NPR

Biffer wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:13 am Starts this weekend. Crowds will be controlled, particularly at departs and finishes but it's difficult to see how they control the crowds on the mountain ascents - and France is in the midst of a significant virus resurgence.

Pandemic to one side though, there are some brutal stages in this year's event. Stage 14 in particular is a beast, 4400m of ascent in 190km, finishing with a 30km ascent of 700m with a cat 1 to the finish line at Puy Mary. Ooyah. Then a day on the flat before the finish into Gran Colombier (1300m in 20km) on stage 15.

One criticism of the set up though - I don't like the time trial on the second last stage. Gives the TT too much importance to have it there, it should be earlier in the tour.

Hugo wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:27 am Did they have to alter the course at all to account for COVID?

Biffer wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 11:25 am

Hugo wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:27 am Did they have to alter the course at all to account for COVID?

Think the Grand Depart was meant to be in Copenhagen?

duke wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:36 am

Biffer wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:13 am Starts this weekend. Crowds will be controlled, particularly at departs and finishes but it's difficult to see how they control the crowds on the mountain ascents - and France is in the midst of a significant virus resurgence.

Pandemic to one side though, there are some brutal stages in this year's event. Stage 14 in particular is a beast, 4400m of ascent in 190km, finishing with a 30km ascent of 700m with a cat 1 to the finish line at Puy Mary. Ooyah. Then a day on the flat before the finish into Gran Colombier (1300m in 20km) on stage 15.

One criticism of the set up though - I don't like the time trial on the second last stage. Gives the TT too much importance to have it there, it should be earlier in the tour.

Puy Mary brings back many painful memories of a cycling trip in France when I went up it from the same side as this year's Tour - last few Ks are double digit percentages. I ended up zigzagging up bits of it just to keep upright.

They've had TTs as the penultimate stage a number of times haven't they? I seem to recall both Wiggins and Thomas both having that when they won. No Team TT this year which may help some of the contenders.

Blackmac wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:52 pm More and more looking like a highly questionable decision to run the tour. Not a chance they are going to be able to control the crowds on the mountains, unless they close them off completely.

Un Pilier wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 5:04 pm

Blackmac wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:52 pm More and more looking like a highly questionable decision to run the tour. Not a chance they are going to be able to control the crowds on the mountains, unless they close them off completely.

Tbf they did not have a background of a steep rise in cases when the “go” decision was taken. I guess I would be in cloud cuckoo land to hope the hoards on the mountains would act responsibly

Shanky’s mate wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:02 pm

Un Pilier wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 5:04 pm

More and more looking like a highly questionable decision to run the tour. Not a chance they are going to be able to control the crowds on the mountains, unless they close them off completely.

Tbf they did not have a background of a steep rise in cases when the “go” decision was taken. I guess I would be in cloud cuckoo land to hope the hoards on the mountains would act responsibly

Reading now that Nice has been placed on red alert for COVID... hard to see how the tour could realistically go ahead.

Errugbi wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 2:57 pm

Biffer wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 11:25 am

Hugo wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:27 am Did they have to alter the course at all to account for COVID?

Think the Grand Depart was meant to be in Copenhagen?

I think it’s the original 2020 route and Copenhagen was for 21

Errugbi wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:20 pm

Shanky’s mate wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:02 pm

Un Pilier wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 5:04 pm

Tbf they did not have a background of a steep rise in cases when the “go” decision was taken. I guess I would be in cloud cuckoo land to hope the hoards on the mountains would act responsibly

Reading now that Nice has been placed on red alert for COVID... hard to see how the tour could realistically go ahead.

They'll do like they did at the Dauphiné, very limited crowd at start and finish, plus today they announced: masks mandatory ( lot of cops , fine at 135euros) no cars at the "cols" mountain pass and more cops.
Let the circus go on.

Errugbi wrote: Fri Aug 28, 2020 4:37 pm ^ good idea for the masks but I didn't see any on the official site or the caravane ones.

dob wrote: Thu Aug 27, 2020 3:28 pm
The importance of the TT in the Tour, and all Grant Tours really, has dropped way off in the past 10 years or so. There was only 17km of ITT in 2015, I think? Compared to 1987 when there was about 200km combined of 1 prologue, a TTT, 2 flat TTs and a mountain TT up Mont Ventoux. In the post-war years up to the 2010s there was traditionally at least 2 long-ish time trials where riders could expect to spend at least a cumulative 2-3 hours in Time Trials of some sort, and one of those was almost always the last GC-stage before Paris (or, as in 1989, it was the last stage into Paris). It more recent years, the 2nd last stage has sometimes been a summit finish or a major mountain stage; this is obviously more feasible in the modern era when the riders can finish a stage in the Alps or Pyrenees on the Saturday, hop on a TGV in Lyon or Toulouse, and be in the suburbs of Paris for the final stage on the Sunday.

So this year's single TT is waaaaay down historically, but is pretty much standard by recent years. It looks more significant by the only TT being the 2nd last stage, whereas in the 1990s there would have been another TT somewhere between stages 7 and 10, and probably a prologue.

Biffer wrote: Sun Aug 30, 2020 3:57 pm So there's less of a crowd than usual, but there's still quite a lot of people standing together round this circuit

laurent wrote: Sun Aug 30, 2020 4:29 pm Good win by Alaphilippe. They knew he was going to and could not do a thing.

Hugo wrote: Sun Aug 30, 2020 6:59 pm Is Alaphilippe a serious contender to win the GC?

Read the other day that he was originally going to target the Olympics this year and only cared about targeting certain stages in TDF. With the olympics now cancelled is he going to be in serious contention?

Errugbi wrote: Sun Aug 30, 2020 6:26 pm

Biffer wrote: Sun Aug 30, 2020 3:57 pm So there's less of a crowd than usual, but there's still quite a lot of people standing together round this circuit

All were wearing masks. Do you?

laurent wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2020 8:06 pm Verglas d'été is scary....

clydecloggie wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 7:29 am

laurent wrote: Sat Aug 29, 2020 8:06 pm Verglas d'été is scary....

Aye.

There is a lovely climb just outside of Glasgow called Tak Ma Doon Road - narrow, steep, winding. I descended it once with a small group of riders in verglas d'été conditions. Crashed on the second turn, went over the barrier and lay in the heather for a bit waiting for my colleagues to come and help me out. Turned out they had all crashed on the first turn. It's unbelievably scary riding a bike in conditions like that.

Anyway, enough of the Globus.

Slightly disappointing stage yesterday but the main contenders all came through without too much trouble.

Dumoulin is looking good - mentally very stable judging by the interviews he is giving, and physically near peak condition.

Akkerman wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 3:39 pm it was

great sprint though, amazing speed from caleb

Un Pilier wrote: Mon Aug 31, 2020 6:20 pm I recorded it. Got everything apart from the last two kilometres