Here's a video of the route, you can make an idea:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sCyuMsoc_c
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**** Fuglsang
*** Nibali
* Sprinter/Mountain goat
Everyone else: Stay home and stay safe
*** Nibali
* Sprinter/Mountain goat
Everyone else: Stay home and stay safe
Okay, seriously, can you explain why Nibali is a favourite for many here? I like Nibali, but I can't see the reasoning.
What Nibali said after recon:
"There is an initial climb... like a slight false flat, in a group you feel good. Then there are two other climbs, much more challenging, to do them 'standing'. The first of these two is more difficult in the initial part. Then there is the part that takes you to Riolo, and a descent that looks like a 'corkscrew'. Almost everything, let's say 90%, has been paved".
"The second climb is tougher in the final part. As if it were one of the classic Tuscan 'poggi'. Always climb up, without going down... Then the real descent comes after a few kilometers. But nothing dangerous. It is straight, there is only one curve. It tightens a little bit the roadway but nothing much. It's going to be 260 kilometers, and in the end it's going to get really hard."
"There is an initial climb... like a slight false flat, in a group you feel good. Then there are two other climbs, much more challenging, to do them 'standing'. The first of these two is more difficult in the initial part. Then there is the part that takes you to Riolo, and a descent that looks like a 'corkscrew'. Almost everything, let's say 90%, has been paved".
"The second climb is tougher in the final part. As if it were one of the classic Tuscan 'poggi'. Always climb up, without going down... Then the real descent comes after a few kilometers. But nothing dangerous. It is straight, there is only one curve. It tightens a little bit the roadway but nothing much. It's going to be 260 kilometers, and in the end it's going to get really hard."
Because we want to believe for one more week okay
But it is a bit weird how you completely dismiss so many other riders who objectively have much better chances than Nibali, yet keep going how he is the second biggest favourite...
He's a fan, it's not weird at all for fans to be irrational.
It's not weird to hype Nibali but at the same time saying people like Roglic and Alaphilippe have zero chance is just odd.
I didn't claim he was a favorite at all. Any hyping I've done on Nibalis side has strictly been rooted in the same little fantasyland where Contador can still win another Tour and surely Andy Murray is gonna win the Australian Open this year. Best I hope for from Nibbles is like Vlaanderen 2018 where he initiates the winning move in a moment of genius then gets dropped cause he has no legs.
It was me, Gayle. Not irrational, you can rationalise anything.
Fuglsang is the favourite. Only peak Nibali can maybe beat peak Fuglsang over this course except maybe the bionic man van Aert.
There was a debate on former riders (now commentators) calling Col de la Loze the toughest climb in the Tour ever, which people in here disputed citing the profile instead.
Anyway, just a tongue in cheek remark, since I thought you took the opposite stance on that one, but I clearly have confused you with someone else
I don't really agree Fuglsang prefers short, sharp climbs, he's always been more of a grinder.
He has improved his punch a bit the last couple of years, but he is no Alaphilippe or Pogacar on that type of climb.
If he is to take it, he will need to make the race hard and tire them out, so that he can do his usual edging away by having more power thing.
There was a debate on former riders (now commentators) calling Col de la Loze the toughest climb in the Tour ever, which people in here disputed citing the profile instead.
Anyway, just a tongue in cheek remark, since I thought you took the opposite stance on that one, but I clearly have confused you with someone else
I almost always agree with you, so I can't fathom why you would think that
I read somewhere that Ecuador will not send any riders to WC, needs to be confirmed.
Very, very hard. As I said earlier I only see real climbers doing good here. I see that Van Aert stands as a no.1 favorite, but I think he won't be able to go with Fuglsang, Valverde and co. when they put the hammer down on the steep stuff.
Valverde was dropped by Van Aert on the steep stuff in one of the hardest mountain stages of the TdF just a couple days ago.
Yeah, yeah, I know.., but these hills are his cup of tea, he was building form specially for this race and I have a feeling he will be more than ready on Sunday.
He did well last WC and he is in better form now in a route that suit him better than last year. Plus the motivation of almost winning the Tour?
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