Le Tour 2018 stage 16:Carcassonne - Bagnères-de-Luchon 218km

[loge1884]

Re:

By the looks of it, there could actually fall some raindrops in the afternoon. Please let it happen.

I understand that epic stages often include dreadful weather .... however, why this pretty sadistic approach of whishing the riders to suffer the most? Guess the Tour is hard enough (at least too hard for not few, who had to abandon)

 

[Eyeballs Out]

It would make sense for Sky to chase down any break with Sunweb / Lotto riders but without Moscon they may be a bit shorthanded

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Re: Re:

By the looks of it, there could actually fall some raindrops in the afternoon. Please let it happen.

I understand that epic stages often include dreadful weather .... however, why this pretty sadistic approach of whishing the riders to suffer the most? Guess the Tour is hard enough (at least too hard for not few, who had to abandon)

Rainy weather is just more entertaining. It dont read anything sadistic in Flamin's post.

 

[Lequack]

I don't like bad weather in the races, especially the Tour, makes the epic mountain stages look bleak and depressing, usually no helicopter footage and also usually makes the racing more cautious and less exciting.
There is nothing better than seeing sunny pics from these mountain tops, millions of fans along the road, spectacular helicopter images, these are the stages that go in history usually.

 

[sir fly]

It's going to be difficult for every early breakaway.
There's, almost, a stage's length untill they hit the hills, and then 80k's of hills.
That's demanding.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

It's going to be difficult for every early breakaway.
There's, almost, a stage's length untill they hit the hills, and then 80k's of hills.
That's demanding.

It's a full stage length in it's entirety. Don't pretend like 218 km is some extraordinary thing, and if anything, long stages usually more suited to breakaways than short ones. The break will be big in any case.

 

[skippo12]

Re:

So far it's been a poor TDF for Mitchelton Scott.

Poor?! Considering how it went in the Giro, they must be pulling their hair out.

But Caleb Ewan wasn`t an option because of Adam Yates GT ambitions. Yates was out of contention after the first mountain stage and Ewan probably could have at least finished inside the top 5 on a number of stages.
Not looking good from a management/DS perspective.

 

[skippo12]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 16:Carcassonne - Bagnères-de-Luchon 2

I really hope Dumoulin tries something today. Geschke and/or Arndt in the break and Dumoulin attacking downhill.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

So far it's been a poor TDF for Mitchelton Scott.

Poor?! Considering how it went in the Giro, they must be pulling their hair out.

But Caleb Ewan wasn`t an option because of Adam Yates GT ambitions. Yates was out of contention after the first mountain stage and Ewan probably could have at least finished inside the top 5 on a number of stages.
Not looking good from a management/DS perspective.

If you're not expected to control GC proceedings, you barely need a mountain train yourself. Yates would've needed some protection on the flat, but Nieve alone should be enough mountain support for Yates, and that leaves plenty of room to bring your sprinter.

Seriously, if you don't control the race, low end climbing domestiques are the most useless riders in the peloton. And if you have to control the race, you rather have an all rounder who can climb as well as a guy like Laurens Ten Dam in the high mountains.

 

[jsem94]

Damn, farmers trying to stop the race

 

[Salvarani]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 16:Carcassonne - Bagnères-de-Luchon 2

Damn farmers

 

[Hugo Koblet]

Peberspray attack?

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

Damn, farmers trying to stop the race

I think they let Pierre Roland go.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Several riders have had some unidentified fluid thrown into their eyes, by demonstrators who had also blocked the road.

The stage is stopped, while the riders get their eyes checked and washed out.

 

[bigcog]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 16:Carcassonne - Bagnères-de-Luchon 2

Farmers sprayed riders with pepper spray ?

 

[Salvarani]

They been thrown something in their eyes??

 

[MatParker117]

Re:

They been thrown something in their eyes??

Pepper spray apparently.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Tour de Farce continues

 

[Laplaz]

Tour getting more ridiculous day by day.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Not the brightest idea to use tear gas near the peloton, policemen.

 

[infeXio]

the Inner Ring
‏ @inrng

Race halted, police used tear gas on the farmers but some riders ended up getting it their eyes too, they're rinsing out their eyes.

 

[Salvarani]

I hope they don’t have to break off the whole stage

 

[Red Rick]

So this is not a 'racing incident' according to the race jury?

 

[Bolder]

Did the spray come from the police who were trying to arrest the protestors?

edit: nm, yes it did. nice job by the gendermes.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

So this is not a 'racing incident' according to the race jury?

It's a 'farming incident'.