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Le Tour de France 2016
#21
I'm glad I didn't discount Romain Bardet because he won today's stage! At one time his lead came down quickly to 28 seconds, but went back up to 42 seconds, before a second splintered attack brought it back down again to 23 seconds - Rodriguez, Valverde and Meintjes all finished together.

As predicted, today was when big moves were made in the top ten of the GC, but despite Froome falling and having to use Geraint Thomas' bike, Froome turned out to be the big winner. The early breakaway group of 20 riders were 4'42" ahead after only 7km, but after numerous attempts to close the gap, Bardet had joined Rui Costa at the front with 7km still to ride and kept the peloton at bay. The big feature of the day was the number of crashes - leading names like Froome, Porte, Mollema and Dumoulin (he had to abandon immediately afterwards) all hit the ground.

The upshot is that Froome has extended his lead to 4'11" from Bardet, 4'27" from Quintana and 4'46" from Yates. The day's big loser was Mollema (2nd this morning, 10th tonight) who finished 3'50" behind Froome.
Rafal Majka secured the Polka Dot Jersey today by picking up 36 points and he just needs to finish in Paris on Sunday to be King of the Mountains.
In the Young Rider category Meintjes gained 33 seconds on Yates, who still has a lead of 2'16" with 2 days to go.

Tomorrow is the final day in the mountains with a 146.5km stage comprising of an intermediate sprint and 4 climbs. There will be a lot of tired legs after today's stage and there's more of the same tomorrow. The big difference will be that tomorrow sees a 12km downhill finish. Who can stand the pace and who will take the risks? Froome must still be favourite, but he's starting to look uncomfortable. If Bardet can attack with the same intent tomorrow, he is good enough to unsettle Froome, but Bardet might be looking over his shoulder at the 2 riders within 35 seconds of him and decide to be defensive. For me, the danger to these 3 riders will be Fabio Aru, who is only 1'14" behind Yates.
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#22
Just seen yesterday's highlights. Schoolboy error from Froome. Crossing a white line in the rain on a descent. Dear oh dear! Whistle Rolleyes Doh
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#23
Just watched the end of the stage today and it was noticeable that Froome was held back on the descent by Gerraint Thomas to ensure there were no mishaps today!!! Looks like the Tour remains in British hands!!!
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#24
In a surprise attack on the last downhill section, Ion Izagirre sped away from 2 of the best downhillers, Jarlinson Pantano and Vincent Nibali, to win the last mountain stage by 19 and 42 seconds respectively. In driving rain, the GC contenders couldn't afford to take chances and the top contenders were content to keep what they had, resulting in a fairly tame finish by the peleton.

Overall results
GC (yellow jersey) 1 Chris Froome, 2 Romain Bardet +4'05", 3 Nairo Quintana +4'21"
Points (green jersey) 1 Peter Sagan - 440pts, 2 Marcel Kittel  - 228pts, 3 Michael Matthews - 183pts
King of the Mountains (polka dot jersey) 1 Rafal Majka - 209pts, 2 Thomas De Gendt - 130pts, 3 Jarlinson Pantano - 121pts
Young Rider (white jersey) 1 Adam Yates, 2 Louis Meintjes + 2'16", 3 Emanuel Buchmann + 42'58"
Team 1 Movistar, 2 Team Sky +8'14", 3 BMC Racing Team +48'11"

Tomorrow sees the usual processional stage before the coronation of Chris Froome for the third time. The only excitement will be caused by the battle between the sprinters for a stage win in Paris. Alexander Kristoff would be my choice, as he's done pretty well, but Bryan Coquard would be a popular winner.

This year has seen me watch the TdF every day, usually the live show in the afternoon and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. Movistar won the team event, but Team Sky have been dominant, protecting Chris Froome in about every way possible. Froome himself has been in control for most of the Tour, attacking at will and reacting quickly to every dangerous move. Of course, he still has to get over the finish line tomorrow to be officially declared the winner, but that is almost a foregone conclusion. I won't be watching as I really dislike the format for tomorrow. If I'm lucky I might time it so that I see the last madcap sprint on the Champs Elysees.
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#25
There's not really much to report, as it's all been said before.

Andre Greipel won the final stage in Paris, beating Peter Sagan and Alexander Kristoff.

Roll on next year!
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#26
Liked the way the whole Sky team linked arms and crossed the line together.
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#27
(23-07-2016, 11:12)Lord Snooty Wrote: Just seen yesterday's highlights. Schoolboy error from Froome. Crossing a white line in the rain on a descent. Dear oh dear!  Whistle  Rolleyes  Doh

He's only human but has proved to be a top class cyclist often enough. Like a lotta folk in the UK, I just question his 'British status' that he has adopted for long enough? An African who is living in France, how many of these 'hybrid sportsmen' have we observed down the years who liked/chose the idea of becoming a British sportsman! I'm sure many cycling enthusiasts still regard the likes of Bradley Wiggins with more reverence.
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#28
That's probably why he's not Sir Chris Froome yet unlike Sir Bradley.

Personally I don't care where anybody is born, raised or actually living. Its only a game.
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#29
(25-07-2016, 15:26)0762 Wrote:
(23-07-2016, 11:12)Lord Snooty Wrote: Just seen yesterday's highlights. Schoolboy error from Froome. Crossing a white line in the rain on a descent. Dear oh dear!  Whistle  Rolleyes  Doh

He's only human but has proved to be a top class cyclist often enough. Like a lotta folk in the UK, I just question his 'British status' that he has adopted for long enough? An African who is living in France, how many of these 'hybrid sportsmen' have we observed down the years who liked/chose the idea of becoming a British sportsman! I'm sure many cycling enthusiasts still regard the likes of Bradley Wiggins with more reverence.

I wouldn't question his British status at all, he is the child of two British citizens who moved abroad, if he was my kid I would raise him as British in the same circumstances. He has always had a British passport as well. Other countries have done this for years in all sports, and I can't help thinking the likes of athletes who excel like Froome's and Wiggins do so much more for a sport in their chosen country and cycling has certainly gone from strength to strength in Britain in recent years.
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