Yeah. The nostalgia is definitely for Phil. I miss Paul. I didnāt like Bob when he was an analyst. Felt like he was more goofy than anything. He definitely improved a lot once they put him in the booth with Phil. So much that I donāt dislike him, anymore. But not enough to feel he adds much other than correcting Phil when he has a senior moment (which he is having more of, and Bob feels more and more comfortable correcting him, like every time Phil calls Mathieu Van Dee Poel āAdriāā¦). Wish Bob had a much better feel for race-craft and analysis so he could actually add more.
I watch on NBC Sportsāand when I get tired of the subpar commentary, I turn on my VPN, connect to a European server, and watch on GCN from my home in the US.
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Definitely was very annoyed with the NBC commentary today during Stage 6. They never seem to look to much below the surface of the basic tactics beyond the simple idea of the breakaway trying to stay away and the peloton trying to catch them.
It looked very much like TJV was trying to get Wout in the break today to force UAE to have to ride to catch him while the TJV riders could have some rest and draft in the back after a very hard day playing catch-up, yesterday. And that they knew they were going to lose the Yellow jersey with those tactics and were okay with it. Or, if UAE didnāt want to do the work, then he could potentially increase his lead. But the likelihood was that he was going to lose it while hopefully making UAE work hard the day before a hard Planche de Belles Filles stage when he was going to lose the jersey anyway.
That never occurred to them. They just kept talking about Wout trying to win the stage or add time over everyone else, or EF trying to get Yellow for Powless (so close!). And why were the other teams trying to help UAE with the chase? They never discussed that, either. Why didnāt other teams make UAE and EF tire themselves out doing all the work trying to chase Wout before finally attacking over the last couple hills in the last 15k? Not that I am endorsing whatever strategy TJV was employing. Iām listening to the GCN broadcast right now and there is a LOT more in-depth discussion of strategy.
Sometimes I swear that the NBC team never watches any bike racing except for the Tour de France. Just like most of their American viewers. I know Chris Horner does commentary on a lot of other races on his channel throughout the year, and he does have a least a decent mind for tactics. But I question a lot of what he says, and he seems to lose what knowledge he does have when sitting on the NBC Tdf set.
I only watch the highlights on GCN since I am not subscribed to GCN+.
And now, we have a new leader in the GC and we saw the first crack of Tadej Pogacar.
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I was down with COVID that day and watched the whole thing. The highlights of that stage should have been four hours long. It was mental.
I didnāt have the same āfortuneā at yesterdayās stage, but - after seeing the highlights - did rewatch the descents of Tom Pidcock: it was like a computer gameā¦ No fear and unlimited grip. Unbelievable!
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I posted one of the descents here:
It was good enough to make the Tourās Twitter feed.
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I saw it somewhere that Tom Pidcock was descending at almost 100km/h at one point. That just blew my mind away 
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Yeah, but he had to slow down to about 85km/h in order to get a drink of water. 
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On our coverage (SBS, Australia) I saw 96km/hr at one point.
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So Iām reading all this stuff about the Yellow jersey battle and really feel that Jonas Vingegaard is not being given enough credit. Yes, heās got a super strong team that is working so hard for him (Primoz Roglic a case in point) but what he did on Stage 11 was something extraordinary ā¦ and it wasnāt just Tadej Pogacar that he put massive time into but all his rivals. (My thoughts on Pogacarās performance that day - Team JV took too much out of him with their ferocious and plentiful attacks.) Vingegaard looks pretty calm and in control, frequently just sitting on Pogacarās wheel as he crosses the finish line. Much like Jai Handley in the Giro crossed the finish line on Richard Carapazās wheel on numerous stages, looking super calm and in control.
While the race for the Yellow jersey is far from over Vingegaard looks in such incredible form (and with such a strong team) that I think it will be hard to take it off him. Pogacar needs to take risks to try and do so and thatās where I think we may see some movement in the GC classification. G is riding so controlled and consistent he could well pedal steadily up those climbs, at his own pace, into second spot.
Of course I could be completely wrong - but itās exciting to watch. And with my poor daughter now with Covid (better today) I have an unplanned work off week to immerse myself in the TdF.
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@Craig.Quarmby Agreed - he stayed on Tadejās wheel on every attack - saving some energy in the process and when Tadej finally cracked he put the hammer down in a big way. Lots of race left. Letās see how things go in the Pyrenees and also how the riders handle the heat.
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Was quite sad to hear that Primoz Roglic had to withdraw from the race due to injuries from the crash just a couple days ago 
I was rooting for that good man having come so close to actually winning the TdF 2 years ago.
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Sometimes the water domestique is the most important person. Toms Skujins āwearsā 10 water bottles for delivery to his team mates.
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Well, Stages 16 and 17 were long on anticipation, but short on actual action.
Looks like Stage 18 is going to be a barn burner or a bust. And that will determine just how interesting Stage 20 will be.
Noted today that the final mountain domestique for both Pogacar and Vingegaard were Americans. Kuss and McNulty. McNulty was on a good day and Kuss seemed to be tired from his efforts yesterday on Stage 16.
Hoping for some excitement on Stage 18, but wonāt be surprised if very little changes.
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We fans have nutty expectations (I include myself). Two guys leave everyone else behind riding harder than most pros can dream of let alone the rest of usāand we are unhappy that didnāt do it in a spirited enough way.
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Can we agree that the top 2 in yesterdayās stage 17 did The Trick pretty well? Haha
I found it a little bit anti-climatic as well watching the highlights just a moment ago. The only takeaway was knowing that Bardet managed to limit his losses from the day before and climb back up to 6th and thatās about it.
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I read a post-race interview somewhere that Kuss felt he was having a good day, but it was McNulty that went nuclear.
Iām very conflicted by this whole TdF: I so hope that JV (Jumbo Visma / Jonas VingegĆ„rd) brings home the yellow. However, I canāt shake the fact that Tadej is working so hard to win it and riding so strong, that I feel that he deserves it. And then Geraint Thomas: heās riding a better TdF than the year heās won it (in terms of W/kg), his performance is fantastic. Absolutely magnificent race.
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Well, Sepp Kuss and WVA both tried to upstage McNulty on todayās stage.
Another crazy stage. Fantastic to watch. The Green jersey wearer just isnāt supposed to be able to do those kind of things. That was insane watching him join the breakaway and then still be able to lead the top riders nearly up to the top of the final climb.
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So shout out to the Canucks Stage 16! Houle and Woodsy on the podium! My coverage is from Eurosport. Great analysis of the stages and the commentary especially Robbie Mcewan and Sean Kelly is very informative and entertaining!
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