A summary of the two Tour de France races
Mon, August 1, 2022 I missed posting here last week for the first time in a long time. The reason, I got wrapped up in the Tour de France. First the men’s race, one of the best I had seen in recent years. Followed by the women’s race.
In the men’s race it was good to see that Tadej Pogacar was indeed human, and could be beat, although I can’t help feeling that Jonas Vengegaard was not greatly superior to Pohacar, rather equal, but having a stronger team.
Anyway, it was refreshing to see the respect these two young riders had for each other and it brought me back to what the sport used to be, as I remember it years ago.
I didn’t know what to expect in the Tour de France Femmes, but from the first stage on, I was hooked. Shorter stages meant that tactically the race played out quicker and was extremely entertaining and exciting to watch.
In the flat sprinter’s stages for example, there was none of the holding the break at two or three minutes for the entire race, until the last 10 kilometers.
Because the stages were shorter, breaks were brought back quickly, often followed by more attempts to break clear. This fast, attacking style of racing, over a shorter distance was not only exiting to watch, but it also meant by the end of the stage the peloton had split into smaller groups.
The result being, only the strongest riders contested the sprint, instead of the chaotic entire field, bunch sprint that has become all too common on the flat stages of the men’s races.
As for the final two mountain stages, Annemiek van Vleuten just dominated the entire race, winning both stages and the Overall Classification. It was a joy to watch her climbing ability.
It was great to see the support of fans by the roadside, especially as they had been exposed to three weeks of the men’s race. Apparently, the TV coverage was also watched by more viewers world-wide.
I can only imagine that having a Women’s Tour de France, will create an increased interest in the sport, by people who would otherwise not usually watch.
This can only be a good thing for the sport in general and perhaps create a way forward from the somewhat tarnished image that unfortunately the sport has created for itself over the years.
Reader Comments (3)
Rally great to watch this years Tour De france, both mens and womens, but especially the womens. It was clear in the interviews what it mean't to the ladies, real honest emotion on display, wonderful stuff.
Watch for the Netflix Tour de France series, probably out the end of the year or early next year, similar to their Formula 1 documentary. Something good for those long winter evenings.
Two good TdF events (and the womens was much more interesting) and then the Commonwealth Games. It has been a good summer for cycling.