Stage eighteen and another big day in the Alps after yesterday’s monster Queen stage. We’re getting toward the end of the Tour now and there will be a lot of tired bodies in the peloton.
Straight to the action and a sizable breakaway got going and
I wondered what’s with the fishing reel sound effect? Is it meant to be the sound
of a free-wheeling rear hub or a breakie fishing for a stage win?
Later the Tour chopper spotted vaches, and lots of them and
we herd cowbells too…Yeah, nah not that keen on the ‘Hey, Hey It’s Saturday’
level sound effects at this year’s Tour.
News came through of Aussie Couch Peloton favourite Andre
Greipel’s withdrawal from the race and sadly we won’t see him go for a possible
stage victory in Paris on Sunday. In a tweet from his team Israel Start up
Nation, Greipel expressed, ”I am a father, and I have to show my kids - the
way: Never quit unless having nothing left.”
After eighteen stages
of late nights how many others have nothing left? Big show of hands from the
Couch Peloton, me included.
In the pretend SBS caravan of commentary, Robbie, Mattie and
Bridie were discussing the gear ratios riders used by the riders to tackle the
steep climbs in stage seventeen. Robbie said Tasmania’s Richie Porte had a 36
at the front and 33 at the back set up.
In many situations the legs would spin like the Roadrunner
with that setup except for the toughest of ramps but we all could have done
with a 36 cog to get us through this stage too.
Discussion turned to the eyebrow raising decision to award
Julian Alaphilippe the most combative prize for yesterday’s ride. Hands down
everyone (apart from the French) thought Richard Carapaz was more deserving.
Shout out from Bridie to the Oarsome Foursome and thanks for
the Goulburn Valley tinned fruit commercial, “Mango, mango, peaches” ear worm. OK, I can't find the original ad but check out the lads in this one.
Out on the course and the stage was a real up and down affair
with five opportunities to collect KOM points. Carapaz, Michal Kwiatkowski and
Marc Hirschi took the lead. Benoit Cosnefroy had managed to wrestle back the
polka dot jersey the day before only to see the spotty jersey pass from
Cosnepois to Polkacar.
With the Cormet de Roseland and Cote de la Route des Villes
out of the way, Carapaz, Kwiatkowski and Hirschi went over the top. Carapaz was
in hot pursuit of Hirschi on the descent but Hirschi crashed at 68km/h overcooking
a corner. Hirschi hit the deck on his left side and slid into what looked like
a soft bank at the roadside.
Hirschi got straight back on his bike and continued to chase
as he tried bashing the left brake hood straight on the handle bars. Road rash didn’t
seem to slow Hirschi down here.
Back in the SBS studio and Tomo was reading out the Couch
Peloton tweets and hashtags in support of Richie Porte. #RoarforRichie was the clear
favourite in the hashtag stakes reminiscent of #YellforCadel, but the ducks are
even getting behind Richie Porte with #PaddleforPorte
Spectators on the climbs appeared to be better behaved than
the rather alarming behaviour of the roadside randoms on the Col de Loze the
day before.
Makes me wonder how simple rope barriers seem to do the
trick in separating spectators from the riders and why weren’t they deployed on
the Loze where it really mattered? Still, it’s a sign of these covid times when
the sight of crowds and screaming fans without masks is now positively cringe-worthy.
Ever wondered what goes into a musette or feedbag you see
riders collect in the feedzones? Jumbo-Visma took time out to show how to keep
the hungry hornets buzzing. Gels, energy bars, a banana and maybe a sports
drink go into the bag along with a well-known brand of carbonated beverage.
You can have your fancy gels with caffeine shots and
isotonic sports drinks but at the end of the day nothing beats a red can.
Back to the race and the lead riders were heading for the
gravel section of the Col de Glieres and I wondered if the riders swap road for
gravel bikes with bags covering every inch of the frame for a bike packing
adventure?
No bike swap and once on the gravel it’s, “Heigh-ho, the
gravel-o, A-hunting we will go”.
Drama for Porte as he looked to be having trouble on the
gravel and it was quickly established he had a front wheel puncture.
Porte lost time to his GC rivals but with a change of bike
from the team car he was on his way and managed to claw back the deficit and
hang onto fourth in GC.
In the final 27km to the finish Ineos teammates Kwiatkowski
and Carapaz were in the clear and the question was who would go first across
the line?
A deal was struck, Kwiat for his first stage win and Carapaz
gets to wear the dots having cleared Polkacar by two points.
In a scene reminiscent of Thelma and Louise without a
cliff-dive at the finale - although you could say Ineos’s Tour campaign as a
whole was a cliff-dive – it was a covid safe fist bump as the pair crossed the
line.
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