Maillot Blanc: Who will take it?

[greenedge]

If Kwiatowski had made that group of Saxo... things could have been different. He has a chance and is riding very well, quite a few good sprint finishes/ a good ITT. However Quintana looks to be one of the best riders in the race going uphill/ can now ride for GC, so the 3rd week should suit him a lot.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

If Kwiatowski had made that group of Saxo... things could have been different. He has a chance and is riding very well, quite a few good sprint finishes/ a good ITT. However Quintana looks to be one of the best riders in the race going uphill/ can now ride for GC, so the 3rd week should suit him a lot.

he sitll wouldn't have had a chance. kwiatkowski will lose at least 10 minutes in the mountains. you will see

 

[SafeBet]

he sitll wouldn't have had a chance. kwiatkowski will lose at least 10 minutes in the mountains. you will see

As much as I love Kwiatkowski, I agree. He's been using a lot of energy both for himself and working for Cav. And I don't think he's a three week rider just yet.

 

[notrolfsorensen]

Kwiatkowski will fight for top-10. Quintana will fight for podium. Quintana is head and shoulders over Kwiatkowski in high mountains, and possibly head and shoulders above all else, barring Froome - although i still hope Contador comes into giro11-form.

So really no contest. Quintana FTW

 

[Afrank]

1.KWIATKOWSKI Michal 55h 27' 42''
2.QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander + 00' 34''
3.TALANSKY Andrew GARMIN - SHARP + 01' 10''

Talansky back in it? Still a minute gap, and still plenty of climbing to come will play to Quintana's favor.

Movistar will have to be careful to make sure Talansky doesn't get in any more breaks like today though.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

1.KWIATKOWSKI Michal 55h 27' 42''
2.QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander + 00' 34''
3.TALANSKY Andrew GARMIN - SHARP + 01' 10''

Talansky back in it? Still a minute gap, and still plenty of climbing to come will play to Quintana's favor.

Movistar will have to be careful to make sure Talansky doesn't get in any more breaks like today though.

Very smart racing by Garmin again today. Hopefully Talansky won't pay too much for the effort on Ventuox.

 

[theyoungest]

1.KWIATKOWSKI Michal 55h 27' 42''
2.QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander + 00' 34''
3.TALANSKY Andrew GARMIN - SHARP + 01' 10''

Talansky back in it? Still a minute gap, and still plenty of climbing to come will play to Quintana's favor.

Movistar will have to be careful to make sure Talansky doesn't get in any more breaks like today though.

He will lose those 6 minutes again tomorrow. Don't underestimate a day in the break, certainly one that took so long to establish.

 

[Afrank]

He will lose those 6 minutes again tomorrow. Don't underestimate a day in the break, certainly one that took so long to establish.

I agree, Quintana will crush Ventoux tomorrow and take back white. I do hope talansky can put in a god performance though. Would be great to see him climb into the top 10.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

I agree, Quintana will crush Ventoux tomorrow and take back white. I do hope talansky can put in a god performance though. Would be great to see him climb into the top 10.

lol. he'slucky not to lose 7 minutes tomorrow after todays break

 

[cineteq]

lol. he'slucky not to lose 7 minutes tomorrow after todays break

He said he's targeting the 3rd week, beware!

 

[pastronef]

pitbull Talansky back in the fight for White!

he has the TT on his side, and maybe a condition on the rise

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

pitbull Talansky back in the fight for White!

he has the TT on his side, and maybe a condition on the rise

the itt is very hard and quintana should do better there than talansky. more similar to pais vasco itt, even harder

 

[Dazed and Confused]

After the dawg show on stage 15:

1 (2) QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander Movistar Team 61:17:30
2 (1) KWIATKOWSKI Michal Omega Pharma - Quick-Step 2:11
3 (3) TALANSKY Andrew Garmin - Sharp 6:45
4 (4) BARDET Romain AG2R La Mondiale 18:03

Talansky dropped about 6 minutes to Quintana (or almost all the gain from stage 14) and just over 3 minutes to Kwia.

Both Quintana and Kwia continues to shine brightly.

 

[Pentacycle]

Of course Talansky would've lost 3 min's anyways, so it wasn't that bad of a decision to go in the break yesterday.

 

[Forunculo]

The 3rd week is Quintana reign, so no more competition for the white jersey.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

The 3rd week is Quintana reign, so no more competition for the white jersey.

Probably, but Kwia was pretty good today imo.

 

[Sciocco]

Assuming there is no difference on Tuesday...

Possibility that Kwia does well enough on the ITT to take back the white and then Quintana takes it back on Alpe (or after) for a double switch in the last few days?

Also, could a few riders from OPQS bury themselves to try and keep Kwia in contact with Quintana?

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Assuming there is no difference on Tuesday...

Possibility that Kwia does well enough on the ITT to take back the white and then Quintana takes it back on Alpe (or after) for a double switch in the last few days?

Also, could a few riders from OPQS bury themselves to try and keep Kwia in contact with Quintana?

well, they did today. No reason to think they won't do that again. Although not sure how much it helps, as just about everybody Kwia competes with in the GC are still in the group when the last OPQS support rider drops off.

If Kwia wants to win this, he probably needs to do something on stage 16 on the descend into Gap. Difficult.

 

[Sciocco]

well, they did today. No reason to think they won't do that again. Although not sure how much it helps, as just about everybody Kwia competes with in the GC are still in the group when the last OPQS support rider drops off.

If Kwia wants to win this, he probably needs to do something on stage 16 on the descend into Gap. Difficult.

At the same time, he doesn't want to burn himself out the day before the ITT where he could see his biggest gains.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

At the same time, he doesn't want to burn himself out the day before the ITT where he could see his biggest gains.

Stage 16 below:

I think Kwia should go for it on the last climb of the stage. Use Velits/Chavanel on the climb and go for it on the descend. Don't think it will hurt Kwia's chances much in the next day ITT.

 

[Ryo Hazuki]

Assuming there is no difference on Tuesday...

Possibility that Kwia does well enough on the ITT to take back the white and then Quintana takes it back on Alpe (or after) for a double switch in the last few days?

Also, could a few riders from OPQS bury themselves to try and keep Kwia in contact with Quintana?

kwiatkowksi is lucky to finish ahead 1 second fo quintana in that itt. it's way too hard

 

[Gloin22]

Kwiatkowski will NOT win the White. It was clear from beginning.

I think it's a massive feat he's still in a small contention for it.

Kwiatkowski is not yet a climber that can challenge for white or likes of Quitnana, he's more rounded as seen by his numerous results just in the Tour this year already.

I think his goal would be now to keep Top 10 till the end, which will be quite tough for him anyway, rather trying to even consider fighting Quintana for the white, wchich would be nonsensical.

 

[Afrank]

Kwiatkowski will NOT win the White. It was clear from beginning.

I think it's a massive feat he's still in a small contention for it.

Kwiatkowski is not yet a climber that can challenge for white or likes of Quitnana, he's more rounded as seen by his numerous results just in the Tour this year already.

I think his goal would be now to keep Top 10 till the end, which will be quite tough for him anyway, rather trying to even consider fighting Quintana for the white, wchich would be nonsensical.

+1, Before the Tour I though the main competitors for it would be Quintana and Pinot. Kwiatkowski was the most untested and most unsure of the riders that could win it, and yet he's been Quintana's main competitor.

And the fact that he received the least number of votes in the poll makes it even better.

 

[Jericho]

I suppose there's a chance that Kwiatkowski regains white. Not a big chance. Probably his best bet is if Quintana crashes out. Because that seems to be the only likely way he'll win. But a very impressive showing nonetheless. Kind of wish Kwiatkowski had gotten yellow back in Week 1.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Well the 3rd week didn't start well for Kwia as he dropped almost 2 minutes on stage 16:

1 (1) QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander Movistar Team 65:21:23
2 (2) KWIATKOWSKI Michal Omega Pharma - Quick-Step 3:50
3 (3) TALANSKY Andrew Garmin - Sharp 7:45

Things can only get worse for the pole.