Tour de Pharmaceutical 2019

Kicks off in Brussels on Saturday with no clear favorite. Main interest will be if Thomas has recovered from his recent crash. Flat first stage will be for the sprinters with a mass finish predicted.

Teunissen takes the first stage by cm over Sagen. Good ride by Ewan for third.Short stage tonight should see the sprinters dominate again.

Is this a TT?  It's only 27.6km?

Team time trial.

Jumbo-Visma win the TTT ahead of Team Ineos to keep Teunissen in the yellow.
The tour moves into France for stage 3 which is described as hilly however we should'nt see much movement at the top.

Julian Alaphilippe takes the stage & the yellow. Michael Mathews doing well to move into second with Thomas still 31s behind.
Another flat stage today. Should be interesting as no sprinter has yet emerged as dominant.

ELIA VIVIANI wins the sprint to the line in a stage that saw a few crashes however  ALAPHILIPPE retains the yellow.Todays stage should give the attackers a chance.

I'm guessing that 543 feature is a bunch of switchbacks as it looks farking brutal.

Bradman wrote:I'm guessing that 543 feature is a bunch of switchbacks as it looks farking brutal.

Yep, looks like it.

Lots of downhill runs - hope Porte makes it down in one piece.

JGK wrote:Lots of downhill runs - hope Porte makes it down in one piece.

A poor TTT has pretty well ended Portes chances.

Peter Sagan is closing in for another green jersey after outsprinting the pack for his first stage win. Alaphilippe retains the yellow.
First real mountain stage so early in the tour should sort out the men from the boys.

Ouch!

Dylan Teuns on his TdF debut takes the grueling stage 6 while Giulio Ciccone takes the yellow.Thomas, Porte & Yates all finished in the top 15. Thomas moved to fifth overall still 49s behind.
The longest but flat stage 7 should see the sprinters reclaim some ground.

Dylan Groenewegen outsprinted the bunch to snatch the longest stage  with a commanding sprint, which he won ahead of Australian Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) and points leader Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe).   Giulio CIccone finished in the pack and retained his yellow jersey.
Back to the climbers today with five Cat 2 mountains to negotiate.

De Gendt maintained his position in the breakaway to take out the stage while Alaphilippe retook the yellow.
Another hilly stage today that should see the climbers consolidate.

And a Sadie wins the stage on Bastille Day

A Saffie even.

Great win.

JGK wrote:A Saffie even.  

Great win.

Thanks. Bloody autocorrect

That effort to get across the gap near the end of that last climb deserved the win.

As JGK said, great win by Impy who timed his charge perfectly.  Alaphilippe still hangs on to the yellow.
Should be a good contest between the sprinters & any breakaway group in the next stage.

Wout van Aert won a photo finish with Viviani with Ewan & Matthews close behind. The stage was featured by Team Ineos using strong crosswinds to split the Peloton into three groups with a number of GC riders caught in the second group. Alaphillipe retains the yellow however Thomas now moves into second place.
Rest day today.

Caught the last half. You didn't miss with that good contest comment.

Flat stage today. Last chance for the sprinters before moving into the Pyrenees.

Caleb Ewan gets his first TdF stage win. Quite remarkable as he came to a standstill about 10km out when his teammate was pushed into the ditch.