74. Tour de Pologne (2.UWT), July 29 - August 4

[can3478]

Re: Re:

When Valverde retires Sagan will win a few Fleche.

I doubt Teuns agrees with that. He's looking like a multiple times Fleche winner himself.

Alaphillippe disagrees more

Valverde most of all disagrees with the assumption that he will ever retire.

LOL

 

[tomorrow]

I think Sagan himself was surprised by his performance, he was clearly limiting his loses in the lower sections of the muur and then just probably said whaaat, wtf, OK let's go

 

[dick the quick]

This is a model example of how the hilly/medium mountain stage in the Tour de Pologne should be designed.

Since in Poland there are no long ascents typical for a European mountain stage standards (even if there are some, they are hardly accessible because of the quality of the road surface), the only way to ensure proper entertainment and suspense during the race is to have finish line on top of a "short-but-really-steep" climb. There are multiple options in this respect all over the country.

Mr Lang, please bring some similar stages to the Tour de Pologne in the future.

 

[tobydawq]

Re:

Sagan is ridiculous but the tempo showed people actually care about GC so he won't make it through the last stage. Tomorrow is a long stage with super hot weather, I don't live that far away - it's already sweaty balls and tomorrow should be +5C. Feel sorry for the guys.

How do you work that out? Today he showed that he has brought his Tour form to Poland and that he will be very, very difficult to get rid of.

 

[Arked]

Almost every climb on stage 7 has wall, similar to today final climb, hidden inside those seemingly easy profiles. Have that in mind in regard of Sagan chances for overall.

 

[Jagartrott]

What's the idea behind a 240 km flat stage in a week-long stage race?
Crazy stuff - especially in the weather they're predicting.

 

[Bushman]

Re:

Sagan could even have won the stage with more confidence. Beast.

Also really strong by Theuns. First one to break the Bala domination on Mur de Huy next year?

I'll still say Alaphillippe is next in line once Don Alejandro is finished. He looks impressive, though, Teuns.

 

[Bushman]

Re:

Almost every climb on stage 7 has wall, similar to today final climb, hidden inside those seemingly easy profiles. Have that in mind in regard of Sagan chances for overall.

But every wall won't be climbed the same was as it was today, so I'm not sure it will hurt him too much.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

What's the idea behind a 240 km flat stage in a week-long stage race?
Crazy stuff - especially in the weather they're predicting.

Its good training, Poland is a good prep race for the Vuelta. Certainly much better than flat 140 km stages, that really doesn't do anything to a professional bike rider. I haven't studied this year's route, and I don't really know anything about Poland's geography, but I would assume its also to go from one part of the country to another as fast as possible. We see the same in Tour de France where journalist/reporter/experts always complain about it- isn't it better to have one long, flat and dull stage instead of two short, flat and dull stages covering the same distance tho? I've never understood that criticism.

 

[bosfor]

Re: Re:

Sagan is ridiculous but the tempo showed people actually care about GC so he won't make it through the last stage. Tomorrow is a long stage with super hot weather, I don't live that far away - it's already sweaty balls and tomorrow should be +5C. Feel sorry for the guys.

How do you work that out? Today he showed that he has brought his Tour form to Poland and that he will be very, very difficult to get rid of.

If the GC was raced similarly to the previous years - a free for all mainly between homeboys/gregarios/rouleurs - I would say he has a good chance to hold on and is the man to beat.

But if we're getting trains and Yates/Nibs/Pozzo/Bob/Zaka who actually care - it will be hard for Sagan to hold on through the final climbs especially as he will be the obvious target to stifle.

Nonetheless - who knows, it's Peter farking Sagan.

 

[silvergrenade]

Woet Poels...
Not good enough.

 

[Anderis]

Re: Re:

A usual Slagter showing top10 level in a WT race just when it started to appear that he forgot how to be competitive against decent opposition again.

Rare sight of Eiking performing well.

Surely you wanted to say "odd sight"?

What's the idea behind a 240 km flat stage in a week-long stage race?

The idea is that it's not that easy to find a city which will pay the organisers for hosting a stage start/finish. And without that, Tour de Pologne wouldn't be able to afford to be a WT race.

 

[ihosama]

Re:

Almost every climb on stage 7 has wall, similar to today final climb, hidden inside those seemingly easy profiles. Have that in mind in regard of Sagan chances for overall.

Counterintuitively that might play to his advantage. He has a huge anaerobic advantage on all the climbers as could be seen today. IMO a "punchy" climb suits him better than a long steady one with the same average.

That said, with Majka in the form he is, BOH will have him as leader. Anyting else would be insane on domestic ground. But they certainly will have lots of options how to play this if Sagan gets some more bonuses.

A dream stage for Bora can be Peter riding away on last stage with Majka in tow. Peter gets to do a show for fans and Majka goes on for a solo win in style.

I think Sagan
himself was surprised by his performance, he was clearly limiting his loses in the lower sections of the muur and then just probably said whaaat, wtf, OK let's go

Being a home team they probably knew the terrain well and he knew from where he can go to not fade in the finish. What is really impressive was "limiting his loses" equals "climbing with the climbers" instead of dropping out.

I mean, what were all the other climbers doing when Sagan in "defense" mode keeps up and stays with the pack?

 

[May0maniac]

I know that Pozzovivo is always in shape, but the stage wasn't perfect for him, he has to be in great shape, I think he'll be ready for the Vuelta.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re:

Woet Poels...
Not good enough.

Give him a break, he had a hell of a way back from that knee injury. To expect instant results is delusional.

 

[roundabout]

Re: Re:

Woet Poels...
Not good enough.

Give him a break, he had a hell of a way back from that knee injury. To expect instant results is delusional.

He was sprinting for the intermediates and Rosa did a lot in the final so clearly there was some expectation of a result.

 

[Red Rick]

dare i say kelderman look sharp for the vuelta?

it is an odd year

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Kelderman was already really, really good at the Giro I think. If he was there Dumoulin would've won with 5 minutes or something

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Kelderman was already really, really good at the Giro I think. If he was there Dumoulin would've won with 5 minutes or something

Yeah, no. :lol:

I too believe he was good. Lets see what he got in La Vuelta assuming he doesn't crash, top-10 or even top-5 (with some good luck) should be within his capabilities.

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

Kelderman was already really, really good at the Giro I think. If he was there Dumoulin would've won with 5 minutes or something

Yeah, he really derailed the Skytrain on the Blockhaus stage.
Jokes aside, I actually like the guy and I want to see the old Kelderman once again, back in 2014 he was fearless and an attacking rider.

 

[Rollthedice]

Re:

dare i say kelderman look sharp for the vuelta?

it is an odd year

Better than Zaka that's clear.

 

[Tank Engine]

Quite a nice stage to open up the GC battle. The parcours was a bit more difficult than I thought, but the result was pretty much as expected. The final two climbs make a nice combo. The penultimate climb is long enough and close enough to the finish to induce an attack from the diesel climbers

 

[klintE]

Re:

Kelderman was already really, really good at the Giro I think. If he was there Dumoulin would've won with 5 minutes or something

You gotta be joking... Only 5 ??? Cray

 

[Velolover2]

Theuns is the next Gilbert. The crown prince of the hills.

Hope he will ride the Vuelta. Lots of good stages for him.

 

[silvergrenade]

Re: Re:

Woet Poels...
Not good enough.

Give him a break, he had a hell of a way back from that knee injury. To expect instant results is delusional.

Completely understand that...
But the way he was using his team, it looked to me as if he felt good.
He is an elite climber, no doubt about that. Consistency has been a problem.
I want to see him top 10 at the Vuelta.