Yet another astonishing ride and the second stage win for Wout van Aert, and another podium for the Pog, getting bonus seconds. Van Aert and Pogacar are now officially spoiling it for everyone else. On the left there is Michael Matthews who rode a perfect race, but in the presence of those two stage-hungry stars is – like the rest of the peloton – almost reduced to one of the “extras” on the film set.
But here’s a word in favour of those out front who were gobbled up by the marauding bunch. I see that Mattia Cattaneo was awarded the Comabativity prize, even though it was the Bitish rider Fred Wright who stayed out in the Breakaway for longer. A similar anomaly happened on Stage 7 when the red number went to Simon Geschke instead of the obviously more deserving Lennard Kämna who so nearly beat the GC men to the summit finish. It turns out that the Combativity prize is voted on and decided before the end of the stage. Bah!
So what are “medium” mountains anyway? Ordinary mountains seen from a distance? Hills with snow on? Answers on a carte de postale s’il vouz plait.
Team of the Day
More high scores from Team Ciclominaccia (621) and Thin Fat Boys (619), each including green-jerseyed Wout 1st and yellow-clad Pog in 3rd. But also doing great with 3 riders in the top 10 is featured team of the day, Paul M’s Lo Ve. Let’s take a look:
Lo Ve‘s best 3 riders in Stage 8 were Van Aert (1st), Vlasov, (6th) and Vingegaard (8th), which is a fine illustration of the apparently successful selection criterion of choosing riders with the letter V in their names (or W = V + V). Paul’s team is now leading the tally of top 10 finishers with 16 so far.
It’s worth noting that the Lo Ve alphabetic strategy is an improvement on Jim’s selection process by means of maximizing Scrabble scores, although the jury is out on the “wild guess” approach of Conjecture Sauvage (clue’s in the name), although in previous years Dan’s “Randomeurs” did very well.
Stat du Jour
Time for an update to the prizes chart, and it’s Team Ciclominaccia that is still hoovering up the jerseys, while James’ & Jim’s teams are feeling a bit left out.
Postcard from Switzerland
Vendredi 9 juillet. Lausanne.
Oh dear, there is Covid in the camp. Two riders left the race before Stage 8 to spend more time with their hotel rooms, including UAE and Ciclominaccia‘s Vegard Stake Laengen. Ominous or not?
All the cowbells in the country will be lining the route on Saturday and Sunday. And as bucolic as the pastoral welcome is, a crash and an accidental fist in the face was not the Swiss welcome that Thibault Pinot was hoping for.
In other news, Quinn Simmonds is one of many riders who’ve been hit by fines for various misdemeanours: on Stage 3 he was docked GC time, sprint points, KOM points and 500 hard-earned Swiss francs for “riding in paths, sidewalks and bike lanes”. Bike lanes?! Four hundred and twenty-five quid for riding your bike in a bike lane?! No wonder he looked grumpy.