Tour de France Stage 10 - Morzine to Megève (148.1km)

mewso

A relatively short mountain stage today with a long but not very difficult final summit. Has to be a day for the break as you can't see any real advantages to chasing it today. Hard to see any major changes to GC but then again sometimes these benign looking stages can throw up drama. In terms of the break I would expect to see Kamna having a go again but my pick for today is Paret-Peintre. PCS says he is a local so he will know this climb well and his team will be on stage hunting duty until the end of the Tour now with O'Connor gone. Maybe Latour for Total Energies. Another French team that has lost 2 riders. Is it Kirby or Hatch that has been going on about their long wait almost every day?

Inner Ring is going for Kamna, Jungels (another who lives nearby) amongst others. Pinot might be along too if he fancies going for the KOM but like the other day this stage is probably not hard enough for him to take the win. The next two days might suit him better. Would love to see him win on Alpe D'Huez.

mewso

Betting:

Kamna - 6/1

Pogacar - 7/1

WvA - 10/1

Pinot, Kron - 18/1

Teuns, Bettiol, Fuglsang - 20/1

Paret-Peintre - 75/1 :)

Squidgy Black

Yeah this seems nailed on for one to just let the break go with it, but you never know with UAE considering how hard they paced to close the break with Uran in it even though he was like 4 minutes behind in the classification.

Paret Peintre is only 3:30 down in GC, so they might go with the same logic if they refuse the idea of handing the jersey over and still pace hard towards the end if he gets into the break

mewso

Ah feck didn't realise he was only 3:30 down. Still only €2 thrown away. Jungels might go again so.

Wow George Bennett out with covid now.

Squidgy Black

Christ.

Majka also Covid positive but they’ve said he “has a low enough viral load to keep racing”

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119326085#Comment_119326085

Well that doesn't make sense, I'd sooner they just said they don't care enough about him as a person. Riding a tour with any infection is asking for trouble.

retalivity

How can you have 2 guys with covid, but one is a DNS and the other allowed to continue??

Squidgy Black

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119326240#Comment_119326240

Jungels was the same at the start of the tour, apparently it’s up to the race doctor, team doctor and UCI doctor to ‘determine’ the riders viral load levels and say whether he can race or not.

Which in itself makes no sense especially since the UCI/ASO are only mandated testing weekly (most teams are daily testing themselves but it’s not regulated, because your viral load increases and decreases over time

mewso

Yeah looks bad. In terms of the UAE team much as I don't like one single rider to dominate the Tour if Pog went out because of covid it would spoil things.

I've had covid myself in recent weeks minor symptoms for a day otherwise positive but grand for a week or so. Now I still feel like im 80 doing a short spin of 15km or so. That said I felt a bit more like myself this morning when I was out but I can imagine it would be hell having to race right after having it.

CantGetNoSleep

A Pogacar positive test would be a disaster. Majka also needing to drop out though...

dastardly00

The first climb today, Cote de Chevenoz, must be one of the easiest categorised climbs in the Tour in modern history... the official profile says 2.2 km at 2.9% and the profile in the OP says 2.2 km at 3.4%. I'm not saying that your average Fred could stick with the pros or anything, but I can't believe the organisers categorised it at all, even as a Cat. 4.

Squidgy Black

Can’t understand why Pog is driving so hard to close gaps, he literally only has two domestiques up beside him now with 3 out the back.

griffin100

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119326270#Comment_119326270

I think on the PCR tests it has to do with cycle times. The higher the number of PCR cycles required to detect the virus the lower the viral load. A colleague who’s a public health / infectious disease specialist tells me that infections from some time ago can be detected if you do enough PCR cycles even though you’re technically over the infection (the test only looks for viral RNA and the smaller the amount in the body the more cycles required). The UCI seem to be happy to keep high cycle time riders in the race (no pun intended).

retalivity

Pog not sitting behind Majka, Thomas is in there instead. Take no chances!

devonp

i see GT is sporting some NEW shades...today the first time ??

(didn't Oakley make him some new old racing jackets ?)

Protesters ffs.

retalivity

Lol, someone getting fcuked down the verge in the background to Wiggins there

Wiggo loving it, he's right though the French don't take kindly to that kind of stuff.

Eamonnator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119326772#Comment_119326772

Some years ago, Thomas crashed and lost his Racing Jackets glasses. He was a bit upset about it, because they were his last pair. Oakley had stopped making them. Oakley then made up a few new pairs for him.

I am relying on memory for this, and can't find link.

Who was Kelly talking about jumping of the bike and swinging punches at protestors during Paris Nice back in the day I missed that bit?

retalivity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119327172#Comment_119327172

Bernard Hinault, here's a video of it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqMqCc1Qy7E

Wishbone Ash

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119327172#Comment_119327172

Hinault.

Paddigol

Do NOT f**k with The Badger!!

I need not have asked it could only have been him 🤣

Wishbone Ash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8sSprvMMXg

Skip to 45 seconds.

CantGetNoSleep

Don't know how I feel about Pogacar staying away from Majka all day - surely if the team leader is worried about staying close to him then he shouldn't be in thee race at all?

dastardly00

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119327172#Comment_119327172

I recently read Slaying The Badger by the late Richard Moore about Hinault & LeMond in the 1986 Tour. I would highly recommend it!

GandhiwasfromBallyfermot

Another day of praying Simmons doesn't get the win.

I'd love to see Lenny take yellow here.