Teams & Riders Everybody needs a little bit of Roglstomp in their lives

[Rackham]

I think GC is a lottery right now tbh.

Evenepoel is best placed but his 'problem' isn't the fact he needs to attack (he's very comfortable in that role), it's the fact Rog with good legs will follow him & can counter.

Sunday's rollercoaster around Nice will be the deciding stage with any scenario possible IMO. But for sure it's not looking good for Roglič right now & the weather might decide the winner of Paris-Nice (today's TTT + the potential snow problems at the weekend).

I guess he can finally prove that he is more than Valverde with a good TT. If he wants to win Paris-Nice bonus seconds won't be enough.

Like Itzulia 2021?

 

[bNator]

On what mountain stage?

He doesn’t really need mountain stages to tire everyone out before he can drop them. He has his 5-10 min anaerobic efforts where he can drop other riders even if they are relatively fresh. I would even go as far as to argue that this type of terrain is where he can make more difference than in high mountains.

Think it's not unlikely this race comes down to the TTT and bonus seconds. For PN win losing out on these seconds is pretty bad IMO, but maybe I severely underestimate Bora in the TTT.

You don’t 😁

 

[Krzysztof_O]

He doesn’t really need mountain stages to tire everyone out before he can drop them. He has his 5-10 min anaerobic efforts where he can drop other riders even if they are relatively fresh. I would even go as far as to argue that this type of terrain is where he can make more difference than in high mountains.

Tomorrow's stage is actually good to make the race way before the final climb. Rogla can make his move but Remco is also great in this terrain. We may see the duo attack!

 

[Red Rick]

He doesn’t really need mountain stages to tire everyone out before he can drop them. He has his 5-10 min anaerobic efforts where he can drop other riders even if they are relatively fresh. I would even go as far as to argue that this type of terrain is where he can make more difference than in high mountains.


You don’t 😁

Yeah, but 8% for 10 minutes isn't hard enough. Nor is 18 minutes at 7% for that matter.

 

[bNator]

Yeah, but 8% for 10 minutes isn't hard enough. Nor is 18 minutes at 7% for that matter.

I don’t know - Capuccini was enough last year. It did have a bit steeper part but it was also a bit shorter - so maybe even 8% could do…

 

[Gwbert]

Yeah, but 8% for 10 minutes isn't hard enough. Nor is 18 minutes at 7% for that matter.

If Roglic wants it 8% for 10 minutes is more than enough. Depends how hard the stage is.

 

[Netserk]

Yeah, but 8% for 10 minutes isn't hard enough. Nor is 18 minutes at 7% for that matter.

He can ride the bullet train again until the foot of Eze. Then BAM - Game Over.

 

[Rackham]

Some behind the scenes footage of Rogla meeting his new teammates in the recent Bora camp:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PSijc4Chtc

 

[Red Rick]

I don’t know - Capuccini was enough last year. It did have a bit steeper part but it was also a bit shorter - so maybe even 8% could do…

Cappucini was 11% average. And he got like 14s after attacking the bottom. And the Nice stage has more flat to boot.

 

[Divergence]

I think the stage profile tomorrow allows for a very aggressive riding. If Rogla wants to go for it he can instruct the team to make it hard even as early as Col de Boubon and take it from there. There is little disadvantage to be alone because there are no valley roads.
That being said, I am afraid he will not take winning this race seriously enough to try such a thing. I believe him when he said that the TdF is the only thing that matters for him this season.

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Yeah, I’m not sure how invested he is based on his comments that he would mix it up and not try to win every race. However, IMO, he should ride aggressively for the win not only for the entertainment and the win but also to practice a different approach. He will very likely be on the back foot during this Tour and needs practice riding differently.

 

[CyclistAbi]

First GC stage of the season and it didn't went all that good. That is Bora tried and was good at it, unfortunately they fell apart at the middle of a TTT. Luckily no TTT at the Tour, as no way this could get fixed till then. On the positive side it could be worse. That is signs are there, that Rogla is in great shape so lets see if tomorrow Rogla can win for the first time riding for Bora, and lets worry about GC chances after.

 

[Netserk]

I think the stage profile tomorrow allows for a very aggressive riding. If Rogla wants to go for it he can instruct the team to make it hard even as early as Col de Boubon and take it from there. There is little disadvantage to be alone because there are no valley roads.
That being said, I am afraid he will not take winning this race seriously enough to try such a thing. I believe him when he said that the TdF is the only thing that matters for him this season.

Desperate moves are for the last day. Two MTF stomps before then.

 

[tobydawq]

I guess he can finally prove that he is more than Valverde with a good TT. If he wants to win Paris-Nice bonus seconds won't be enough.

Valverde won most of his Spanish stage races where there were no bonus seconds in the race.

 

[bNator]

I guess he can finally prove that he is more than Valverde with a good TT. If he wants to win Paris-Nice bonus seconds won't be enough.

But once he does finally prove (the same thing he has already proven many times before), he will once again have to finally prove the same thing in 2 months time. I think those who choose to believe these two are equivalent in the field of stage racing are so far off, it's not really possible to prove anything to them - even if one bothered to do so... They just don't seem to be that susceptible to proofs.

Edit/ unrelated:
During the interview for Slovenian TV, he said: "It's not in my nature to seek excuses in circumstance. Sure it was wet and wind may have changed direction once or twice. But that doesn't change the fact there were just three of us - too few to do what we set out to do."

 

[Rackham]

Edit/ unrelated:
During the interview for Slovenian TV, he said: "It's not in my nature to seek excuses in circumstance. Sure it was wet and wind may have changed direction once or twice. But that doesn't change the fact there were just three of us - too few to do what we set out to do."

Yep.

It's also evident the problem yesterday wasn't Rog going too fast & dropping his teammates, it was his teammates not going fast enough. Look at FDJ: they kept it together far longer & were still slower at the end.

It's sink or swim in pro-cycling, i.e. going slower isn't an option. That was the message sent.

 

[Berniece]

Yep.

It's also evident the problem yesterday wasn't Rog going too fast & dropping his teammates, it was his teammates not going fast enough. Look at FDJ: they kept it together far longer & were still slower at the end.

It's sink or swim in pro-cycling, i.e. going slower isn't an option. That was the message sent.

Lol, that's the worst tactic ever for TTT's. Going a bit slower on the 2nd hill, which they btw said themselves that they went too quickly there, might have saved an extra rider for the next half of the race.

 

[Rackham]

Lol, that's the worst tactic ever for TTT's. Going a bit slower on the 2nd hill, which they btw said themselves that they went too quickly there, might have saved an extra rider for the next half of the race.

Save which rider? Marco Haller? He was cooked. In this case 'saving' someone or a few of them probably would have meant going 20 or 30 seconds slower in the first time split. At which point the loss in the second half would have been the same as FDJ & Soudal anyway, so the way I see it is there was no right answer. Rog was going to lose a minute or thereabouts no matter what he did.

His teammates were just too slow.

 

[Berflamand]

Save which rider? Marco Haller? He was cooked. In this case 'saving' someone or a few of them probably would have meant going 20 or 30 seconds slower in the first time split. At which point the loss in the second half would have been the same as FDJ & Soudal anyway, so the way I see it is there was no right answer. Rog was going to lose a minute or thereabouts no matter what he did.

His teammates were just too slow.

I expected more from Jungels cause he showed signs of good form in Algarve.

I'd also think Denz should be able to survive as long as the likes of Lampaert or Casper Pedersen for Soudal.

 

[bNator]

Save which rider? Marco Haller? He was cooked. In this case 'saving' someone or a few of them probably would have meant going 20 or 30 seconds slower in the first time split. At which point the loss in the second half would have been the same as FDJ & Soudal anyway, so the way I see it is there was no right answer. Rog was going to lose a minute or thereabouts no matter what he did.

His teammates were just too slow.

Exactly. It looks like Bora without Roglic are just one of those teams that are a minute behind UAE on merit in a course like yesterday's. Add bad weather into the equation and it's a minute and a half. So I guess going 3 was not a bad decision - that being said, it was a risky one. It could end up way worse if Vlasov or Sobrero blew up...

 

[acm]

I expected more from Jungels cause he showed signs of good form in Algarve.

I'd also think Denz should be able to survive as long as the likes of Lampaert or Casper Pedersen for Soudal.

Denz just had covid and is clearly not in top form. I expect him to be much stronger in the TdF.

 

[Berniece]

Save which rider? Marco Haller? He was cooked. In this case 'saving' someone or a few of them probably would have meant going 20 or 30 seconds slower in the first time split. At which point the loss in the second half would have been the same as FDJ & Soudal anyway, so the way I see it is there was no right answer. Rog was going to lose a minute or thereabouts no matter what he did.

His teammates were just too slow.

Well according to Patxi Vila it would've been better if they rode a bit slower on the 2nd hill, and had more people for the second part of the TT.

 

[Froome]

Well according to Patxi Vila it would've been better if they rode a bit slower on the 2nd hill, and had more people for the second part of the TT.

Roglic is always a bit more faster than usual and necessary against his own teammates.

 

[tobydawq]

Roglic is always a bit more faster than usual and necessary against his own teammates.

Is he always that?

 

[bNator]

Is he always that?

Always