If the PFP from the Tour shows up she's the favourite. Otherwise my money is on Le Court. Reusser if the race is really hard and it's a case of woman against woman. The Dutch have a pretty good team on paper but all of them have to finish alone, and none of them have really been dominant in recent months.
I'm fairly ignorant of what form the riders are in today and how strong the different nations are, but isn't it straightforward for the Dutch to attack early with Van der Breggen and have Vollering suck wheel of the strongest opponents?
Yes, but there are a few problematic factors that may impact that, namely:I'm fairly ignorant of what form the riders are in today and how strong the different nations are, but isn't it straightforward for the Dutch to attack early with Van der Breggen and have Vollering suck wheel of the strongest opponents?
Ten Dam may be the single most "good vibes only" person to ever ride a bicycle in the Netherlands.Yes, but there are a few problematic factors that may impact that, namely:
- the Dutch team car has made some incredibly perplexing and counterproductive tactical moves in recent years.
- Anna van der Breggen was an abysmal DS when she had a go at it and often was able to win as an active rider on bludgeoning power rather than anything else.
- Demi Vollering has likewise become too used to being OP to need tactics, and when she has needed to race tactically, she has largely screwed it up big-time.
- Demi and Anna have a turbulent history that means a cohesive plan working for one another could be a difficult sell unless the team car has massively improved its ability to divide and conquer over the last few dysfunctional years.
I mean, it could work, but I just don't know how much faith I would have in the Dutch to pull it off. Gunnewijk always had a problem of trying to stay buddy-buddy with everybody and not offend any of her old colleagues by telling them to subsume their goals to the others, whereas ten Dam doesn't have that association with any of them so it may be better, but I will have to see it first.
I think you underestimate him a bit. He's good vibes, yes, but he also has a bit of snark to him. I think he's not afraid to criticze Lady Demi, or whomever.Ten Dam may be the single most "good vibes only" person to ever ride a bicycle in the Netherlands.
That's not a criticism, he just seems waayy too chill of a person to coerce this team into working together.
I petition to nickname her Berg-Tsige (Bergziege=mountain goat in German)Tsige Kiros is looking much better today after the underwhelming ITT.
Kiesenhofer would wreck the Italians and the Dutch with their Scott Steiner math!So far they're lucky it is Schrempf who's up there and not Kiesenhofer in a wig (I'm 99% sure).
The Dutch thought they had the sums all sorted out, but, crucially, they forgot to add Kurt Angle to the mix, so their chances of winning DRASTY went down.Kiesenhofer would wreck the Italians and the Dutch with their Scott Steiner math!
Two times so far have riders tried to attack from the peloton. A Spanish rider on the golf climb a bit ago, and further back after a Chinese rider first attacked followed by some other moves. But the pace has been low so far, and no teams have really paced hard on the climbs. So when the attacks have been controlled, the pace immediately drops again.
I assume ELB is not at her best, so shouldn't Italy try to change the slow march?
Not to mention that it was prime Perc Angle...The Dutch thought they had the sums all sorted out, but, crucially, they forgot to add Kurt Angle to the mix, so their chances of winning DRASTY went down.