Bob Knight died yesterday (Wednesday, 1 November 2023) at the age of 83.  I love the irony of Coach Knight dying on All Saints' Day.  I learned a long time ago that having heroes is not a good idea.  Nobody is perfect and hero worship inevitably leads to disappointment.  Bob Knight was thus not someone I viewed as a hero, but I definitely admired him.  Though I never had the pleasure of meeting Coach Knight, he did have an influence on me in the role he most thought of himself, that of a teacher. Webster defines gestalt as "something that is made of many parts and yet ..read more

Jordi Meeus just barely kept Jasper Philipsen from a fifth stage win in this year's Tour de France.  Meeus lunged his bicycle across the finish line and won by the width of his front tire. Meeus in on the right in the above screen capture; Philipsen is on the left.  Speeds were quite slow at the start.  It's always hit or miss on this stage, and we missed a little today. Stage 21:  2h 56' 13" (actual), 2h 45' 23" (prediction), 10' 50" fast (-6.15% error) After several years with the average speed well over 40 kph (25 mph) on the final stage, last year and this yea ..read more

Tadej Pogačar won his second stage in this year's Tour de France by outsprinting Jonas Vingegaard in the final hundred meters.  It was great watching Pogačar and Vingegaard ride together through the difficult mountain stage.  And it was wonderful seeing Pogačar get the stage win as a nice consolation to finishing second in the GC.  Pogačar certainly looked thrilled crossing the finish line. Besides being happy with the penultimate stage action, I'm quite happy with a near-perfect prediction today. Stage 20:  3h 27' 18" (actual), 3h 27' 04" (predicti ..read more

For the second stage in a row, the breakaway held off the chasers and peloton.  But unlike yesterday, the GC contenders and the rest of the peloton were well behind the finish line when the winner was determined.  I thought Kasper Asgreen was going to get his second straight stage win, but it was Matej Mohorič who just threw his bike at the line for the emotional win.  The screen capture I grabbed will not convince you that Mohorič (on the right) won! Racing was furious today.  The cyclists began so fast that I wanted to lop 10 minutes off my prediction before t ..read more

On a very hot day with slow speeds, Felix Gall held off pursuers and took today's grueling mountain stage.  That final climb cracked one rider after another, including a very famous rider, as I'll get to in a moment.  Cyclists looked utterly drained after they crossed the finish line. The heat and slower pace made our prediction a bit fast today. Stage 17:  4h 49' 08" (prediction), 4h 35' 19" (prediction), 13' 49" fast (-4.78% error) I don't like the error, but I'll offer a hint at how sensitive cyclist power output is to the stage-winning time.  I would have need ..read more

Jonas Vingegaard completely smashed his competition in today's time trial.  Tadej Pogačar may regret his bike change.  He came in second today, but Vingegaard blew Pogačar's time away and won by 01' 38".  Vingegaard now has an overall lead of 01' 48" on Pogačar.  Is the Tour de France over??? Our prediction was too fast today.  I realized this morning that terrain data associated with the category-2 climb was a bit off.  That's all on me!  I would have to admit that even if we nailed today's winning time. Stage 16:  32' 36" (actual), 3 ..read more

It was another great day of racing at the Tour de France!  Wout Poels broke away from the lead group and after a wonderful final climb, crossed the finish line all on his own. He had to have been very happy after earning his first Tour de France stage win.  I was very happy with our prediction! Stage 15:  4h 40' 45" (actual), 4h 37' 25" (prediction), 03' 20" fast (-1.19% error) That's a good way to head into tomorrow's rest day!  Check out the winner's average speed. Stage 15:  10.63 m/s (38.25 kph or 23.77 mph) Wout Poels had a great average speed after so muc ..read more

If you love to watch elite cyclists battle on a difficult route, this was the stage to watch.  After a very unfortunate crash, which cost several riders the chance to stay in the race, and a 24-minute neutralization, Jumbo–Visma set a torrid pace.  The field of cyclists got split all over the place on the various climbs.  The final climb up Col de Joux Plane is something I won't soon forget.  Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar eventually dueled each other for the top of the mountain.  It was a thing of beauty watching the two best in the world push ..read more

Polish cyclist Michał Kwiatkowski had the ride of his life today.  With all of France watching on Bastille Day, Kwiatkowski rode the entirety of Grand Colombier all on his own.  Neither the chasers nor the peloton could catch Kwiatkowski, who finished 47" before the next rider crossed the line. Racing was really fast during the part of the race leading up to the big climb.  And when it was clear that Kwiatkowski would ride to victory, I knew we would be too slow today. Stage 13:  3h 17' 33" (actual), 3h 29' 04" (prediction), 11' 31" slow (5.83% error ..read more

What a stage!  There was a lot of early jockeying for position.  But it was Ion Izagirre who attacked on the final climb with about 30.9 km (19.2 mi) left in the stage.  He managed to hold onto the lead and cross the finish line all by himself. It would be 58 seconds before the next two riders came in.  We were a tiny bit slow on a very warm day of racing. Stage 12:  3h 51' 42" (actual), 4h 00' 01" (prediction), 08' 19" slow (3.59% error) That error is just outside my preferred range.  Our prediction fell between the riders who came in 52nd and 53rd ..read more