2016 TdF, Stage 2: Saint-Lô → Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (183km)

[Tank Engine]

Re: Re:

I wouldn't read too much into Pinot losing a handful of seconds, he's a bit of a diesel and often on longer climbs you see him struggling at the bottom, only for him to improve.

I don't buy that excuse at all. He's lost 11 seconds for nothing, and he can't afford to give away any advantage if he seriously wants to think about challenging Froome and Quintana.

If he's a diesel then do everything possible to make sure he's right at the front going into the climb, so he can drift back a bit and still stay with the front group. Instead, FDJ were ambling about near the back and he lost time. So poor.

Exactly. Pinot can't give up seconds on uphill finishes if there are plenty of stages with downhill finishes where he will probably lose even more time.

a) FDJ do not have a strong a team as Movistar or Sky. Not all of the riders can be at the front.

b) I don't expect Pinot to compete with Stoneface or the Preying Mantis. At best, I think he might sneak onto the podium. In that context, losing 11 seconds is not the end of the world.

c) As for his descending, he's not the best, but he certainly has made progress in the last couple of years.

 

[Ramon Koran]

Re: Re:

I wouldn't read too much into Pinot losing a handful of seconds, he's a bit of a diesel and often on longer climbs you see him struggling at the bottom, only for him to improve.

I don't buy that excuse at all. He's lost 11 seconds for nothing, and he can't afford to give away any advantage if he seriously wants to think about challenging Froome and Quintana.

If he's a diesel then do everything possible to make sure he's right at the front going into the climb, so he can drift back a bit and still stay with the front group. Instead, FDJ were ambling about near the back and he lost time. So poor.

Exactly. Pinot can't give up seconds on uphill finishes if there are plenty of stages with downhill finishes where he will probably lose even more time.

a) FDJ do not have a strong a team as Movistar or Sky. Not all of the riders can be at the front.

b) I don't expect Pinot to compete with Stoneface or the Preying Mantis. At best, I think he might sneak onto the podium. In that context, losing 11 seconds is not the end of the world.

c) As for his descending, he's not the best, but he certainly has made progress in the last couple of years.

Pinot is the worse descender of GC contenders by a huge distance, he's actually probably the worst descender in the pro peleton he will lose minutes in the descents, that will probably cost him a place on the podium not the 11 seconds of today.

 

[Deadbody]

Just two stages into the tour and already two gc guys has lost significant time, not good for the tour. I really hoped we would be treated to a tour where everyone was safe and firing on all cylinders in the mountains. Hopefully Contador can recover well and still be a force to be reckoned with.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re: Re:

I wouldn't read too much into Pinot losing a handful of seconds, he's a bit of a diesel and often on longer climbs you see him struggling at the bottom, only for him to improve.

I don't buy that excuse at all. He's lost 11 seconds for nothing, and he can't afford to give away any advantage if he seriously wants to think about challenging Froome and Quintana.

If he's a diesel then do everything possible to make sure he's right at the front going into the climb, so he can drift back a bit and still stay with the front group. Instead, FDJ were ambling about near the back and he lost time. So poor.

Exactly. Pinot can't give up seconds on uphill finishes if there are plenty of stages with downhill finishes where he will probably lose even more time.

a) FDJ do not have a strong a team as Movistar or Sky. Not all of the riders can be at the front.

b) I don't expect Pinot to compete with Stoneface or the Preying Mantis. At best, I think he might sneak onto the podium. In that context, losing 11 seconds is not the end of the world.

c) As for his descending, he's not the best, but he certainly has made progress in the last couple of years.

Pinot is the worse descender of GC contenders by a huge distance, he's actually probably the worst descender in the pro peleton he will lose minutes in the descents, that will probably cost him a place on the podium not the 11 seconds of today.

We're in 2016, not in 2013. Pinot's descending has greatly improved.

 

[Anderis]

Re: Re:

We're in 2016, not in 2013. Pinot's descending has greatly improved.

I didn't pay attention this year, but last year, during stage 17 of TdF, Pinot has thrown himself out of contention for stage win on downhill.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re: Re:

We're in 2016, not in 2013. Pinot's descending has greatly improved.

I didn't pay attention this year, but last year, during stage 17 of TdF, Pinot has thrown himself out of contention for stage win on downhill.

It's true, he fell.

But I'd argue that when he won his stage, he got away in the descent of Croix-de-Fer.

 

[manolo57]

Re: Re:

We're in 2016, not in 2013. Pinot's descending has greatly improved.

I didn't pay attention this year, but last year, during stage 17 of TdF, Pinot has thrown himself out of contention for stage win on downhill.

Of course he's not the best but he's proved many times that he's strong enough not to lose time on downhills. Last year he fell in the col d'Allos one but it's very hard and steep. Moreover he took a lot of risks to make the junction with Geschke. This year there are 4 downhill finishes but none of them are so difficult than the col d'Allos, I'm not really worried about that. About today, he said that he lost 11" because of a guy in front of him who lost contact, he should have had a better placement, but well, that's really not that bad (find me a guy who lost podium because of 11"...).

 

[dacooley]

Re:

One of the (a bit) positive things abou today is that Froome will have tough times as Quintana looks absolutely in control on the final climb,shape is looking good.OTOH its a question if he can beat Froome without Contador attacks etc

I don't think anyone thought Froome would beat Quintana hands down.

 

[ILovecycling]

Re: Re:

One of the (a bit) positive things abou today is that Froome will have tough times as Quintana looks absolutely in control on the final climb,shape is looking good.OTOH its a question if he can beat Froome without Contador attacks etc

I don't think anyone thought Froome would beat Quintana hands down.

By tough I meant he will may not win . But we will see after Aspin

 

[JetSet]

I wouldn't write off Porte's chances of a podium just yet. Froome lost 1:25 on a flat stage in 2012, I think it might have even been stage 1, but still recovered to finish second. Contador is a different case though, he's clearly injured so getting through the next few days without losing more time is critical, if he loses time on stage 5 then it's probably over for him.

Pete

 

[manolo57]

Re:

I wouldn't write off Porte's chances of a podium just yet. Froome lost 1:25 on a flat stage in 2012, I think it might have even been stage 1, but still recovered to finish second. Contador is a different case though, he's clearly injured so getting through the next few days without losing more time is critical, if he loses time on stage 5 then it's probably over for him.

Pete

Yes but the level of Froome this year was really impressive. He was the best climber of the Tour and the second best in ITT. And Froome was only a teammate for Wiggo at the start, a podium wasn't really a goal for him, so he didn't feel any pressure by this loss of time I think. Porte wants a podium and he knows he has lost much time in a stupid way, he's going to regret it. Btw his reaction when he has his mechanical problem shows he was a bit disgusted, maybe he already doesn't believe for his podium any more.

 

[portugal11]

No time gaps between bala and martin is a absolutely joke

 

[carton]

Re: Re:

Are Tinkoff on 23s?

It looks like Specialized specs its stock Di2 Tarmac with 24mm tires. No idea why they don't go to 25 (maybe the in-house tires actually sit fatter), and no idea if Tinkoff has a custom setup.

This had me second guessing myself. But just to clear it up, Contador is on 22s, apparently (external, video).