Stage 10 Stain- Flour to Albi
A good day for Team Ineos. Both Thomas & Bernal took time out of most of the GC riders.
This lifted Thomas in 2nd place & Bernal into 3rd place. Alaphilippe holds the yellow jersey.
The stage was won Wout Van Aert (Team Jumbo - Visma) in a close sprint to the line
Watched stage 10 recording after work - wow! That shook things up a bit! Another excellent day of excitement and intrigue. Geraint now well placed as we head to the mountains...
In regards doping, I was shocked to hear in the commentary that tramadol has only just been banned this year by the UCI. An opioid pain killer with added serotonin-noradrenaline re-uptake inhibition it is powerful stuff and enables enhanced effort through dulling pain and also excitatory stimulation. Side effects include drowsiness and of course opiate addiction in long term regular use. WADA, ironically, have not yet prohibited it. Unilateral UCI ban.
^ I was surprised that Tramadol had ever been used. I dislocated a knee cap a few years ago and was prescribed Tramadol. Take 2 the GP said. I did and phoned work about something. Started to talk and said a few words then said I’ve got to go. Work up 11 hours later! After that I preferred the pain rather than taking Tramadol
(16-07-2019 08:28 )SecretAgent Wrote: [ -> ]^ I was surprised that Tramadol had ever been used. I dislocated a knee cap a few years ago and was prescribed Tramadol. Take 2 the GP said. I did and phoned work about something. Started to talk and said a few words then said I’ve got to go. Work up 11 hours later! After that I preferred the pain rather than taking Tramadol
Tramadol is hardly performance enhancing though ive also had it for severe shoulder pain and it knocked me out no wonder its sold on the blackmarket to get high
1st rest day today and after the splits in the peloton yesterday they can look forward to a sprinters stage on Wednesday then the first Pyrenean mountain stage on Thursday. The individual time trial is on Friday and Saturday brings the feared Tourmalet.
Ineos will be looking to come out of the weekend in the lead and after the losses some of the other General Classification contenders suffered yesterday that job has been made easier.
Stage 11 is a 167kms transition race between Albi and Toulouse
The transfer season is looming in cycling and rumours of riders on the move are being heard. One move expected to be announced next month is Richard Carapaz leaving Movistar and going to Ineos. If you haven’t heard of him he won the Giro d’Italia this year. That would be a major statement from Ineos that they are building the next generation of Grand Tour winners to follow Froome & Thomas around the South Americans Bernal & Carapaz
Caleb Ewan wins the sprint finish of stage 11
Alaphilippe is still 1min 12 secs ahead of Thomas. But he's not a climber so he can't hold the yellow jersey once they hit the mountains.
Stage 12 today. A mountain 209.5 kms race from Toulouise to Bagneres-de-Bigorre