Brussels sprouts a new winner? Tour de France 2019

[ursus arctos]

Well, if they didn't do that, then Bernal wouldn't have won, thus shadow (for some, not all)

It is bucketing down at Val Thorens and there may not be television pictures of the climb other than those from fixed cameras.

[Ray de Galles]

But they shouldn't have results declared in retrospect from some arbitrary point on the course.

[delicatemoth]

She just tweeted that it is going ahead.

It is a shame that the first ever win by a Colombian will always have this shadow over it.

I don't really agree that there's a shadow. It helps that Bernal is so obviously brilliant and is going to win a few of these things, but really the point is that if people want racing in the high mountains then they have to accept that sometimes the weather will have a significant say and stages will get cancelled/neutralised.

[longeared]

Oh-oh. There's been heavy rain overnight and this morning in the Alps.

https://twitter.com/SportsOrla/status/1155047970057981953

[ursus arctos]

It becomes much more possible if one is willing to put the commercial considerations aside for 24 hours, but yes adding another climb would be significantly easier (though not simple).

It is a shame that the first ever win by a Colombian will always have this shadow over it.

[longeared]

You can't really move a start or finish location at short notice, especially given the debacle that unfolded when they were forced to do so on the Ventoux the other year. Don't see why they can't try and shove a climb in somewhere on the way to add additional tactical options, I'd have thought they could get the Col de Tamie in somehow.

[ursus arctos]

Start from Val d'Isere, and go back over the Isreran, Madeleine, etc in the opposite way from today, finishing on the Telegraphe.

Kill the publicity caravan and as much of the other nonsense as possible for one day, but preserve the integrity of the result.

[Sporting]

Agree. However: alternatives?

[ursus arctos]

59 kilometres

What a joke

[longeared]

Now tomorrow's stage has been shortened too because of the forecast and possibility of landslides (reports already of one on the Cormet de Roseland). Both the early climbs have been cut, instead they're just going down the valley route from Albertville to Moutiers and then up the final climb. Tactically that will play right into Bernal's hands, as INEOS can just control it and run their train as far as they can. It's also a right bugger for Bardet as there's no early climbs on which to hoover up points in KoM.

[Snake Plissken]

Team sponsored by fossil fuel company trying to water down climate change laws wins Tour due to freak weather conditions.

[ursus arctos]

The design of the stage doesn't really lend itself to that

[Tony C]

Genuine question: if riders are very tightly bunched at the top the GC after tomorrow's stage is there a chance that the final stage might be competitive or is the procession for the yellow jersey rider an etiquette that will not be broken?

[ursus arctos]

[Billy Casper]

Ah, right.

I suppose one benefit of today is that it puts everything on tomorrow. How many potential winners are we left with now?

[ursus arctos]

They've already given the jersey to Bernal

[Billy Casper]

What odds on them cancelling the stage altogether to keep Alaphilippe in yellow?

I know this is really bad of me, but does anyone else take a slight bit of pleasure that France still won't have had a Tour winner since '85 if Bernal rides like that again tomorrow? Just me then.

[longeared]

Seems that no-one has won the stage, but they've taken times at the top of the Iseran. Kind of like those occasions when it rains on the Champs and they take times on the entry to the circuit..

[delicatemoth]

O my fucking god, imagine if that had happened 20 minutes later. Lucky.

[ursus arctos]

There may not have been official timing at the top of the Iseran . . .

[Gangster Octopus]

Maybe they need a mountain bike stage...

[ursus arctos]

[URL="https://twitter.com/trondiversen/status/1154769912512094208?s=21"]https://twitter.com/trondiversen/status/1154769912512094208[/URL]

[delicatemoth]

"You can't control the weather," says Sean Kelly with real regret. 'Weather doping' could be the new 'motor doping'.

[longeared]

Haven't seen any results yet, but think Bernal will be about 30 seconds ahead of Alaphilippe with Thomas another 30 seconds back, and Kruiswijk / Buchmann just behind him. So Bernal is very much the favourite now.

[longeared]

Alaphilippe leaning on the car bonnet there knowing full well that (and Pinot) will be on the front of L'Equipe tomorrow.

There was a photo on Twitter a week or so back of someone riding over the Iseran and finding fresh snow over the summit. There's a reason the race doesn't use it much.