32ème édition du Tour de l'Ain (2.1) // August 7th - 9th 2020

[DNP-Old]

TBH, all those options sound better than Roger De Vlaeminck, god he was terrible.

No man (or woman) can be worse than Ruben Van Gucht. Well, let me rectify; no man or woman, other than José Been, can be worse than Ruben Van Gucht. He knows nothing, but to make things worse: he doesn't care about the race. He only cares about Ruben Van Gucht.

Sven Nys on the other hand isn't bad, he's godawful. Nys is still yelling at me during every broadcast of Sporza as if I am an incapacitated ret ard. In the mind of Sven Nys it's eternal Sesame Street. He continues to analyze cycling like he's explaining to 5 year old how butter is actually made. That's why he is constantly yelling. To see whether we are hearing him well enough. Because we are mentally unstable. That is the firm belief of Sven Nys, that you should also address viewers like they just made a big yucky. When I listen to Sven, it is as if I am standing right in front of him and have to show that I'm very capable of wiping my own ass. Sven infantilizes his audience. A mediocre ex-road cyclist they handed a microphone because he won a few races in what is basically the Belgian equivalent of ice skating. When his opinion is asked, it's like we're playing musical chairs. Not once have I heard him express something coming remotely close to an opinion. To make things worse, he looks into the camera as if the things he is saying are really worth our time. After the umpteenth cliché of the afternoon he pulls a facial expression as if he just made the most daring prediction of the year. You can see him think: ''I am really going to see something huge in the next few seconds''... And what does he say? Nothing.

End of rant.

 

[jaylew]

First race day for Dumo in over a year, right? Not bad.

 

[Poursuivant]

Roglic looked strong on that 800m climb at the end, Bernal was grimacing sticking to his wheel, I can see a Roglic solo win on Sunday, tomorrow will be good too.

 

[SafeBet]

First race day for Dumo in over a year, right? Not bad.

420 days.

 

[KZD]

Thanks for answering for me. Dumo has proven he can win a tough gt.

A tough GT but with almost 70kms of time trials...
Also, Vuelta last year was quite tough as well especially taking into account that Roglic crashed three times.

 

[Red Rick]

A tough GT but with almost 70kms of time trials...
Also, Vuelta last year was quite tough as well especially taking into account that Roglic crashed three times.

Dumoulin was one of the best climbers in a Tour he did after doing the Giro.

 

[topcat]

A tough GT but with almost 70kms of time trials...
Also, Vuelta last year was quite tough as well especially taking into account that Roglic crashed three times.

No

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

No man (or woman) can be worse than Ruben Van Gucht. Well, let me rectify; no man or woman, other than José Been, can be worse than Ruben Van Gucht. He knows nothing, but to make things worse: he doesn't care about the race. He only cares about Ruben Van Gucht.

Sven Nys on the other hand isn't bad, he's godawful. Nys is still yelling at me during every broadcast of Sporza as if I am an incapacitated ret ard. In the mind of Sven Nys it's eternal Sesame Street. He continues to analyze cycling like he's explaining to 5 year old how butter is actually made. That's why he is constantly yelling. To see whether we are hearing him well enough. Because we are mentally unstable. That is the firm belief of Sven Nys, that you should also address viewers like they just made a big yucky. When I listen to Sven, it is as if I am standing right in front of him and have to show that I'm very capable of wiping my own ass. Sven infantilizes his audience. A mediocre ex-road cyclist they handed a microphone because he won a few races in what is basically the Belgian equivalent of ice skating. When his opinion is asked, it's like we're playing musical chairs. Not once have I heard him express something coming remotely close to an opinion. To make things worse, he looks into the camera as if the things he is saying are really worth our time. After the umpteenth cliché of the afternoon he pulls a facial expression as if he just made the most daring prediction of the year. You can see him think: ''I am really going to see something huge in the next few seconds''... And what does he say? Nothing.

End of rant.

I actually don't mind those two, yeah they're no José and Michel, but I would rate that duo the same as Boonen & Castelyn on VTM. I'm not a big fan of Liesbecht De Vocht tho, she has great insights, but perhaps just not the voice for television/radio (in my opinion). I do agree that Van Gucht is a bit of a vain spout but every commentator has their downside. At least he's not childish like Carlton Kirby or Inapt like Been. Also Sven Nys? He's far from a mediocre cyclist, if we take the cyclocross away, he's still an Olympic athlete, European bronze medallist and one of the driving forces behind belgium (women's) cycling in general. Not bad for an "ice skater".

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

No man (or woman) can be worse than Ruben Van Gucht. Well, let me rectify; no man or woman, other than José Been, can be worse than Ruben Van Gucht. He knows nothing, but to make things worse: he doesn't care about the race. He only cares about Ruben Van Gucht.

Sven Nys on the other hand isn't bad, he's godawful. Nys is still yelling at me during every broadcast of Sporza as if I am an incapacitated ret ard. In the mind of Sven Nys it's eternal Sesame Street. He continues to analyze cycling like he's explaining to 5 year old how butter is actually made. That's why he is constantly yelling. To see whether we are hearing him well enough. Because we are mentally unstable. That is the firm belief of Sven Nys, that you should also address viewers like they just made a big yucky. When I listen to Sven, it is as if I am standing right in front of him and have to show that I'm very capable of wiping my own ass. Sven infantilizes his audience. A mediocre ex-road cyclist they handed a microphone because he won a few races in what is basically the Belgian equivalent of ice skating. When his opinion is asked, it's like we're playing musical chairs. Not once have I heard him express something coming remotely close to an opinion. To make things worse, he looks into the camera as if the things he is saying are really worth our time. After the umpteenth cliché of the afternoon he pulls a facial expression as if he just made the most daring prediction of the year. You can see him think: ''I am really going to see something huge in the next few seconds''... And what does he say? Nothing.

End of rant.

Not a fan of Nys, but you're overdoing it a bit. When Ruben is doing the commentating, the shivers run down my spine.

Personally i don't get the amount of flack Wuyts gets from (mainly Dutch) viewers. But as long as De Cauwer is there, i can tolerate most of them. Replacing him will be the real kicker.

 

[Red Rick]

No man (or woman) can be worse than Ruben Van Gucht. Well, let me rectify; no man or woman, other than José Been, can be worse than Ruben Van Gucht. He knows nothing, but to make things worse: he doesn't care about the race. He only cares about Ruben Van Gucht.

Sven Nys on the other hand isn't bad, he's godawful. Nys is still yelling at me during every broadcast of Sporza as if I am an incapacitated ret ard. In the mind of Sven Nys it's eternal Sesame Street. He continues to analyze cycling like he's explaining to 5 year old how butter is actually made. That's why he is constantly yelling. To see whether we are hearing him well enough. Because we are mentally unstable. That is the firm belief of Sven Nys, that you should also address viewers like they just made a big yucky. When I listen to Sven, it is as if I am standing right in front of him and have to show that I'm very capable of wiping my own ass. Sven infantilizes his audience. A mediocre ex-road cyclist they handed a microphone because he won a few races in what is basically the Belgian equivalent of ice skating. When his opinion is asked, it's like we're playing musical chairs. Not once have I heard him express something coming remotely close to an opinion. To make things worse, he looks into the camera as if the things he is saying are really worth our time. After the umpteenth cliché of the afternoon he pulls a facial expression as if he just made the most daring prediction of the year. You can see him think: ''I am really going to see something huge in the next few seconds''... And what does he say? Nothing.

End of rant.

This sort of writing makes you more qualified than 90% of commentators imo

 

[Red Rick]

Not a fan of Nys, but you're overdoing it a bit. When Ruben is doing the commentating, the shivers run down my spine.

Personally i don't get the amount of flack Wuyts gets from (mainly Dutch) viewers. But as long as De Cauwer is there, i can tolerate most of them. Replacing him will be the real kicker.

What flack does Wuyts get from Dutch viewers other than probably paying too much attention to Jurgen van den Broek in 15th place in some mountain stage when Bauke Mollema is clearly in 13th place?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

What flack does Wuyts get from Dutch viewers other than probably paying too much attention to Jurgen van den Broek in 15th place in some mountain stage when Bauke Mollema is clearly in 13th place?

That he supposedly starts salivating when his favorites (Boonen, Evenepoel...) are winning, or even just when they just farted i guess. The funny thing is, he's a huge van der Poel fanboy. For some reason that never caught the attention. I think he's usually just talking about the riders the (Belgian) viewers want to hear about. I remember he could be the same about Cancellara.

 

[Blanco]

So says you

The man is a GT winner, and probably the best rider in 2019. The route suits him down to the ground, yet you're saying Jumbo should focus on Dumoulin. Now why would they do that? Dumo didn't rode for over a year, there's certainly question mark around him. And on the other hand you have rider who's on top of his game for quite some time. I know who would be my main man, but doesn't mean they could not co-lead till at least end of 2nd week, or even beginning of the 3rd. By then picture should be much clearer, and the best man will emerge.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I think Roglic has a higher base level but when both at peak form Dumoulin might beat him. Considering Dumoulin hasn't raced for a year and a half, it's a good thing they're both on the same team.

 

[Lequack]

 

[topt]

I would've blindly agreed until last Vuelta. But Roglic didn't really show any sign of weakness there.

I think it depends a lot on if Dumoulin makes a leap from his Sunweb days. And I think Dumoulin has shown his TT falls off much less when tired than Roglic' might.

Both are way better bets than Kruijswijk though, and I'd go as far as saying Kruijswijk has limited tactical value outside of being an optional domestique

I hope they explain that to him, so far he never wanted to help; its like he think he is much better than he really is

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Ofcourse today's stage wasn't what this race is about, but still, you can see why i was so excited that so many young talents (22 and below) would start:

After a fast finish and a nasty little bump 2k before:

01	Andrea Bagioli	Deceuninck-Quick Step	03:17:00​	14​
03	Stefan Bissegger	Switzerland	+ 00​	3​
05	Erik Fetter	Kometa - Xstra	+ 00​	​
08	Joao Almeida	Deceuninck-Quick Step	+ 00​	​
13	Clément Champoussin	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 00​	​
16	Jake Stewart	Groupama-FDJ	+ 00​	​
19	Aaron Van Poucke	Sport Vlaanderen-Baloise	+ 00​	​
20	Ilan Van Wilder	Team Sunweb	+ 00​	​

 

[topt]

Thanks for answering for me. Dumo has proven he can win a tough gt.

he hasnt shown anything more than roglic has

 

[topt]

If I were Jumbo I would be behind Dumoulin as he for me is the better GT rider ..well he was

Roglic won the Vuelta but there was no competition and everyone one made the kid Podgcar look amasing .At the Giro last year Roga ran out of steam while marked by the Shark and was in the shade of Carapaz

Dumoulin has beaten the shark and Quintana in the GT and was very close in GT to Froome and Thomas without a team

I think he has the edge

But which will ride for the other when push comes to shove ?

no bias what- so- ever, his win in Giro is not more impressive than Roglic win at vuelta

 

[Lequack]

Ah some good memories from that Giro

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

I hope they explain that to him, so far he never wanted to help; its like he think he is much better than he really is

His dom duties when required have indeed always been half assed.

 

[Red Rick]

I hope they explain that to him, so far he never wanted to help; its like he think he is much better than he really is

I think too many people, especially in the Netherlands go "he podiumed the Tour and almost won the Giro" without looking at any context whatsoever

 

[jaylew]

99

Richie Porte (Aus) Trek-Segafredo

0:01:26

What happened to LRP? Tired from Ventoux yesterday?

 

[Lequack]

Tomorrows stage

 

[hayneplane]

Barely any flat after the first 20-25 kms. If the teams and riders go for it this could be in bits long before the final climb.

Could be a lot of fun.