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Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

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    #51
    Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

    Hi Ursus - just sent you a PM

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      #52
      Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

      The Tour has gone all military for the team presentation.

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        #53
        Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

        Stage 3 starts from a place called Granville. They just can't get away from Yorkshire.

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          #54
          Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

          I'm not going to do that fantasy game because it seems to depend on who remembers to do their transfers most often, but here are my predictions.

          1. Quintana
          2. Froome
          3. Pinot
          4. Contador
          5. Bardet
          6. Barguil
          7. van Garderen
          8. Martin D.
          9. Landa
          10. Mollema

          Green - Sagan
          KOM - Purito
          White - [strike]Bardet[/strike] Barguil

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            #55
            Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

            Must admit I struggled to keep doing the transfers for the Giro this year.

            How about a top ten? Obviously at the mercy of abandonments but what the heck.

            1. Froome
            2. Quintana
            3. Aru
            4. Contador
            5. Bardet
            6. Van Garderen
            7. Pinot
            8. Kelderman
            9. Barguil
            10. Thomas

            Green - has to be Sagan realistically
            White - Kelderman (ta longeared!)
            Dots - Nibali

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              #56
              Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

              Your white jersey is Kelderman from that Kev - Aru's not eligible, neither is Quintana, neither is Bardet for DM.

              1. Froome
              2. Quintana
              3. Bardet
              4. Pinot
              5. Contador
              6. van Garderen
              7. An Astana rider
              8. Barguil
              9. Mollema
              10. Valverde
              24. Porte

              Green - Sagan
              White - Barguil
              KoM - *closes eyes and whirls finger at laptop* Zakarin

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                #57
                Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                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.

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                  #58
                  Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                  Oh dear, gridlock at Mont St Michel.

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                    #59
                    Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                    Patrouille de France fly over the race. Tick!

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                      #60
                      Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                      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.

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                        #61
                        Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                        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.

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                          #62
                          Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                          I'm a little bit excited.

                          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.

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                            #63
                            Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                            There's time bonuses at the finish (10 seconds / 6 / 4) but not at the intermediate sprint.

                            Stage now entered a quiet phase after the lively first hour, though we did get to see Cav looking pissed off with a TV camera bike after a puncture.

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                              #64
                              Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                              Sorry I'm a bit late with this.

                              1. Quintana
                              2. Aru
                              3. Froome
                              4. Bardet
                              5. Nibali

                              Froome to hold the lead entering the Alps before Movistar and Astana work together to isolate him.

                              I've spent my £5 on EBH for Green, Kelderman and Meintjes to finish in the top ten, and each way on Bardet. A quid on each.

                              Ned Boulting and David Millar are doing a decent job on ITV4, but I'm still missing Phil and Paul.

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                                #65
                                Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                                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.

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                                  #66
                                  Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                                  Nasty crash for Bertie but looks like he might have escaped relatively unscathed.

                                  Kudos to Voss for remaining in the break after his efforts to get the spots.

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                                    #67
                                    Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                                    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.

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                                      #68
                                      Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                                      Billy Casper wrote: 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.

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                                        #69
                                        Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                                        Everything has calmed down again now, but I was pleased to see FdJ have given Vichot a clean blue / white / red jersey as French national champion.

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                                          #70
                                          Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                                          Le Dragon de Gaziantep wrote:
                                          Originally posted by Billy Casper
                                          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.

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                                            #71
                                            Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                                            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.

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                                              #72
                                              Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                                              longeared wrote:

                                              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,
                                              Yeah, well...

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                                                #73
                                                Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                                                longeared wrote:
                                                Originally posted by longeared

                                                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,
                                                Yeah, well...
                                                Top work...

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                                                  #74
                                                  Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                                                  Cavendish in yellow. What a sprint from him and his team.

                                                  There was a crash less than 500 metres out but I doubt it affected the result.

                                                  Kirby goes bananas in the commentary for Eurosport.

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                                                    #75
                                                    Mont St Michel, my belle - Tour de France 2016

                                                    Cav's daughter joins him in the telly interview pen "What has Daddy got?" he asks, "Flowers" she replies.

                                                    Groenewegen was the only sprinter caught in the crash, he didn't come off but his momentum was arrested. Impressive 9th place for Dan McLay.

                                                    Peloton got split by the crash but they'll all get the same time.

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