Fans unimpressed as Jasper Philipsen accused of "bullying" rival in bizarre Tour de France incident; "When athletes keep it real": Pogačar's brutally honest f-bomb TV interview; Stage 18 updates; Pro nutrition tips from the peloton + more on the live blog

Unsavoury scenes at the Tour de France this afternoon, Jasper Philipsen managing to turn a largely uneventful sprint stage (and two-and-a-half weeks of positive PR) on its head with this tête-à-tête with Pascal Eenkhoorn...

Philipsen should be deducted 300 sprint points for that attempt at bullying #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/OvkK0dXkBo

— John Maguire 🇺🇦 (@velo_bristol) July 20, 2023

Philipsen wants the opportunity to sprint for a fifth stage win, but perhaps the most ironic thing is the fact the only reason riders felt they had a chance to attack the peloton and bridge across to the breakaway was because of Alpecin-Deceuninck and a few others' insistence that the escapees should not be allowed more than a minute's advantage all day. Less distance to bridge = a tempting opportunity for riders to attack.

Anyway, Philipsen's actions haven't gone down well. The sarcastic acceleration in front of Eenkhoorn followed by blocking of his progress has been labeled as "bullying" by some, with questions now asked about if the quadruple stage winner should suffer some sort of punishment...

One fan called the move a "nasty piece of work" and called for "a significant points deduction and relegation for that shameful repeated dangerous bullying". Another wanted full relegation from the stage.

Jasper Philipsen bullying Eenkhoorn who tries to attack, not very nice. #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/l9T3MWxhnu

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) July 20, 2023

Regardless of what happens, the Netflix camera crews will be licking their lips... 

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Controversial calling Tadej the face of Gen Z cycling over Remco? Jonas just scrapes into millennial age ranges, so no issues there. 

[ASO/Pauline Ballet]

Anyway, we suggested the fresh-faced white jersey had managed to win more fans in defeat on yesterday's stage, something backed up by your comments.

wtjs: "The pair of them [Jonas and Tadej] mostly avoid meaningless comments at the post-race interviews that they have to put up with, as far as that's possible when you're knackered after an ordeal such as a TdF stage. Pogačar, in particular, is honest like (to name but two) Geraint Thomas and Tom Pidcock and says what he thinks (probably against advice from the team) so that is bound to expose him to criticism when he suffers a reverse.

"He's all the more admirable for that. He had a bad day, but he's still there, battling on, and remains a phenomenal athlete. Armstrong was also a great athlete, but an unpleasant person. I doubt if it will become necessary to say that about either Pogacar or Vingegaard, or most of the riders in this great race.

"These are a couple of the greatest champions of all. Pogacar, as said below, has earned even greater respect from me — not that he needs it. For some reason unknown to me, I was vaguely supporting Vingegaard (they're both foreign riders on foreign teams after all!) but I was never not supporting Pogacar. He's a genuine, endearing character."

> "Gen Z and their phones": Tadej Pogačar still replying to Twitter memes... 15 minutes before Tour of Flanders starts

Miller: "I didn't think I could love Pogi any more than I already do. Turns out I can."

Not everyone's all aboard the fan club, however, HarrogateSpa asking what people like about the two-time Tour champion, saying he finds him "immature and irritating"...

bobbinogs: "For me it is a fairly long list. Without wishing to appear a fanboy, he basically appears to genuingly enjoy riding a bike and racing, being competitive whilst avoiding getting dragged into crap involving/blaming others. He will try things out, he will smash up a climb to give the others a prod, he avoids speaking in meaningless soundbites, he doesn't get dragged into 'let's make the whole season about one three-week race', etc. Basically, he is a great asset to the sport, and yet fallible with it which makes him all the more human. Probably enough to go on for now."

> Tadej Pogačar uploads Tour of Flanders win to Strava... gets flagged

Miller: "I particularly appreciate him being present to race through a large part of the season. That probably hurts his TdF ambitions but it's so much more enjoyable for a fan of the sport than these robotic riders who turn up for the Tour, somehow in invincible form, and are invisible the rest of the season. We've had so many of those already."

Simon E: "And in the end he's human, he's just a bloke racing his bicycle. I don't see him as immature, more that he brings smiles and spontaneity to the sport as well as a genuine competitiveness. But I wouldn't want them all try to be the same.

"I also hope that this also means we stop seeing all the tedious speculation of him being 'the next Merckx'. Because it's bollocks. I also think lots of people may have had an inaccurate or slightly skewed perception of Marc Soler, which perhaps might have been adjusted a little after yesterday."

I'd love to see @Strava route builder with a quick-link to Street View. It'd save a LOT of time when planning routes in new locations. 🗺️🚲

— Shane Miller 🦙 (@gplama) July 20, 2023

If like me you've suffered the dreaded 'hunger knock/bonk/whatever you want to call it' more times than you'd care to admit, this nutrition info from Uno-X dietitian James Moran, currently helping the team at the Tour de France, might be of interest.

[Zac Williams/SWpix.com]

You might not be too surprised to hear the answer is pretty simple — carbs, carbs, carbs, oh, and more carbs. On Tuesday's TT day the riders consumed 10-11g of carbs per kilo of bodyweight, so 700g for a 70kg rider to fuel for the queen stage the day after.

Then, on the bike they ate 100-130g per hour during yesterday's stage. Oh, and then once on the team bus they smashed down 4.5-5g per kilo of bodyweight for recovery. In short, eat more carbs.

James' riders burned between 5,000 and 7,2000 calories during yesterday's stage and their total carbohydrate consumption was between 19-22g per kilo of bodyweight... yep, for a 70kg rider that's as much as 1,540g of carbs, the equivalent of 50 bananas or 455 fruit pastilles...

10-11g/kg CHO intake yesterday on the TT day +3g/kg breakfast this morning to prepare for today’s monster stage 17 @LeTour. Riders fuelled ~100-130g/h on the bike. Currently midway thru 4.5-5g/kg recovery 🍬 🥤 🍝 on the bus ⛽️ 🚀 #glycogen pic.twitter.com/nmhsSACw8t

— James Moran (@JamesEPMoran) July 19, 2023

One final piece of reaction from yesterday's stage to kick off Thursday's live blog — this post-stage lyricism from Tadej Pogačar that has since gone viral and spread well beyond the cycling world...

When athletes keep it real 🤣🤣🤣 #TDF2023 #Pogacar pic.twitter.com/h9SwMLgmqb

— will (@will_me_be) July 19, 2023

The comment, along with his team radio, "I'm gone, I'm dead", have become prime meme material in the 16 hours since.

Me after coming home from the party at my friend’s house. 😵‍💫#TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/AkniFIr15E

— Domestique (@Domestique___) July 19, 2023

Even in moments of despair a new GIF takes flight.

— cramela (@chrislake808) July 19, 2023

Gotta love the Pog. He’s a great personality. Something lacking in sport these days.

— Paul (@sharks37) July 19, 2023

ITV opted to selectively edit the interview to skip over a certain section...

Pogačar: "Today was one of my worst days on a bike" 🤍🇸🇮#TDF2023 #ITVCycling pic.twitter.com/fbLEFZKXi8

— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 19, 2023

Once he got past the brutally honest assessment part of his interview, Pogačar called the stage "one of the worst days of my life on the bike".

"If I didn't have such great support around me," he said. "I was already thinking I'd lose the podium today but I was really fighting with Marc [Soler] until the finish line. I think even on the stage to Col du Granon I was much much better than today. So I must say today was one of the worst days of my life on the bike but I had to keep fighting."

For you or I, yesterday's crack, followed by painful limping to the finish line in an irreversible state of being cooked is probably the most relatable thing Tadej has ever done on a bike. Join the club, pal...