Teams & Riders Brothers in (crank) arms - Yates Discussion Thread

[roundabout]

I think only Vino was able to come back from a large early deficit without doing a major solo and he was 2 minutes behind and not 3.

So while it should be one of the most open races, for Yates it's pretty much all over.

 

[Forever The Best]

I think anyone except Nibali and Kruijswijk have a potential to lose minutes in the third week. Plus, I think this route is harder than 2006 Vuelta. If riders are aggressive, there are minutes to gain on stage 18 and stage 20.
His chances are very small, but he can still fight imo.

 

[Gigs_98]

Yeah sure, if he now starts flying like in 2018, no problem, he can still win. He won't though. Don't get your hopes up just to get disappointed.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah sure, if he now starts flying like in 2018, no problem, he can still win. He won't though. Don't get your hopes up just to get disappointed.

It's what I'm trying to do by not counting him out yet.

 

[Forever The Best]

Yeah sure, if he now starts flying like in 2018, no problem, he can still win. He won't though. Don't get your hopes up just to get disappointed.

What baffles me is that he looked very strong in Tirreno and got dropped by many riders today. Even pre-2018 Yates would have arrived around Almeida or Konrad. And the reason why I'm saying he may be strong later on is, this was such a shocking performance that I don't think this is his real level. As I said, he was very strong on Tirreno.

And yes, the only chance of him winning is him flying 2018 style, and even then his chances of winning are still not big, that's why I said it is very small.

 

[greenedge]

It's such a disappointing occurrence, last year he didn't show much before the Giro and then this year he swapped that around and both times he lost huge chunks on one day. Even if it was a bad day for him he should still not have lost that much. If he re-finds his form from early 2018 Giro or even what it looked like before the race he has a chance of winning but i cannot imagine Nibali or Fuglsang allowing him to grab huge chunks of time.

A top 5 and a stage win would be great, so hopefully he can bounce back and if not I want to see Howson, Haig and Hamilton given freedom to go for breaks themselves, even Meyer could have a chance on a less hilly stage.

 

[Bolder]

Yates's relatively poor showing yesterday is also a mystery to me. It would seem to be the kind of climb that a guy who by all intents and purposes was in near-prime condition could have at least stayed with the likes of Kelderman. I don't think this was his real level, but as Bill Parcells, the old Giants NFL coach once said, "You are what your record says you are."

That's of course a tautology but it's especially applicable to this year. The racing is different, I like it, but we are seeing some atypical performances, that's for sure.

 

[cellardoor]

Sorry if this was mentioned before, but Yates does have past form for struggling in the mountains after going deep in a TT.

 

[SafeBet]

Yates's relatively poor showing yesterday is also a mystery to me. It would seem to be the kind of climb that a guy who by all intents and purposes was in near-prime condition could have at least stayed with the likes of Kelderman. I don't think this was his real level, but as Bill Parcells, the old Giants NFL coach once said, "You are what your record says you are."

According to Matt White, Yates didn't feel particularly good on stage 2 either.
He finished 19th in Agrigento, while many predicted he would be in the mix for the win.

 

[Gigs_98]

What baffles me is that he looked very strong in Tirreno and got dropped by many riders today. Even pre-2018 Yates would have arrived around Almeida or Konrad. And the reason why I'm saying he may be strong later on is, this was such a shocking performance that I don't think this is his real level. As I said, he was very strong on Tirreno.

And yes, the only chance of him winning is him flying 2018 style, and even then his chances of winning are still not big, that's why I said it is very small.

I think this performance is more or less in line with his Lago Serru performance last year. That was also clearly his worst day (and was also the first real mountain test) but although he was better in the next stages he was still never the best climber and kept losing time to Nibali and Carapaz on almost every single mountain stage. I think that's what's gonna happen again. He will end up getting his top 10 spot, can maybe fight for a stage win but he won't suddenly climb better than Nibali and especially not by so much that he ends up winning the race.

 

[Gigs_98]

According to Matt White, Yates didn't feel particularly good on stage 2 either.
He finished 19th in Agrigento, while many predicted he would be in the mix for the win.

I actually thought about whether him being clearly behind someone like Nibali on a stage that was supposed to suit him much better could be a sign for things to come, but eventually decided I'm just overreacting. Turns out my initial thought was right.

 

[IndianCyclist]

I think they do something wrong either with the diet or something. Its rare for a person in form to have that much of a bad day.

 

[Forever The Best]

I actually thought about whether him being clearly behind someone like Nibali on a stage that was supposed to suit him much better could be a sign for things to come, but eventually decided I'm just overreacting. Turns out my initial thought was right.

Good points about stage 2. Looks like a misjudgement of form rather than a bad day.

 

[Forever The Best]

Got dropped by so many riders again. Out of form definitely. Not sure whether he lost time or not but doesn't matter since he is way out of form.

 

[Strawberry_Jams]

Didn't lose time, but getting dropped with 25 odd riders is not the best, with hardly any attacks either, just Jakob/Pozzo testing riders out. Yep he has a few days to get stronger, but the question is...is he on the way down form wise (as TT/ Tirreno should suggest) or up because the team saw how hard the last week was? They've F****ed it up either way..

 

[yaco]

Posted earlier pull out after stage nine and go to the Vuelta.

 

[Strawberry_Jams]

What good will that do? I think just write off this year... just ride through, try and get whatever he can from the Giro, which should leave him in good shape for next year.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

It’s not just a miscalculation of form. Unless he’s spent the weeks in between Tirreno and now drinking beer on the couch as part of a new training regimen it would be quite a tricky accomplishment to miscalculate your form badly enough to go from smashing everyone uphill to being the 25th-40th best climber in a GT with a notably shallow field. If he was the tenth best climber or something, ok, but he’s too bad for that. There’s something else up, I suspect.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Yates was super lucky today. Could've easily lost another minute or 2 if somebody cared

 

[Red Rick]

It’s not just a miscalculation of form. Unless he’s spent the weeks in between Tirreno and now drinking beer on the couch as part of a new training regimen it would be quite a tricky accomplishment to miscalculate your form badly enough to go from smashing everyone uphill to being the 25th-40th best climber in a GT with a notably shallow field. If he was the tenth best climber or something, ok, but he’s too bad for that. There’s something else up, I suspect.

Soemthing is clearly wrong, but he's so bad that you also really doubt he can regain top form even.

 

[yaco]

He was very average in the 2019 Giro rested up and rode well at the TDF - Think people aren't looking at the big picture - Yates is the highest paid rider in the team, is the most influential rider with management and they build a team around him wherever he races - Mitchelton needs to find a program that maximises his talent and riding GC for GT's is not the best option.

 

[Red Rick]

Simon Yates DNS in Giro after COVID positive.

2 positive rapid tests.

Rest of the team and staff all negative.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Well that explains that

 

[Gigs_98]

How often do they get tested? Like, did Yates just ride the whole first week of the giro with coronavirus? The idea that this was responsible for his Etna performance is kinda shocking considering he could have infected the entire peloton since then

 

[dusty red roads]

I guess we'll find out in the coming days/weeks if others test positive.