I am actually happy that the tour will be won by a pure climber (although Bernal is a decent TT) and not by a powerful rider with a diesel engine. It makes a nice change and mountains were fun to watch.

Late 50s

I understand why they have done it.
But has any stage been cut by more than 50% in distance before?

Cut a bunch of distance off the 1996 Sestriere stage, again bad weather.

Aah, thanks
I just couldn't recall it happening before

Bit of a farce this tour.

The last 3 days were supposed to decide everything. 2 of those 3 turned into a damp squib.

This years tour was made specifically for Bardet.
Couldn't make the most of a route specifically made for him. Pinot the legend however was an able deputy.

Never considered the bikes themselves much but I see Ineos use Pinarello and our local cycle shop sells one model at £12 000. Is this the sort of price of bikes used in the topmost road races or are they even more hideously expensive?

The guy who owns my local bike shop has a 12k race bike, of course he has it at retail price. I do not think there's anything available much above this.

A semi serious weekend warrior would spend 2-4k on a bike. Few ppl would spend more than that from my experience.

*laughs in timetrialer*

I assume the ones for the teams are pretty much custom built for the individual riders and each rider will have a few on standby too. Expensive business! Shame today's stage had to be shortened but it has been a great TdF so far though TBH I've only followed text updates...

The carbon frames are generally off-the-peg, standard sizes, and fine tuning of position is done at the level of things like stem length and saddle height and crank length. Customization comes down to things like the paint jobs (to match world/national champs kit, leader jerseys, etc) and non-sponsor components (oval chainrings, oversized bearings). 3-D printed time trail handlebars is one of the newest fads.

There are a few “special edition” frames that some teams create (Dan Martin is riding a special Colnago at this Tour, for all the good its doing him), but even those have to be commercially available. And the difference comes down to an ultra-lightweight coat of paint.

Thanks DOB!

I don't think it's unusual for a weekend warrior to have their components specifically fitted for their own measurements. I had a fitting that accounted for my flexibility as well as dimensions.

It's all turning to shit for the frogs at this point.. sad to see.

Massively long ad break on ITV4, hope nothing's happening in the race...

Was just thinking that.

Lads come on, there's 10k to go in a crucial stage

Absolutely. I fitted a longer stem to my bike. Just pointing that out by way of contrast with the days of steel frames when top riders would go to their favorite frame builder and get the frame built millimeter perfect for their exact dimensions. That’s pretty much impossible in this day and age.


Alaf cracking under the Jumbo pressure. Kruiswijk clearly fighting for 3rd.

Bardet dropped too?

Fair dues to Kruiswijk, hope he makes the podium.

ITV4 seem to be putting 6 hours worth of commercials into today's 3 hours of coverage

They do one long one and it’s uninterupted till the top (well they did in other mountain top finish stages)

Nibbles may hold on for the win here. Unless Bernal is unleashed in the final 3km or so.

Gap's coming down

...not fast enough

Well done Nibali! true grit

Well done Nibali - great ride.

The stage was just too short to make a difference for the GC. But looks like Ineos wouldn't have let much happen anyway.

Well that rather fizzled out

Bardet keeps the Polka Dot they are saying.

So Ineos 1 and 2, despite having a few team members off colour. Fair play. They found a way.

Best two riders in the race after the French challenge dropped away.

Be interesting if next years TdF had more TT elements and Dumoulin is back how Bernal will go. How did he do in the TT?

When is nexts years route made public?

Mid October usually, I'm waiting to see what stage next years Etape du Tour will be, hopefully Pyrenean (sic?).

Bernal lost loads of time in the ITT. He’ll be better next year though as he’s so young.

Amazing achievement to win the tour at just 22. He could be the dominant stage racer for the next ten years. Just an incredible rider.

Brilliant for Bernal, delighted for him fantastic rider. Imagine that this is just the beginning

Massive year for South American cycling. Chapeau to them.

Youngest TDF winner ever (subject to Sunday). Loco-mbians also party best. Geraint an extremely able, decent and deserved runner up.

this guy makes custom carbon frames. I went with steel but he is never going to sponsor a tdf team...

Yup. And the preferred geometry changes over time. Look at the climbing position of Armstrong and Ulrucht vs today's riders. Way more upright and impressed nowadays. This really seems to have sorted my knees out and I feel like I'm delivering more power.

Henri Cornet would argue that point.

Bernal had a bad day in the TT, but he’s usually pretty reliable there. He won’t lose the sort of time that a Quintana or Bardet can.

Dumoulin is rumoured to be/almost definitely going to Jumbo-Visma for next season, so will have way more support than he’s ever had in the Team Sunweb organization. The question is how will co-leadership work between him, Roglic and Kruiswijk. But then, it’s a question Sky/Ineos have had no trouble answering the last few years (the 2011 Vuelta was really the last time it was any sort of problem).

Alaphilippe won’t be able to catch anyone by surprise like this next year, and it sounds like even if Quickstep had an interest in switching focus to GC, they don’t have time or funds to alter their squad makeup and goals for next season. Which is a shame, as I’d love to see him give it another crack. But I’d hate to see him sacrifice his classics season to do it.

I hope Pinot can, just once, get a blemish-free run at the Tour, while he still has the legs he had this year.

Sky/Ineos have now won 7 TdFs in 8 years with 4 different riders. Taking nothing away from that phenomenal achievement, hopefully the funding that Jumbo-Visma are bringing to the table will be well spent and they can represent a genuine competitor to Ineos, rather than the disorganized rabble of Movistar or the ghost of failed Rabobank gc contenders past.



Oh, and I’m 41. The first Tour I watched properly was Indurain in 1991. I have read a lot about previous years, particularly the Kelly/Roche era of the 80s.

Sizing is very very important. If you're going to spend time training/racing, you want to have a bike which is comfortable, fitted, and is literally an extension of your body frame.
In the old days frame builders were priceless. There are still riders who insist on using frame builders still.

But the most important thing on a bike is the engine, namely the cyclist. If your not in optimum shape, frames and other accessories are meaningless.