Le Tour 2018 stage 16:Carcassonne - Bagnères-de-Luchon 218km

[franic]

Re:

Why wouldn't Yates who was the best climber in that break attack from further out and get a bigger gap for the descent ?

Not obviously the best with Pozzovivo, Gesink, Mollema etc

 

[ThePirate81]

Re:

Why wouldn't Yates who was the best climber in that break attack from further out and get a bigger gap for the descent ?

He didn't have so much left in the tank.
Alaphilippe was in total control on Portillon.
Favourite for the Worlds if Nibali won't recover.

 

[IndianCyclist]

All of this plays into the hands of Thomas. If three of the stages are recovery rides before the last MTF, he could very well survive the third week without any problems and win the TDF

 

[Lequack]

I guess Froome is confident he can put 1:30 on G in the TT.

 

[movingtarget]

Re:

I know this Tour has not been as good. I give you that. But what were you expecting out of this stage GC wise????

Seriously. This type of stage never delivers!

The route hasn't worked this year so far. See what tomorrow brings. Next year will probably be more like a Vuelta !

 

[Eli]

Re: Re:

Seems like everyone is scared about tomorrow’s stage, very surprised nobody at least attempted something apart from Landa’s half hearted attack.

Most likely nothing is going to happen tomorrow as well

I shouldn't laugh but this is most probably true

 

[yaco]

Re:

Why wouldn't Yates who was the best climber in that break attack from further out and get a bigger gap for the descent ?

Yates was unlucky - Who would think Alaphalippe would be best of the chasing group and get to within 20 to 25 seconds at the top of the final climb.

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Why wouldn't Yates who was the best climber in that break attack from further out and get a bigger gap for the descent ?

Yates was unlucky - Who would think Alaphalippe would be best of the chasing group and get to within 20 to 25 seconds at the top of the final climb.

Sums up Michelton's race so far. I thought they were going to salvage a stage win.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Re:

I know this Tour has not been as good. I give you that. But what were you expecting out of this stage GC wise????

Seriously. This type of stage never delivers!

The route hasn't worked this year so far. See what tomorrow brings. Next year will probably be more like a Vuelta !

I don't think the problem was the route. Well, maybe the Pyrenees should have been a bit harder but the outcome would have been the same. The Sky domination really is bad for the fans and the spectacle of the race. Very similar to when US Postal was dominating. In this case the only interesting thing is the potential fight for yellow between two teammates. With Dumo as an outsider.

 

[ontheroad]

What would the expected time gaps between Thomas, Froome and Dumoulin in Saturdays TT if we are trying to calculate the virtual standings.

I'd expect Dumoulin to gain about 30 seconds on Froome and about 1:00 - 1:30 on Thomas but it's all guess work based on past performances.

That would leave Thomas with a cushion of about 30 seconds over Dumoulin and 50 seconds over Froome. Either Froome or Dumoulin need to find this time in either tomorrow or Fridays stage to put themselves in pole position before the TT. If they don't then I think Thomas has enough in hand as it stands.

 

[yaco]

Re: Re:

Why wouldn't Yates who was the best climber in that break attack from further out and get a bigger gap for the descent ?

Yates was unlucky - Who would think Alaphalippe would be best of the chasing group and get to within 20 to 25 seconds at the top of the final climb.

Sums up Michelton's race so far. I thought they were going to salvage a stage win.

Think Yates would have just held on to win the stage if he stayed on his bike - Matt White seemed irritated in his post race interview - Anyway IMO, MS should never have been targetting GC in the TDF with the style of GC riders who are team leaders - Their riders are best suited to the Giro and the Vuelta.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 16:Carcassonne - Bagnères-de-Luchon 2

This stage design was clearly not good. You could see the last climb was too easy and the gaps between penultimate and last climb too big. This was always going to be a useless leg softener.

Let's hope for carnage tomorrow. Otherwise Thomas wins le Tour.

 

[perico]

What’s the point of finishing in the town after not that difficult of climbs when Superbagneres is right there begging to be climbed for the first time in almost 30 years?

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 16:Carcassonne - Bagnères-de-Luchon 2

This stage design was clearly not good. You could see the last climb was too easy and the gaps between penultimate and last climb too big. This was always going to be a useless leg softener.

Let's hope for carnage tomorrow. Otherwise Thomas wins le Tour.

I would rather see a tough intermediate stage with a hill finish than a stage like today with another descent at the end.

 

[happytramp]

Everyone's hands are tied. Froome isn't allowed attack. Dumolin can't risk an attack. Thomas doesn't need to attack. They're all waiting for the TT and have been this past week.

 

[jaylew]

Re:

What would the expected time gaps between Thomas, Froome and Dumoulin in Saturdays TT if we are trying to calculate the virtual standings.

I'd expect Dumoulin to gain about 30 seconds on Froome and about 1:00 - 1:30 on Thomas but it's all guess work based on past performances.

That would leave Thomas with a cushion of about 30 seconds over Dumoulin and 50 seconds over Froome. Either Froome or Dumoulin need to find this time in either tomorrow or Fridays stage to put themselves in pole position before the TT. If they don't then I think Thomas has enough in hand as it stands.

I don't think there will be major differences between G, Froome, Roglic, and Dumo. I wouldn't even be surprised if they were all within 30 seconds of each other. Kinda odd that arguably the 4 best TTers in the peloton among GC guys are sitting 1-4 in the Tour before we've had any ITT kms.

 

[guncha]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 16:Carcassonne - Bagnères-de-Luchon 2

Grand Bornard and Luchon, two mountain stages with decents had no GC action. Why to include such kind of stages in TDF? MTFs bring at least some kind of action.

 

[ThePirate81]

Any news of Demare?

 

[ice&fire]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 16:Carcassonne - Bagnères-de-Luchon 2

Grand Bornard and Luchon, two mountain stages with decents had no GC action. Why to include such kind of stages in TDF? MTFs bring at least some kind of action.

The problem is when they come just before two harder mountain stages

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

What would the expected time gaps between Thomas, Froome and Dumoulin in Saturdays TT if we are trying to calculate the virtual standings.

I'd expect Dumoulin to gain about 30 seconds on Froome and about 1:00 - 1:30 on Thomas but it's all guess work based on past performances.

That would leave Thomas with a cushion of about 30 seconds over Dumoulin and 50 seconds over Froome. Either Froome or Dumoulin need to find this time in either tomorrow or Fridays stage to put themselves in pole position before the TT. If they don't then I think Thomas has enough in hand as it stands.

I don't think there will be major differences between G, Froome, Roglic, and Dumo. I wouldn't even be surprised if they were all within 30 seconds of each other. Kinda odd that arguably the 4 best TTers in the peloton among GC guys are sitting 1-4 in the Tour before we've had any ITT kms.

I think it says more about some of the opposition who are clearly off their game.

 

[ice&fire]

Re:

Any news of Demare?

He's been seen taking a direct shortcut from Mente to Luchon

 

[Poursuivant]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 16:Carcassonne - Bagnères-de-Luchon 2

Grand Bornard and Luchon, two mountain stages with decents had no GC action. Why to include such kind of stages in TDF? MTFs bring at least some kind of action.

It’s to help Bardet.

 

[Escarabajo]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 16:Carcassonne - Bagnères-de-Luchon 2

Grand Bornard and Luchon, two mountain stages with decents had no GC action. Why to include such kind of stages in TDF? MTFs bring at least some kind of action.

I have always complained about finishes on descends and people in here gets very animated that are more fun and bring more action. It could very well be (when that happens) but if we play the statistics it will always be better to go with MTF. It just assures us of some action.

 

[ontheroad]

Re:

Everyone's hands are tied. Froome isn't allowed attack. Dumolin can't risk an attack. Thomas doesn't need to attack. They're all waiting for the TT and have been this past week.

Roglic is more than happy finishing 4th and he is out of contention for the overall, outside chance of a podium if one of the top 3 crack.

I can see Dumoulin taking over a minute on Thomas in the TT but not enough to overhaul him. I think he has got enough to overhaul Froome on GC (only needs 11 seconds).

Is he happy finishing second though? I don't think so, hopefully not for the spectacle as otherwise we will see a load more defensive riding for the remaining stages.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Le Tour 2018 stage 16:Carcassonne - Bagnères-de-Luchon 2

Grand Bornard and Luchon, two mountain stages with decents had no GC action. Why to include such kind of stages in TDF? MTFs bring at least some kind of action.

Because either the stage design or the placing of the stage is atrocious? Col de Portillion is a big fat nothingburger that wouldn't do jack as an MTF either.

Flash back 8 months, the praise there was for this Tour design. Chaos would reign in the mountains....