2019 Tour de France, stage 10: Saint-Flour > Albi 217,5 km

[Jagartrott]

I'm really at a loss for words how this can happen. You're a GC contender and have trained months and months for this. You know there's wind, you know there are teams that will try something, especially the last 40 km of the stage. Then there is just no way - no way - you should leave the first 40-50 riders during that hour. I just cannot believe that experienced GC riders fail to do that, while a first timer like WVA is there.

It was proper racing today, but very bad news for the excitement regarding the overall.

 

[Anderis]

Re:

I just cannot believe that experienced GC riders fail to do that, while a first timer like WVA is there.

It's not only about experience. Someone like WVA has much more power to push on flat roads than those skinny climbers. It must be physically much easier for him to stay near the front.

 

[Pantani_lives]

You would expect Fuglsang and Pinot to have enough body for this kind of stage.

 

[Jagartrott]

Bardet was in the first group, Yates, Barguil, Quintana. Not exactly big powerhouses. Nah, it was much more about concentration and team effort than about Watts.

 

[Simurgh]

Re: Re:

Weird you all want to declare the GC over, despite the peloton only having ridden 1 proper mountain stage - bunch of drama queens in here

Not even a proper mountain stage and Thomas still won ahead of everybody else It's just a repeat of the last 7 years bar 2014 (which in essence was the same but with Kazakh blue colors). And this year with Froome out and Thomas not looking great and crashing in the spring; it was the first time since 2014 that SKY/INEOS looked like they could be dethroned. The race is not over, no. Crashes, mechanicals, some might get caught in one way or the other, off-day and so on. I bet though, that the race is a lot closer to be considered over than a few hours ago. Thomas will gain around 1 minute on everyone else on the ITT, and so will have a buffer of 2-3 minutes his closest pretend..competitors. I understand the fact that there are a whole lot of stages to go and a whole lot of stuff can happen, but looking back the last 7 years, history shows that except the occasional off day (Froome 2017 at Peyragudes, cross winds 2013, Alpe d'Huez 2015 e.g.), INEOS/SKY only loses time to those they want to lose time to.


By the way, please don't mention Kruijswijk and Buchmann as (what I presume) credible challengers to INEOS. They aren't. Podium contenders definitely! But challengers for the win, no way. Even though I'd love for them to prove me wrong! (imo jury's still out on Bernal and a podium, will see how well he fares on the time trial before judging).

So what did Pinot, Porte and Uran and Fuglsang ever do in a GT that Kruijswijk didn’t? None of those 4 ever challenged for a win or challenged SKY. If kruiswijk isn’t a credible challenger (which is a defendable position) those 4 aren’t either.

2 of them have podiumed before (even though I freely admit that both their podium spots, especially Urans, were partly due to weak competition). I will ignore Porte, since I haven't seen anyone considering him a challenger to anything, bar a victory on Willunga Hill.

Fuglsang haven't podiumed, but the 4 have all in common, that they have (had, in the case of Porte, but I don't consider him relevant) a higher ceiling than Kruijswijk, who is a very solid rider, but not spectacularly strong. Pinot threatened Thomas (for the win!) until today. Fuglsang and Porte have both shown, that they are some the best one-week riders in the world - and on top of that in regard to Fuglsang, he has been flying all year, beating just about everyone except for Roglic I think. Kruijswijk hasn't shown potential of winning or challenging for a GT win but once, in 2016.


EDIT: I overlooked Uran, sorry! But he has actually podiumed 3 times before, as Anderis said. To be honest though, I probably overlooked him because I consider him just as big a challenger to anything as Porte.

 

[happytramp]

Remember when the most exciting thing going on in this thread was someone trying to get in the break getting pushed?

 

[happytramp]

Quintana and Dan Martin were big winners GC wise too... Both very well placed before the real climbing starts. Today wiped out all their losses from the TTT and then some.

 

[Gigs_98]

Re: 2019 Tour de France, stage 10: Saint-Flour > Albi 217,5

Just read what happened and fml
Yeah tour over. Maybe bernal can still put up a fight but ineos win basically over 95% certain before we had a single proper climbing battle

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

Quintana and Dan Martin were big winners GC wise too... Both very well placed before the real climbing starts. Today wiped out all their losses from the TTT and then some.

That's if they're chasing that third podium spot.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re: 2019 Tour de France, stage 10: Saint-Flour > Albi 217,5

Just read what happened and fml
Yeah tour over. Maybe bernal can still put up a fight but ineos win basically over 95% certain before we had a single proper climbing battle

Bernal to fight with whom? He'll take Thomas to Paris over all those mountains.

 

[Captain Serious]

WTF happened to Matthews? Not enough lead-out guys?
Bad legs, or did he just f**k it up? Something else I couldn't see?

 

[happytramp]

Re: Re:

Quintana and Dan Martin were big winners GC wise too... Both very well placed before the real climbing starts. Today wiped out all their losses from the TTT and then some.

That's if they're chasing that third podium spot.

Well I assume that's Martin's aiming for. Why wouldn't he?

 

[Jagartrott]

Re:

WTF happened to Matthews? Not enough lead-out guys?
Bad legs, or did he just f**k it up? Something else I couldn't see?

His lead out was way too slow, so he got overwhelmed from behind. He himself did a pretty fast sprint at the end.

 

[JosephK]

Re: 2019 Tour de France, stage 10: Saint-Flour > Albi 217,5

For this TDF, signs of the deja vu nightmare (conjured annually in July since 2012, excepting 2014) appeared on stage 6, when it became apparent that G was going to be phenomenally strong. Hopes were kept afloat (for a few of us) by Pinot's outstanding efforts through yesterday. Today, those hopes were crushed under the full weight of the opera's Fat Lady soprano, who is already belting out her finale.

P.S. I will admit I have really enjoyed a number of stages already raced at this Tour. There have been some great ones, and a great finish today. But I wanted to add a touch of Drama Queen perspective on the GC race, or lack thereof.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re: 2019 Tour de France, stage 10: Saint-Flour > Albi 217,5

For this TDF, signs of the deja vu nightmare (conjured annually in July since 2012, excepting 2014) appeared on stage 6, when it became apparent that G was going to be phenomenally strong. Hopes were kept afloat (for a few of us) by Pinot's outstanding efforts through yesterday. Today, those hopes were crushed under the full weight of the opera's Fat Lady soprano, who is already belting out her finale.

P.S. I will admit I have really enjoyed a number of stages already raced at this Tour. There have been some great ones, and a great finish today. But I wanted to add a touch of Drama Queen perspective on the GC race, or lack thereof.

Too bad Froome's not in the race. 1-2-3 in Paris.

 

[HelloDolly]

Seems it wasnt just Asgreen pushing a Sunweb rider

"George Bennett and Yves Lampaert got 500 Swiss francs in penalty, ten seconds time penalty and six minus points after this maneuver against Chad Haga today."

 

[Carols]

Re: 2019 Tour de France, stage 10: Saint-Flour > Albi 217,5

Wow, Just Wow!!! I thought it was going to be a boring sprint stage so went out and have just now finished watching it. Yikes I thought Pinot was going to be a force in the race but his chances have certainly dimmed . EF started the whole thing was Uran with them then? How did he get spit out if he was? Riveting final 35kms and VanAert looked So Good. Jumbo and the Wolfpack are having quite a Tour. And Mas moved up the standings . G looking like the man to beat but anything can happen!

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re: Re:

One lesson from USPS and Sky is "always ride at the front."

And so Astana had Cort in the front of the peloton in the first half of the stage, not being able to help his captain when it mattered in the end.

Forrest Gump-level IQ tactics.

I could mistake Lars Michaelsen from forrest gump any day of the week.

Great, the race is pretty much done and dusted before the mountains.

 

[tobydawq]

Re: Re:

One lesson from USPS and Sky is "always ride at the front."

And so Astana had Cort in the front of the peloton in the first half of the stage, not being able to help his captain when it mattered in the end.

Forrest Gump-level IQ tactics.

I could mistake Lars Michaelsen from forrest gump any day of the week.

Great, the race is pretty much done and dusted before the mountains.

Yeah, he really doesn't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed.

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: 2019 Tour de France, stage 10: Saint-Flour > Albi 217,5

Just read what happened and fml
Yeah tour over. Maybe bernal can still put up a fight but ineos win basically over 95% certain before we had a single proper climbing battle

Not if you go on a nice long vacation.
Anyone wanna chip in? :twisted:

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Seems it wasnt just Asgreen pushing a Sunweb rider

"George Bennett and Yves Lampaert got 500 Swiss francs in penalty, ten seconds time penalty and six minus points after this maneuver against Chad Haga today."

Just blocking the road is one thing, pushing is another. *** that anti-cycling strategy, thats no fun at all.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Re: Re:

One lesson from USPS and Sky is "always ride at the front."

And so Astana had Cort in the front of the peloton in the first half of the stage, not being able to help his captain when it mattered in the end.

Forrest Gump-level IQ tactics.

I could mistake Lars Michaelsen from forrest gump any day of the week.

Great, the race is pretty much done and dusted before the mountains.

Yeah, he really doesn't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed.

I don't think he is the one to blame, I think he is in the 2nd car.

He is the guy making the calls in classics races, but not in stage races.

He said in a live interview during the stage, that the team strategy was to stay up front, due to the wind, so they were prepared for it.

But as said, he is not the one making the tactical calls in the lead car, that is either Fofonov or Vino (if he is there).

Another possibility is the lead car may have given the order, and the riders just didn't comply..... but that seems less than likely, since the team had guys standing at the side of the road with supplies, just at the start of the windy bit, so clearly they did not anticipate action just there.

 

[Valv.Piti]

I dont think either us are blaming Michaelsen for today, rather just stating that we dont find him to come comes across particularly intelligent. Either way, making Cort just lead the peloton for no reason at all is some of the weirder stuff I have seen going on. Then you might as well just put him in the break, christ.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Re:

I dont think either us are blaming Michaelsen for today, rather just stating that we dont find him to come comes across particularly intelligent. Either way, making Cort just lead the peloton for no reason at all is some of the weirder stuff I have seen going on. Then you might as well just put him in the break, christ.

Well, you may think that, I think that, despite his obvious lack of media savvy, he has largely been instrumental in transforming the way Astana ride 1 day races, so that they have been a force in those the last 2 years, an area where they had previously been a complete non-factor in cycling.

I don't think you manage that, unless you have a brain in your head.

I view Michaelsen as an intelligent nerd, who come across as slightly dense in the media

I agree on Cort.... it makes no sense.

They should have been sitting on Ineos wheel all day, compact with the entire team..... being compact is everything on windy stages, is the only way you can effectively close gaps fast.

 

[Amazinmets87]

First half of this tour has been great (by Tour standards.) Trouble is the second half looks non too promising. I'm not overly optimistic but I see potential for a GC battle. Poels looks weak, how many Ineos riders will be with Bernal and Thomas in the high mountains? With so many talented riders within striking distance I see coalitions being formed and ambitious long-range attacks.