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

[VayaVayaVaya]

Just rewatched the finish as well, and it's very odd. When Bernal attacks, Roglic isn't in bad position. However, you can see everyone just immediately accelerate and go past him, and he continues at the exact same pace in the saddle. He then rides as fast or faster than the riders in front of him, but he'd spotted them too much before responding. Presumably he didn't feel good, but just very odd.

 

[Rackham]

In hindsight it was 'odd' when Mas dropped Rog in the Vuelta last year as well on the alto de hazellanas. But there's others. Formigal 2020. Picon Blanco in the 2021 Vuelta where Rog just seemed to casually roll towards the line and not really react when Mas and Superman Lopez accelerated. Even San Luca in the TdF last year when he just went backwards (yeah that TdF wasn't good but he still had way better form a week later on stage 11 when he followed Pog and Vinge).

The enigma that is Primož Roglič aka the 'mystery man' as Sam Oomen once called him seems to work in mysterious ways. Namely riding in energy conservation mode when people least expect it like he's an F1 car recharging ERS.

Obviously we have no idea and he might be totally cooked this time and ready for retirement. But one thing is for sure is this man has the greatest poker face in cycling IMO. He's perfected the art of nonchalant flippant interviews to the point no one really knows what's going on with him form wise.

 

[Red Rick]

In hindsight it was 'odd' when Mas dropped Rog in the Vuelta last year as well on the alto de hazellanas. But there's others. Formigal 2020. Picon Blanco in the 2021 Vuelta where Rog just seemed to casually roll towards the line and not really react when Mas and Superman Lopez accelerated. Even San Luca in the TdF last year when he just went backwards (yeah that TdF wasn't good but he still had way better form a week later on stage 11 when he followed Pog and Vinge).

The enigma that is Primož Roglič aka the 'mystery man' as Sam Oomen once called him seems to work in mysterious ways. Namely riding in energy conservation mode when people least expect it like he's an F1 car recharging ERS.

Obviously we have no idea and he might be totally cooked this time and ready for retirement. But one thing is for sure is this man has the greatest poker face in cycling IMO. He's perfected the art of nonchalant flippant interviews to the point no one really knows what's going on with him form wise.

Slight off day. It happens. Usually he gets better in a GT. Nothing to panic about.

 

[Red Rick]

Also, I like Moscon as a support rider. Makes me feel safe. Or at least it makes me think if someone else crashes Rogla out they will sleep with the fishes

 

[Oldman]

I'd like to remind that Roglic fought the other day for 4 seconds from Redbul KM
How can losing 4 seconds + 10 seconds of the stage be a strategy?
Let's also remember what was discussed here a few days ago. The TDF2020. Roglic lost the TDF on the last day, won a Giro on the last day. And he's going to give his direct rival 14 seconds, and confidence, out of strategy? He knows better than anyone that any advantage in his favor can be important on the last day.

He's also the GC leader. If he's the leader today and gives away the jersey tomorrow, it would´ve been better to have done so by winning the stage and winning those 14 seconds. He didn't get anything positive out of it today.

Furthermore, Roglic put his team back to work today after the day they lost a member. And Roglic is one of those who doesn't miss a stage if his team is working.
Remember the victory he took from Gino Mader (R.I.P.) in the Dauphiné?

He didn't give away the stage today for strategy. He simply wasn't in the shape to position himself and fight for it.

I still see him as a favorite for the Giro. Ayuso has always been very strong in these types of stages, ever since he won at Tour de Suisse.
Ayuso's problem has been the high mountains; until then, we won't know if he's improved in that regard.

And since the route is so bad, if Roglic isn't that strong, it doesn't matter, because he has 10 days to get in shape.

In Albania, Ayuso seemed weaker, but today, Roglic.
The good thing for Roglic is that tomorrow isn't the day for Ayuso to try anything. The bad thing for Roglic is that he didn't try anything on the third day in Albania when Ayuso seemed vulnerable.

You can't waste days; you never know how many seconds you'll need in the last week.

If he loses the Giro in a few years, let's not say that he should´ve won the Giro as is done with the 2020 Tour because "he didn't want to" saying today that he loses time due to strategy

I don't second guess the defending champ who is in the Pink Jersey. If he wants to loan it out, lose it; it's his race to execute. Bench racing is usually from a position of comfort so IMO he'll make it work out.

 

[Cycling111]

I don't second guess the defending champ who is in the Pink Jersey. If he wants to loan it out, lose it; it's his race to execute. Bench racing is usually from a position of comfort so IMO he'll make it work out.

The problem is that he didn't give up the jersey yesterday. So there's no reason to think he gave Ayuso 14 seconds and a stage win after Bora worked all day.

You can cheat yourself, but Roglic had a bad day yesterday because the goal was clearly to win. The team worked hard, Roglic never forgives when the team works hard (Dauphiné vs. Mader), and he still got the jersey. If he wanted to give away the jersey yesterday, he would have let Ayuso win by 30 seconds

That approach doesn't make sense. Having won the jersey, the least hecan do is win the stage and the 14 secons. If he didn't do it, it's because he couldn't.
He will give away the jersey today.

Roglic lost a TDF on the final day; he knows that he can´t give anything away to a direct rival. It's not the same thing to give the jersey away today to Fortunado or another member of the break as it is to give 14 seconds to a rival when the team that worked was BORA, not UAE. Have they given the UAE a rest to give them time and a stage?

Roglic disputes Ayuso the KM Redbull, but yesterday he gave him the stage and time due to strategy
I still see Roglic as the favorite, but we have to admit he showed signs of bad day.
Luckily for him, the route is terrible, and he has plenty of time to recover from his bad day.

 

[fenns]

Aysuo is now the slight betting favourite which I find to be an overreaction. I think all we learned yesterday was that JA wanted to win the stage. I think it's likely Roglic will improve as the race progresses

It's a shame that the penultimate stage of the Catalunya was truncated - might have given us a better idea of where the legs of Roglic and JA might be towards the end of a stage race.

​

 

[Red Rick]

Aysuo is now the slight betting favourite which I find to be an overreaction. I think all we learned yesterday was that JA wanted to win the stage. I think it's likely Roglic will improve as the race progresses

It's a shame that the penultimate stage of the Catalunya was truncated - might have given us a better idea of where the legs of Roglic and JA might be towards the end of a stage race.

​

Pretty sure we saw what happened in Barcelona.

Judging by Bora's riding, I think the initial plan was for Rogla to win the stage, but then they stopped riding and I'm pretty sure it's because Rogla communicated he wasn't feeling super good.

Could be a bit due to the cold, could be due to coming into the Giro a bit slow. Could also be that deliberate effort to work on endurance and not explosivity.

He's had quite a few stage races in the last few years where he starts off looking fairly sluggish and then improves as the race goes on, and he tends to get better as the race continues.

 

[Cycling111]

Aysuo is now the slight betting favourite which I find to be an overreaction. I think all we learned yesterday was that JA wanted to win the stage. I think it's likely Roglic will improve as the race progresses

It's a shame that the penultimate stage of the Catalunya was truncated - might have given us a better idea of where the legs of Roglic and JA might be towards the end of a stage race.

​

That's the most positive thing Roglic can take away from yesterday.
The same thing always happens with Ayuso, ever since he won that stage in Switzerland. They immediately make him the favorite, and the problems come later.

UAE hasn't worked at all in seven days. With Ayuso's favoritism, he's forcing them to work and creating conflicts with Del Toro, forcing him to be a domestique.
Aside from Yates, who will want to win a stage, but if they force them to work, there will be conflicts, and they also need to knock Del Toro off third place. That's achieved by making him work for Ayuso's favoritism.

 

[Froome]

He is using the Giro as a training for the Tour, and it is really possible he win the Giro this way.

He will probably reach a higher level in the Tour, but it will not win the race.

 

[Peyroteo94]

That's the most positive thing Roglic can take away from yesterday.
The same thing always happens with Ayuso, ever since he won that stage in Switzerland. They immediately make him the favorite, and the problems come later.

UAE hasn't worked at all in seven days. With Ayuso's favoritism, he's forcing them to work and creating conflicts with Del Toro, forcing him to be a domestique.
Aside from Yates, who will want to win a stage, but if they force them to work, there will be conflicts, and they also need to knock Del Toro off third place. That's achieved by making him work for Ayuso's favoritism.

UAE is in perfect position to be honest. They will have 4 riders under 2:30 minutes before the last week. This will be dangerous for Redbull.

 

[Cycling111]

UAE is in perfect position to be honest. They will have 4 riders under 2:30 minutes before the last week. This will be dangerous for Redbull.

Yes and no. No one is going to believe that the UAE will win the Giro with anyone other than Ayuso. He won't accept that.
What's the point of having so many people in the general classification if everyone knows who is the leader and that he won't accept that a teammate of his is a threat to winning the Giro?

Having multiple leaders is a positive factor when it is unclear who the leader is and when co-leaders accept that another teammate can win.

If I were Bora's DS, I'd tell Roglic to stay in Ayuso's wheel. Let Del Toro go; Ayuso would be the first to get nervous.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Yes and no. No one is going to believe that the UAE will win the Giro with anyone other than Ayuso. He won't accept that.
What's the point of having so many people in the general classification if everyone knows who is the leader and that he won't accept that a teammate of his is a threat to winning the Giro?

Having multiple leaders is a positive factor when it is unclear who the leader is and when co-leaders accept that another teammate can win.

Ayuso is not Pogacar and I'm not sure he is the best in the high mountains.

 

[veganrob]

Roglic does not have a chance in the Tour if everyone stays healthy. Even if he is somehow at a higher level than Giro. But if he wins the Giro he should be able to ride Tour with less pressure. That might be fun. He might like the freedom and try forcing the race. If he is going to be too cautious and wheelsuck then I lose some respect for him.