75th Tour de Romandie (2.UWT) // 27th of April - 2nd of May 2021

[Samu Cuenca]

How many sprint points are on offer at the finish line? I guess it must be 50, when they give out 15 at the intermediate sprints.
Cort only trails Colbrelli by 22 points now, so he could end up winning something even if he doesn't win the stage or the race.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

The 2014 Stelvio descent is the epitome of fairness compared to this...

 

[Mayomaniac]

Petilli for the stage win?

 

[RedheadDane]

Surely the neutralisation has been over long enough for both (main) groups that the peloton should've had plenty of time to do something about the gap? It's not Reichenbach pulling, is it?

 

[SafeBet]

Is this part of a Netflix docudrama on Movistar?

I mean, seriously.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Here we go, Ineos to the front...... but almost 6 minutes is a lot!

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Stelvio Dennis, your services are urgently required.

 

[BlueRoads]

Is this part of a Netflix docudrama on Movistar?

I mean, seriously.

I think it was some guys in the organizations: "Cycling is too boring for young viewers. Nothing exciting ever happens. Let's throw in some random factor and see how the athletes react."

 

[search]

Surely the neutralisation has been over long enough for both (main) groups that the peloton should've had plenty of time to do something about the gap? It's not Reichenbach pulling, is it?

yeah, they will use it as an excuse if the break wins, but in the end, Movistar just also didn't care enough to speed up after the neutralization ended.

And to be honest, it would never be fair anyway, as no one can stop the dropped riders of returning to the peloton. So with the gap staying the same, the peloton would have had an advantage then due to increased manpower

 

[tobydawq]

Cort to win. The GC.

 

[titan31]

Surely the neutralisation has been over long enough for both (main) groups that the peloton should've had plenty of time to do something about the gap? It's not Reichenbach pulling, is it?

Not the point, I've gone back. It's a gap of 3,40 when the break cross the KOM point. It's over 5 minutes when the peleton is given the go again. That's not right at all.

Maybe the timing was wrong but to me it looks like the break were brought down at faster speed than the peleton in the 3k part.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Weird, Ineos already gave up the front again, is Porte or Thomas having a bad day - or did Movistar just up tempo another notch?

 

[Devil's Elbow]

Also, this is enough of a shambles to kick the race out of the WorldTour next year but if the Polish crash wasn't enough for that nothing will ever be...

 

[BlueRoads]

I admit I didn't see everything but what I saw was the peloton seriously neutralized, pressing to go faster, and the break seriously riding the descent.
There was a gamble between Movistar and Ineos which made the time gap go up further afterwards, but this just screwed the situation.

 

[RedheadDane]

And to be honest, it would never be fair anyway, as no one can stop the dropped riders of returning to the peloton. So with the gap staying the same, the peloton would have had an advantage due to increased manpower

I still maintain that the gruppetto was probably behind their own safety car.

Not the point, I've gone back. It's a gap of 3,40 when the break cross the KOM point. It's over 5 minutes when the peleton is given the go again. That's not right at all.

Was it? Didn't quite see when the neutralisation ended? (Was watching proceedings over in Austria as well.)

Also, this is enough of a shambles to kick the race out of the WorldTour next year but if the Polish crash wasn't enough for that nothing will ever be...

Poland was far worse than this! Poland was a guy almost dying, this is a - possibly faultly executed - attempt at preventing people from getting hurt.

 

[Red Rick]

Ineos probably just waiting for the final 10km

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Fun fact from Brian Holm commenting on the Danish broadcast:

He says in Switzerland it's law to have bicycle lights mounted on the bike when you ride - but they get dispensation for races.

However that means, that at various races several riders have been stopped by police and fined, when riding from the finish line to their hotel, so the teams bring bicycle lights for race days in Switzerland, to hand out to riders at the finish line.

 

[titan31]

I admit I didn't see everything but what I saw was the peloton seriously neutralized, pressing to go faster, and the break seriously riding the descent.
There was a gamble between Movistar and Ineos which made the time gap go up further afterwards, but this just screwed the situation.

Ya, even still the time gap went up about 30-40 seconds in the rest of the descent and flat (so in the 20k or so) and in the 3k it went up about 80-90 seconds.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Did the race organizers ask Vegni how to handle a descent with bad weather?

 

[Broccolidwarf]

I still maintain that the gruppetto was probably behind their own safety car.

Yes, but their car seemed to be going slower.

It can be as simple as the 2 officials misunderstanding each other on what speed to maintain, where and for how long.

 

[RedheadDane]

Yes, but their car seemed to be going slower.

It can be as simple as the 2 officials misunderstanding each other on what speed to maintain, where and for how long.

Surely they didn't show the gruppetto?

 

[Red Rick]

How much time would Cort need in the ITT tomorrow? A minute?

 

[Red Rick]

I have no idea what Ineos is doing

 

[Bonimenier]

I have no idea what Ineos is doing

Soon Dennis, the choo-choo train will ride 1min/km faster than the leaders.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Cort is such an odd duck.

He can do pretty much all the same things Sagan can (and even climbs better) - except for positioning.

When it comes to fighting for position, he is one of the worst riders in the peloton, he regularly gets pushed around and loses wheels, and is never in the right spot at the right time.

The lack of that one skill, is the difference between him being a superstar in cycling - and a pretty good pro who wins occasionally.