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[Zinoviev Letter]

I expected more from Bennett - that was a complete non-sprint. He admitted to not having the legs today, though...

not in shape yet. You can still win a bunch sprint if you have enough baseline speed (and a great lead out) but you can’t compete when it gets a bit harder.

 

[yaco]

Hermans out for 2 months - Valls out - Yates doubtful for stage3 - It was a painful crash.

 

[42x16ss]

If it happens to be the case, we'll just call it the rainbow jersey curse.
His training must've been affected by the title as mentioned earlier.

Pedersen will not be good yet because he raced right to the very end of last season because of the WC, and will only be part way into his preseason training.

This is normal, and when you also consider his relatively young age Trek won't want Pedersen flying yet.

There is nothing to worry about. Start being concerned if he's doing nothing at Paris Nice or other March stage races.

 

[Koronin]

If it happens to be the case, we'll just call it the rainbow jersey curse.
His training must've been affected by the title as mentioned earlier.

I think we can be sure that happened.

 

[claude cat]

Images from Adelaide show it quite wet this morning. although the forecast doesn't have a huge amount of rain in it.
Perhaps it will favour someone like Pedersen today.

 

[Bonimenier]

Images from Adelaide show it quite wet this morning. although the forecast doesn't have a huge amount of rain in it.
Perhaps it will favour someone like Pedersen today.

Doubt he will have good results in TDU. Doesn't look in great form/shape just yet and clearly is there as a helper for Porte.

 

[Velolover2]

Porte is 8 kg lighter than Dennis and Impey.

If there isn't a massive headwind, his advantage on Paracombe should be greater than on Willunga.

 

[RedheadDane]

Richie!

 

[sir fly]

Excellent performance by Porte.
Good to see Yates isn't suffering from yesterday's crash.

They're having good weather conditions there, after all the problems.

 

[Koronin]

Not surprising to see Porte to do that.
Nice to see Yates appears alright after the crash yesterday.

 

[yaco]

Porte is in better form than the last 2 TDU's which augurs well for 2020, as he is the type of rider who is better at holding form during the year, as opposed to chasing form.

 

[Velolover2]

Porte is going Super Saiyan God in TDU as always. And good to see that Yates is well.

If he was at 100%, he could have challenged Porte for the win.

 

[tobydawq]

I'm a bit surprised by Porte. I had got the feeling that he was beginning to lose a bit of motivation but that was not particularly evident today.

Still, his winning margin was much smaller than in 2017, and while he faced the head-wind, so did Yates who also single-handedly led the chase. But Yates is also a much better rider than the competition of 2017. So it's a little difficult to assess Porte's level compared to that day.

Impressive by Power as well, and Bystrøm who was 12th, only 15 seconds off!?

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Wow, Yates is a beast. Would have won TDU if not for that nasty crash.

 

[cobblesandstones]

Pedersen needs a brutal race. He is almost more likely to win Roubaix or Flanders than he is to win a stage in a week long race or a GT.

He's there as a helper for Porte and did a good job today again. He will win raceS in the jersey. But it's also unrealistic to expect him win all year long. He just turned 24 and he has years and years to achieve the consistency of a big big champion. I personally think it's great to see a worldchamp work for others until the tank is empty.

 

[rick james]

Porte never learns, having legs in January means you don’t have legs for the GC in July

 

[Mayomaniac]

Porte never learns, having legs in January means you don’t have legs for the GC in July

The biggest problem is that he tries to keep this kind of shape for Paris-Nice and other spring races.
If one would sacrifice some of his spring goals resetting and having a proper peak for the Tour would be possible, but the guy seems to be unwilling to make changes.

 

[del1962]

Porte has won a stage of the TDU for each of the last 7 years

 

[will-10]

All the Pedersen comments are weird. It's January, and he's obviously here as a helper.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

The biggest problem is that he tries to keep this kind of shape for Paris-Nice and other spring races.
If one would sacrifice some of his spring goals resetting and having a proper peak for the Tour would be possible, but the guy seems to be unwilling to make changes.

His record in three week races suggests that he has made a wise decision to pocket as many one week races as he can.

 

[Earns1985]

So until now 3 stages and three big names with their first wins in the season.

 

[RedheadDane]

So until now 3 stages and three big names with their first wins in the season.

Bennett taking his first win of the season at the earliest possible opportunity.

 

[Red Rick]

His record in three week races suggests that he has made a wise decision to pocket as many one week races as he can.

It's kinda dumb cause there's a very clear middle way by simply not being this good in TDU while still getting results in March/April. Or he considers this easy pickings, etc. It's probably just that TDU motivates him way more than other races though.

 

[Earns1985]

Bennett taking his first win of the season at the earliest possible opportunity.

I see him also as favourite for the coming two days...

 

[happytramp]

I see him also as favourite for the coming two days...

I'm not sure. He's been pretty low key about his chances and admitted to not being at his best yet (which is understandable)... but if it's raced fairly easily and he's delivered perfectly to the last 300m then he's always got a good chance. I think Philipsen will get one anyway. Ewan seems in good shape too.