Itzulia Basque Country 2021, Spain, April 5 - April 10

[Eeslliw]

Looking ahead, when/if Roglic attacks McNulty on the last hill of the final stage, Pogi gets a free ride behind Roglic with a chance to come around in the final kilometer to take back those 20 seconds, or maybe less would be needed with time bonuses.

Exactly. Just plain stupid by Jumbo. Instead of just following wheel of Pogacar on last stage, now Roglic has to attack and Pogacar can just sit and enoy free ride. And he won't gain 23s by going 500m from finish but at least 2-3km before.
But it does make the race that more interesting, so we should be happy

 

[RedheadDane]

I made a post that wasnt the opposite of your post nor takes away anything from it yet you seem to think it does ...strange

But why were you even writing anything about how Pogacar quite possibly is happy for McNulty when quoting my post? Pogacar being happy for McNulty has nothing to do with what I wrote.

 

[topcat]

Team Jumbo: "We've always maintained Roglic is the most attacking rider in the peloton and on Saturday, he'll get a second chance to prove us right"

 

[Red Rick]

Am I the only one who sees Pogacar now needs to actually attack his own teammate to win the overall?

Roglic can take those 20 seconds off in the last 2km on Saturday, with Pogacar who needs to either pull for McNulty or follow Roglic (thus screwing his own teamate), drop Roglic (unlikely) & get those 20 seconds.

I mean hell, all week I've been reading comments about Pogacar attacking from a distance on the final stage. But that's not likely now is it? Considering it's his own teammate in the leader's jersey.

Attack long range > Be in group with Roglic + Pogi > Rogli has to ride > get free ride > offer Roglic his TT helmet > change bike > break Arrate record > win > $$$ > offer to pay for Roglic' therapy

 

[JosefK]

Am I the only one who sees Pogacar now needs to actually attack his own teammate to win the overall?

Roglic can take those 20 seconds off in the last 2km on Saturday, with Pogacar who needs to either pull for McNulty or follow Roglic (thus screwing his own teamate), drop Roglic (unlikely) & get those 20 seconds.

I mean hell, all week I've been reading comments about Pogacar attacking from a distance on the final stage. But that's not likely now is it? Considering it's his own teammate in the leader's jersey.

So what you're saying is . . . this isn't in the bag?

 

[tobydawq]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1342907218614738946

View: https://twitter.com/Inigo_Zubeldia/status/1342907218614738946


This definitely deserves a bump today! Aukera berriak!

 

[Escarabajo]

Nothing to see here. Keep walking please. McNulty will be dropped on Saturday by the Slovenians. Easily. And, most likely, it will still be decided between who is stronger between Pogacar and Roglic.

I think if there is a surprise it will come from someone else attacking from far away and the race being a mess from the beginning on Saturday.

 

[JosefK]

Jumbo, whether intentionally or not, have set the table for a firecracker race on Saturday.

 

[Rackham]

So what you're saying is . . . this isn't in the bag?

Pogacar has to gain 20 seconds on Roglic, who himself needs to gain 23 on McNulty (who lets face facts cannot withstand a Roglic attack).

And has Pogacar ever put 20 second on Roglic on a climb when attacking from the same group on a climb finish? It just seems weird to me to suddenly think Pogacar is totally A-Okay with leaving the overall win to Brandon McNulty.

Tomorrow, UAE have the race responsibility & they have the responsibility for controlling on Saturday's mountains as well, whilst Pogacar will need to either screw his own teammate & follow Roglic, or put team above his own personal ambitions & pull for McNulty.

Game on.

 

[BlueRoads]

Why would Pogacar not be okay with a team-mate winning Itzulia? He would be a very bad team-mate then. He's a Tour winner who wants to win the next Tour. Certainly he can give this to a strong teammate.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

That must be one of the worst tactical decisions I have seen in a long time

You obviously don't take much notice of Movistar!

 

[Sciatic]

They don't do it every time, Matzxin Fernandez is a Basque, and he knows this climb has a tricky finish so he went with Pogacar to recon it.

Pogacar has to gain 20 seconds on Roglic, who himself needs to gain 23 on McNulty (who lets face facts cannot withstand a Roglic attack).

And has Pogacar ever put 20 second on Roglic on a climb when attacking from the same group on a climb finish? It just seems weird to me to suddenly think Pogacar is totally A-Okay with leaving the overall win to Brandon McNulty.

Tomorrow, UAE have the race responsibility & they have the responsibility for controlling on Saturday's mountains as well, whilst Pogacar will need to either screw his own teammate & follow Roglic, or put team above his own personal ambitions & pull for McNulty.

Game on.

He’s the reigning TdF champion, why in the world would he not be okay with his teammate winning Tour of the Basque Country? Do you think he’s Lance-level egotistical? Or by “not okay with” do you mean Pog doesn’t trust that McNulty can hang on for the win?

ed. Blue Roads just said the same but typed faster

 

[johnymax]

Who the hell sits in that Jumbo car? And can't Roglic just yell at his teammates sometime? First Vingegaard in that break, then Tolhoek doing nothing, then on top of everything Vingegaard losing a stage against five guys that rode like a madmen for the last 20km, while he comfortably sat on the back of the group the whole time...

I actually think the tactics wasn't that bad. They tried a different approach ahead of the Tour. They are probably aware they don't have that strong of a team to control the race in the last stage. Now they have an excuse, it's UAE's race to lose.

But I thought Vingegaard would have won the stage. He really messed up. He also lost 4 bonus seconds to McNulty in the end. Tolhoek really isn't of any use on the descent and on the flat, so I didn't expect him to be of major help there.

We have a complicated situation now hehe. Certainly an interesting final stage ahead of us.

 

[yaco]

Lmao how steeps is that little climb right in the middle tomorrow?

Reckon the sprinters such as Impey, Cort, Smith and Aranburu need to be brave and get into the break - The GC teams will give them plenty of rope for an easy day.

 

[wheresmybrakes]

Why would Pogacar not be okay with a team-mate winning Itzulia? He would be a very bad team-mate then. He's a Tour winner who wants to win the next Tour. Certainly he can give this to a strong teammate.

No gifts in cycling!! Roglic would never forgive.

 

[cen]

The way I see it, PR must have been comfortable with the gap otherwise he would try to close some on his own. It will be interesting for sure.

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

Why would Pogacar not be okay with a team-mate winning Itzulia? He would be a very bad team-mate then. He's a Tour winner who wants to win the next Tour. Certainly he can give this to a strong teammate.

The problem is that Mcnulty will likely not be able to keep up with Roglic on Saturday...I am sure if there was a possibility for him to do so, Pogacar would pull for him. Right now, Roglic will need to make a move and then Pogacar can follow and counterattack? He will not stay back pulling the group like vinegaard did today

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

The way I see it, PR must have been comfortable with the gap otherwise he would try to close some on his own. It will be interesting for sure.

he realised how bad it would look If he went behind his teammate. So did Pogacar. I do not think this amount of time loss was in both their plans. Pogacar looked very very nervous at times.

 

[johnymax]

That's what commentator were suggesting. I also thought he should be pulled back at least for last flat section (but keep in mind that Roglic had another teammate in his group, who didn't work).

But if they had done that , I'm sure everybody would have been shitting on them. I think (hope) they see Vingegaard as a stronger climber than McNulty and another serious threat for the GC win. And a great chance for Vingegaard for a stage win today. But the Dane messed up in the finale, so the tactics became questionable.

 

[Rackham]

The problem is that Mcnulty will likely not be able to keep up with Roglic on Saturday...I am sure if there was a possibility for him to do so, Pogacar would pull for him. Right now, Roglic will need to make a move and then Pogacar can follow and counterattack? He will not stay back pulling the group like vinegaard did today

Vingegaard can also pull Roglic or attack McNulty, at which point what does Pogacar do? Pull for his teamate or drop him & follow the Jumbo guys?

Then there's the Ineos guys who're still pretty much in the mix (Yates) or thereabouts.

he realised how bad it would look If he went behind his teammate. So did Pogacar. I do not think this amount of time loss was in both their plans. Pogacar looked very very nervous at times.

Pogacar attacked at one point on the descent to distance Roglic (or isolate him). So he was clearly not "comfortable" with the way things were unfolding, even if it meant pulling the group back towards McNulty.

Fun stuff.

 

[SafeBet]

Saturday's memo for Jumbo: put at least a rider in the break, Roglic drops McNuts on Krabelin, bridges to teammate(s) and then it's mano a mano against Pog on Arrate.

It's probably better this way than having to defend the yellow jersey against multiple attacks.

 

[Sciatic]

I don’t know enough about McNulty to know how well he can fare on the final, tougher, stage against Roglic. But for folks who are dismissing his chances altogether, aren’t you ignoring what a high level he must be at (compared to GC guys with bigger targets this summer) given his huge performance in the TT here?

 

[bajbar]

Jumbo is not a super strong team that could control the last hard stage. If they all finished together on the stage today then todays situation would happen on Saturday - where Roglič would probably not have any teammates left and would have to cover both McNulty and Pogačar (and all the rest) himself through the whole stage. Now, all of a sudden that is UAE's job. This now means no crazy long range attacks by Pogačar on Saturday. Which in turn leads us to the favourites probably coming together to the last climb. Where Roglič is probably confident that he can take those 20 seconds (and some bonuses) on McNulty. If Primož was in the lead the race would probably explode very early on and who knows what would happen. Now the goal is clear - beat McNulty by 23 seconds and don't let Pogačar get away when Brandon gets dropped. All the rest is now up to UAE.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Saturday's memo for Jumbo: put at least a rider in the break, Roglic drops McNuts on Krabelin, bridges to teammate(s) and then it's mano a mano against Pog on Arrate.

It's probably better this way than having to defend the yellow jersey against multiple attacks.

As if Rabo could pull that one off, when they win something it's usually despite their team tactics and because their riders where the strongest.

 

[SafeBet]

I don’t know enough about McNulty to know how well he can fare on the final, tougher, stage against Roglic. But for folks who are dismissing his chances altogether, aren’t you ignoring what a high level he must be at (compared to GC guys with bigger targets this summer) given his huge performance in the TT here?

His level in TTs has been very good for a while now. But that doesn't necessarily translate to consistent climbing (yet). Climbs in this race are rather short which helps him but I'm not sure he can keep up with the top climbers if they open the gas early on Saturday.