One final piece of reaction from yesterday's stage to kick off Thursday's live blog — this post-stage lyricism from Tadej Pogačar that has since gone viral and spread well beyond the cycling world...
When athletes keep it real 🤣🤣🤣 #TDF2023#Pogacarpic.twitter.com/h9SwMLgmqb
— will (@will_me_be) July 19, 2023
The comment, along with his team radio, "I'm gone, I'm dead", have become prime meme material in the 16 hours since.
Me after coming home from the party at my friend’s house. 😵💫#TDF2023pic.twitter.com/AkniFIr15E
— Domestique (@Domestique___) July 19, 2023
Even in moments of despair a new GIF takes flight.
— cramela (@chrislake808) July 19, 2023
Gotta love the Pog. He’s a great personality. Something lacking in sport these days.
— Paul (@sharks37) July 19, 2023
ITV opted to selectively edit the interview to skip over a certain section...
Pogačar: "Today was one of my worst days on a bike"🤍🇸🇮#TDF2023#ITVCyclingpic.twitter.com/fbLEFZKXi8
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 19, 2023
Once he got past the brutally honest assessment part of his interview, Pogačar called the stage "one of the worst days of my life on the bike".
"If I didn't have such great support around me," he said. "I was already thinking I'd lose the podium today but I was really fighting with Marc [Soler] until the finish line. I think even on the stage to Col du Granon I was much much better than today. So I must say today was one of the worst days of my life on the bike but I had to keep fighting."
For you or I, yesterday's crack, followed by painful limping to the finish line in an irreversible state of being cooked is probably the most relatable thing Tadej has ever done on a bike. Join the club, pal...
It's a tough life...
Controversial calling Tadej the face of Gen Z cycling over Remco? Jonas just scrapes into millennial age ranges, so no issues there.
[ASO/Pauline Ballet]
Anyway, we suggested the fresh-faced white jersey had managed to win more fans in defeat on yesterday's stage, something backed up by your comments.
wtjs: "The pair of them [Jonas and Tadej] mostly avoid meaningless comments at the post-race interviews that they have to put up with, as far as that's possible when you're knackered after an ordeal such as a TdF stage. Pogačar, in particular, is honest like (to name but two) Geraint Thomas and Tom Pidcock and says what he thinks (probably against advice from the team) so that is bound to expose him to criticism when he suffers a reverse.
"He's all the more admirable for that. He had a bad day, but he's still there, battling on, and remains a phenomenal athlete. Armstrong was also a great athlete, but an unpleasant person. I doubt if it will become necessary to say that about either Pogacar or Vingegaard, or most of the riders in this great race.
"These are a couple of the greatest champions of all. Pogacar, as said below, has earned even greater respect from me — not that he needs it. For some reason unknown to me, I was vaguely supporting Vingegaard (they're both foreign riders on foreign teams after all!) but I was never not supporting Pogacar. He's a genuine, endearing character."
Miller: "I didn't think I could love Pogi any more than I already do. Turns out I can."
Not everyone's all aboard the fan club, however, HarrogateSpa asking what people like about the two-time Tour champion, saying he finds him "immature and irritating"...
bobbinogs: "For me it is a fairly long list. Without wishing to appear a fanboy, he basically appears to genuingly enjoy riding a bike and racing, being competitive whilst avoiding getting dragged into crap involving/blaming others. He will try things out, he will smash up a climb to give the others a prod, he avoids speaking in meaningless soundbites, he doesn't get dragged into 'let's make the whole season about one three-week race', etc. Basically, he is a great asset to the sport, and yet fallible with it which makes him all the more human. Probably enough to go on for now."
> Tadej Pogačar uploads Tour of Flanders win to Strava... gets flagged
Miller: "I particularly appreciate him being present to race through a large part of the season. That probably hurts his TdF ambitions but it's so much more enjoyable for a fan of the sport than these robotic riders who turn up for the Tour, somehow in invincible form, and are invisible the rest of the season. We've had so many of those already."
Simon E: "And in the end he's human, he's just a bloke racing his bicycle. I don't see him as immature, more that he brings smiles and spontaneity to the sport as well as a genuine competitiveness. But I wouldn't want them all try to be the same.
"I also hope that this also means we stop seeing all the tedious speculation of him being 'the next Merckx'. Because it's bollocks. I also think lots of people may have had an inaccurate or slightly skewed perception of Marc Soler, which perhaps might have been adjusted a little after yesterday."
I'd love to see @Strava route builder with a quick-link to Street View. It'd save a LOT of time when planning routes in new locations. 🗺️🚲
— Shane Miller 🦙 (@gplama) July 20, 2023
An Uber Eats delivery rider on an e-bike jumped a red light, colliding with a pedestrian and leaving her with a broken foot, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.
Fatima Haridhoine, 37, was charged with riding a bicycle without due care and attention, the Evening Standard reports, in relation to the incident on September 10 last year. Following a trial in May she was found guilty and on Tuesday was sentenced, receiving eight penalty points on her driving licence, a £150 fine, and ordered to pay £450 compensation to the injured victim.
Prosecutor David Burns said the incident happened just before midnight when the pedestrian crossing light turned green on Queens Road in Peckham. "This lady was riding an e-bike at the time, working for Uber deliveries," he said.
"She has crashed into the complainant. In her statement, the victim says she broke her foot, she was unable to travel, she couldn't work or move for a month. She had to cancel trips abroad."
Haridhoine had told the court, "It was dark, I didn't see her. It was just before midnight."
Judge John Zani opted against disqualifying the delivery cyclist from driving and told Haridhoine: "It doesn't matter [that it was a bicycle that she had to pedal] – there's a form of motor attached, and once started the bike helps you to move."
If like me you've suffered the dreaded 'hunger knock/bonk/whatever you want to call it' more times than you'd care to admit, this nutrition info from Uno-X dietitian James Moran, currently helping the team at the Tour de France, might be of interest.
[Zac Williams/SWpix.com]
You might not be too surprised to hear the answer is pretty simple — carbs, carbs, carbs, oh, and more carbs. On Tuesday's TT day the riders consumed 10-11g of carbs per kilo of bodyweight, so 700g for a 70kg rider to fuel for the queen stage the day after.
Then, on the bike they ate 100-130g per hour during yesterday's stage. Oh, and then once on the team bus they smashed down 4.5-5g per kilo of bodyweight for recovery. In short, eat more carbs.
James' riders burned between 5,000 and 7,2000 calories during yesterday's stage and their total carbohydrate consumption was between 19-22g per kilo of bodyweight... yep, for a 70kg rider that's as much as 1,540g of carbs, the equivalent of 50 bananas or 455 fruit pastilles...
10-11g/kg CHO intake yesterday on the TT day +3g/kg breakfast this morning to prepare for today’s monster stage 17 @LeTour. Riders fuelled ~100-130g/h on the bike. Currently midway thru 4.5-5g/kg recovery 🍬 🥤 🍝 on the bus ⛽️ 🚀 #glycogenpic.twitter.com/nmhsSACw8t
— James Moran (@JamesEPMoran) July 19, 2023
Over to Simon for our look at today's stage...
This is one of those intriguing stages that is often thrown into the last week of the Tour, and is consequently a difficult one to call. With rolling terrain and no categorised climbs, it should be one for the sprinters, but the exertions of the past few days in the mountains, plus the reduction of teams to eight riders a few years ago, means sprint trains don't now dominate as they once did.
Add to that the fact that with the race fast approaching its end, chances to make an impression are running out, which means many riders – including some still looking for a new contract for next year – will try and get in the break and take it all the way to the line. It could very well be one of those days when the bunch tries to reel in the escapees at the death, with a close finish in prospect.
'Job done, Wout, we'll see you next year, yeah?'
🇫🇷 #TDF2023@WoutvanAert has left the Tour de France to be with his wife Sarah who will give birth to their second child soon. More in the interview recorded yesterday morning. 🎥 pic.twitter.com/WWA7uoCVz4
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) July 20, 2023
No stage win or green jersey this year, just the SEVEN top tens (one 11th), 385km of breakaways, and endless work for his team leader... see you in Glasgow, Wout...