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

[Mayomaniac]

30,3 km/h in average for Richie Porte on a climb. Insane, we could see from the helicopter that he was flying, but 30,3 is just crazy. Holding for 1min 37seconds it is really much. Bravo Ineos, that was really entertaining to watch. Hopefully Ganna gets better. But he needs a bit more steady terrain it seems. Last week he did on track 55 km/h in average for 30 minutes, so the shape is. He just needs some suitable terrain.

And Felix Gall (pretty much a local guy) did the climb in 1min 46sec, 2 seconds faster than Kuss, nice!

 

[IndurainsTdF1994]

If he comes back from his injury they have a GC rider that is far superior to Roglic.

I have no idea who that might be.

I agree that Thomas in top form is close to Pogi and Rogla in TT or might even beat them.

Maybe Bernal counts as injured (since 2019)? Or perhaps Froome has a special, hidden clause in his current contract? ...

 

[BigCoward]

I have no idea who that might be.

I agree that Thomas in top form is close to Pogi and Rogla in TT or might even beat them.

Bernal, who this time last year everyone on this board would have taken above Pog and Rog as the best GC rider of the next 5 years.

 

[IndurainsTdF1994]

Bernal, who this time last year everyone on this board would have taken above Pog and Rog as the best GC rider of the next 5 years.

We learned something new last year, that's for sure. But Bernie is indeed far superior in age. Well, to Rog at least. Now, imagine Pinot being healthy & Dumoulin being mentally stronger & ...

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Yeah, pretty decent by Tiberi after his DNS on stage 4 of the Tour of the Alpes.

Are we sure that wasn't planned? Maybe they thought it was a bit much for him so soon?

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Bernal, who this time last year everyone on this board would have taken above Pog and Rog as the best GC rider of the next 5 years.

I don't think so. After Vuelta'19 (especially imperious performance on stage 20) it was clear that Poga was a huge talent. I actually regarded both him and Bernal as future GT greats.

 

[johnymax]

And Felix Gall (pretty much a local guy) did the climb in 1min 46sec, 2 seconds faster than Kuss, nice!

Kuss went surprisingly fast on the flat. Jumbo Visma climbers have shown some good level in TTs this year. It will be interesting to see, if it translates on the climbs for Kuss later in the race. Or will it be like with Kruijswijk in the previous races, where he was subpar on the climbs after a promising TT.

About Felix Gall, nice indeed. I don't know much about the guy to be completely honest.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Jeez, amazing performance by Ineos Grenadiers top3 guys. Add to it Yates, Carapaz and Tao and they will be ridiculously strong in the mountains come July. Thomas is progressing gradually towards the Tour, he'll have a good shot at GC top3 (but so will some of his team friends).

 

[johnymax]

Bernal, who this time last year everyone on this board would have taken above Pog and Rog as the best GC rider of the next 5 years.

I can understand if you think a peak Bernal might be a better GT GC rider than Roglič (I disagree). He's won the Tour after all and Roglič might never win one. But to say he is a far superior GC rider (that includes short stage races, too) is a big reach, almost nonsense. As far as I know Bernal hasn't been injuried for 3 years and they've had a lot of battles between them. I seriously can't remember if Bernal has ever won a head to head battle against Roglič. He beat him in that 2018 Romandie MTT, but even then, the war (GC) has been won by Rogla.

It'll be interesting to see Bernal in the Giro. Hopefully the injury is behind him and he'll be in the mix with the top dogs. But right now you can't call him far superior than any real GC contender.

 

[Cookster15]

Not enough talk about Porte. In such a short TT that was an amazing ride for a small rider, does anyone have the times for the climb at the end? Also amazing knowing he is riding as a super domestique now, I think he's P'd off he fell before PN as I think he was targeting that race before he resumed his domestique duties. Thomas looks to be in great shape too.

 

[johnymax]

Not enough talk about Porte. In such a short TT that was an amazing ride for a small rider, does anyone have the times for the climb at the end? Also amazing knowing he is riding as a super domestique now, I think he's P'd off he fell before PN as I think he was targeting that race before he resumed his domestique duties. Thomas looks to be in great shape too.

There's been talk about Porte. He is pretty much the No.1 favourite in everyone's eyes for this race. Well it depends on tactical games with Thomas.

 

[Cookster15]

There's just nothing to suggest Thomas in the same vicinity as Roglic and especially Pogacar uphill.

There is nothing to suggest you are right either. I think you might be underestimating Thomas. I think he looks like he is close to 2018 level. But we will see. Ineos look like they are getting the maximum out of their riders with the exception of Ganna who was poor today.

 

[Red Rick]

There's been talk about Porte. He is pretty much the No.1 favourite in everyone's eyes for this race. Well it depends on tactical games with Thomas.

Normally Thomas is a clearly better prologue rider and often in training mode at this point. They might decide to let the TT decide between them, I really doubt Thomas will just take off.

 

[search]

And Felix Gall (pretty much a local guy) did the climb in 1min 46sec, 2 seconds faster than Kuss, nice!

Good performance on the climb indeed. Does he live (or has roots) in Romandie, or in what way is he local?

 

[tobydawq]

Is there any good reason why Dennis wouldn't end up winning this race apart from his allergy to leader's jerseys?

 

[SafeBet]

Is there any good reason why Dennis wouldn't end up winning this race apart from his allergy to leader's jerseys?

Yeah if he's fit and in the right place mentally I think he's a good shot. Ineos podium sweep again?

 

[TMP402]

Can a native speaker try to explain how I should pronounce Owain Doull correctly?

Not a native speaker but from everything I gather, Owain is like "oh" rhyming with "so" followed by "ine" rhyming with "fine", and Doull rhymes with "pool".

 

[Anderis]

Why were the top15 thousands of times quicker than the rest?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Not a native speaker but from everything I gather, Owain is like "oh" rhyming with "so" followed by "ine" rhyming with "fine", and Doull rhymes with "pool".

o (like oh)
wine (like wine)
do'll (like pull)

That's how i've heard the pink bubblegum pronounce it, by whom i mean Kirby.

 

[movingtarget]

Geraint alone will be obliterated by the Slovenians, literally. He needs Porte, Yates and Carapaz to be good all at the same time.

I remember some guy called Froome who always had a good team around him, seemed to work for him. I see Pogacar as a raging favourite at the moment as he doesn't have any weaknesses. Have to see if Roglic's lighter schedule going into the Tour pays dividends. Thomas has his work cut out but a podium wouldn't surprise, winning is another matter unless he can find the form from 2018 which still may not be good enough to beat the Slovenians. Good to see Roglic trying something different with his prep as many grand tour riders often stick to the same agenda every season even when the results are not improving. Hopefully someone can raise a challenge to Roglic and Pogacar. Ineos is doing well in stage raxces this season, the addition of Yates and Porte is working out and Dennis has proved to be a very good domestique as well so they they will be disappointed if they don't convert in a least one grand tour this season.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Yes, this is how likely pro cycling would look like, without Slovenians. Ineos taking top 3 spots, no real rivalry involved, no drama at all, all in all boring as hell.

P.S. Contrary to some people constantly complaining in other threads.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Good performance on the climb indeed. Does he live (or has roots) in Romandie, or in what way is he local?

No, he's almost a local guy for me, he lives around 40km away from where I was born and raised.

 

[ppanther92]

No, Geraint Thomas doesn't stand a chance against either Pogacar or Roglic. In the first two puncheur stages of the Tour, he'll lose time against both. In the time trial on stage 5, he'll lose some more time, then at Tignes in the Alpes he'll get unceremoniously dropped by the Jumbo & UAE trains. Then in the Pyrenees he'll attack, but neither top two guys will care & they'll eat him up without a fuss.

1	1	-	THOMAS Geraint	Team Sky	1000	500	83:17:13
2	2	-	DUMOULIN Tom	Team Sunweb	800	380	1:51
3	3	-	FROOME Chris	Team Sky	675	340	2:24
4	4	-	ROGLIČ Primož	Team LottoNL-Jumbo	575	300	3:22

Case closed

No, ofc the last years went very differently for Roglic and Thomas. But for my liking people tend to forget how strong Thomas and INEOS were until 2018/19. Don't think they let another TdF happen like in 2020. I wouldn't rule a INEOS winner out. And if we have one, than its probably Thomas.

 

[Red Rick]

Is there any good reason why Dennis wouldn't end up winning this race apart from his allergy to leader's jerseys?

That MTF looks pretty gigantic, and I don't think they have the firepower to not have Dennis be a domestique at all.

Maybe they'll just let Porte go choo choo, or maybe Thomas is full training mode, but I don't see how Dennis is their main choice.

 

[search]

ah, thanks, I only remembered the headline from last year that they wanted to attract riders doing the Worlds, and assumed it would be the full circuit they do again. Didn't check in detail yet

here's the reason why they changed the circuit compared to last year, by the way:

(gt) "Initially, the Aigle-Martigny stage should have been, in 2020, the "test event" before the Worlds. The peloton should then have discovered the Petite Forclaz. Although the stage has been kept on the Tour de Romandie program, the route has been considerably modified. Crossing the Petite Forclaz on several occasions would have required the descent of the Col de la Forclaz to be closed for several hours. "This is an international axis," recalls Valentin Baillifard. “It was complicated to block that road and the freeway exit."