Tour de France 2015 Stage 21: Sèvres › Paris 109.5k

[tweak37]

Or they use plastic champagne "glasses"?

 

[jsem94]

Or they use plastic champagne "glasses"?

That's what they've done the last few years IIRC. Who would be stupid enough to use actual glass anyway?

 

[wwabbit]

Hmm... so there must have been a lot of vehicles making the 6+ hours drive from Huez to Sevres. Was that done right after yesterday's stage, overnight, or this morning, I wonder.

 

[reubenr]

Re:

Quintana & Valverde attack Froome when they hit the Place de la Concorde and stretch out a 1:13 lead over Froome for Quintana who wins yellow by just 1 second. Sagan chases down to take 2nd, Valverde rolls in 3rd after confirming he didn't have use of the big chainring ever since Froome threw the dregs of his champagne into his EPS shifters, buggering them up 30km before they hit Paris.
No questions are asked of Movistar's performance of course - no power data needs releasing, no phlem was spat, no urine thrown, Sky boos were replaced by cheers of joy each side of the Champs-Elysées and everybody goes home with that warm feeling Cycling has finally returned to the glory days of entertaining TV, which after-all is all that matters.

More like Quintana lost the TDF than Froome having won it. Froome was given a free pass the first week, and he took it. Didn't make for much of a race in the final analysis. Seemed to me that Sagan was the exceptional rider, throughout, consistent and powerful.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

I hesitate to call it a tradition, because I'm not sure that it has much history, but a habit at least has developed for riders on their final Tour to be allowed a km or two at the front soon after reaching the Champs as a farewell. Anyone scheduled for it today? Tuft? Tosatto? Henderson? It would surely be too un-ninja for Zubeldia to do such a thing.

 

[samhocking]

Quintana & Valverde attack Froome when they hit the Place de la Concorde and stretch out a 1:13 lead over Froome for Quintana who wins yellow by just 1 second. Sagan chases down to take 2nd, Valverde rolls in 3rd after confirming he didn't have use of the big chainring ever since Froome threw the dregs of his champagne into his EPS shifters, buggering them up 30km before they hit Paris.
No questions are asked of Movistar's performance of course - no power data needs releasing, no phlem was spat, no urine thrown, Sky boos were replaced by cheers of joy each side of the Champs-Elysées and everybody goes home with that warm feeling Cycling has finally returned to the glory days of entertaining TV, which after-all is all that matters.

More like Quintana lost the TDF than Froome having won it. Froome was given a free pass the first week, and he took it. Didn't make for much of a race in the final analysis. Seemed to me that Sagan was the exceptional rider, throughout, consistent and powerful.

Agreed, how dare Sky take that free pass in the first week. Any self-respecting team would have demanded that day be nullified to give the others a fair chance!

 

[difdauf]

Re:

Or they use plastic champagne "glasses"?

That's what they've done the last few years IIRC. Who would be stupid enough to use actual glass anyway?

Drinking champagne in plastic glasses on the french territory should be punished by law.

 

[samhocking]

It's all Sky's fault. They requested to use lighter plastic flutes because there's an easy marginal gain in power to weight ratio for that final run into Paris.

 

[Cyclingismylife]

Re: Re:

What time is the stage scheduled to finish today?

Between 19.04 and 19.19.

Who will Cofidis sprint for today? Laporte or Soupe?

And who will finish best of Jan Bakelants and Daniel Oss?

 

[gazr99]

Looks like the Paris Gendarme have an interesting morning, slightly over reacting and shooting at a bloke who was probably still drunk as he tried to drive his car home the morning after the night before, whilst driving into some barriers

 

[Stelvio]

The cobbles of Paris are slippery in the rain.

 

[TMP402]

Re:

Looks like the Paris Gendarme have an interesting morning, slightly over reacting and shooting at a bloke who was probably still drunk as he tried to drive his car home the morning after the night before, whilst driving into some barriers

France has had several incidents of terrorism in which a driver goes into a crowd of people.

 

[TMP402]

Re:

Hmm... so there must have been a lot of vehicles making the 6+ hours drive from Huez to Sevres. Was that done right after yesterday's stage, overnight, or this morning, I wonder.

At least some do it in the early hours of the morning.

 

[ray j willings]

Nibs will attack, if Quintana can follow he can win the tour

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Sky apparently have a change of kit for today's stage, with yellow trim instead of blue. I thought that was not allowed, cf the Armstrong 28 million people kit from (?) 2009.

 

[Flamin]

Pooring rain atm. This is perfect. Maybe a small group can pull it off.

 

[Ryongsyong]

Re:

Looks like the Paris Gendarme have an interesting morning, slightly over reacting and shooting at a bloke who was probably still drunk as he tried to drive his car home the morning after the night before, whilst driving into some barriers

Sounds like it was involved in a separate accident then in the rush to escape ended up trying to go down a road which had been closed for the race later on. As was the case in 2005 when there were mass riots in France, when the yardstick of the return of normality was described by the police as "only" 30 cars being burned each night (with the exception of course of the annual new year's eve French car burning tradition, where this year there was a 12% reduction with only 940 cars burned in one night (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30653784), down from 1,067 the year before, this is equally par for the course for any day in Paris, rather than any particular threat to the race.

 

[willbick]

Re: Re:

Looks like the Paris Gendarme have an interesting morning, slightly over reacting and shooting at a bloke who was probably still drunk as he tried to drive his car home the morning after the night before, whilst driving into some barriers

France has had several incidents of terrorism in which a driver goes into a crowd of people.

Generally if you want to kill some people by driving a car into them you dont do it at 6am in an empty square

 

[Netserk]

Perfect conditions for Sax.

 

[willbick]

They will have to race the last stage hard just to stay warm!! Champagne replaced by hot toddies lol

 

[difdauf]

Poor girls, so much crash.

 

[Yingge]

What will they do if its raining - take the GC times at the first crossing of the finish line, or will they make Froome sweat it out?

Edit - seeing all the crashes in the Women's race makes me think they might do the former, though I prefer the latter - race to the end.

 

[Sasquatch]

Re:

Sky apparently have a change of kit for today's stage, with yellow trim instead of blue. I thought that was not allowed, cf the Armstrong 28 million people kit from (?) 2009.

Yeah it shouldn't be allowed. That's *** up.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Re:

Sky apparently have a change of kit for today's stage, with yellow trim instead of blue. I thought that was not allowed, cf the Armstrong 28 million people kit from (?) 2009.

Odd. Sky must have gotten special permission from Cookson.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

the rules say that with a wet champs elysees the times will be taken off the first passage. So nothing will happen