Critérium du Dauphiné May 30-June 6 2021

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Paret-Peintre at 13s, I'll grant you. But the other 3 at 10 and 12 seconds behind that, that's not "small gaps," those guys got dropped.

The time is not the gap to the back of the group, it's the gap to the front of the group.

Either way, losing a few metres in the last 200 metres of the stage, doesn't mean any of these riders are completely out of contention, which was my point.
 
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Just saw the results, didn't watch the race. What happened to Vingegaard?

No exit interview on him, but clearly didn't have the legs today.

We all have to remember that in preparation races, when riders are on a bad day, they will simply let go and just ride their own tempo, rather than fighting to stick with it.

Going too deep here, will cost you in week 3 of the Tour, so the race dynamics are different.
 
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Who do they take instead that will have a high profile everywhere he turns, lots of screen time, lots of interview time, busy press conferences...

Nobody.

But press for 3 weeks is not that great, when it is for all the wrong reasons, and the message is constantly negative.

From a PR perspective, they would be better off with a proper sprint train for Greibel, and then some competent mountain stage hunters (Woods, De Marchi, Hermans, Impey) that could shine a positive light on ISN for 3 weeks.

They might get less coverage, but it would be good coverage.
 
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I know all that, but Bernal is still more likely to be Ineos' leader at the Tour than Porte or Dennis.
I do not think so, especially because I think there is around 0% chance that Bernal will ride this year's Tour... He basically said "no", but the media kept asking until they got an answer that wasn't a direct denial, and now they say he might go. He has no reason to be there, it makes much more sense to recover for the Vuelta and possibly secure a win in all 3 GT's, even though Yates was initially appointed leader for the Vuelta.
 
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Nobody.

But press for 3 weeks is not that great, when it is for all the wrong reasons, and the message is constantly negative.

From a PR perspective, they would be better off with a proper sprint train for Greibel, and then some competent mountain stage hunters (Woods, De Marchi, Hermans, Impey) that could shine a positive light on ISN for 3 weeks.

They might get less coverage, but it would be good coverage.
AFAIK Woods will be their GC leader and to be honest I think he might do well. The TT's obviously don't suit him but still, he'll go in as more than a stage hunter.
 
AFAIK Woods will be their GC leader and to be honest I think he might do well. The TT's obviously don't suit him but still, he'll go in as more than a stage hunter.

If I was the ISN DS - which for obvious reasons I am not :p - I would not go for GC with Woods, I'd go for stages and the Polka dots instead.

As you mention, he is a terrible TT rider, and even in top shape, he will be hard pressed to do better than maybe 8th-10th - with injuries for front runners maybe 6th.

I would much rather have such a rider win stages and a secondary jersey - while freeing up the rest of the team to make results as well - than going after a minor GC place.
 
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Craddock doesn't really have much luck, does he? So many breakaways have made it in the last couple of months but he is still without a pro win despite being by far the strongest out of 14-men move today and being caught in the last 3 kilometers for 2 consecutive days.
I was rooting for him, but he was clearly going to get caught on the final climb, and it turned out to be not even close. I don’t see what’s unlucky about that; there are dozens (hundreds?) of riders who spent a lot of time in breakaways and never get a win.
 
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Craddock doesn't really have much luck, does he? So many breakaways have made it in the last couple of months but he is still without a pro win despite being by far the strongest out of 14-men move today and being caught in the last 3 kilometers for 2 consecutive days.
That's how it works though. Being the best for a couple of days buys you nothing. De Gendt is known to be a breakaway king. He has 16 pro wins and he's 34 years old. That's on average barely more than 1 win per year.
 
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Anybody_but..

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Won't get to see the stage until tonight when they show it here. However, I have seen the finish. Great to see Bala win this stage. That finish is tailor made for him. Also lots of credit to MAL for that pull near the end to set up Valverde for the win. Wasn't sure how MAL would fit in, but it seems he is fitting in with the team.
So, Koronin, everything was OK?
 
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The time is not the gap to the back of the group, it's the gap to the front of the group.

Either way, losing a few metres in the last 200 metres of the stage, doesn't mean any of these riders are completely out of contention, which was my point.

10s behind Paret-Peintre's front wheel or back wheel is still a 10s gap, which means they were probably (at least) 50m back when APP crossed the line, and probably 100-150m behind when Valverde crossed the line. I just think if they were likely to be a threat over the weekend, they should have been able to stay in the wheels on that final push.