Giro d'Italia / Tour de France

[Paddingtonwolf]

That was brilliant.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Covadonga time. I love this climb.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Simon Yates you fucking God.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Brilliant by Pinot. And Lopez. And Yates. Sorry, but Quintana just pissed a vuelta chance away again by some really negative riding.

 

[Pompey Wolf]

Please hold it together this time Simon. I think he’s going to do it.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Couple of tough mountain stages next week. We shall see.

Going to be fun seeing how the BBC deal with Sports Personality of the Year shortlist if three British cyclists win all three of the grand tours.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Couple of tough mountain stages next week. We shall see.

Going to be fun seeing how the BBC deal with Sports Personality of the Year shortlist if three British cyclists win all three of the grand tours.

 

[Johnny75]

Tremendous stuff from Yates. I haven't looked but is this the first time a nation has dominated all 3 GT's with separate winners?

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

I think Merckx held all three at one time

 

[Tredman]

Froome too..

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

In terms of all different riders of the same nationality I don't think it has happened before. Maybe Bobet, Ancquetil and Pigeon might have done it, but I don't think so. I also doubt it would be Italians from the time of Coppi as he was pretty dominant.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

It looks like Yates v Valverde. Tomorrow is flat as a witch's tit so nothing should change there, but the final climb on Friday is a bit of a shocker, and then Saturday is an absolute beast.

 

[Pompey Wolf]

A bit worrying Valverde dropped him at the end today. Looks unbelievably strong for a 38 year old...

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Only a few seconds. I cannot believe that Friday's stage is classed as hilly rather than mountain. The final summit climb looks like an absolute horror.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

EDIT - they have actually classed it as a flat stage!!! With a 15km climb at an average of 6.6% and one km at 13.5%. Yep - that is definitely a flat stage and a sprint finish...

 

[Pompey Wolf]

Nothing surprises me with the Vuelta, the climbs are just wild! Absolute winch-up jobs.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

I think all the Grand Tours should pick the beast standard climbs. That 4km they found on the stage that Yates won was horrendous. They can't all be iconic like the Alpe, Stelvio, Ventoux, Covadonga or the Angliru. But the Vuelta keeps finding these new horrors. The best new climbs in the tour are probably the Lacettes or the wall into Mende.

 

[Pompey Wolf]

Yeah the one the other day when Yates won was probably the best racing I’ve seen this season. Had never heard of the climb.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

I think you will always get better racing on a short brute than on a long drag like the Tourmalet.

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Just watched today's highlights. Oh my word. What a hill.