Tour de France Tour de France 2025 Stage 19: Albertville-La Plagne (93.1k) ‚Historic day, magnificent racing‘ ~ Rob Hatch, probably

[Red Rick]

It's not the riders wanting the stage to be shortened. How well paid are the farmers?
They're the people whose lives and livelihoods are being thrown into chaos.

They're not losing their cattle due to the Tour de France going there either.

To me they should be entirely unrelated.

 

[Gargamel35]

Farming group is strong in that area. As a farmer, you are loosing your livelihood right now. You are loosing cattle, all the others are loosing theirs, everybody are afraid how the sickness will spread. And now a bike race with huge numbers of cars, vans, fans, etc. storms on your roads, lawns, driveways, you name it. I'm sure farmers hated that before and would hate it even more now. And guess who has a major say in local politics, next major of the rural area/towns and so on in France...farmers. You don't want them go against you.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

It's not the riders wanting the stage to be shortened. How well paid are the farmers?
They're the people whose lives and livelihoods are being thrown into chaos.

There are people with their livelihoods endangered everywhere. The issue only arises when those people are possibly mad at the veterinary authorities and own tractors that could block the road. I think that‘s the main reason to shorten the stage.

 

[Rackham]

Yesterday's pre-stage incident when Pog hit the back of Visma's car:

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

View: https://www.instagram.com/p/DMgUwjuvH8C/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again

 

[RedheadDane]

They're not losing their cattle due to the Tour de France going there either.

To me they should be entirely unrelated.

But they probably need all the infrastructure free to deal with the issue.

 

[fenns]

Agriculture is a big issue in France. Not a good look to have a cycle race going through an area in crisis.

 

[Mayomaniac]

I already heared about the Lumpy Skin disease outbreak in certain parts of France and Italy weeks ago, atm you shouldn't import cows from other regions.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Farming group is strong in that area. As a farmer, you are loosing your livelihood right now. You are loosing cattle, all the others are loosing theirs, everybody are afraid how the sickness will spread. And now a bike race with huge numbers of cars, vans, fans, etc. storms on your roads, lawns, driveways, you name it. I'm sure farmers hated that before and would hate it even more now. And guess who has a major say in local politics, next major of the rural area/towns and so on in France...farmers. You don't want them go against you.

From all the talk I have heared about the disease I assumed that the mortality rate would be lower.

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

Felix Gall to attack on Col du Pré because his director sportif demands so, thinking there is another Netflix season coming out and they still need material for the customary AG2R filler episode.

He is joined by a twitchy Alaphilippe and they quickly gain a minute but suddenly drama emerges behind them. A group of raging bulls that escaped the slaughtering charges in between the two groups and stops the peleton, chaos emerges.
Pogacar is brought down and flees into the UAE team bus, not because he is hurt or scared but he wants to add the bull that dared to attack him to their blacklist so that the Polittbüro can act accordingly.
Lipowitz meanwhile never avoids a battle so he starts fighting the bull that attacked Pogacar one on one, when the bull retreats and starts running down the mountain he can't help himself, he forgets about the race and starts chasing after the bull, not to be seen for 3 days.
Vingegaard instinctively wanted to follow Pogacar into the UAE team bus because that's what he is used to doing for 3 years now but then he suddenly realizes: Thanks to the chaos, this the first time in half a decade that Grischa Niermann isn't lurking over his shoulder or whispering into his earpiece. He makes a quick decision, rips out his radio and disappears from the scene to get back home as quickly as possible to finally focus on carpentry.
The only one to take advantage of the situation is Lenny Martinez: He seizes the opportunity, grabs one bull by it's horn and directs it up the mountain. The animal obliges and he is pulled quicker than any sticky bottle could accomplish up the mountain to a flabbergasted Gall and Alaphilippe.
The three work together through the valley and up La Plagne, Gall let's Alaphilippe take the stage win and France errupts in joy.
After Politt made sure that no other bull was allowed to break away and gets caught, the Peleton finally resumes their race but it's too late. Pogacar obliterates Indurains record on La Plagne but arrives 1,5 hours down and everyone except for the front three misses the time cut.
Gall wins the Tour and Alaphilippe finishes second in GC. Lenny thought he'd complete the podium and win Polkadot but after an hour he learns that he has also been disqualified. Thibaut Pinot had teamed up with animal rights activists and demanded that he was to be thrown out of the race due to animal abuse.

ASO is happy because the stage delivered, riders and animals made the race and they see this as proof that /\_/ stages with less than 100km are the way forward for future GTs.

 

[Pantani_lives]

It's still a very tough stage. The main difference is that it's shorter. That's bad news for the breakaway guys who were hoping to get a ten minute leeway.

A tough climb early in the stage can be dangerous. They'll have to warm up for the Col du Pré. Someone who isn't recovered from yesterday can get dropped early. There will be a fight for the stage, for the polka dots, for the podium, for the top 10... The time limit can be tricky for tired riders.

One guy I expect in the breakaway is Michael Storer, who had a mechanical at an inconvenient moment yesterday. Other than that we'll just see the usual suspects, but they'll need at least five minutes at the foot of La Plagne to have a decent chance. This could still be a spectacular race.

 

[Gigs_98]

Tbh the combination of really tough queen stage followed by a very short mountain stage tends to work really well. I'm not sure the route change will make the race worse at all.

 

[repre]

My Uncle Roy swears blind he knows a guy who saw 'Irish Fraud' Stephen Roche holding onto a car Nibali style halfway up, robbing Pedro Delgado of his rightful Tour win.

Mark will only return if one of these pretenders can beat his ascent, don't know if if was the UCI or his Team that put paid to him, but it might be the most egregious example of not letting someone cook in cycling history.

Lean Padun >>>> Pogacar

 

[Danskebjerge]

Or, you know. I sit on my couch here and complain because these riders are well paid to race these races.

Like I can barely describe how beyond sick and tired I am of this argument.

I think it's relevant though. There is too much "why doesn't that gutless moron attack?" and too little understanding of being on the limit and of the actual speed the riders are going at. It's like sitting in a jet over the Atlantic and yelling at the staff to make the plane go faster.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Tbh the combination of really tough queen stage followed by a very short mountain stage tends to work really well. I'm not sure the route change will make the race worse at all.

Well, without Saisies there just won‘t be a breakaway before Vingegaard would have to launch it. I don‘t think this makes the stage terrible but it definitely makes it harder for anything other than Vingegaard attacking happening.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Hundred riders to go in a massive break, sprinters to end up riding in gruppetto.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Just bumped in. As if <130k mountain stage wasn't bad enough.
93k is ridiculous.

The cow disease at Col des Saisies seems to have spread to the heads of the stage designers.

 

[D. Pecher]

But they probably need all the infrastructure free to deal with the issue.

Exactly. There'll be whole convoys of farm vehicles milling about today, transporting what effectively amounts to bio hazards. You can't hold a cycling race in such an area. And more importantly, they don't want thousands of spectators lining the roads.

 

[Red Rick]

I think it's relevant though. There is too much "why doesn't that gutless moron attack?" and too little understanding of being on the limit and of the actual speed the riders are going at. It's like sitting in a jet over the Atlantic and yelling at the staff to make the plane go faster.

There's a bit of a difference between that and not riding. Yesterday for example, I don't blame riders for not attacking when you check the power data and they're doing 5.3 W/kg getting dropped. They were all gassed. I don't even particularly blame Vingegaard anymore.

In this case, the race isn't shortened because of a riders' protest, they have 0 blame in this.

 

[hayneplane]

It's still a very tough stage. The main difference is that it's shorter. That's bad news for the breakaway guys who were hoping to get a ten minute leeway.

A tough climb early in the stage can be dangerous. They'll have to warm up for the Col du Pré. Someone who isn't recovered from yesterday can get dropped early. There will be a fight for the stage, for the polka dots, for the podium, for the top 10... The time limit can be tricky for tired riders.

One guy I expect in the breakaway is Michael Storer, who had a mechanical at an inconvenient moment yesterday. Other than that we'll just see the usual suspects, but they'll need at least five minutes at the foot of La Plagne to have a decent chance. This could still be a spectacular race.

I doubt the time limit is going to be a problem for anyone as the 35 km descent and valley section in the middle of the stage is going to kill the pace and allow lots of catching up.

The organisers also appear desperate to gift wrap the Green Jersey for Milan with how the IS points are placed in the harder stages.

 

[D. Pecher]

To those who are angry about the stage being shortened. Please keep in mind that fouth & mouth desease is a viral desease. Now, it is not known for being able to infect humans, but viruses (or is it virii?) have a habit of mutating and the chance of that virus mutating in a way that it could spread to humans is small, but above zero.

Since Covid at the latest, authorities tend to err on the side of caution, so I think it is only normal that they don't want to take their chances by having thousands upon thousands of people close together on a mountain pass in an area where deseased animals are being disposed of.

 

[Gigs_98]

Well, without Saisies there just won‘t be a breakaway before Vingegaard would have to launch it. I don‘t think this makes the stage terrible but it definitely makes it harder for anything other than Vingegaard attacking happening.

But then what happens after Vingegaard attacks? If he succeeds, great, if he doesn't the race will be blown apart and I have no idea what would happen next. I don't think it's easy to predict this stage at all.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Of course it woudl be reckless to drive the peloton through such area and to spread the disease.

 

[CyclistAbi]

But then what happens after Vingegaard attacks? If he succeeds, great, if he doesn't the race will be blown apart and I have no idea what would happen next. I don't think it's easy to predict this stage at all.

If he has teammates on the other side they ride, otherwise he waits. For Rogla it would hence be crucial to have half of Visma going with him over the first climb.

 

[Red Rick]

But then what happens after Vingegaard attacks? If he succeeds, great, if he doesn't the race will be blown apart and I have no idea what would happen next. I don't think it's easy to predict this stage at all.

You'd think Vingegaard has to attack for show and PR more than anything really. To me there's a very cynical argument to deliberately not trying but any idea where that's a thing can be dismissed by how Visma have raced since the MTT.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

But then what happens after Vingegaard attacks? If he succeeds, great, if he doesn't the race will be blown apart and I have no idea what would happen next. I don't think it's easy to predict this stage at all.

Of course it isn‘t but there would be a few more breakaway riders in play with some climbs to start, plus the fight for the breakaway is just exciting to watch.