All roads lead to Harrogate: Pro cycling 2019

[ursus arctos]

Not only did Roglič win Romandie, but he won the final (relatively short) time trial by 13 seconds over Campanaerts (and 46 over Thomas).

Potentially interesting result in Remco Evenepoel finishing only seven seconds down on Thomas and ahead of Kruijswijk and Zakarin, among others.

[longeared]

Excellent final 25k in the Tour de Yorkshire (including some fantastically baffling tactics from Cofidis) sees van Avermaet win the stage and Chris Lawless the GC. First British winner of this race.

[longeared]

Marcel Kittel has left Katusha with immediate effect - they've agreed a "mutual termination" of his contract. Crikey.

[longeared]

British champion Connor Swift has signed for Arkea - Samsic and will make his team debut in Quatre Jours de Dunkerque tomorrow.

[ursus arctos]

Viviani relegated for cutting off Moschetti 100 metres before the line. Gaviria gets the stage win.

Though there still hasn't been a podium ceremony, as Gaviria is in the UCI can with the commissaires.

[Me Old Flower]

Huge slice of fortune for Roglic today. Most of his rivals caught up in a crash whilst he finishes in the front group.

[ursus arctos]

Tour de France to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Maillot Jaune by using a different design for each stage.

[Incandenza]

Sergio Higuita is putting in some great work climbing up Mount Baldy in the Tour of California. Tejay Van Garderen was leading the race but has cracked, we'll see if Higuita can jump up in the standings and still keep EF in the race lead. Richie Porte not looking great going up the climb.

[Incandenza]

Now caught by Tadej Pogacar, the young Slovenian! And Bob Roll has pronounced his name about 4 different ways!

[Incandenza]

Higuita went waaaaaaaay too wide on the last switchback and Pogacar sprints up the inside! The 20-year old is now in the lead and will be the youngest winner of the ToC!

[longeared]

Oh, Sergio.

[Incandenza]

[URL]https://twitter.com/cyclingreporter/status/1129519394890162176[/URL]

[Incandenza]

Ugh

[URL]https://twitter.com/cyclingreporter/status/1129518356447543296[/URL]

[ursus arctos]

[URL]https://twitter.com/cyclingnewsfeed/status/1132380317480886272?s=21[/URL]

[Me Old Flower]

I suppose that explains why Postobon withdrew from the Tour de Yorkshire at late notice.

[longeared]

Alberto Contador meets a macaw at the Tour de l'Ain.

[Kevin S]

Scarponi tribute?

[longeared]

Tour of Britain route out.



Seems a bit weird on the face of it to base it entirely in the north and midlands when there's a big event in Yorkshire a couple of weeks later, but maybe the organisers are hoping to attract riders with the geographical convenience of being able to go and see the Worlds course before or after. No London stage either, that's been bypassed by both the men's and women's races this year. All that said, it's previously been announced that next year's edition will start in Penzance and it's easy to see that route not even reaching the most southerly point of this year's race.

That Manchester stage on the final Saturday looks excellent from a spectating perspective. Think that should be FA Vase day so if anyone at the FA is reading I would particularly appreciate it if you could give Parkgate or Maltby a tie conveniently close to the course.

[Levin]

Does full kit wanker apply to cycling?

Just seen a guy roll down the cut in full sky kit (black with blue stripe) on a Pinarello.

My instinct is that it does but it may be coloured by his choice of team. You do want to look smart and coordinated on your machine after all.

[Felicity, I guess so]

I guess I’m guilty of full kitness when I ride my orange and black Orbea Orca in vintage Euskaltel kit.

in fact I’ve just got sort of replacement shorts in that Prendas are selling off Etxe Ondo Fundación Euskadi ones (black with orange stripe)

[Hot Orange]

The Women's ToB begins in Suffolk tomorrow. I've booked the day off with the intention of taking a ride out to catch it in one or two places, but given the weather forecast - heavy rain and possible flooding - I might make do with the highlights.

[longeared]

The race has gained another day this year, there's a strong startlist with all the top teams represented, there's equal prize money with the men's race - but it's rubbish that the organisers still won't provide live telly coverage. Always instructive to see how many people involved with the sport in Britain will completely overlook this. Still as a minor consolation at least ITV4 are showing the highlights in prime time, as opposed to the year when it was the final programme of the evening before they switched to Nightshopping.

[Kevin S]

Beccles and Stowmarket perhaps not Suffolk's best known two towns but they're pretty nice. I'm assuming neither Bury or Ipswich wanted to close roads on a Monday.

Shame about the lack of live coverage but looking at the schedule on ITV4 there's a two hour cycling double header tonight with the Dauphiné at 7 then the WToB at 8.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Looks like the stage on 14 September comes through Horwich and Blackrod, just down the road from me. Is there a site estimating what time the race is expected to pass each point in a stage?

[Hot Orange]

Each of the stage pages on the official site has a timetable giving a range of estimated arrival times at points along the route - https://www.womenstour.co.uk/stages/.

Edit: Sorry, you're talking about the men's tour, aren't you? The same principle applies, though, but I think timetables are confirmed nearer the time.