OK, where are we after the first 4 days?

[red_flanders]

Do we need another thread? I dunno. I have thoughts which aren't isolated to one rider or one stage. I think we all wondered where the race would be after the Galibier stage.

• First of all, HECK of a Tour so far. Living up to the billing for me. Stage design, weather, racing, and the field are all conspiring to make some really interesting racing.
• Kudos to the French! Great to see them and some small teams get some value out of the Tour and produce great racing.
• Pogačar is Pogačar. The dude is out of this world.
• Vingegaard is shocking to me. How could someone possibly get to this level after what happened to him. Hard to understand. He did appear very much on the limit today (who wouldn't) so there do appear to be...limits. But his performance is stunning so far.
• Remco. Ah, Remco, he's riding a smart race. He's looking fit as he ever has, he's the only one separating out from the rest of the favorites, but just by a little. He surprised today hanging in and responding to that attack. He was close to Vingo over the top. Performing at the top of his expectations. Exciting! A good Remco makes for better bike racing! This may be the best Remco we've seen. But it's early.
• Roglič. Enigmatic. Seems a little undercooked, or maybe the rest are so cooked it doesn't matter. I'm sure he will show out before it's all said and done. The one thing that could make this race better is for him to throw a haymaker that the rest need to deal with. I hope we see it.
• Young riders! Vauquelin, Abrahamsen, Girmay, Van den Broek, etc. Great to see new faces, new approaches (Abrahamsen the Gorilla in this era?).
• Cav? I like Cav. I don't need him to break the record. I used to not want him to, but it's just a sprinting record. As long as folks don't mention Merckx like there's some comparison, fine. Good for the sport. But do shut up about it Paul, maybe mis-identify a few more riders instead.

I don't mind the long flat stage. Riders needed it, and they can't all be winners. 2 in a row now seems like it'll be a bit of a bore. I'll be enjoying this as long as Remco is in the hunt for a podium. Can't believe I care about the podium. Never have before. Anyway, great race.

 

[Izzyeviel]

I've seen enough. Jonas to win by 9 minutes. UAE exchanged a flush for a pair.

 

[Netserk]

I tell you come the first rest day.

 

[Tim Cahill]

Bardet winning that stage feels like it was months ago.

 

[James M]

Pogacar is Pogacar I have never seen a cyclist like he is nor will I ever do it either just wow.

Vingegaard fabelous ride so far fighting good and might improve day by day with Pogacar having the Giro in the legs alot to still ride for.

Evenpoel the surprise of the town so far, riding smart like you say but also impressive. Was the second strongest on the galibier stage? Or Vingegaard just that he paid for trying to follow Pogacar to long like everyone else.

Roglic with his exit in Dauphine and this its not looking the best but it all can change very fast this year for many different reasons. Still a long way to go.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Nop, it's not over after 4 days. Initial hype was hence not sustainable. Two big things that happened, though:

• Pogi was caught and brought back after initiating a decisive solo attack.
• Jonas was distanced on a climb and he shifted time at the Tour.

All this already happened in 4 days.

 

[scribers]

I heard van wilder crossed the line today upset at how absurd the speeds the selection are running at. This might be a matter for another forum.

Cav isn’t going to win a stage and that’s okay. He’s way past his prime and dropped a lot since last year. The good news is he is the record holder for stage wins. Just shares the record with Merckx

 

[Rob5091]

If this was a boxing match would the referee step in to stop it? This is USPS & Lance all over again.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I heard van wilder crossed the line today upset at how absurd the speeds the selection are running at. This might be a matter for another forum.

Don't know what you are referring to. He was critical about how the team (Evenepoel's teammates) is being talked about as if they are incompetent in the media. As if Evenepoel has a bad team of riders surrounding him. He said it makes the riders feel like crap.

Yesterday he said the first 3 days were very intense. He talked about Casper Pedersen crashing. People talking about the team losing a guy, but people rarely talk about the personal level, a guy needed to go home on day 3 after months of work and preparation, working towards this goal.

 

[Cookster15]

Nice summary of the race so far - thanks for the effort.

Can’t believe we are only up to stage 4. I think Vingegaard is shocking everyone with his level announced on stage 2. With now stage 4 also confirming Pog is on fire has contributed to the feeling it seems more than 4 days!

If Cav can get a win that would make this edition memorable for decades.

Next big rendezvous is the TT - then we know more about the big three - now including Remco. But really the questions on both Pog (Giro fatigue) and Vingegaard (interrupted prep due to his horrible crash) won’t be answered until week 3.

Remco was great today. He should gain time in the TT. But then he will be asked asked big questions in the mountains still to come.

I also hope Roglic gets better and glad he clawed back on today. Pog’s record time climbing the Galibier from Valloire side has me scratching my head.

And just so you all know I too am a Pog fan from the other side of the world. Been following the sport closely since 1993 and loosely since Lemond. Never seen anything like him.

 

[scribers]

Don't know what you are referring to. He was critical about how the team (Evenepoel's teammates) is being talked about as if they are incompetent in the media. As if Evenepoel has a bad team of riders surrounding him. He said it makes the riders feel like crap.

Yesterday he said the first 3 days were very intense. He talked about Casper Pedersen crashing. People talking about the team losing a guy, but people rarely talk about the personal level, a guy needed to go home on day 3 after months of work and preparation, working towards this goal.

The mentioned it in the cycling podcast. They frequently collect and retell stories directly from riders

 

[VayaVayaVaya]

Do we need another thread? I dunno. I have thoughts which aren't isolated to one rider or one stage. I think we all wondered where the race would be after the Galibier stage.

• First of all, HECK of a Tour so far. Living up to the billing for me. Stage design, weather, racing, and the field are all conspiring to make some really interesting racing.
• Kudos to the French! Great to see them and some small teams get some value out of the Tour and produce great racing.
• Pogačar is Pogačar. The dude is out of this world.
• Vingegaard is shocking to me. How could someone possibly get to this level after what happened to him. Hard to understand. He did appear very much on the limit today (who wouldn't) so there do appear to be...limits. But his performance is stunning so far.
• Remco. Ah, Remco, he's riding a smart race. He's looking fit as he ever has, he's the only one separating out from the rest of the favorites, but just by a little. He surprised today hanging in and responding to that attack. He was close to Vingo over the top. Performing at the top of his expectations. Exciting! A good Remco makes for better bike racing! This may be the best Remco we've seen. But it's early.
• Roglič. Enigmatic. Seems a little undercooked, or maybe the rest are so cooked it doesn't matter. I'm sure he will show out before it's all said and done. The one thing that could make this race better is for him to throw a haymaker that the rest need to deal with. I hope we see it.
• Young riders! Vauquelin, Abrahamsen, Girmay, Van den Broek, etc. Great to see new faces, new approaches (Abrahamsen the Gorilla in this era?).
• Cav? I like Cav. I don't need him to break the record. I used to not want him to, but it's just a sprinting record. As long as folks don't mention Merckx like there's some comparison, fine. Good for the sport. But do shut up about it Paul, maybe mis-identify a few more riders instead.

I don't mind the long flat stage. Riders needed it, and they can't all be winners. 2 in a row now seems like it'll be a bit of a bore. I'll be enjoying this as long as Remco is in the hunt for a podium. Can't believe I care about the podium. Never have before. Anyway, great race.

Love the enthusiasm and agree with most of this. I’m as uncertain about what I think will happen as I was before the Tour, to be honest.

• Agreed, great Tour so far. Solid parcours, but, of course, the riders make the race. Pogacar is always boisterous and strong, and worthy rivals makes it more entertaining than in the Giro IMO.
• Vingegaard is unstoppable. I’m not shocked by Vingegaard but you have to question his injuries. Maybe they were exaggerated? I know Contador beat Froome in the 2014 Vuelta, with both putting up big numbers after dropping out of the Tour with injuries, but neither injury was comparable to this. Nor was Pogacar’s injury last year, or Roglic’s in 2022. Pretty wild. Tim Broe on Lantern Rouge said he thinks Vingegaard will “clean” Pogacar. We’ll see!
• UAE’s band of competitive brothers. The one guy with the biggest argument for being allowed to go for GC, Adam Yates, is the one who selflessly tossed aside his own ambitions for Pogacar. Middle child Almeida pulling the baby Ayuso in line was amusing. I’d be annoyed if I were, well, anyone else on UAE to see Ayuso finish ahead of Almeida and Yates after faking back legs to shirk work.
• Remco rises. How he lost weight and found form so quickly, I don’t know, but great to see him starting to live up to his promise in GTs (since the 2022 win). I’ll be curious to see if he has a mid-Tour dip like in previous GTs, but I don’t think he will. I’d love to see him take yellow on Friday, but I don’t think he will.
• Carlos Rodriguez can go up and down on a bike. But I don’t think he’ll be able to stay close enough to Roglic or Remco in ITTs to get on the podium.
• Roglic is playing the long game. Or about to collapse. At one point I thought he was going to pop like Contador on like stage 2 of the 2017 Vuelta and give up 2 or 3 minutes. Of course, Contador was arguably the strongest climber in that GT after that point, so maybe it’s on!
• The second ITT will be insane. ITT World Champion vs OGITT gold medalist vs, producer of the greatest Tour time trial in decades vs, the guy who stole the Tour from Roglic in his premier event when he was only 20 years old (and double Giro ITT winner) on a tough course in a beautiful place on the last stage of the Tour. I hope everyone arrives at the start in good shape.

 

[Amazinmets87]

Yes, please. Every year posters whine about the long, flat stages. They're integral to the tour and its history. Leave them be.

 

[Nick2413]

Remco has been the biggest surprise so far but still too early to draw conclusions.

 

[ice&fire]

Bernal climbed Galibier half a minute faster than in 2019
Landa improved his time by two minutes
Who was talking about ridiculous speeds?

 

[AmRacer]

Only one GC rider has attacked, and he did it twice.

 

[Bolder]

Good recap. I'm surprised at how good Remco and Almeida are so far. I was worried that Vingegaard would be dropped much earlier, but he wasn't at Pogačar's level, either. Roglic is looking older all of the time.

 

[Gigs_98]

Don't think we can tell all that much from these first four stages, but I will say, it's been wonderful last year and this year that it feels like the race has properly kicked off this early. I remember last year feeling exhausted from how much had happened after stage 6 already. It hasn't been quite as crazy so far this time around but we do have drama from day 1 yet again. Just a pity we might have to wait for the next big gc battle outside the TT until stage 14.

 

[fbjim]

Only one GC rider has attacked, and he did it twice.

aren't we forgetting Carapaz's THERMONUCLEAR attack into Turin???

 

[Valv.Piti]

Don't think we can tell all that much from these first four stages, but I will say, it's been wonderful last year and this year that it feels like the race has properly kicked off this early. I remember last year feeling exhausted from how much had happened after stage 6 already. It hasn't been quite as crazy so far this time around but we do have drama from day 1 yet again. Just a pity we might have to wait for the next big gc battle outside the TT until stage 14.

Really, I think we can tell a lot. Remco is ready, Vingegaard is ready, Pog as good as expected, Roglic is getting old.

 

[18-Valve. (pithy)]

Really, I think we can tell a lot. Remco is ready, Vingegaard is ready, Pog as good as expected, Roglic is getting old.

I'm not sure Vingegaard is. Not enough power on the flat, it sure seems like.

 

[Gigs_98]

Really, I think we can tell a lot. Remco is ready, Vingegaard is ready, Pog as good as expected, Roglic is getting old.

First mountain stages are often deceiving, especially this early in the race. Last year some takeaways after stage 5 would have been horribly wrong even though at least everyone would have guessed the eventual winner correctly.

 

[BigCoward]

Roglic started off garbage in the Giro last year. I'm sure he'll improve (probably not by anywhere near enough though).

 

[Valv.Piti]

First mountain stages are often deceiving, especially this early in the race. Last year some takeaways after stage 5 would have been horribly wrong even though at least everyone would have guessed the eventual winner correctly.

Well this was more or less the expected outcome, so I don't really think this is deceiving at all. I see no one from the group with a change of anything than a fringe top-5 at best.

 

[Rob5091]

So the normal Tour/GT schedule of a GT day then 2 rest days, then a GT day or two then 2 rest days. Add in 130 km long stages and it's not surprising really that guys can go nuts as they know there's a couple of easy days afterwards.
Friday TT (Sunday careful with gravel), then next mountain stage next Friday. I bet we'll be seeing a lot of Politt. (stage 8 is made for De Lie so that should be fun viewing as he tries to beat Pedersen)
So far, Roglic & Vingegaard are suffering and Remco is hanging on. The TT on Friday is his big hope (and probably the race organizers too). The irony is that Pogacar's biggest enemy might be his own team if they start pushing it too hard and he suffers in week 3 after the Giro "training".