Grassmarket

Binck Bank today is a short, hilly, twisty ITT around Riemst. Ought to see some changes in the GC. Kind of improvised at the last minute, but in Belgium there’s always plenty muddy fields of root vegetables willing to welcome a hastily-organised cycle race. Bit hard to tell if those are spectators or scarecrows, though.

Joe Biden begins October as he spent most of September, by taking the day off.

Twisty, narrow finish on wet roads in Aalter today for the BlinckBank, high likelihood of crashes if there’s a sprint. 20k to go. Phew, got through it thanks to many outrageous diversions through front gardens & pedestrian precincts. Did Mads Pedersen get any wins in the WC jersey? Got one today. In the TdF we see beautiful monasteries & stately homes. In Belgian we get helicopter views of remarkable transport intersections.

An artificial intelligence-equipped robot named 'Curly' beat one of the world's best curling teams by quickly adapting to changes in the ice, its developers claim. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-8788915/Robot-named-Curly-uses-AI-beat-one-worlds-best-curling-teams-game.html Also, more curling on YouTube this weekend, a mixed doubles tournament from St Gallen, Switzerland.

Plenty stadiums free in the Netherlands.

Errm....what traditionally happens on 1 January?

Wow, Flèche was being led by yet another Belgian Boy Band member, Mauri Vansevenant, when he crashed with 3k to go. Hirschi gets it!

Flèche Wallonne survives today. This is the one that finishes at the Church on the Mur at Huy, not in the citadel at Namur, as I mistakenly thought until I watched the women’s half an hour ago. It’s on ES, filling in the hole in the schedule left by the Dutch big girls’ blouses. Anna van der Breggen took the women’s version this morning, 6th year in a row.

Lucky it’s not being held in Holland eh? Organisers dodged a bullet there.

Part of the millions-strong Burgundian diaspora.

Yeah, 3 sprint bonuses in 1km. Jasper Philipsen of UAE gets it by half a wheel. Lots of GC guys distanced by the crash, looks like a few season-enders as well.

Wow, pileup for the ages there! Going to take ages to sort out. About 30 clear.

Stage one of the Binck Bank today! 20k to go. Unique feature: a blizzard of quick sprints just before the stage end to break things up.

Morning qualification, empty stadium, all the Dutch team have to do for the 800m quals is have a guy in an orange shirt sitting on the crown of bend hold up a sign saying 5, 6 or whatever and they’d know that qual time is 1:45....

Well, that’s just the thing. At pro level it’s a sport of commercial teams. At development level it’s a sport of national teams. A Slovenian Tour/World Championship double in one week would have incalculable value for Slovenian cycling at all levels so it’s pretty damn unreasonable to expect all the Slovenian national team support crew to just give up all their hopes & career plans just to help some Belgian add to his palmarès. (Granted you do sometimes see riders from minor nations help out their pro team-mates, but only if no-one has a chance of winning - it makes a mockery of the event if they sell-out a serious contender from their own nation).

Because his team worked to his instructions & he let them down.

Yeah, Roglič obviously owes van Aert & company a big payback, but the right time to return it will be during the Monuments, not the WC where they are on different teams.

Truth hurts, eh?

Here’s a quick guide to how tax laws work Leftists want to confiscate money from rich, successful people Leftists vote for poor, never-held-a-proper-job losers & thickos like Sanders, Corbyn, AOC etc Rich people hire IQ 175 top-of-their-class-at-Harvard lawyers & accountants Leftists write laws in crayon full of mis-spellings, torn paper & peanut butter smears Rich people effortlessly skip through loopholes big enough for pods of whales to swim in Leftists throw tantrums, break their toys. Moral? Leftists want decent legislation? Stop voting for dumbo loser legislators.

In some kind of team competitions it’s important everyone crosses the line together.

He’s given up now, Dumoulin attacks....

Armenia has had warrior-priests since about 250AD, though.

Of course, we’re not going to get someone in the men’s race just ride away from the field like the Dutch women do..... BBC think this move is setting up Roglič.....

Slovenia’s own Mr. Bikechange delivers another masterclass.

Action starting now, definite face-grinding being done on the hills.