Saturday, July 14, 2018

Day 8 & 9 - We're Heading Toward the Cobbles on Sunday

The week, indeed the entire first eight days, has been focused on making it to Sunday's cobblestones. But to get to the cobbles, we first have to get through Day 8, and there's no such thing as a 'gimmee' in bicycle racing. 



Day 8 isn't a long day, but it does have a couple of Cat 4
climbs in the 181 km course. I'm not expecting anything
earthshaking today. I'm leaving all of the shaking earth
for the cobbles on Sunday. 



Stage 8 of Le Tour will take place in just a few hours. You'll have to check your local schedule for when Day 9 will actually start, since they will try to schedule it earlier than usual to finish (if at all possible) before the final game of the World Cup. The crowds for Le Tour might be a bit less because a lot of the French populace will be in their local watering holes of choice watching France go against Croatia in the World Cup final. 



Day nine really doesn't look like much, but there are fifteen
sections of cobblestones, totaling 21.7 km total. This will be
bruising on both the riders and their bicycles. 



Still, after Sunday the boys will welcome their one day "off" on Monday, and the mechanics will be more than delighted to have a bit of time to really go over the equipment and the array of well-worn and highly abused bicycles. 

The cobbles have a history of pain and despair. Although there have been winners from cobbled stretches in the past (Tony Martin, Vincenzo Nibali), there have been serious issues for front runners as well (Alberto Contador and Chris Froome in prior years). The Tour has always had smaller stretches of cobblestones, but the road to Roubaix is famous in racing history as part of an annual one-day race of total pain and punishment. It's a perfect addition for this year's Tour de France. 



The cobblestones are hard on the bicycles and riders, but
if there is any moisture - rain or mist - they can become
very slick and difficult to navigate. Quality riders have
been hurt badly by slipping on wet cobblestones. 



This year features a total of 55km of cobbled stretches in fifteen separate sections through the route for Sunday, taking up a good portion of the 156.5 km course. I'm hoping for sunny skies, a minimal breeze, and a safe race for all, but I also know it probably won't be that easy. It never is. 

Lawson Craddock, the injured rider I mentioned yesterday, is still last in the field of 170 riders. As of yesterday morning, he had managed to raise more than $64,000 for his personal campaign of Hurricane Relief for Houston, Texas, an amount that he's extremely grateful for. He's continuing to race for as long as he can, despite the pain, because every day he's out on the course increases the donations for a city he loves. The cobblestones on Stage 9 will be really hard for him. 

As for the current standings ... Dylan Groenewegen won Stage Seven over Fernando Gaviria and Peter Sagan, but the overall standings didn't shift much. As of today, here are the current standings: Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing) is still in the Yellow Jersey, Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) still wears the Green for the sprinters. Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) wears the polka dot of King of the Mountains, but that will change a lot when we hit the real mountains still to come, the best young rider is Soren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb), and the top team thus far is Quick-Step Floors. 

So there you have it - an exciting sporting weekend all around between Stages 8 and 9 of Le Tour de France and the final game for the World Cup in soccer. The bicycling boys may have Monday off, but I don't. So I'll be back on Monday, ready to start a six-day work week. ICK! Have a wonderful weekend. 




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