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

[Red Rick]

That, and not being Mart Smeets.

Smeets getting busted for EGO abuse is still my favorite Speld article of all time.

 

[Rob5091]

UAE in yellow tomorrow, but will Jumbo repeat today's high speed, front of the peloton racing? Be interesting to see.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Belgian peoples are the most bizarre in western Europe. Best grand tour rider in the world should sacrifice himself to lead out this Pozzato level rider in this big objective?

 

[Carols]

Powless and Zimmermann declaring their goals for the Tour.

An American, riding for EF, going for polkadots - Armstrong is going to have a mental meltdown

He had one decades ago and never recovered.

 

[Red Rick]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1675212859435786241

View: https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1675212859435786241

 

[Devil's Elbow]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1675212859435786241

View: https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1675212859435786241

Lafay may be inconsistent, but the leap Laporte took when he left Cofidis for a competent team really makes me wonder what his ceiling is. Could definitely see him winning something like Flèche.

 

[Red Rick]

Lafay may be inconsistent, but the leap Laporte took when he left Cofidis for a competent team really makes me wonder what his ceiling is. Could definitely see him winning something like Flèche.

Here I am wondering what big race week Jumbo has barely bothered with the last 2 years....

But seriously I don't know what money Lafay is on but basically anyone should be in for him.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

Lafay may be inconsistent, but the leap Laporte took when he left Cofidis for a competent team really makes me wonder what his ceiling is. Could definitely see him winning something like Flèche.

Lafay also seems full of self confidence atm… Talking after the finish about Vingegaard, who, according to Lafay, apparently lacked some power on the final climb…

Sounded a bit strange. But Lafay is a strong climber, a man for bigger teams maybe in the future.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Pello Bilbao had a puncture in the final and that's why he lost more time than expected

 

[RobertCrawley]

Choose the Worldfeed and you won't . They show 2 broadcasts.

I remain a huge fan of Phil Liggett. He is the voice of summer for me. Yes, he's missing some things, but so am I.

 

[Lequack]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh7BFDQ_xyQ

 

[armchairclimber]

Lafay also seems full of self confidence atm… Talking after the finish about Vingegaard, who, according to Lafay, apparently lacked some power on the final climb…

Sounded a bit strange. But Lafay is a strong climber, a man for bigger teams maybe in the future.

My posting history will tell you that he's a bit of a star in our household , since the Yorkshire Grand depart. We follow him closely. So good to see him mixing it with the favourites today.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

My posting history will tell you that he's a bit of a star in our household , since the Yorkshire Grand depart. We follow him closely. So good to see him mixing it with the favourites today.

Lafay? Or do you mean someone else? What does he have to do with the Yorkshire Grand Départ when he was just a junior then?

 

[danielovichdk2]

Good to see Carlos Rodriguez up there. And Bernal looked good. That's a really joy taking into account his devastating accident.

Good finish by Pogacar. He stood up and yanked a bit. Not buying his wrist issues at this point.

Crazy stage really.

 

[Carols]

I remain a huge fan of Phil Liggett. He is the voice of summer for me. Yes, he's missing some things, but so am I.

Well, you're missing 40% of the race watching commercials. But to each their own . You can always replay Phil when it's over just to hear his voice .

 

[search]

Lafay? Or do you mean someone else? What does he have to do with the Yorkshire Grand Départ when he was just a junior then?

just confusing it with Tour of Yorkshire, I think, where he was on the attack in one of the stages

 

[Carols]

Well UAE could play the old 1 - 2 with Pogi and Yates. Oh, wait they have Adam, not Simon. Being twins maybe they could switch .

 

[RobertCrawley]

Well, you're missing 40% of the race watching commercials. But to each their own . You can always replay Phil when it's over just to hear his voice .

Actually, there aren't that many commercials on Peacock, but ANY commercial seems wrong because we pay for the service.

Who are the announcers on the World Tour feed? I like Ned Boulting ok (esp. his podcast), but it's not always easy listening for long periods of time to Carleton Kirby.

 

[Carols]

Actually, there aren't that many commercials on Peacock, but ANY commercial seems wrong because we pay for the service.

Who are the announcers on the World Tour feed? I like Ned Boulting ok (esp. his podcast), but it's not always easy listening for long periods of time to Carleton Kirby.

Oh I couldn't handle Kirby either. Its McCrossan and Nico Roche. McCrossan akes some getting used to but now I like him and Roche is a gem.

 

[HelloDolly]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odjgl248e9Y

 

[Blanco]

I think Jumbo didn't chase because they didn't want Pogacar to win the stage.

Jumbo chased...

 

[red_flanders]

Belgian peoples are the most bizarre in western Europe. Best grand tour rider in the world should sacrifice himself to lead out this Pozzato level rider in this big objective?

Who are you referring to? I can’t make sense of this post.

 

[Gratemans]

Vinge needs to drop Pog in order to win the Tour. Meanwhile Pog can just follow wheels & grab bonus seconds.

The very fact Vinge doesn't want to cooperate because his sprint is worse puts him at a tactical disadvantage which I think too many people ignore. At some point Vinge needs to attack (& thus risk a counter attack).

It's what makes Pogačar such a difficult opponent to beat. I mean people can look at the route & ask themselves where Vingegaard is going to drop Pog... meanwhile from UAE's perspective they can ride pretty defensively. And the more time Vinge needs, the more aggressive he'll have to be.

Early days of course but today exposed some weakness in Jumbo in terms of dealing with Pog, Yates & also Van Aert (who is expected to win stages).

I usually find myself agreeing with your analysis. Not here though. You're extrapolating a hell of a lot on the basis of one stage. A stage with a climb, but a tiny one. Tough, but nothing compared to what's yet to come.
Like someone already said: a great team is fine and all that, but on mountains like Puy the Dome it's gonna be mano a mano. And whatever happened today has no bearing whatsoever on what's gonna go down in the real mountains.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Some comments from over the Internet:

Belgian forum: Jumbo should have worked for Van Aert!
French forum: Jumbo should have worked for Pinot!
Spanish forum: Jumbo should have worked for Landa!
Canadian forum: Jumbo should have worked for Woods!
Australian forum: Jumbo should have worked for Hindley!
South African forum: Jumbo should have waited for Meintjes!

 

[RedheadDane]

Some comments from over the Internet:

Belgian forum: Jumbo should have worked for Van Aert!
French forum: Jumbo should have worked for Pinot!
Spanish forum: Jumbo should have worked for Landa!
Canadian forum: Jumbo should have worked for Woods!
Australian forum: Jumbo should have worked for Hindley!
South African forum: Jumbo should have waited for Meintjes!

Danish forum: Jumbo did what they were supposed to do.