Category: Tour de France
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Is Marcel Kittel faster than Mark Cavendish?
When it comes to bunch sprints in the Tour de France, the default result is a Mark Cavendish win. Sometimes he can be outmanoeuvred, sometimes his lead-out train goes awry, but if things go smoothly, it’s generally accepted that there’s little anyone can do. On stage 12, Marcel Kittel overtook him. That’s weird It is…
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Tony Martin in flat time trials
Tony Martin didn’t actually win by as great a margin as might have been expected. But he did win. Even without any back skin, he’s the strongest time trialist in this race. The majority of his body is little more than air-sucking foundations for a pistoning pair of thighs. General classification changes A bit of…
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Mark Cavendish’s reaction to losing a sprint finish
Mark Cavendish can become a little bit furious when he loses a sprint finish. When he’s furious, he can seem like a bit of a knob. Today he took a reporter’s dictaphone after being asked whether he had caused a crash. It was a bit childish. But don’t judge him too harshly. You don’t expect…
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Orica GreenEDGE rest day rock
Last year, Orica GreenEDGE drew a bit of flak after putting together a video of themselves miming to a truly appalling pop song during the Vuelta. Many of the shots were from during the race and it was suggested that maybe they would have been better off spending the time working out how to win…
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Team Sky training methods might need tweaking
With Chris Froome and Richie Porte finishing first and second by such a margin on stage eight, many started preparing not-at-all-depressing black liveried floats for the procession to Paris. Stage nine was therefore exactly what the race needed. Sky were so far from invincible that Froome was left without team-mates for 130km of a 160km…
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Chris Froome’s unmatchable speed uphill
Last year, Team Sky maintained an uncomfortable pace up mountain climbs until there was pretty much no-one left. On stage eight this year, they maintained an uncomfortable pace until there was pretty much no-one left. At which point Chris Froome accelerated. Overall, the stage was a brutal reminder that pretty much everyone in a Grand…
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Peter Sagan is a very, very vivid shade of grey
If you’re a fairly casual cycling follower, you might struggle to understand what all the fuss is about with Peter Sagan. The key is that cycling is not a black and white sport. Sagan isn’t the best sprinter and nor is he the best stage racer. He lies somewhere between those two extremes, shining like…
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Andre Greipel has the power
Greipel wins. Take that, pedals! Andre Greipel is such a hefting cartoon character of a man that I can’t help but punctuate his victories with the phrase ‘Andre Greipel… wins!’ as if he’s just won a bout in Mortal Kombat. Look at him! Look at his caricature of a face! He’s so painfully German he…
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Mark Cavendish’s lead-out man shows everyone how to break wind
Mark Cavendish has won a stage and Andre Greipel has emitted a tetchy teutonic curse word upon crossing the line. The Tour is definitely up and running now. I was even eating a jambon et fromage baguette when it happened. Once again, we all have to grapple with the illusion of the inevitable Cavendish win.…
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Orica YellowEdge
The stage four team time trial has led to some semblance of order in the general classification. It still doesn’t make a huge amount of sense, but we’ve sloughed off at least some of the filth and no longer have 70-odd riders in second place. The gaps are small, but at least they exist. We…