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

[Krzysztof_O]

Big Mig looking less massive than during his heyday. Given his wattage he would show current heroes their place in the mountains.

 

[Wyndbrook]

A prologue spreads the field out a little, at least just enough to put the yellow jersey out of reach for most riders in the following sprint stages. And when I was a kid watching the TdF, there was always a prologue.

The start in Basque Country seems pretty similar to the Bretagne start 2 years ago. I mean there are always going to be crashes but some race designs increase the likelihood.

I believe that's the case this year.

When the new Thierry Marie comes along ASO will have a prolog every year.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1674462249887445014

View: https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1674462249887445014

Fred Wright is Dutch!

 

[Lequack]

He really is. There is no way someone would mistake that kit for a British champs kit.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1674462249887445014

View: https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1674462249887445014

Fred Wright is Dutch!

Yeah, I felt the same, immediately…

Could it have political reasons? But I‘d guess Bahrain doesn‘t have problems with the UK…

They cannot be serious, letting Wright wear such a jersey. This clearly is the Dutch flag, and doesn‘t have anything to do with GB‘s flag…

Normally now the UCI should intervene, because otherwise now there are two riders wearing Dutch champion‘s colours, van Baarle and Wright…

Also the arms show Dutch colours on Wright‘s jersey. They cannot be serious - this cannot be true…

 

[gerundium]

Not sure if a joke but somehow this is how brittish cycling prescribes the british champs jersey. Look at cav last year.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Yeah, I felt the same, immediately…

Could it have political reasons? But I‘d guess Bahrain doesn‘t have problems with the UK…

They cannot be serious, letting Wright wear such a jersey. This clearly is the Dutch flag, and doesn‘t have anything to do with GB‘s flag…

Normally now the UCI should intervene, because otherwise now there are two riders wearing Dutch champion‘s colours, van Baarle and Wright…

Also the arms show Dutch colours on Wright‘s jersey. They cannot be serious - this cannot be true…

What I find interesting is that this is a direct variation of their TdF jersey, not their normal everyday jersey, going by the colour scheme. It looks like they have too much money and time and have designed a jersey variant for no real reason.

 

[Poursuivant]

Pogacar's jersey... not half bad.

And will probably only wear it on Stage 1.

 

[ice&fire]

It's called fashion!

That's a San Fermin scarf. It's part of the typical Pamplonese attire during the San Fermin festivities celebrated between the 6th and the 14th of July. The yellow colour is a nod to the Tour, as the San Fermin scarf can be of any colour as long as it is red.

 

[tobydawq]

No number 13 in the race? Are the organisers being ridiculous (read: superstitious) or are they annoyed by numbers being put upside down (read: riders being ridiculous)?

 

[Tonton]

Bilbao should win this bike race.

 

[Lequack]

No number 13 in the race? Are the organisers being ridiculous (read: superstitious) or are they annoyed by numbers being put upside down (read: riders being ridiculous)?

Does that make rider 14 de-facto the 13th rider? Just like Americans having hotels and skyscrapers without the thirteenth floor.

 

[tobydawq]

Does that make rider 14 de-facto the 13th rider? Just like Americans having hotels and skyscrapers without the thirteenth floor.

I think number 16 will be the 13th rider.

 

[Kaptain Kool]

I'm pretty sure this is 100% the reason that WT teams sizes dropped from 9 to 8. Allows flexibility to avoid unlucky numbers. UAE now has no excuses not to win.

 

[Lequack]

Has any rider ever won a GT wearing number 13?

 

[Panda Claws]

Statistically there is no real correlation between winning the first stage and winning the GC so I don't think we'll be able to conclude much after this stage.

 

[rallybanana]

Why is the default image on the screen, the silhouettes, featuring a man being hanged?

It's actually a man hanging onto an umbrella, like Mary Poppins. The TV camera conveniently omits the top of the umbrella making it look like a man being hanged. I was also like WTF when I saw it.

 

[gregrowlerson]

I feel higher enthusiasm for a TdF than average of the last few years. Maybe it's Pog's mysterious wrist, maybe something else. Next year could be even higher.

Pog's mysterious wrist appears to be giving many fans wrists a workout.

 

[gregrowlerson]

'Yeah err I'm super happy to be there and err yeah will give it my best shot' - every interview.

If I had even a modicum of ability I'd be talking all sorts of mess in these interviews, someone needs to emulate all the trash talk going on during the Ashes tests at the moment.

Problem is as soon as someone deviates from the given script they get piled on for being 'arrogant'.

I miss Remco.

 

[armchairclimber]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1674462249887445014

View: https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1674462249887445014

Fred Wright is Dutch!

 

[RedheadDane]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1674462249887445014

View: https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1674462249887445014

Fred Wright is Dutch!

That is not a Dutch National Champion Jersey. This is a Dutch National Champion Jersey:

 

[zigzag wanderer]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1674462249887445014

View: https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1674462249887445014

Fred Wright is Dutch!

Yeah, I felt the same, immediately…

Could it have political reasons? But I‘d guess Bahrain doesn‘t have problems with the UK…

They cannot be serious, letting Wright wear such a jersey. This clearly is the Dutch flag, and doesn‘t have anything to do with GB‘s flag…

Normally now the UCI should intervene, because otherwise now there are two riders wearing Dutch champion‘s colours, van Baarle and Wright…

Also the arms show Dutch colours on Wright‘s jersey. They cannot be serious - this cannot be true…

The British jersey always looks like this. So that you never forget, here is a picture of Adam Blythe

 

[Berniece]

My 2 cents for this stage:

• Jumbo will take it slow. There are 3 weeks of racing, I don't think they'll try to make a coup on a terrain which is very likely to result in a win for Pogacar.
• Pogacar might also take it slow because he doesn't want to make the same mistake he made last year. He knows he can easily win this stage if he goes all out, but he might be more cautious to save energy for mountain terrain on which Vingegaard might be better.
• Due to this, we might see a small group with even WVA and MVDP in it.
• Unless Alaphilippe destroys them all

 

[SafeBet]

So this is official. We'll hear snippets of teams race radio during broadcast

https://twitter.com/x/status/1674680185927487488

View: https://twitter.com/inrng/status/1674680185927487488?t=T_Gy6m4dEn_-zFoa9znguw&s=19

 

[tobydawq]

So this is official. We'll hear snippets of teams race radio during broadcast

https://twitter.com/x/status/1674680185927487488

View: https://twitter.com/inrng/status/1674680185927487488?t=T_Gy6m4dEn_-zFoa9znguw&s=19

Is that really something we need?