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Le Tour

Tough day, on Le Col de Tourmalet. Have stayed in Bareges but only been up Le Col in the car, the descent must be terrifying at full pace on a bike. Hope Cav makes the time cut off, especially having won the intermediate sprint.
 
Is anybody except Pogecar going to be able to beat Pogecar in any race he enters for the next 10-15 years?
 
Is anybody except Pogecar going to be able to beat Pogecar in any race he enters for the next 10-15 years?

He does seem completely unfazed by anything to the point of being quite dull (as totally focussed greats often can be)
Utterly brilliant cyclist and could easily win the most Tours ever, given long enough.

And whilst hoping Cav does set a new alltime record tomorrow for stage wins, it is more than plausible that Pogecar could himself get into the 20s & 30s in total stage wins (so hope Cav can win tomorrow and on Champs Elysees and make the barrier as high as possible for anyone else to ever beat)
 
There have been similarly dominant riders before; Froome, Indurain, he who shall never be acknowledged etc but it has always come so much later in their careers. I think people (including me) thought Bernal might be the one to dominate for years but his back looks to be an ongoing weakness. Pogacar's weaknesses have yet to identified, he does not even seem to need a strong team around him. Merckx might will probably not evenhave the record he shares with Indurain for most tour wins in only three years time (I wonder how he will deprecate Pogacar for taking that). And Pogacar will still only be 25.
 
Is anybody except Pogecar going to be able to beat Pogecar in any race he enters for the next 10-15 years?

Pogacar is definitely in a league of his own at the moment. Vingegaard possibly could give him a better run for his money next year. The youngsters have taken over GC. Cav has been brilliant but slightly fortunate, with some of his main rivals either abandoning or having inferior lead-outs. Hope he can take the record today.
 
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A mind numbingly boring first day after the mountains leisurely ride in the countryside with all chance of a Cav win destroyed 😴💤
 
And coincidentally, Twitter has just told me that it is Big Mig's birthday today.
Happy birthday Miguel!
A resting heart rate of 28 beats per minute. Probably my number one sporting hero of all time. Loved to watch him on TV.

Although, Merckx is before my interest in cycling started, I can't see anyone who could ever do what he did though. Destroying people from the front, on his own, and in not only Le Tour but the Giro and the Vuelta.
"The Cannibal" a very deserving name.

My bucket list at one time included a desire to climb Alpe d'Huez but sadly, I'm past that opportunity now.
 
On Twitter, Cycling News is saying today's TT will decide the Tour. Only if Pogacar crashes and breaks a shoulder or pelvis 🙄
 
Pogacar is definitely in a league of his own at the moment. Vingegaard possibly could give him a better run for his money next year. The youngsters have taken over GC. Cav has been brilliant but slightly fortunate, with some of his main rivals either abandoning or having inferior lead-outs. Hope he can take the record today.
Just checked his TT stats (for some reason I did not immediately recall his performance in stage 5 - third) and he is not too shabby at that either. I am wondering now how many head to heads they will have because I can see them virtually sweeping up all the grand tours between them for many years to come. Let us hope Tom Pidcock lives up to his promise although at the moment he is presenting more as a Wout Van Aert or Julian Alaphilippe, one day/individual stages type rider
 
Gone off Wout van Aert now :censor:
Mrs Riiiiik called him some choice names and she is the most un-offensive person I know.
Could have let Cav win to beat the record but that's not what his manager pays him for, I suppose.
 
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Mrs Riiiiik called him some choice names and she is the most un-offensive person I know.
Could have let Cav win to equal the record but that's not what his manager pays him for, I suppose.

Yeah i was the same. Why are they not f'ing letting Cav win??
 
It has been a great year for Le Tour, so many unexpected happenings and incidents. Podacar has confirmed he is World Class, what confidence and belief for a rider so young! Under a different system the Polka Dot jersey could have gone to Wouter Poels, which would have shared things out; but rules are rules.

And then there's our own Cav, what an unbelievable comeback. And he, so humble about it: acknowledging his fortune and the team, as well as accepting the rewards for the hard work. What a record:

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