OV9

Pogacar is in a category of his own this year, mind-blowing. I'm beginning to wonder if Vingegaard is back on form, but Pogi simply has got even better than he was last year. Wild to think that he's only 26 too.

Gavster wrote: Sat Jul 05, 2025 10:17 am However, if I wanted to gamble and put money on a rider it would definitely be Remco.

Spoiler

Good job I'm not a betting man

Massively impressive from Tadej Pogacar. I wonder if he'll keep eeking time out in the mountains, just because it looks like he can, or will he take it (relatively) easier and just match Jonas Vingegaard.
If he keeps this up for a couple of years Cavendish's record of stage wins must be under threat.

Mont Ventoux tomorrow (Tuesday)

It was tiring driving up there

Rode up it a couple of weeks ago, can confirm it takes a bit of effort.

I think Pogacar will want more stage wins if he can which will possibly take more out of Vingegaard. If he stays fit and competitive then Cavs record will probably go, as will the record for overall victories.

And how crazy was Alaphilippe's ride yesterday? Dislocated his shoulder in a crash, put it back in himself, got back into the peloton, attacked and joined the breakaway, sprinted for the line and celebrated because he thought he'd won, only to be told it was a sprint for third

Vingegaard will still have his eyes on first place, even though it's a very, very long shot now, so I fully expect to see some Visma/UAE train battles happening on the way up the Alps this week, which also means Pogi will probably take a few more stages as a result as he's the only one who can really beat Vingegaard in a flat out stage up somewhere like Ventoux. The only threat to that is how Pogi has blown up and lost a lot of time more often than Vingegaard has. It's not happened for a few years, and I think he's played it a bit safer anyway.

PS respect @8Ball

Cheers. Did the Hautacam and Tourmalet a couple of years ago as well, so I enjoyed watching those this year.


I recon Pog will want the stage win on Ventoux as a minimum, it'd be an iconic image round the last bend and up to the summit in the yellow jersey.

Not sure if anyone saw this on the coverage a week or so ago, but they showed some average power numbers for one of the riders (not even a top class rider)

They're just insane

And to think these also include any periods of free-wheeling where their watts would be zero, and would therefore bring down the average

Just mental...

8Ball wrote: Mon Jul 21, 2025 10:25 am Rode up it a couple of weeks ago, can confirm it takes a bit of effort.

I think Pogacar will want more stage wins if he can which will possibly take more out of Vingegaard. If he stays fit and competitive then Cavs record will probably go, as will the record for overall victories.

And how crazy was Alaphilippe's ride yesterday? Dislocated his shoulder in a crash, put it back in himself, got back into the peloton, attacked and joined the breakaway, sprinted for the line and celebrated because he thought he'd won, only to be told it was a sprint for third

Fair play doing those mountains yourself The closest I've got is a bell with Col du Tourmalet 2115m. (or whatever it is) written on it, for my folding e-bike

I didn't realise Alaphilippe put his own shoulder back in!
A mistaken celebration happened the Olympics one time didn't it, women's road race iirc.
Was Wout van Aert looking across going 'damn, you beat me', or 'WTF are you celebrating like that for, it's only third, mate'?
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/from-a ... breakaway/

JonMad wrote: Mon Jul 21, 2025 1:26 pm Was Wout van Aert looking across going 'damn, you beat me', or 'WTF are you celebrating like that for, it's only third, mate'?
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/from-a ... breakaway/

Probably both!

I think it was a previous womens olympics, but easier to do there as no race radio.

Alaphilippe has form for a misplaced celebration though https://www.tntsports.co.uk/cycling/lie ... tory.shtml

Jasper Philipsen did it a few years ago on a tour stage too, after coming in second. He did a full-on celebration

Celebrating and beaten on the line - brilliant! (has also happened in athletics many times)

Finally caught up with the highlights shows - my wife was able to watch Love Island while we were in Ireland but the ITV TdF coverage is painful with adverts (watching on my iPad using a VPN) so I waited until we were home to watch the saved recordings. If you aren't up to date then avoid the rest of my post below because there will be spoilers.




It's been a pretty excellent Tour so far. Ben Healy's couple of days in yellow were a bit of a highlight, Oscar Onley is doing brilliantly and Vingegaard definitely seemed worried from the off, so the 4 minute time gap is not a surprise. Some properly nasty looking crashes, including some which were utterly stupid (even Pog's - it's not the rider in front's fault if the one following hits his wheel, IMO). I didn't see if there was an update on the spectator hit by the Ineos team car, though I did see a video somewhere of another team car being pulled out of a ditch.

While yellow looks pretty much totally settled now, I don't think Pog is going to just sit back and match Vingegaard to the Champs Elysee. At least I hope not. Still plenty of opportunity for good racing as the last podium slot is definitely up for grabs, and could Vingegaard's be too, potentially?

Agree with that about the podium/4th/5th places, it's always up for grabs. Nobody wins the tour with just one good stage, but it only takes one bad stage to lose everything.

That was a bloody amazing stage the whole climb from the start of Ventoux through to the finish was brilliant, worth watching the live coverage from around 45 mins (the finish was around 1:45 into the broadcast).

Yeah it was pretty epic

I think this qualifies as FAFO

https://www.threads.com/@infouruguaycic ... t8NCBXp_BA

Followed by
https://www.threads.com/@trysta_krick/p ... lZggwuopmA

mik wrote: Thu Jul 24, 2025 9:37 am I think this qualifies as FAFO

https://www.threads.com/@infouruguaycic ... t8NCBXp_BA

Followed by
https://www.threads.com/@trysta_krick/p ... lZggwuopmA

That second cop literally got his elbow to the guys face, ouch

He properly took him out.

One of the comments suggested a baton through the spokes would be the better option

Couple of big mountain days coming up, Vingegaard will be going on the attack for sure.

8Ball wrote: Thu Jul 24, 2025 10:06 am
Couple of big mountain days coming up, Vingegaard will be going on the attack for sure.

I was really pleased to see Vingegaard attacking and keeping up with Pogi on the Ventoux stage. At one point Pogi attacked, and when he eventually looked over his shoulder, he didn't see Vingegaard still behind him to the side, so he did a double take because actually, yes, Vingegaard was there.

No doubt Pogi is playing it safe to protect the yellow and ensure he's got something left in the tank, but it looks set up for some more great racing!

Also, how boring would the 1st place GC battle be at the tour without Vingegaard? Pogi would simply be walking it.