Tour de France 2017: Stages 1-7

Another Tour, another year of collage postcards with quotes from the Monday Morning DS!

Stage 1:

Monday morning DS: RIP Valverde.

stage 1

Stage 2:

Monday morning DS: Wish Kittel had slipped in the rain.

stage 2

Stage 3:

Monday morning DS: From almost-nut-smasher to stage winner.

stage 3

Stage 4:

Monday morning DS: (on Sagan's DQ) Who's gonna come in fourth in sprints now?

stage 4

Stage 5:

Monday morning DS: Froome wins another Tour.

stage 5

Stage 6:

Monday morning DS: Bouhanni is a dick.

stage 6

Stage 7: 

Monday morning DS: Pre-Sagan replaced Sagan.

stage 7

march selection

There's been way too much to keep track of this month [yeah, yeah, in like that lion that was Milan-San Remo], but here are some personal favorites for the past month...
- Gokiso has engineered some amazing-looking hubs. Too bad they're also prohibitively expensive... [via Josh via Bike Rumor] - The sprint of the month. Points to Demare for being able to smack Sagan on the ass while sprinting him.

- Gatto, arm warmer and leg warmer-less, in freezing temperatures, is officially a badass:

- The Saitama Criterium by Le Tour de France will take place on October 26th. 50 riders are scheduled to start, a mix of top TDF finishers and domestic pros. This one's going to be good. - "A little yogurt right now would be great." - The Tour of Flanders looking like it went according to plan for Cancellara. - And, of course, this [via Josh]:

japan cup crit 2012

Usually watching people ride when I can't just makes me feel worse. When said "people" involve the likes of Basso and Sagan, there's really nothing better.
Mario Stein of Cannondale Japan told me once that the Japan Cup is as close as you can get to a TdF type of atmosphere in Japan. 30,000 people showing up to watch the Japan Cup crit this past Saturday in Utsunomiya proved him right, and I experienced the gust of a passing peloton for the first time in my life.

Definitely my road highlight of the year, I woke up sore all over the next morning from standing for hours amongst a dense crowd of fans, but I also couldn't wait to get back on the bike and ride.
Is it road season again, yet?
[TONS more pictures here.]