Tour de France 2014

It would be better to be there i'm sure.

ITV4 coverage is overwhelmed by extraordinary boring advertisements.

Sometimes the wall to wall adverts will break for just a few minutes to show a little bit of TDF in Yorkshire

It is the most beautiful of sports. Nothing else is played in such an arena. But why do so many of the spectators choose to watch the riders on their phone, even though they are standing right by the roadside?

The best time of the year, World Cup......, with still the Dutch team competing...Wimbeldon and the Tour the France (hopefully without dopping).....

Well the good people of Skipton had a real day, I cheered and waved along with thousands of people who have never watched a bike race before and probably never will again. A million people lined the roads here today and I guess will do tomorrow too. It all looked pretty gorgeous on the TV too.

I think the stage today surprised a few. Nothing here is ever flat and the constant undulation (and bigger hills) made a few work pretty hard. Buttertubs is a lovely hill I've ridden a few times, but today the scary descent lacked the traditional amusement of an errant sheep deciding to cross the road as you scoot down...

Tomorrow is properly lumpy. My super fit cycling mates who ride in the alps etc find it hard here because it is not long constant gradients where you can hit a good steady rhythm but short punchy bits and constant grade changes. Might be interesting to see if a real puncheur gets away.

Shame about Cav not making it a perfect start but from the clip I saw I have a feeling it was largely his fault, not least because he was off the pace as it all took off.

Next week we will let the French have their race back, hopefully with a smile on its face.

Bruce

Sad to see Cavendish on the deck so close to the finish, but as you say, it looked like he was off the pace and it might well have been his leaning that caused it. What a great performance from the Jensie though. Shut up legs, indeed!

"ee bike gum" is a headline today I believe.

G

We went to Skipton. Amased how many people where there, I thought we'd walk up to high street 2 hours before arrival and pick our spot. I was very wrong, the place was packed. Decided to walk out of town, walked a mile before we found a space at the side of the road.

The Tour comes to London tomorrow. I'll be not far from the action but unfortunately I'll be with patients when they race down the Mall. My grandson will be watching though with his mates from his cycling club as they race through the Olympic Park and he's rightly well excited.

Stage 2 broadcast has just started here in US. Sorry to see Cavendish down and out. Really rough crash. Looked like he lost it, tried to hang on, and went down really hard. As always, English countryside looks lovely and crowds seem huge.

Just been watching todays highlights on ITV 4. Apart from some great racing the crowds along the route have been fantastic.

If today is anything to go on the finish in London tomorrow is going to be something else and the streets will be ckokka.

Mista h

Sad for Cavendish an happy for Nibali who made a great job.

Egad! Brutal topography for a Stage 2. The British crowds are fantastic! For someone sitting 8 hours away from all the action, I'm grateful for the first-hand accounts and photos folks are sharing here. It must be quite a thrill.

Too bad for Cav, his excitement will be missed, though he appeared to be largely responsible for his fate. Now what's the Pharma Quick Step team to do for the remainder of the race? 

Good stage today. Kittel is just too fast, but I was very impressed with Sagan (again). Is there anything the kid can't do on a bike?

Ee by gum,

Just home from first  two days of Le Tour, spectating at Côte de Buttertubs and Cote de Holme Moss. Great performance by old Jens Voigt on day 1, great atmosphere amongst spectators and on campsites etc, Thank you Yorkshire for staging a marvellous event, and to everyone who helped......... A reet  good do.

Froome has a sore wrist. Cobbles tomorrow, and rain. I sense a lively day...

Bruce

Ouch...looks like a painfull exit for Froomy.

Watched Stage 3 from the embankment, not overcrowded but anybody wanting a front row spot had to turn up 2 hours before a arrival. The speed of the peloton was very impressive, unfortunately, due to the poor light (skies darkened just before arrival ) and large number of fast moving targets, my camera failed to focus on any of them.

Good job they have Wiggins in reserve.... or at least they should have had him there instead of pandering to the whims of Froome.

Peter

Carnage in the mud. Congrats to Nibali and Fulsang who seized the chance and Geraint Thomas did a heck of a job to bring Porte back. is it only me getting the vibe from Sky that they had a pretty fair idea Froome was not going to complete? I just wonder if they kknow that wrist is broken. Or did he not quite fancy it today.... Maybe being harsh.

Great racing, great TdF so far. I am not a Contador fan but he is going to have to have a go now.

I doubt Wiggins would have coped well with those conditions. Remember the 2013 world road race championships and the 2013 Giro when he admitted, he descended like a girl during a wet stage.

Precipitation is not his friend.

There's something I don't understand about Froome's crash in stage 4, when the rider in front of him swerved and caught his front wheel, there wasn't a Sky rider anywhere near him.

When the Nibali and Contador move through the peloton they usually have the protection of 4 or 5 team mates.

Did he really?… without fear of the plummeting velocity, elbows in, teeth sunk into the handlebars?

Gosh, I didn’t know men were that brave!

I’m impressed, very!

Yep, usually. Sky are a generally a strong team, though. Teamates can protect you from the wind, set the pace where necessary and help chase down attacks....all sorts of things; but stopping you from crashing? That's much harder.

Lots of precipitation and lots of crashes.

There is a lot of trust that goes on throughout the Tour. Trust between teammates, between riders and managers, and between riders and their gear. The greatest level of trust might be that going on between the rider and their tires on wet pavement. Always pushing the limits of friction riding on the thin strip of rubber in contact with the pavement. And if they go down, nothing but a thin layer of spandex to protect them. I don't envy the riders when it rains, or during turns on steep descents even when it's dry. Riding the razor's edge.

So Froome has fractures of his hand and wrist. I have a feeling they knew that before the cobbles stage.

Hope he can go for the Vuelta.

Bruce