Martin

If you find yourself nostalgic for the Age Group Home comics, a sorta substitute can be found by following @realdumbrunner on the Twitter. Doesn't post a lot of comics but they are appropriately irreverent.

Love the Ardbeg. Like sipping fire while chewing a mouthful of peat moss in a burning sauna.

Although I have the bike handling skills of a triathlete, this seemed like a good idea. Meet Mr. Dirty Fomo.

Wilier really does make some of the prettiest bikes these days.

Toronto, which is roughly the size of Chicago, just announced that restaurants and bars are closed for another 28 days. Office Xmas parties will be 'Drink alone on Zoom', so expect lots of accidental nudity.

@Martin a statement like that is normally followed by a Zoom link.
Waiting patiently...

Been looking for an excuse to break out the budgy smuggler... let me loop in with our web overlord and see what we can come up with.

That's pretty cool. He rode a massive gear for that. And to do the same distance as Jens "Shut Up, Legs" Voight...impressive. I'm not a big LS fanboy in general, but he's doing some interesting stuff these days.

Everyone should come visit my pool. Lunch time on Wednesdays — always rocking.

Perfect!

OK, then...

Stage 21 - Champs-pagne D'Élysée

I've had the opportunity to bike on the Champs several times, including a European Vacation-style run through the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe. Unfortunately I was doing it on a CitiBike-type rental. The hill is deceptively hard on a 45 lb bike.

The best sprinter won green. The best climber won polka dots. The best young rider won white. The best overall rider won yellow. That's all.

Will this change the thinking that you need a powerhouse train to win a GT? Pogacar was mostly left to his own devices, which is something you usually see more in the green jersey hunt. He deftly relied on the J-V and Ineos trains to pull him to the bottom of the hills where he could do damage. The only place he was isolated was on the crosswinds day. That was an experience issue more than anything else.

Not sure if Richie Porte has inked his super-domestique deal with Ineos, but I imagine he will be getting a phone call and a briefcase full of cash from UAE...

This is, rather incredibly, the first time a Colnago bike has won the Tour de France. Apparently Cplnago used to make frames for Eddy Mercx' Molteni team, but the Cannibal rode a frame made by De Rosa. Crazy. (According to a fairly reliable internet commenter.)

My lust for Campy Super Record EPS grew a little bit this Tour.

Only two GTs, World's, and most of the Classics to go in the next four weeks. This is going to be exhausting.

Stage 20 - TT

Three jerseys for Slovenia was not unexpected, but the distribution might be.

That was one of the craziest displays of climbing I have ever seen. How do you put 1:21 on Tom Dumoulin in a 36 km TT?

Huge kudos to Richie Porte. That was a remarkable TT by him. Well-earned podium. He apparently missed the birth of his second child to race the Tour this year. Glad it worked out for him. He will be a valuable domestique for Ineos next year. (Sadly...)

If Lopez can somehow get a TT in his arsenal, he has the potential to win a Grand Tour. He's a strong enough climber, but he is so weak in the TT relative to his competition...

You could tell in the opening 450m who was on a good day. Pinot was sitting up, moving all over. Clearly not on.

I don't buy the 10 to 12 seconds they state for the bike change. You need to consider the deceleration and acceleration time. But these teams have the budgets to figure this stuff out, so I'm sure the riders that changed bikes had done the match and realized it was faster.

Stage 1- Ronde van Champagnole

So I was the Tour de France and the Tour of Flanders broke out. That was like an ultimate Classics break. GVA, Trentin, Stuyven, Naesen, Rowe, Sagan, etc. What a finish. The winner's post-race interview was along the lines of "I was like, what do you mean I have a minute? Against those guys? Did you say a minute? Seriously, don't screw around, 'cuz I'm gonna sit up if... A minute? Are you sh**ting me? {Maniacal laughter}"

EF's race director when that break formed: "Alberto, ma che diavolo?" (Alberto's response, unprintable, probably referred to wanting to help Uran defend his 8th place on GC.)

Sivakov has been cursed this Tour. I think crashes beget crashes, though. Your normal position doesn't feel right, you squirm more than usual, your split-second reactions are a split-second off... Once Bernal dropped out I was surprised he hung around, but he is a French citizen, so this probably factors into his thinking.

When three teams combine to win half (or more, depending on the next two days) of the stages at the Tour, a lot of teams go home unhappy.

Tomorrow is the time trial. I expect Primoz to win. He has that flat run in to put time on Pogacar, and I don't think Pogacar can pull it back. The big difference between this and Wednesday's stage is that Planche is a bit more of a steady climb, and Pogacar cited the gradient changes as his nemesis. We'll see. Bike changes might play a role as well. (Not casting any shade on motors. Apparently the UCI pretty much pulled apart the individual layers of carbon on Primoz' bike on Wednesday looking for anything nefarious.) Wout might decide he wants to triple up, and I would not bet against him. Y'know, I would not be in the least bit surprised to see an all J-V podium... That wouldn't look bad or anything (cough, Festina 1998, cough)...

I'm making my Champs Elysées call today as well: Wout. I think he has the best legs of the fast men at this point. I think he has a killer lead-out man in TD, and I think he can take care of himself anyway. The only reason I could see him backing off is if he is saving himself for World's next weekend, but I doubt that would hold him back.