Grand Slam or Sham? Tour de France 2018

[longeared]

ATTAQUE DE PIERRE ROLLAND

[Levin]

Where are Thomas and Froome sitting in the train?

[longeared]

Thomas 5th, Froome 6th, but I wouldn't read much into that as Bernal is 7th wheel.

They've just gone past a snow bank, that's something you don't see much on the Tour these days.

[delicatemoth]

Tantalising snow banks <sob>

Sky keeping the gap at under 2 mins with Kruijswijk and Valverde in the front group.

Been meaning to ask this for a while - why have Sky adopted this weird-lookin kit? Is it so other riders will think they are Sunweb, as I keep doing from a distance?

Dutch commentary is a lot more soothing than Eurosport.

[longeared]

It's to promote the campaign that Sky as a wider organisation have about cleaning the oceans and plastic usage etc. Think of that next time you see one of their riders chucking their bottle into a hedgerow.

Alaphilippe takes maximum KoM points on the Madeline.

[ursus arctos]

Gallopin abandons, reducing Bardet's team to five riders

[longeared]

Groenewegen abandons. Greipel might be in some trouble too, he's 17 minutes back on the lower slopes of the Croix de Fer with just Marcel Sieberg for company.

[longeared]

Greipel abandons. Either the remaining sprints (all three of them) are going to be Gaviria processions or there'll be some weird and wacky winners.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Gaviria abandons, too. Kruijswijk going for it. Hope it works out better than Valverde’s attack

[longeared]

Now Gaviria's abandoned too! That is all the top level sprinters gone, now we're down to Sagan, fastmen like Kristoff and Degenkolb and general B-listers like Demare, Colbrelli, Laporte (!) and Pasqualon.

Penny for Caleb Ewan's thoughts at all this.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Sky train thinning out...

[Felicity, I guess so]

I do get overexcited by virtual standings on days like this, but whatever happens Kruijswijk’s magnificent

[longeared]

Grrrrrr, ITV go to an ad break just as the yellow jersey group arrive at the foot of the Alpe...

[longeared]

Gap absolutely plummets and everyone assumes Bernal is smashing it or Kruijswijk is tying up, then it emerges the timing system was having a hissy fit.

[Mumpo]

Damn I wish I could be watching this

[ursus arctos]

Nibali!

[Felicity, I guess so]

Forza Squalo!

[longeared]

Allez Romain!

[Mumpo]

Allez Woman!!

[longeared]

*hastily edits pre-race post about this being the year Quintana will win the Tour*

[ursus arctos]

Time gaps screwed up again

[longeared]

Bloody Froome's going to win, isn't he?

[Mumpo]

Well I have to leave the online coverage right now to go home and check our new boiler has been fitted correctly. Timing!

[Ray de Galles]

Thomas riding for Froome, fuck!

[Felicity, I guess so]

Fucking wank