La Route d'Occitanie du 1er au 4 août 2020

[Escarabajo]

Without TV coverage we can't have any conclusions yet... Maybe Froome unleashed an early attack to prove MAL who followed his wheel while Sivakov was babysitting Bernal and Co...

Is a good top 10, nice to see the frenchmen and the russians on that list...

That's quite a conclusion!
I was expecting worse from Froome. No surprise there.
And Superman, as Mayo said, he could have been on the phone talking with Batman.

 

[tobydawq]

Obvious photoshop

 

[Juan Pelota]

From that pictures looks like Froome pulled early and then dropped off and saved energy

 

[tobydawq]

And Superman, as Mayo said, he could have been on the phone talking with Batman.

Haha, that must be the assumption without any coverage to prove otherwise

 

[jaylew]

From that pictures looks like Froome pulled early and then dropped off and saved energy

Possible I guess, but you're jumping to some conclusions based on one still shot.

 

[Breezy1985]

Possible I guess, but you're jumping to some conclusions based on one still shot.

Its a zoom lens shot. The rest of the skytrain are pulling in front of Froome

 

[huangho]

Will be nice to see a duel between Evenepoel, Bernal and Pogacar on a stage like this one...

 

[CTQ]

he said great work from Froome.....

https://twitter.com/x/status/1290319614442905600

View: https://twitter.com/Brandtenburg94/status/1290319614442905600?s=20

 

[memyselfandI]

Ineos takes huuuge risk if they leave Froome out of the Tour. He is loyal for the team until the end. Bernal-Thomas spearhead will get domestique extravaganza, that can still backup if something happens.

 

[pink_jersey]

Judging by reports this was done "a la Sky" in their golden days. Castro, Froomey, Hart, Sivakov, Bernal on the last climb with Sivakov setting up Bernal for a last km attack with nobody able to follow and Sivakov even taking the 2nd spot Porte-like.

 

[jaylew]

Ineos takes huuuge risk if they leave Froome out of the Tour. He is loyal for the team until the end. Bernal-Thomas spearhead will get domestique extravaganza, that can still backup if something happens.

What's the risk? He throws a tantrum?

 

[search]

Will be nice to see a duel between Evenepoel, Bernal and Pogacar on a stage like this one...

maybe in a couple of years. At the moment, I'd say they are no competition for Bernal yet

 

[jaylew]

Just watched the highlights. Looks like the group was down to 14 when Froome pulled off, with TGH, Bernal, and Sivakov left for Ineos.

 

[Escarabajo]

Just watched the highlights. Looks like the group was down to 14 when Froome pulled off, with TGH, Bernal, and Sivakov left for Ineos.

Where are the highlights?

 

[CTQ]

Where are the highlights?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAgkGBh0R7E

 

[Jungle Cycle]

Siva really is in a superb form.. not even Pinot could hold the wheel..

 

[Escarabajo]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAgkGBh0R7E

Thanks.

 

[Escarabajo]

So Lopez was there when there were 8 left in the front group and then he dropped to 28th. Either he bonked or this is just a classic lack of miles on his legs. He should be fine for the Tour time. He needs to ride more to get up to speed.

As for Bernal is concerned. Look at the end. Fresh as a cucumber. The amount of riders at the bottom of the last climb indicates that they had easy pace on the stage. Sivakov looked very impressive as well.

 

[johnymax]

Bernal looks to be even stronger than last year. Good, he has to be if he wants to compete for the TdF title.
Sivakov was probably the strongest today. He really is impressive at the moment. The rumours from the training camp were true.
Froome not great but not that terrible either. I don't expect him to be in TdF winning form but he can be a strong domestic in the third week.
Ok performance from Pinot. He was one step behind the Ineos duo but he is on schedule imo.
Very strong ride from Vlasov.

 

[dutchdescent]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAgkGBh0R7E

Holy sh*t Bernal was flying in that last KM

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Bernal looks to be even stronger than last year. Good, he has to be if he wants to compete for the TdF title.

Agreed.

Those medium mountain stages and medium to high mountain stages in the first half should suit Thomas, with his killer uphill sprint. The "mountain" TT on the penultimate day is also way more up G's alley, IMO (although that could be an unpopular opinion)

And then there's guys like Roglic.

Bernal has to assert his dominance early on.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Holy sh*t Bernal was flying in that last KM

Disagree somewhat. Sivakov held back and only finished at 10 seconds.

Bernal's climbing is great, but isn't out of this world. Reminds me of his win in Gran Piemonte when Sosa was better than him. (Of course, on a climb that suited Sosa to a T, but still)

 

[dutchdescent]

Disagree somewhat. Sivakov held back and only finished at 10 seconds.

Bernal's climbing is great, but isn't out of this world. Reminds me of his win in Gran Piemonte when Sosa was better than him. (Of course, on a climb that suited Sosa to a T, but still)

You could be right. Though Sivakov himself was pushing it hard by the looks of it. Maybe held back a little. Difficult to say. Why did Vlasov not overtake him?

 

[Bolder]

I watched that final climb. Sivakov and Bernal barely broke a sweat. I thought Siv broke off his leadout to give Bernal the win.

 

[Red Rick]

These gaps are what you get when your domestiques drill everyone off the wheels lol. Many riders have a tendency to hold on for too long and lose a lot of time. It also flattened out towards the end.

Still some way to go before the Tour, I think the guys like Pinot and MAL still have time. Bernal was flying in Suisse too and then he wasn't great until the 3rd week of the Tour.

Also I thought Bernal was only a high altitude one trick pony

And when I say there's time for the others I mean to there's time to get a 4th place behind an Ineos 1-2