Tour de France 2016

littlegreenman

Yep, brilliant sprint, really showed he's back on form outpacing Greipel.

So that's 28 wins now, equal to Hinault and only Mercx ahead. Although as they showed in the highlights, if you just take sprint wins then Cav is streets ahead in the Palmares stakes, no-one else comes close. The Manx Missile looks to be back

kuro

Chuffed for Cav, thought he might struggle after leaving Sky but the boy done good.
Although I have Greipel in my fantasy TdF team (yep, there is such a thing) so I could have done with him winning today.
Ah well, bring on the mountains and Tintin.

Teetonetal

Really great to see Cav back on form, he's had a couple of tough years on the tour.

duotone

Just watched highlights of today's stage, that was one hell of a close finish.

Wouldn't be surprised if Cavendish gets another stage win or 2. I didn't realise that he has a lot of the old crew back supporting him, Bernhard Eisel, Edvald Boasson Hagen and Mark Renshaw.  Should make for an interesting Tour.

mudslide73

What a legend.

littlegreenman

duotone said:

Just watched highlights of today's stage, that was one hell of a close finish.

Wouldn't be surprised if Cavendish gets another stage win or 2. I didn't realise that he has a lot of the old crew back supporting him, Bernhard Eisel, Edvald Boasson Hagen and Mark Renshaw.  Should make for an interesting Tour.

Thing is, they seem to have a different plan these days. Every team is on to the old plan of the HTC "train", and it's not working like it used to. Everyone's trying to have a train, and there isn't room for them all.

So DD have evolved a newer more fluid plan to have Bernie, Edvald and Renshaw picking their own spots on other teams trains and finding the one that gives Mark the position he needs. Lotto, Tinkoff and Alpecin have all fallen victim to this so far in this tour, to Cav's obvious benefit.

They're copying what worked in the past. Dimension Data have a new plan. And a very clever successful one so far!

duotone

He hasn't got around to doing TDF videos yet, but he does a good commentary for his bitesized videos.

littlegreenman

Nice to see ettix qs pull it back together after seemingly falling apart due to the road furniture to give Marcel a win before the mountains. And an even closer photo-finish than yesterday!

Steve-O Cummings for a another signature solo breakaway tomorrow? Or the start of the Battle-Royale amongst the GC guys on the first of the mountain stages? Or both!

littlegreenman

So, neither of the above!

A neutral day for the GC guys, with the exception of Alberto who really looks like his Tour is really over. Nibbles going backwards too, too much to ask after a Giro win?

Utterly brilliant day for Greg van Avermaet though, stage win and Yellow. That's his career bookmarked in history, a tenacious jump from a breakaway to a fantastic solo effort. Keeps BMC right up there in the Team comp as well.

That makes all 3 wearers of the Maillot Jaune newcomers to it so far, wonder when one of the rightful holder(s) will step up and take it?

kuro

really thought GvA had blown it when he went solo esp when movistar were steaming along. Great, gutsy ride from him.

littlegreenman

Cav now officially 2nd on the all time list in his own right! "Only" 5 more to go to equal the great Mercx.

3 more chances this year and then there's always next year, a step too far?

axisus

Brilliant from Cav, there was me thinking that he wouldn't have the legs to beat the very best any more, and he starts the Tour like this! Incredible.

I remember those dark days of the 80s when we would get excited because the solitary brit sprinter, Malcolm Elliott, would get 9th on a stage!

crunchman

axisus said:

Brilliant from Cav, there was me thinking that he wouldn't have the legs to beat the very best any more, and he starts the Tour like this! Incredible.

I remember those dark days of the 80s when we would get excited because the solitary brit sprinter, Malcolm Elliott, would get 9th on a stage!

There's got to be a strong argument for him being the greatest sprinter of all time.

littlegreenman

crunchman said:

axisus said:

Brilliant from Cav, there was me thinking that he wouldn't have the legs to beat the very best any more, and he starts the Tour like this! Incredible.

I remember those dark days of the 80s when we would get excited because the solitary brit sprinter, Malcolm Elliott, would get 9th on a stage!

There's got to be a strong argument for him being the greatest sprinter of all time.

29 TdeF stage wins, all from bunch sprints, says it all really. 4 years straight he owned the Champs Elysee's. No-one else comes close to that as a sprinter. Mercx's 34 include TT's and mountain finishes, so he'll always be the greatest all-rounder but Cav owns Le Tour in the race for the line, no question.

And on current form, it looks like he's not done yet.

thermionic

Cav's on fire for sure aster a couple of shaky years.

Dan Mclay is hugely impressive for a relative unknown as well.

mudslide73

What a legend.

littlegreenman

mudslide73 said:

What a legend.

And talking of legends, Steve-O!!!

Awesome signature solo win from Cummings, dropped the lot like only he can on his day. Bet that beats his Dauphine win by just a tad. Olympic selectors looking a bit sheepish now methinks?

Comedy of the day courtesy of a not so bouncy Flame Rouge castle collapse.

4 stages out of 7 for DD now, and all from British riders (all 2 of them ) ), add to that Dan McLay's excellent 3rd place and things aren't looking too bad for UK cycling. And a certain Mr Froome hasn't even started to get going yet.

thermionic

littlegreenman said:

Comedy of the day courtesy of a not so bouncy Flame Rouge castle collapse.

You've let the team down, you've let the Tour down, you've let the fans down, but most of all, you've let yourself down.

Steve Cummings keeps a low profile through most of the year, then has a day or two when he is SPECTACULAR. Great win!

littlegreenman

thermionic said:

littlegreenman said:

Comedy of the day courtesy of a not so bouncy Flame Rouge castle collapse.

You've let the team down, you've let the Tour down, you've let the fans down, but most of all, you've let yourself down.

Steve Cummings keeps a low profile through most of the year, then has a day or two when he is SPECTACULAR. Great win!

His day or two so far happen to have been on MASSIVE stages of Le Criterium du Dauphine and Le Tour. Not so low profile this year. And that after being denied an Olympics place. Steve's opinion on this are well known, as are many of cycling's pundits. Steve-O may not have been a contender for the Road Gold in Rio (debatable given the parcours this year), but he should have been there as a super-domestique at the very least.

Ro_S

The only interesting bit is when a big bundle crash occurs.