Tag Archives: Geraint Thomas

Tempus Fugit…or how MMT learned to love ZWIFT

Dear Rouleurs

Where does the time go?? August has zipped past and MMT has done almost no work on this blog.  Last blog, MMT was willing Julian Alaphillipe on to win the TDF 2019.  Then a couple of really interesting and unexpected events occurred.  Alaphilippe finally cracked at altitude, many days after the pundits predicted.  He finished a highly credible fifth in the GC.   Geraint Thomas passed the baton of team leader to a hitherto unknown 22 year old Colombian Egan Bernal wrote himself into the history books.  In between there was the landslide on stage 18 that caused the stage to be abandoned and stage 19 to be shortened. MMT is still seeking to source a copy of Procycling to read the event summary.  This race was one for the ages.

MMT has shamelessly stolen the GC and Sprinter’s results from the letour.fr  I’m sure that the UCI and ASO lawyers have better things to do than sue MMT for breach of copyright 😉

Here’s the GC Top 10 rankings

Probably the two biggest disappointments where Richie Porte failing to fire a single shot in the race and seeing the emotional abandonment of Roman Bardet.

Here’s the Sprinter’s Top 10 rankings

Isn’t it great that 2 former Orica/GreenEdge and Aussies, Caleb Ewan and Michael Matthews finished in the top ten.  Caleb Ewan’s 3 stage wins means that Robbie McEwan’s record of 12 is now on notice.

Now the other big thing going on in MMT’s life is ZWIFT….yes that’s right MMT bought a very expensive but really good TACX Neo 2 trainer.  Clearly the ZWIFT advertising in the TDF got to MMT.  MMT has done almost 500 km and 3600m of climbing.  In short, MMT was surprised at how tough some ZWIFT courses were.  Doing a 9km lap round virtual Central Park NY contains about 150m of climbing some which is 12%+.  MMT is knackered after 3 laps.  Similarly London has some nasty punchy hills.  There’s a Strava segment called Tempus Fugit, which consists of boards laid over the top of a stairwell coming up from a tunnel running under the Thames, is 15%.

Doing ZWIFT at night, after the junior members of Team MMT have gone to bed, has been a tough ask.  Nevertheless, MMT has done a minimum of 2 sessions a week and generally enjoyed the experience.  The TACX trainer has all manner of tricks, being able simulate running over rough ground, like cobbles and being able to free wheel down virtual hills.  As it give fairly accurate power readings, MMT was greatly disappointed to discover how few watts he was actually generating.

So that’s it from MMT. It’s time to start listening to la Vuelta podcasts.  Until next, ride safe.

MMT

MMT does the TDF 2018 – part 2

Dear Rouleurs,

Another 6 stages into the TDF 2018 edition, and its been an absolute cracker.  Sadly for the Australian contingent of competitors its been a hard and frustrating time.  As of stage 12, only 8 of the 11 starters are left.  The biggest loss being Richie Porte who crashed out on Stage 9.  That meant Australia’s best 2 chances for podium honours are gone.  Similarly Mark Renshaw has withdrawn, but MMT suspects that this has more to do with Mark Cavendish performing well below par and withdrawing as well.

So as of stage 12, the best placed Australian in the General Classification is ….Matt Hayman.  the man must have the heart of elephant.  In fact, one wonders whether the Aussies are forming their own grupetto to avoid the broom wagon, as they are positions 107, 113, 117, 118, 121, 122, 128 and 142 respectively.

However, what’s become clear is that this years par cours has been cursed for ‘pure sprinters’.  Look at this list of DNF/DNS:

Stage 10
Tony Martin (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin

Stage 11
Mark Cavendish (GBr) Dimension Data
Mark Renshaw (Aus) Dimension Data
Marcel Kittel (Ger) Katusha-Alpecin

Stage 12
André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal
Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo
Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors

So this means, unless something goes horribly wrong, Peter Sagan has the Green Jersey in the bag.  He’s an incredible 220 points ahead of Alexander Kristoff.  Speaking of interesting situations, who exactly is the team leader at Team Sky, Chris Froome or Geraint Thomas.  Thomas has had back to back wins on stages 11 and 12 and is a 1m and 39s ahead of Froome.

Until next time, ride safe

MARV

This is why I bought a bike with disc brakes…Ode to Richie Porte

OMG Rouleurs,

Stage 9 of the Tour De France was nail biting spectacle. Talk about thrills and spills.  With three long, brutally steep ascents where the riders were reduced to walking pace and corresponding descents made slippery by early rain, with more than 4,700 metres vertical elevation, and half the hors catégorie climbs in the entire race, this stage pushed all the riders to their limits.

Chris Froome lost his primary domestique, Welshman Geraint Thomas, and close friend and principal rival, Richie Porte, after both riders were forced to quit the race following slippery descents which turned the ninth stage into a chaotic demolition derby from Nantua to Chambéry. Froome retained the yellow jersey after the stage was won by the Colombian Rigoberto Urán.

The day’s official medical bulletin listed 11 fallers with a range of classic crash injuries: a shoulder dislocation and punctured lung for Manuele Mori, a broken vertebra for Robert Gesink, a dislocated kneecap for Jesús Herrada, who was announced as having abandoned but finished the stage. The 2016 King of the Mountains, Rafal Majka, was blamed for the Thomas crash and ended up with deep abrasions to both knees and elbows.

Travelling at over 70 kilometres an hour on damp roads, Porte lost control approaching a bend and momentarily travelled off the bitumen. His flailing body careened back across the road and into a rock face, where Porte collided with the bike of Irishman Daniel Martin. The later diagnosis of shoulder and pelvis fractures are miraculous. This crash could have caused far worse.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

And that would be the reason MMT rides a bike with disc brakes and 28mm tires. Avoiding suicidal descents in wet conditions helps as well.  MMT hopes Richie Porte and the other ten rdiers that lost skin, were bruised and broke bones have speedy recoveries.

Until next time ride safe avoiding wet descents at 70 km/h

Marv