Groupama FDJ - Official Thread

[Red Rick]

FDJ will get nothing either way. Sorry to tell you that mate

 

[Tonton]

Re:

FDJ will get nothing either way. Sorry to tell you that mate

I don't think that my chouchou can win the whole thing, but a podium is possible. That is with a solid TTT performance. Yes, Pinot got a free minute on stage 18 at Il Giro, but he lost more than four against the clock. Against a super Dumoulin, who delivered the best GT performance of the year. With only 31km in ITT like at this upcoming Tour, he could have won. His third week was big. He was strong.

After that, we saw in '14 that things happen. So why not? But with Demare and his train, no way: a top-5 is the best that Tibopino can get.

 

[axl]

Pinot could target the Giro, and still go to the Tour and target stages.
That's what he's done this year, but he felt ill at the tour.
It's the best for every body :
- same program than last year, so the preparation should be at least better
- he is at the tour, to please sponsors, but don't need mountains support or rouleurs for the TTT. Demare can have a full train.
- Pinot is happy, he can be at the italian races he likes. He's at the tour without pressure. And (with no illness), he can obviously win stages from breakaways (also KOM?)

 

[yaco]

Pinot has stated he will never again do the Giro/TDF double.

 

[Chrispol]

Re:

Pinot has stated he will never again do the Giro/TDF double.

Yes... and yet he said Tuesday that he'll maybe do the Giro as a second objective before the Tour in 2018...

Maybe he talked in th heat of the moment, or like he said this is his bad preparation before the race (wanted to defend the jersey and racing the National made him stop the bike too few days) which prevent him to be better at the Tour and he is willing to give it another go with a better schedule.

Actually he said that for the first time, he is going to start the season in the Tour du Haut-Var at the end of February, instead of the Marseillaise in January, wich is a good thing because he seems totally spent every time he race the Tour.

 

[Tonton]

Same reaction as last year, then the Giro presentation took place, and Tibopino was again ecstatic. Heat of the moment. In the end, his contract expires after '18, the sponsor has its agenda, Madiot will be in the middle, who knows?

But what I know (and I strongly disagree with axl) is that Thibaut can't screw up his next TdF. Look at '15: huge stage win...so what? Even knowledgeable members on this very forum only remember 16th overall and a stage win; they forgot what really happened, the first week of hell followed by a strong performance and "redemption" on AdH.

For the average fan, all that matters is the GC. Ask Voekler. Fair or unfair, TP's record-breaking '12 and '14 podium performance have set very high expectations. He needs a top-5 (at least) for his Tour to be considered a success. He can do it. With one more week between Giro and Tour, no nationals, doing both is feasible. Very risky though. Probably too risky.

And in order to stand a chance at a top-5 or better at the TdF, we can't have a train for Demare taking half the roster spots. Thibaut needs the best TTT lineup. And Demare to dom on the cobbles.

 

[rbl85]

Last year Pinot never said that he would do the Tour. Next year Pinot will do Tour and Vuelta

 

[Chrispol]

Re:

Last year Pinot never said that he would do the Tour. Next year Pinot will do Tour and Vuelta

Don't think so, he also said that this is a posiblility but that he can be in form without doing the Vuelta. He doesn't look like he wanted to ride the spanish race. I think he's got bad memory about 2014 when he left the race sick.(again...)

 

[Tonton]

That's why doubles Giro-Tour or Tour-Vuelta are a bad idea...

 

[Alpe-Thibaut]

Pinot should say no to any race held by ASO except La Vuelta

 

[Chrispol]

https://twitter.com/RSinkeldam/status/933036894279041024

https://twitter.com/jacopoguarnieri/status/932634002166558720

Meanwhile, 1915 training methods by Marc Madiot.

 

[manolo57]

I’m curious to know what Vaughters is going to say about that

 

[Tonton]

Rocky IV style, the recipe that will defeat the skeleton of Drago, a.k.a. Froome in July.

You gotta love the '80s. Better this than sending mixed signals, going to Hawaii, wear island bird shirts and grow moustaches...and showcase...Ferrari .

 

[Chrispol]

FDJ becomes Groupama-FDJ and its budget will be 30% higher than it is today (~16-20M€)

Moving on to the official thread.

More news :

- The new jersey will be unveiled the 31th January and will be used the first time on Paris-Nice. According to Jeremy Roy, it's beautiful

- The team will develop a continental team starting in 2019. Wondering if they'll use the CC etupes since a lot of rider are coming from them.

- And the team will keep its "no sponsor on National champion jersey" tradition. You can sleep at peace Ramon.

 

[Nirvana]

We have a new case with a FDJ rider that claim that was intentionally crashed out by a fellow rider.
https://as.com/ciclismo/2018/04/02/mas_ciclismo/1522687415_525382.html

 

[MuskyOurSaviour]

Davide Cimolai
@cimo89
Replying to @jacopoguarnieri @tonymartin85 @tonythetiger_1
He should just do the individual time trial.. The 90% of riders don’t like him



Oh snap, I love peleton drama

 

[Tonton]

Re:

We have a new case with a FDJ rider that claim that was intentionally crashed out by a fellow rider.
https://as.com/ciclismo/2018/04/02/mas_ciclismo/1522687415_525382.html

That, in races can happen...never said intentional...have you ever raced? These things can happen. And TM's bike handling skills may not be that great, there are past races that could hint that. Your post comes across as a Mos-CON fanatic trying to make a point: yikes...

 

[Nirvana]

I've celebrated Moscon as a rider because i think he's maybe the biggest young talent in the peloton and i think that next sunday he could win Roubaix but that's the athlete aspect and doesn't have nothing to do with how he's as a person and what i think of him as a person.

Just to remind some months ago i was criticized here for being too harsh with him after saying that he was a racist cheater and a bad person that probably will never change his behaviours.

I don't need to make a point, i only posted this because i find a bit funny that happened again to a FDJ rider. If Moscon will be found guilty about his incedent he should be banned for a long time and not a fake ban like the one after his racial abuse, there is no doubt about that.

 

[GenericBoonenFan]

So what's going on with Konovalovas? He hasn't raced since PR?

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Will be interested to see how Gaudu goes as leader this year. Démare returns for the first time since 2018.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1405940968021532678

View: https://twitter.com/GroupamaFDJ/status/1405940968021532678

 

[IndianCyclist]

Gaudu has one helper while the rest are for Demare. Talk about high maintenance and also about the team confidence in Gaudu. Even if Gaudu were to be in the yellow, he would promptly lose it for insufficient team support.

 

[Pinot's goat]

Gaudu has one helper while the rest are for Demare. Talk about high maintenance and also about the team confidence in Gaudu. Even if Gaudu were to be in the yellow, he would promptly lose it for insufficient team support.

They know there is no realistic scenario where Gaudu gets yellow, for him this TDF is just experience, 6-10 on GC is a good resulty, he does not need a team to get that.

 

[ciranda]

Gaudu has one helper while the rest are for Demare. Talk about high maintenance and also about the team confidence in Gaudu. Even if Gaudu were to be in the yellow, he would promptly lose it for insufficient team support.

I would say two, Armirail and Madouas are guys for the mountains.

 

[IndianCyclist]

I would say two, Armirail and Madouas are guys for the mountains.

Armirail is more of a TTist. So he would be put to work in the 1st week for Demare in the train. After that will he have energy for mountains is anyone's guess.

 

[carolina]

Gaudu and Madouas should lose time and then go crazy in the mountains to win some stages. Polka dot jersey would also be nice.