[Kris Flatlander]

Well I was watching the last stage of the Tour today and with about 1 km to go they had a great camera shot of David Millar on the front of the peloton just drilling it. He started at about the same pace as the Quick Step guys before him and then you could just see him going into the pain cave as his cadence got higher and higher until he pulled off having held the field of 150+ guys from attacking.

After he was done I just thought, "Wow, those guys don't get enough props". Like I know McEwen/Boonen are always quick to thank Steegmans and same with Hushovd and Dean last year, but I just thought today really demonstrated the amount of hard work a leadout guy puts in.

Good on ya Davie.

 

[MaddSkillz]

That was very awesome! But I didn't understand his tactic until you just mentioned it since I couldn't see any of his team behind him.

 

[Kris Flatlander]

That was very awesome! But I didn't understand his tactic until you just mentioned it since I couldn't see any of his team behind him.

Julian Dean was 3 bikes back from him. It was Millar, De Jong, Steegmans, Dean, Ciolek and Freire I believe. Surprised he didn't take Dean right up with him but I'm sure circumstances prevented it.

 

[MaddSkillz]

Ahh, all I saw were the Quick Step guys off his back wheel. Still kinda new to this cycling stuff so I may miss some of the details others would catch. Thanks for clearing that up!

 

[gray8110]

Julian Dean was 3 bikes back from him. It was Millar, De Jong, Steegmans, Dean, Ciolek and Freire I believe. Surprised he didn't take Dean right up with him but I'm sure circumstances prevented it.

Yeah, Dean was on Steegman's wheel when he jumped... just couldn't follow the acceleration, but he had the perfect position. Dean is a good sprinter, but there's just too much talent in this race for him to win and Steegmans is a master of slightly uphill, headwind sprints.

 

[jsedlak]

It is insane the amount of pain the endure and crazy how much speed they can't maintain once they crack. They go from a full out sprint to like 12 mph in a second.

 

[akrafty1]

That was a great angle to watch that sprint from. You could really get a feel for the acceleration, and deceleration. I loved how he started to fade but had timed the sprint so he just barely had enough to cross the line first.

 

[Sprocket - Matt]

The motorbike cam shot along the Finish in Paris should be incorporated into just about every stage finish... That was GREAT... gave a real sense of speed and timing... Now if we can just see that in HD.

 

[oarsman]

The motorbike cam shot along the Finish in Paris should be incorporated into just about every stage finish... That was GREAT... gave a real sense of speed and timing... Now if we can just see that in HD.

That shot was truly fabulous. I guess that practically speaking it is not possible for every sprint finish, but I should think they could use it on some.

 

[atpjunkie]

was a hell of a jump

Gert got.Nobody held his wheel
he wasn't really blowing up he was starting to sit up because he knew he'd won
Ciolik was flying but too late, but he sprinted through the line

 

[Sprocket - Matt]

I guess that practically speaking it is not possible for every sprint finish,

True, can't happen on the narrow streets when you have all the lead out men, plus their sprinters scrambling for wheels with 200 meters to go,.... But still, it was amazing, love to see it used more.

 

[Fixed]

amazing

Yes, it sure looked like a textbook lead out and sprint.

I would love to see the power files from those guys. Steegmans was making huge power it seemed, and this was after 2000 miles over 3 weeks...

 

[jhamlin38]

Of all the great sports coverage, the finale in Paris, with that camera angle, rivals incar camera coverage of F1 races,
I'd really like to see this type of coverage with mark cav. His speed seems incredibly fast, and judging by how ciolek closed on gert, it would be something to be marvelled.

 

[gormleyflyer2002]

its a cable cam I'm told...........but yah, its a great shot for sure. how they hold a wheel # 60-70kph for miles is amazing

 

[Fixed]

motorcycle?

its a cable cam I'm told...........but yah, its a great shot for sure. how they hold a wheel # 60-70kph for miles is amazing

On an aerial replay, it showed a motorcycle with camera riding alongside the leaders on an adjacent side road.

 

[gray8110]

It's a moto cam - it's not really even on an adjacent side road, it's just on the other side of the Champs Elysses - the side they are going down during the circuits.

It's really not feasible to do this in other races because there aren't very many roads that can accommodate it. The Champs is a REALLY wide road

 

[justinb]

Video here.

I had been a little down on Steegmans' lack of results this tour, but I forgot how awesome he is at the early jump.

 

[The Sundance Kid]

That shot was truly fabulous. I guess that practically speaking it is not possible for every sprint finish, but I should think they could use it on some.

You do realize the moto was on the OTHER SIDE of the boulevard. This shot certainly wouldn't be possible for any other of the TdF stage finishes this year. They just don't close down a street like the Champs Elysees very often for bike races. In fact it happens just once a year. Agree that it was fantastic to watch. OTOH all you could see was that Steegmans won by a lot from a long way out. The head on view where it's hard to tell who has it until the line followed by the overhead replay is pretty damn excellent.

 

[gray8110]

oops... replied to wrong post (damnit)

 

[moabbiker]

They just go so fast.. Unbelievable watching and yea, the camera perspective really shows the level of speed quite well. You can really appreciate how all these guys are the world's elite with these kind of perspectives.