Tour de France 2023 Tour de France, Stage 1: Bilbao - Bilbao, 182 km (Spain, Saturday, July 1)

[Rob5091]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/al...ur-de-france-stage-1-intermediate-time-bonus/
Organisers removed the bonus to ensure the stage winner would claim the first yellow jersey, as is tradition. Had they not, a rider who came second at the intermediate sprint and finished second on the stage, where there are 10, 6 and 4 seconds, could have taken the race lead by one second. The extra bonifications are still in play on the final climb of stage 2 on the Jaizkibel before the finish in San Sébastien (and in stages 5, 12, 14 and 17).

 

[Volderke]

Only 7 Italian riders in the Tour. Incredible. Any thoughts on why?

Mama Mia!

(First thought, unfiltered)

 

[Eagle_Alps]

I prefer the pronounciation where the whole squad is a rap crew now:

Lidl Tony
Lidl Giulio
Lidl Quinn
Lidl Mattias
Lidl Juan
Lidl Alex
Lidl Jasper
Lidl Mads

Which team is better?
Lidl Mads' Team or the BigMat Team?😅

In some recent English TV ads they clearly pronounced it Leedl.
However, in some German Tv ads, they used the pun where some English speaking people bought something in a "little" store (which sounded rather lame)

 

[RedheadDane]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/al...ur-de-france-stage-1-intermediate-time-bonus/
Organisers removed the bonus to ensure the stage winner would claim the first yellow jersey, as is tradition. Had they not, a rider who came second at the intermediate sprint and finished second on the stage, where there are 10, 6 and 4 seconds, could have taken the race lead by one second. The extra bonifications are still in play on the final climb of stage 2 on the Jaizkibel before the finish in San Sébastien (and in stages 5, 12, 14 and 17).

I swear! I was not involved in this!

---

Mads Pedersen threw in his name for the stage, and then - after he'd looked closer at the profile - he quickly withdrew it again.

 

[red_flanders]

Gotta say, it would have been awesome to see what Remco could have done on this stage, against the best, with that rainbow jersey on. It’ll be a great stage anyway, but day-um! It’s like the perfect start for him.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/al...ur-de-france-stage-1-intermediate-time-bonus/
Organisers removed the bonus to ensure the stage winner would claim the first yellow jersey, as is tradition. Had they not, a rider who came second at the intermediate sprint and finished second on the stage, where there are 10, 6 and 4 seconds, could have taken the race lead by one second. The extra bonifications are still in play on the final climb of stage 2 on the Jaizkibel before the finish in San Sébastien (and in stages 5, 12, 14 and 17).

Amazing that the organisers didn't consider the scenario before announcing the bonifications in the first place.

 

[SafeBet]

Only 7 Italian riders in the Tour. Incredible. Any thoughts on why?

It's also the first Tour in a long long time without any Italian name sponsor.

The explanation would probably require a dedicated thread, but generally speaking cycling is no longer a major sport in Italy. Most of the people who follow it are old.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

If Pog isn’t in bad shape UAE should start drilling it on Morga to drop the sprinters so Pog can get bonus seconds over Vinge.

Looking at those climbs once more I think that if the tempo is strong enough then Pog & Vinge will arrival at the finish alone. But I don't think it's worth burning your team only for bonuses. Pog can get them anyway from a smaller group (if he can sprint, that is).

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Gotta say, it would have been awesome to see what Remco could have done on this stage, against the best, with that rainbow jersey on. It’ll be a great stage anyway, but day-um! It’s like the perfect start for him.

Roglic would have crushed him. Oh yeah, Roglic isn't here, just like Remco, so it's irrelevant.

 

[Lequack]

Roglic would have crushed him. Oh yeah, Roglic isn't here, just like Remco, so it's irrelevant.

So there will always be an asterisk for this TDF.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Sprinter Remco should start the Tour, get his couple of stage wins, then leave before stage 5.

 

[EddyMazzoleni]

Roglic would have crushed him. Oh yeah, Roglic isn't here, just like Remco, so it's irrelevant.

Got to love the unbiased and stoic Roglic supporters.
Much better than the obnoxious Remco Fanboys

 

[Rob5091]

Amazing that the organisers didn't consider the scenario before announcing the bonifications in the first place.

Yeah, the geniuses at ASO thought first of possible GC action before the tradition of the yellow jersey. Mind you, I'm thinking the Gino Mäder death at the TdS might of given the organizers second thoughts about having most of the peloton racing for those bonifications on day 1.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Yeah, the geniuses at ASO thought first of possible GC action before the tradition of the yellow jersey. Mind you, I'm thinking the Gino Mäder death at the TdS might of given the organizers second thoughts about having most of the peloton racing for those bonifications on day 1.

I thought it was only the bonification on top of Pike that was scrapped?
They will go real fast to the line in any case, due to the yellow jersey being up for grabs.

 

[frisenfruitig]

I thought it was only the bonification on top of Pike that was scrapped?
They will go real fast to the line in any case, due to the yellow jersey being up for grabs.

Yes, there are still bonifications at the finish as far as I know. They wanted to make sure the stage winner also gets the yellow jersey. Makes sense, but weird they didn't realize this back when they designed the route (though not unexpected from ASO).

 

[theyoungest]

Got to love the unbiased and stoic Roglic supporters.
Much better than the obnoxious Remco Fanboys

I don't think that was the point.

 

[Lequack]

Training ride. Adam Yates and his co-leader Pog

 

[Scarponi]

It's also the first Tour in a long long time without any Italian name sponsor.

The explanation would probably require a dedicated thread, but generally speaking cycling is no longer a major sport in Italy. Most of the people who follow it are old.

Obviously football is number 1 but what has replaced it at 2? Rugby is about the same there.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

@Lequack No wonder Adam is happy, he'll have the best super domestique in history. As for Majka, this is his reaction when Pog told him he could go for stage wins this year. Guys who didn't get a free role are visibly unhappy.

 

[gerundium]

sadly this is going to be a massive crashfest, as per usual nowadays in the tour. i cross my fingers everyone stays upright this time so we can have a spectacular final.

 

[HelloDolly]

Are we going to have to go this whole Tour with the every day speculation on what Remco would have done

Might as well say every day what Paolo Bettini would have done or even Purito Rodriquez

They are not here and last time I looked none of them were in sparkling form

​

 

[red_flanders]

Roglic would have crushed him. Oh yeah, Roglic isn't here, just like Remco, so it's irrelevant.

Yet you had to react…

 

[Escarabajo]

sadly this is going to be a massive crashfest, as per usual nowadays in the tour. i cross my fingers everyone stays upright this time so we can have a spectacular final.

I was thinking about this last night. Imagine the fight for position coming into Pike on stage 1. Nothing good can come out of this. I hope the group is broken well before that so that there are a lot less riders at that point.

 

[Berniece]

Are we going to have to go this whole Tour with the every day speculation on what Remco would have done

Might as well say every day what Paolo Bettini would have done or even Purito Rodriquez

They are not here and last time I looked none of them were in sparkling form

​

Let's hope not. It's a slow news day, and everyone is just waiting on the start. I imagine that once the Tour starts, we'll only discuss active riders.

 

[SafeBet]

Obviously football is number 1 but what has replaced it at 2? Rugby is about the same there.

Tennis, Basketball and motor sports in general have a bigger fanbase.