My mom doesn’t cycle but loves the Tour for some reason. Here is her hot take for the day: 

Amazing !

Is it just me or does it seem only a matter of time before

 now daily comments from Lance , what are NBC up to

Mark Taylor said:

 now daily comments from Lance , what are NBC up to

Maybe the uncaught doper and the caught but repentant doper aren't good enough.  They want to go all-in with the genuine article.

mugwump said:

More seriously, I think they're worried about lower viewership and are willing to try almost anything to get those numbers up.

The Hologram rider toy will surely  do that  

Mark Taylor said:

mugwump said:

More seriously, I think they're worried about lower viewership and are willing to try almost anything to get those numbers up.

The Hologram rider toy will surely  do that  

This was my thought too; they’re willing to do anything because US ratings are in the toilet.

OMG , I thought for some reason they changed the gold pass package on NBC , just found the ad ( and dickhead)free feed

Robbie McEwen is gold!

Mark Taylor said:

OMG , I thought for some reason they changed the gold pass package on NBC , just found the ad ( and dickhead)free feed

If it weren't for the ad-free, I'd be paying for NBC Gold Pass and VPN'ing a feed.

i watched the first two stages before discovering the ad-free feed. 

similar pleasant surprise to finding $20 in an old jacket pocket. Or more accurately $2,000.

I think I need a link...!

I bout the NBC Gold some time ago. Is there an ad-free in the ap/ website??

YES. the app has had an ad free stream for years, the race is narrated by Robbie McEwen and Matthew Keenan — i’m kinda surprised peeps are just finding out about this! so much better than bob roll

eloy said:

YES. the app has had an ad free stream for years, the race is narrated by Robbie McEwen and Matthew Keenan — i’m kinda surprised peeps are just finding out about this! so much better than bob roll

To quote Myles, "le sigh"

Oh man thank you! 

https://www.velonews.com/2019/07/tour-de-france/woods-disappointed-to-lose-gc-options-in-late-race-spill_497079

This is a weird one.

Woods was sitting in 9th overall. 1:13 down.  The team is riding for him to win the St. Etienne stage.  He crashes with 15km to go and loses 14:22 (almost a minute per K) whereas the guy he took down, Geraint Thomas, gets up and rejoins the peloton.

What happened?

Now, I understand Woods had a mechanical and Thomas took a teammates bike and had something like five guys pace him back.  However, the EF team car was behind the crash, so they could have easily given him a bike quickly.

If they wanted him to keep a decent GC position, which makes sense to help Rigo' in a bunch of ways, or as a backup in case Rigo' falters, even if he couldn't regain the pack, I could imagine him losing five minutes or less--heck, Bettiol could have sat up when he got dropped, stopped on the road and waited for Woods.

Is he injured or did the team want him to save himself for stage hunting from a long break--or going into the mountains in an early break to set up Rigo' for later?

who knows the details of what actually happened? 

if we must chalk the difference between Thomas and Woods to something, I would suggest this: Thomas and his team are convinced he can win. Woods and his team are just up for whatever, their goal is not clear or well articulated. So therefore anything is acceptable at the end for EF. 

You are right to point this out. While my comment above is mostly speculation, thist is the difference between success and "just ok"; and obvs, applies to much more than just cycling.

Wow! Another boring sprint stage 

Today’s call:

cyclocross is everything you want cycling to be.

There are numerous differences between pro and amateur racing but none is more significant than racing in cross-winds. Heck, I don't believe our domestic pro teams can do echelons properly.

Funny EF started it off , but clearly didn’t have the horse power and got smashed,
 Porte claiming it was an”power thing” , yet Nairo seemed ok 

Ho-lee-sheeet
On a flat sprint, straight up took it to the sprinters and won the tractor pull.

Mark Taylor said:

Funny EF started it off , but clearly didn’t have the horse power and got smashed,
 Porte claiming it was an”power thing” , yet Nairo seemed ok 

Not sure about that Richie - looking at the riders in the front group, there are quite a few who you wouldn't put down in the power category. Alongside Nairo; Mas, Bardet, Martin, Barguil...

Also, rising from 12th to 7th...Adam Yates. 

Bonkers!
https://youtu.be/8dUBQIL9uLQ

Mark Taylor said:

Bonkers!
https://youtu.be/8dUBQIL9uLQ

hahaha, wtf.