LOL, where does such a skinny guy get all his energy from? Froome practically flew up that last climb.

Well ITV missed all the action, literally. An ad break coincided with Froome's attack and there were many others late in the race which really spoilt the coverage.

The man has no calves at all

That was a bit awesome.
Superb stuff from Porte and Kennaugh - and Thomas is still hanging on in there. The team spirit must be phenomenal.

As others have said, get on to Eurosport. They get all the adverts out of the way before the finish.

As for the commentary... I don't mind it!

Maybe it was, but on the 50th mention it did more than a little tiresome. I think part of the problem is commenting on such a long stage there is not much to say.

Another issue I have is them over egging the possibility of riders hanging on, when it is clear from reducing time gaps there is no chance of them doing so, although for dramatic effect I can see the benefit of them doing this.

Taped the coverage today, and was disappointed with the last ad break, certainly spoiled the impact of the stage. Would have been better to have watched the highlights instead, which gave a better representation today's stage.

Looking very promising indeed not only for Froome, and Porte for 1-2 looks very possible as well.

If Nibali was in Giro form, would he be up there was Froome at the moment?

A couple of years ago I saw the Tour of Britain at Constitution Hill in the pouring rain, even Wiggo was struggling on that one. On the climb Albasini made the moves that on him the overall Tour Of Britain winner than year.

Have seen The Tour on various European industrial estates and theme parks
And wet. Often wet. The prologue in 1996 being a particular wet highlight.
Being recognised by Neil Stevens as a Brit and asked about the cricket (Ashes) score is something I'll always remember as well.

That's the thing about cycling, the riders are so accessible and by and large extremely approachable, even the big names.

Used to Marshall at the Leeds Classic and that was phenomenal.

It's all to do with red bloodcell count, lung capacity etc. Leg muscles will only help in sprint finishes.

The estimates of average power output for Nibali in the Alps last year is comparable with today's estimate for Talansky . Even allowing a margin of error for a rough estimate and natural variability of performance on the day, there is no indication Nibali could have stayed on Froome's wheel. Froome's performance today was exceptional (as I posted earlier); it was not under-performance on the part of the opposition.

You need to be skinny to be a good climber, extra muscle is extra weight to carry. Wiggins had to lose a lot of weight to be able to manage the climbs last year.

Thanks for the info


Trumped me there.

Are there any special package deals on watching the tour, like for F1, like although next year does offer a lot more opportunity.

From the outside it looks like the whole experience is amazing.

Stupid stupid decision to have an ad break from 7kms to 5kms to go. I may have to resort to a ES feed instead for today.

Live coverage on Eurosport supposedly starting now. 7 hour stint.

Odd stage to call, doesnt necessarily look one the main GC contenders will occupy all the top places on.

they've rolled out and the flag has been waved.............riders trying to get off the front to form a break straight away.........

Looks like a good stage for a breakaway win today.........4 category one climbs but a nice run in of 30K off the last summit. That's probably too far from the finish for any of the GC contenders to have a go on the last climb ?

Loads of riders trying to get into the break ..........Sky have to watch them all to see if anyone of note goes so they have to chase it down..............

Did I see somewhere they're scrapping team radios in the future? Or is it for all races but the grand tours?

the early breaks came to nothing...............now David Millar and a team-mate have gone on and got about 40 seconds........

just about to start the first climb............

On the climb and straightaway Millar's team-mate drops back leaving David on his own...........that looks doomed then unless some others come up to him fairly soon

about 15 guys chasing him..............including Sagan !

Ha! Last year, the Tour Of Britain came past the bottom of my garden. So, we watched it on the telly and walked outside just before the peloton came through. As Cav rode by, I was cheering him on like crazy. Unbeknownst to me, he'd sat up about five minutes beforehand. Dude looked at me like I was a ****ing lunatic.

So is the new tactic of dealing with the Sky team sending them crashing down the mountain until Froome is left isolated?

I don't think it matters with Froome... The way that lad is going he doesn't need teammates!

Looks like it's tough out there again today... Cav just gone out the back... All the sprinters are going pop to be honest.

Saying that... Froome looks isolated... Interesting!

Hold on a minute. How can Sky riders be in trouble? I thought all of them were on a cocktail of industrial strength drugs?

You mean those rumours weren't true and putting them under pressure does work?

Ah, I think the Tour coming through where you live must be the best!

We've done it both ways, if we know the area where the Tour is going we tend to take ourselves there. If we don't, then we will go on a trip.

You have to make a decision really, whether you want to see it somewhere specific in which case you have to be prepared to spend hours (and I mean hours - our last time on the Champs was 8 hours before the race even hit it!) even on an ordinary stage, let alone in the mountains. I tend to prefer to stand for the time trials - it's more bang for your buck! Or wander round away from the official bits. Down the side streets you tend to find the team buses and the riders warming up or making their way to the sign on and they are generally extremely friendly. You can see the various country reporters doing their bits to camera, you see the old guard - after years of trying I managed to get Indurain's autograph down an anonymous street

It's awesome and hard work - but when you are grubbing around in a gutter for a piece of publicity caravan tat there is nothing else like it.