This could be a very interesting opening stage today. They're straddling the coast for long periods, the weather is apparently cool and windy, there will be crosswinds, maybe echelons, and it'll all be incredibly nervous anyway which will all lead to splits and crashes. Someone will lose the Tour today, maybe a real contender, maybe one of those who is a peripheral top ten chance.
Realistically it will finish in a sprint, and this is Cav's last chance to wear the yellow jersey. He probably won't beat Kittel and Greipel straight up, but if the race gets split and they're not present then it becomes a big opportunity.
Coverage starts in about 20 minutes. I'm a little bit excited.
Boooooo - break has formed at the first attempt. Good for the riders in that they won't be on the rivet for half an hour, less so for the viewers. Bora got two in the move, people may remember Jan Barta from being away on the stage to London (which ITV also mention as I type) a couple of years since.
Good stuff from Bora there, Paul Voss went off the front of the break and hung on to take both the day's mountain points. That gets him the first spotty jersey and a visit to the podium. I wouldn't quite say that makes Bora's race, but they've achieved something of value now.
Hee hee, I put on makeup to honour the Tour. Thought I should look smart! It's an excellent looking route, I think, and there's every chance of a really titanic battle between the big two.
Bora's DS will be feeling very smug. Perfect start for a wildcard team. Is there bonification for the intermediate sprint? Maybe the peleton will try and bring the break back before then.
Peloton has hit the crosswinds, the gap to the break has absolutely plummeted and there's riders going out the back. Pozzovivo was one of the first to be dropped, Cummings, Voeckler, Plaza and Impey have all gone too.
Thank fuck I've got Eurosport. I'm looking forward to a good Tour, if it really is a Tour for climbers it could be a fascinating race which could leave the flatter stages for the sprinters and breakaway riders without the favourites and their teams getting involved.
I've no idea who'll win let alone be able to pick a top ten. My only prediction is Sagan for the Green.
Ned Boulting and David Millar are doing a decent job on ITV4, but I'm still missing Phil and Paul.
Really, I've disliked those two for years, especially as they were Armstrong apologists. Might give them a go.
Agreed. Plus they would sometimes - increasingly often as the years passed - whip themselves into such a frenzy in certain situations that they would make a slew of mistakes in their commentary. They were 'editorialising' more often, too, and sometimes they showed a nasty little reactionary streak in some of their views, e.g. wind turbines.
Liggett still had a nice turn of phrase for the big moments, but as a pair they became banal and complacent and too eager to namecheck the sponsors of the Tour of California and the Tour Down Under. They're still doing all the other English speaking stations globally incidentally, just ITV have gone another way.
That said, Ned and Dave have been burbling a bit today and haven't always caught the cadence of the race. Good to hear Matt Rendell occasionally. Anyone who follows Ned on social media will know of his political leanings and he's made a couple of comments that way. They're pretty good usually, and I expect they'll revert to their norm when they don't have to commentate all day.
Realistically it will finish in a sprint, and this is Cav's last chance to wear the yellow jersey. He probably won't beat Kittel and Greipel straight up,
Realistically it will finish in a sprint, and this is Cav's last chance to wear the yellow jersey. He probably won't beat Kittel and Greipel straight up,
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