2021 Tour de Pologne, 9th to 15th August

[BlueRoads]

Well, nice for van den Berg with his first win.

But how could they! This would have been Hodeg's.

 

[Netserk]

But how could they! This would have been Hodeg's.

Nobody cares. On DQS as well.

 

[BlueRoads]

Nobody cares. On DQS as well.

Well, I care. Hodeg cares. I'm sure his family does, too.

 

[dicanio_michael]

Well, I care. Hodeg cares. I'm sure his family does, too.

They cared about the general and points classication too. What if Almeida had a machnical in the last kms or Mohoric solo attacked when they used all their power to chase down breakaway.

It was really up to Bahrain and UAE to chase as they both won a sprint stage and literally had a better chance.

 

[BlueRoads]

They cared about the general and points classication too. What if Almeida had a machnical in the last kms or Mohoric solo attacked when they used all their power to chase down breakaway.

It was really up to Bahrain and UAE to chase as they both won a sprint stage and literally had a better chance.

You might forgive me (or not) for rooting for Hodeg and hoping he will get another win this season. The past two years with the crashes weren't easy for him and I think he's an amazing person. Also, everybody assumes that if you are at DQS as a sprinter you're in heaven, but there's immense pressure in that team and this year, after his underperforming last year, he had problems getting good races, a good lead-out or anything from DQS, they mostly sent him to races with lots of climbing and few opportunities and he's not really a Colbrelli and no Sagan who finds his wheel either. In Poland he got the spot, but no lead-out man.
Yesterday would have been perfect for him. He got close second on one stage and yesterday he at least won the sprint from the bunch, so it's not like he's a desperate case at this point, he's actually in form.
The general classification of course is more important (the points classification isn't), but I don't think it was in danger if they worked a bit more towards a bunch sprint at the end (and a little bit would have sufficed since it was really close).

So, in the end: I know I'm totally emotional here and for other's a Hodeg win isn't worth much, and I know at this point DQS doesn't care about him anymore, but on the other hand I think it would have been a manageable effort for a possible stage win, so there are actual rational reasons as well.

 

[noob]

So, in the end: I know I'm totally emotional here and for other's a Hodeg win isn't worth much, and I know at this point DQS doesn't care about him anymore, but on the other hand I think it would have been a manageable effort for a possible stage win, so there are actual rational reasons as well.

I'm with you on the emotional <3 I've not been this emotional about a race ever. I wanted Kwiatkowski to win because it's his home country. Also I was so bummed by Pog stopping him from attacking in the tdf (so many said that was mature of Pog but imo he was just protecting his own teammates and when others crashed later he didn't stop anyone else from going, so it was very unfair on Kwiatkowski). I also wanted Almeida to win as he has never won. I constantly expected him to crack somehow in some mysterious way.

And even more so they raced on roads I have traveled so it was like home sweet home. I miss it already. Somehow I cannot connect to lavuelta in the same way. (watching it as I write) Especially without Angliru.

 

[BlueRoads]

I'm with you on the emotional <3 I've not been this emotional about a race ever. I wanted Kwiatkowski to win because it's his home country. Also I was so bummed by Pog stopping him from attacking in the tdf (so many said that was mature of Pog but imo he was just protecting his own teammates and when others crashed later he didn't stop anyone else from going, so it was very unfair on Kwiatkowski). I also wanted Almeida to win as he has never won. I constantly expected him to crack somehow in some mysterious way.

And even more so they raced on roads I have traveled so it was like home sweet home. I miss it already. Somehow I cannot connect to lavuelta in the same way. (watching it as I write) Especially without Angliru.

Not that I wouldn't have liked Kwiatkowski to take it, but I felt Almeida's win was never in danger.

 

[Nirvana]

Moscon's sprint is one of the most overrated things in the world. He did get a little blocked but nowhere near enough to have prevented a win.

Because a lot of people just look at results without even bothering to seperate flat sprints and uphill sprints so someone like him that has a good punch and usually do well in uphill sprint is tought to be fast even if he's crap in flat sprints.