Maillot Blanc: Who will take it?

[blaxland]

Voted Pinot but Tejay will be his main rival overall.Quintana will win a stage while looking after Valverde.And i think Tejay may spend a bit to much time looking after Cadel so..should be a good fight"

 

[Hugo87]

Voted for Quintana, because my hope is that he could put a show like Betancur in Il Giro and take the maillot blanc, but I would like Pinot to take it aswell, so I'll be happy for both.

 

[Bushman]

Coming in to his first TDF ever with no racing rythm at all I think Quintana will be very lucky if he is not 15 minutes behind after the first week.

 

[JimPanzen]

TJVG for white and top5 GC.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Oh so he failed on purpose in the first stage, and his uphil climbing on the MTT was also to help Frank, right?

Quintana will destroy him, even if the guy is not fully ready for a GT (top 3) he'll still destroy him.

Besides you said evans will win the tour, rights ACF? Seems like a joke but that's how you voted no? So at least you think evans is the leader, shouldn't tj sacrifice his changes for white? He'll need to use everthing he has to win that so no help for evans then.

No, he rode on the front for Frank. Not hard to work out that they would work for a Swiss rider in a Swiss race.

I think you know the answers to the questions in your final paragraph.

 

[nick101]

Coming in to his first TDF ever with no racing rythm at all I think Quintana will be very lucky if he is not 15 minutes behind after the first week.

That's a concern I had for Quintana. Skipping the tds or dauphine doesn't make sense. However, the first week of the tour is reasonably flat so its more than likely that he could ride himself into form. Quintana will certainly be a protected rider in those first stages so if he has any problems he'll have a strong team to support him, plus in the ttt he won't have too much difficulty if the team "pulled" him along.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Tejay Van Garderen - domestique
Thibaut Pinot - Not yet in that league
Nairo Quintana - domestique
Andrew Talansky - best bet
Michal Kwiatkowski - not enough talent
I am going for Talansky after seeing him climb after Froome & Porte.

 

[Miburo]

Tejay Van Garderen - domestique
Thibaut Pinot - Not yet in that league
Nairo Quintana - domestique
Andrew Talansky - best bet
Michal Kwiatkowski - not enough talent
I am going for Talansky after seeing him climb after Froome & Porte.

Aren't Martin and hesjedal in that team? Are those guys a domestique?

 

[Afrank]

They should each be given a free role, each can contend for top 10/stages, so don't think any of them will be stuck with only domestiqueing for another. Talansky is their guy to fight for white, so him especially shouldn't end up being forced into working for others too much.

 

[Gloin22]

Tejay Van Garderen - domestique
Thibaut Pinot - Not yet in that league
Nairo Quintana - domestique
Andrew Talansky - best bet
Michal Kwiatkowski - not enough talent
I am going for Talansky after seeing him climb after Froome & Porte.

You are having a laugh

He may not be ready at his age yet, considering he's more of classic man so far.

But one thing he has, is talent.... and heaps of it..

And how is Pinot not as good climber as Talansky. Pinot during July will hit peak and will be best climber from those beside quintana.

 

[Miburo]

Kwiatkowski is a beast, he might have the most all around talent in the entire peloton. I really hope he keeps improving, if so this guy will be pure greatness.

White jersey is way too early though.

 

[Afrank]

Yep, like I wrote in the OP, Kwiatkowski has a plethora of talent. The only big thing he hasn't shown himself able to do is be competitive over 3 weeks. But what better time to show that then the year he showed he could climb, TT, ride cobbles, and contend in one days?

 

[theyoungest]

Yes, he's shown consistency over three weeks, and he's become even stonger than last year, which he showed in the last stage of the Dauphiné. He doesn't have as much pressure to cope with as his teammates Martin and Hesjedal, so he can make his TdF debut with relative ease. Although it's probably just a matter of time with a huge amount of talent, Quintana has yet to display consistency in a GT. Added to that he has done his preparation at home, not racing since LBL. Pinot could have the same problem in consistency, but he's a very good climber potentially.(crappy descender though) Van Garderen is just way overrated as a climber, and the TT's aren't to his advantage. Kwiatko is tired and notlikely to get into top shape again, and seems more likely to be a pawn in Cav's train.

To me the battle will be Talansky vs. Pinot, with a slight advantage to the first.

In the Vuelta, Talansky climbed at about the level of Robert "I couldn't climb anymore if my life depended on it" Gesink. I think beating Pinot will be a different ball game, certainly if you take into consideration that last year's Tour was Pinot's first GT, and he's two years younger.

 

[richard_91]

For those who put stock into it
Bet 365 has it as
TJVG
Quintana
Pinot
Talansky
Meyer
Kwiatkowski

 

[jaylew]

Tough call.

He might have the most talent but like others, I am worried about Nairo's 1st week. No recent racing and it seems like he might be a bit more prone to get caught behind a split in an unpredictable stage in the 1st half of the race.

Talansky is undervalued. He being the only rider to stay with Froome/Porte at the Dauphiné after an period away from racing and being sick in the early part of the race speaks volumes to me. He seems like he's timed his form perfectly. I think he'll be better than TJ ultimately but it's his 1st Tour so there's still some uncertainty. The final TT definitely suits him, though.

TJVG has the most experience but seemed flat at Suisse after winning Cali. I'm not sure he'll be at top form. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if he won white.

Pinot is in good form and will probably be the only one of the 5 who won't work for another rider. He also has a good chance at being top overall Frenchman and will be supported massively by the crowds. Will lose time to the others in the 1st TT for sure and like Nairo will have to be very attentive in the 1st half of the race.

I suppose Kwiatkowski could surprise me but I don't see him having any chance at white. He might not finish behind all the above but there's no way he climbs well enough to win it. At least one of the above will be climbing near the top guys in the 3rd week and will put loads of time into him.

It might come down to how much Talansky, Nairo, and TJ have to work for teammates. I'll go with Nairo.

 

[jaylew]

and he's two years younger.

Or 1 year younger. Both are equally accurate.

 

[Escarabajo]

Tejay Van Garderen - domestique
Thibaut Pinot - Not yet in that league
Nairo Quintana - domestique
Andrew Talansky - best bet
Michal Kwiatkowski - not enough talent
I am going for Talansky after seeing him climb after Froome & Porte.

To think that TJVG is a domestique is not being realistic. There is no way that this guy does not have a free role. He will be relegated to helper only if Cadel has a good shot at winning the Tour. And that won't happen. Similar situation with Quintana.

 

[theyoungest]

Talansky is undervalued. He being the only rider to stay with Froome/Porte at the Dauphiné after an period away from racing and being sick in the early part of the race speaks volumes to me. He seems like he's timed his form perfectly. I think he'll be better than TJ ultimately but it's his 1st Tour so there's still some uncertainty. The final TT definitely suits him, though.

Staying with Froome/Porte... that's not what happened, of course. Froome practically hit the breaks on that climb.

 

[jaylew]

Yeah, I should have written that differently and I almost did. You know what I meant. He was the last one with them.

 

[ILovecycling]

If he has free role and 1st week without falls - Nairito
In terms of climbing only Pinot can ride with him.

 

[JimPanzen]

I think Quintana is very strong, but I also think the Tour is a special race. High speed on every single stage, I fear this will wear him out. About that, is it possible that the Tour never was good ground for small light weight climbers but for more robust riders? ...I mean apart from TTing.

 

[xanadu]

is it possible that the Tour never was good ground for small light weight climbers but for more robust riders? ...I mean apart from TTing.

Good point the Tour has not been kind to mountain pxies in the past. Heras, Mancebo, Galdiano to name but a few who arrived with great expectations and were left to perish.

 

[Escarabajo]

I think Quintana is very strong, but I also think the Tour is a special race. High speed on every single stage, I fear this will wear him out. About that, is it possible that the Tour never was good ground for small light weight climbers but for more robust riders? ...I mean apart from TTing.

Some few have succeeded. In some cases they were heavily related to clinic topics.

The first one that comes to mind was Lucien Van Impe.

Pantani was another one but we all know why.

Heras did alright when he was with US Postal and Kelme.

Herrera had problems in the first Tour but then he relatively succeeded on his strong skills. He knew his limitations and never attempted to win the Tour. He lost a lot of time on TT and flats. I venture to say that Quintana is more gifted that Herrera. Having said that, Quintana can pay for his lack of experience in the Tour. I still expect him to fly in the mountains barring any crashes or illness.

 

[Angliru]

Van Garderen is a far superior time trialler than his main threat Quintana and I think over three weeks, Van Garderen will be better than him on the climbs. Van garderen easily. Amazing how fantasy is trumping reality on this poll.

The same Van Garderen that was outclimbed at ToC by US domestic team rider who is likely a level behind his native Colombian's Quintana, Henao, Uran, and Betancur in the mountains? It's your belief that come the Tour's third week Quintana will be running on fumes due to his servitude to Valverde? That Teejay's maturity and experience from having ridden the Tour last year will give him the edge as the Tour progresses?

I think Van Garderen is not the elite climber that he thinks he is and will ultimately lose minutes to Quintana in the Tour's mountains. Also with one of the itt's being hilly I don't see him gaining enough of an advantage against the clock to offset his losses in the mountains.

 

[Angliru]

Okay, take out Pinot's breakaway victory out of the equation, place another minute in for the team time trial this year and include the time TJVG would have had if he did not wait for Evans on La Tousuirre.

TJVG will crush Pinot and was stronger than Pinot last TDF...FACT.

You know, typing "FACT" in all caps doesn't make what is just your opinion into reality. That could be seen as your fantasy.