Re: Re:
I mostly agree with that thought, although as has been noted, the template for a GT winner is a lot broader than we think it is. Whatever you think of LA, he went from a one-day World Champion to 7 time tour something or other, Wiggins went from trackie to winner, Thomas went from one-day contender to winner. Given that JA has shown pretty good tactical sense, has a reasonably light physique, is good on short punchy climbs and can ride 300k with minimal energy loss, I think it's within the realm of possibility. Just not on DQS.
Red Rick said:Probably.can3478 said:Red Rick said:Gee, why weren't they talking about a TdF victory when Alaphilippe was getting torn to shreds on "his terrain" in Tirreno AdriaticoBolder said:Alexandre B. said:Unsurprisingly, despite having the best one-day racer in the world for the first time in gazillion years, Parisian medias are all babbling about an elusive Tour win.
They were definitely talking about it on L'Equipe channel after MSR, but it's natural, isn't it? You look at Wiggins/Froome/Thomas coming out either from nowhere or another discipline to win the TdF and project that onto Alaphilippe -- who even hinted recently that he'd like to win the TdF someday.
To be honest, he'd probably have to switch teams as DQS is geared toward one-day races. Maybe in 2020 let him ride for GC and see what happens...
In pre-season interview, he said he was targeting races in March. So maybe he was working too much on sprinting skill mean while losing his other skill.
Perhaps it's because those stages were stage 4 and 5 in a stage race.
Whatever it is, there's no way Alaphilipp has enough room to improve his climbing to top 5 in a GT.
I mostly agree with that thought, although as has been noted, the template for a GT winner is a lot broader than we think it is. Whatever you think of LA, he went from a one-day World Champion to 7 time tour something or other, Wiggins went from trackie to winner, Thomas went from one-day contender to winner. Given that JA has shown pretty good tactical sense, has a reasonably light physique, is good on short punchy climbs and can ride 300k with minimal energy loss, I think it's within the realm of possibility. Just not on DQS.