armstrong from the crowd.

Mind you, the 2007 Tour also had a fantastic time trial on Stage 19. Contador was hanging on for dear life to the yellow jersey, Leipheimer was tearing the course to pieces, and Evans took over a minute out of Contador himself. I remember watching it live, and Contador was riding like a man possessed in the final few kilometres.

Doing Alpe d'Huez by itself is a hell of an achievement, for well done for doing the Galibier and Telegraphe too! I don't know Glandon, but those three are absolutely murderous in their own right.

Based purely on a photo on the front of my Alpe d'Huez magazine that came in my TdF guide, I'd say you're right with that description. I'm not envious of anyone on that!

The crowds, it has to be said I was blown away by the Danish crowds and I hope they get similar in France to really spur them on!

 

[Furryanimal]

I would love another Geraint Thomas win too...
And great you can see the entire stage these days,And adfree on Eurosport player too!
love the big mountain stages.

 

[Techniquest]

I would love another Geraint Thomas win too...
And great you can see the entire stage these days,And adfree on Eurosport player too!
love the big mountain stages.

I went to GCN+ for my viewing, ITV4 drove me mad with two long ad breaks within 15 minutes on Day 1. Unacceptable. GCN+ has the benefit of plenty of cycling-related documentaries as well, I thoroughly recommend their Slow Cycling series with Jack Thurston. The End-To-End ones where two riders do Lands End to John O Groats both in relay fashion and on a tandem, they were also really good, as was the one about the old London to Holyhead race. One on the heartlands of cycling also led me to discover Herne Hill Velodrome, which I hope to get to visit when I next do London. It looks like a nice enough ride from Central London, and the velodrome looks awesome.

I was initially sceptical about paying £6.99 to watch TdF without ads, but then I found these programmes and they have been really good. They've helped me overcome the boredom faced while off work unwell, and there's so much more to watch. I also found the commentary to be rather good, so I'm very pleased at my expenditure.

 

[Cloud Strife]

Based purely on a photo on the front of my Alpe d'Huez magazine that came in my TdF guide, I'd say you're right with that description. I'm not envious of anyone on that!

This is the 2004 time trial - it's 45 minutes long, but it's worth a watch.

One interesting thing to note is that they weren't using helmets here, as it was allowed to go without a helmet on the final mountain climb of a stage then.

The crowds, it has to be said I was blown away by the Danish crowds and I hope they get similar in France to really spur them on!

Alpe d'Huez will be absolutely insane. It's Bastille Day in France, so you can expect huge numbers there. I expect the whole mountain will have barriers, but in terms of action, you can fully expect several French riders to try and win the stage. I don't think there's a more iconic finish than Alpe d'Huez on Bastille Day!

 

[SuspectUsual]

A mate of mine is a very keen amateur cyclist - no club affiliation, nothing competitive, but fit as a butcher's dog and he can churn out 100+ miles on a Sunday no problem. He was in France with work and took his bike, and on a rest day (!) did Alpe d'Huez. He made it up, but said it nearly killed him

 

[Techniquest]

This is the 2004 time trial - it's 45 minutes long, but it's worth a watch.

One interesting thing to note is that they weren't using helmets here, as it was allowed to go without a helmet on the final mountain climb of a stage then.



Alpe d'Huez will be absolutely insane. It's Bastille Day in France, so you can expect huge numbers there. I expect the whole mountain will have barriers, but in terms of action, you can fully expect several French riders to try and win the stage. I don't think there's a more iconic finish than Alpe d'Huez on Bastille Day!

Thanks, I'll give that a watch shortly I've no idea what Bastille Day is (my general knowledge is clearly lacking) and I may have to go and research that.

A mate of mine is a very keen amateur cyclist - no club affiliation, nothing competitive, but fit as a butcher's dog and he can churn out 100+ miles on a Sunday no problem. He was in France with work and took his bike, and on a rest day (!) did Alpe d'Huez. He made it up, but said it nearly killed him

He clearly is fit then, fair play to him! Just to have the ability to do that sort of distance on a day off, or take on what is clearly an incredible challenge of a hill climb, then I tip my hat to him. 100 miles nearly wiped me out, with plenty of breaks, in May and I don't think I'll ever try that again. Maybe on a flat route around Essex, or indeed Merseyside or The Wash, but not any time soon.

 

[Cloud Strife]

I've no idea what Bastille Day is (my general knowledge is clearly lacking) and I may have to go and research that.

Imagine hundreds of thousands of French people with a day off on their national day and the most iconic mountain in the Tour. That should give you an idea It will be an incredible spectacle, and the teams with French riders (or the French teams) will be doing absolutely everything to try and get someone at the front of the race.

One interesting thing about cycling is that a win on this day on this particular mountain is probably worth more (to individuals, teams and sponsors) than victory in many other multi-day races and even single-day races. Certainly, if a Frenchman wins, they will become a national hero!

 

[JohnMcL7]

I would love to have a go at the Alp D'Huez after doing the version in Zwift a number of times earlier this year to improve my performance, it looks such an incredible climb.

After making the error with the gilet I was amused to see Geraint Thomas has passed on the gilet and hoping it will make it all the way round the stages in the hands of fans:

https://twitter.com/GeraintThomas86/status/1544060602427088896?s=20&t=SaJEJ-cf2lhG3zhKkWZVNw

 

[Techniquest]

Imagine hundreds of thousands of French people with a day off on their national day and the most iconic mountain in the Tour. That should give you an idea It will be an incredible spectacle, and the teams with French riders (or the French teams) will be doing absolutely everything to try and get someone at the front of the race.

One interesting thing about cycling is that a win on this day on this particular mountain is probably worth more (to individuals, teams and sponsors) than victory in many other multi-day races and even single-day races. Certainly, if a Frenchman wins, they will become a national hero!

Oh boy that will make for quite the crowd then! The video linked to in the thread yesterday gave me quite a good idea of what that will look like!

Top marks to Perez today for such a long time out front of almost everyone, that must have been tough. Some of the uncategorised climbs looked most challenging, no question of it, and some really beautiful parts of France in the opening part of the stage certainly had me wanting to get my passport out and go for a ferry ride to France!

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

"Bouleversement sur classement general!"/big changes on overall standings. One might have thought Pogacar had almost already won when he took the jersey. But it is not over until it is over.

Looks like covid could help decide the race, some leaders have lost team-mates. Is cycling more a team sport than we realised?

One strange custom is the truce on the last stage into Paris, I wonder if anyone would dare to try to ignore that?

 

[eMeS]

"Bouleversement sur classement general!"/big changes on overall standings. One might have thought Pogacar had almost already won when he took the jersey. But it is not over until it is over.

Looks like covid could help decide the race, some leaders have lost team-mates. Is cycling more a team sport than we realised?

One strange custom is the truce on the last stage into Paris, I wonder if anyone would dare to try to ignore that?

I've always understood it to be a "team sport" in that "domestiques" are very important to the success of many riders; but then I guess it depends whether the race is mainly on the flat into the wind, or a series of climbs - where I expect a domestique to be less helpful to the star rider. Whatever, I'm struggling this year to keep up to date with who's winning etc. I do hope nobody dares to upset the Paris final stage routines.

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

@eMeS why do you hope that? Anyone who tried would soon be put in their place, I fear.

 

[Techniquest]

No doubt they would, tradition and rules appear to play an enormous part in the Tour.

It's been a pretty good watch so far, I haven't seen today's stage yet as I was out on the rails. Keeping it for tomorrow when the weather is scheduled to be too hot to be outside for long!

I also have to say I'm a bit disappointed in how little discussion there's been on the Tour in this thread.

 

[Bald Rick]

I’ve missed this thread until now…

I watch it every year and have been to see it a few times. Also I’ve done 11 of the big mountain climbs (HC or Cat 1) in France, plus a few of the baby ones they did in Yorkshire. When the race goes over the routes I’ve done it always has added spice for me, as I know what they have been through. Although seeing Tom Pidcock come down Galibier at 100+ had me scared just watching. (I averaged just over 40, including the short climb back up to Télégraphe).

Pidcock’s win on Thursday was quite something, and will be long remembered. What a way to announce yourself on the road cycling tour.

In my opinion none of the climbs are particularly difficult, you just have to pace yourself - anything quicker than twice what the pros do it in is a really good time. The descents are fabulous, but scary as well. Particularly in bad weather.

I completed an event in 2016 called La Marmotte, which is an annual sportive that encompasses 4 of the Tour de France's historical finest Alpine climbs: over a distance of almost 110 miles it climbs the Col du Glandon (HC), Col du Telegraphe (C1), Col du Galibier (HC) and last but not least, a summit finish up Alpe D'Huez (HC). In subsequent Tours, when any of these climbs have featured (they don't all feature every year), I've had a bit of pride in knowing that, even if nowhere near as fast as the pros, I once climbed x climb. This year Alpe D'Huez features, which is known for 21 hairpin bends, each one named after a famous rider.

Chapeau, Sir. The Marmotte is on my list for 2024. I‘ve done them all before, albeit over three days!

 

[Techniquest]

I agree with you on Pidcock's descent the other day, I felt tense just watching it! Especially when he got right on the edge of corners with no safety barriers, credit where it's due to him as he put in an amazing performance. It will be interesting to see what he does next, although I suspect just finishing in the top 3 will be good enough for now.

I've not yet got my head around how they categorise some climbs but then not others. There were some on Saturday that really should have featured, and how they work out what's a C3 climb compared to a C4 one or whatever I don't know. Is it mostly a combination of distance and percentage of gradient kind of thing?

That climb up to the end in Mende looked nasty on Saturday, there's a 16% hill not too far from Hereford that I have only ever been down once, in April 2020, and never up it. I've done 25% gradients since then, which are truly nasty, so I would probably be OK going up that 16%er (when my legs get back to normal) these days but it's not on my list to do. I've never been that good on hills, but trying to fix that. The thought of that local climb is enough to put me off doing it, and the road continues in the other direction with a 15%er albeit only relatively short. So I feel for all these pro cyclists who take on these big hills/mountains and distances day after day, I definitely could not do it! Of course, doing all that in temperatures in the high 30s must be absolutely horrible!

I was out and about yesterday, so I'm going to watch the Rodez to Carcassonne stage later. 202km on that one, and it promises to be a great watch. I already have plans to go and watch the Tour somewhere in France next year, it was meant to happen this year but I have time to get it organised!

 

[DarloRich]

Although seeing Tom Pidcock come down Galibier at 100+ had me scared just watching.

The way it was described to me is that going up is a killer and coming down will kill you if you make a mistake. I have no idea how they do it.

 

[LSWR Cavalier]

I like cycling up hill, but downhill 30 kmh is enough for me. And being out in the sun at 40° all day would be awful. I fear that the riders shall pay with their health later.
..
In 1989 Fignon of France was in yellow but Lemond (US) beat him in the final contre-la-montre/time-trial and won by eight seconds overall. That was too exciting, perhaps that is why the last stage is a promenade now.

I think you should always try to win, I think it would be good if the last stage was contested. One popular trick has been to attack in the feeding zone (make sure you have eaten plenty first).