OK, where are we after the first 4 days?

[Sciatic]

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

Just what I was thinking.

 

[Sciatic]

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.

He didn’t say it was deceiving, he said they “can be deceiving.” Which I think is historically pretty accurate in the pre-Pogacar/Vingegaard era. We’ll have to wait to see if that is the case this year.

 

[Kaptain Kool]

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

Agreed, he's 34 and no longer on Visma. Not sure why people think he can still can compete with the very top guys. Still has chance for 4th versus guys like Rodriguez, Ayuso and Almeida.

 

[topcat]

After the first 4 days, we're en route from

Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas.​

 

[Netserk]

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!

They have said very little, so I'm unsure what it is you suspect might have been exaggerated? That he didn't really break several ribs? That he had no punctured lung that was drained for 8 days?

What I think has been exaggerated is the doubts as to whether he would ride the Tour and what form he would have to begin with. But that is separate from the nature of his crash and which injuries that caused.

 

[topcat]

They have said very little, so I'm unsure what it is you suspect might have been exaggerated? That he didn't really break several ribs? That he had no punctured lung that was drained for 8 days?

What I think has been exaggerated is the doubts as to whether he would ride the Tour and what form he would have to begin with. But that is separate from the nature of his crash and which injuries that caused.

How likely do you think it is that Vingo will be better than Pog in week 3?
I find Vingo improving as plausible as Pog holding his form.

 

[Netserk]

~40 %.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

After the first 4 days, we're en route from

Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Saint-Vulbas.​

The French and their saints is the real proof that god does not exist because he would have given them another Tour winner otherwise. Who the hell is Saint Vulbas?

 

[RedheadDane]

The French and their saints is the real proof that god does not exist because he would have given them another Tour winner otherwise. Who the hell is Saint Vulbas?

Do they have a saint of cycling?

 

[Izzyeviel]

Five stages down, Jonas hasn't even gotten started & it already the greatest tour in cycling history.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I agree the best time for summaries of the first part will be during the rest day. So far so good but it falls short of last year's thermonuclear start (especially stages 5 & 6).

 

[tobydawq]

We are in a very surprising place where DSM, Arkéa, Intermarché and Astana have won stages.

Surely, Coquard or Turgis will win tomorrow.

 

[SHAD0W93]

We’re in for a good race, that’s where we are at.

Cav is 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 passed the shared record with Merckx

 

[Escarabajo]

I am in the same place. Everything as expected, except for Vingegaard's performance. However I have always been a believer that he will falter more and more as time goes on and stages get harder.

Honorable mention, the soap opera with UAE. But tell me who didn't predict that? LOL

 

[scribers]

We’re in for a good race, that’s where we are at.

I knew he could do it!!!

 

[zlev11]

probably the best first 4 stages of a TDF ive ever seen live (since 2010). even the stage 3 boring sprint had an interesting winner and a change of yellow.

 

[SorelyBoy]

Pogacar will be hoping Vingegaard doesn’t ride himself into form, because the level Vingegaard is at now, given everything that he’s been through, is frightening. Vingegaard will be hoping to get miles in the legs and hit peak form just as he enters his natural hunting ground of the big mountains. He’ll also be hoping that Pogacar’ Giro starts to really bite in that last week. Remco will be very happy indeed with his form. He could well have a big say in this race yet because he’s looking better than ever. Roglic is hanging on in there, but he’s not at his best yet.

 

[FroomeWagon]

This TDF is so far the greatest ever. We have three racers (Pogi, Remco, and Cav), each well on their way to be named the GOAT by the end.

 

[BigCoward]

Can you update the thread title daily?

 

[BigCoward]

This TDF is so far the greatest ever. We have three racers (Pogi, Remco, and Cav), each well on their way to be named the GOAT by the end.

I don't see how Remco can be. He's not as good as pog at either classics or Grand tours so how can he be GOAT?

 

[rallybanana]

Do they have a saint of cycling?

St. Alain Philippe

 

[Low is rhe new high]

Wouldn’t it be very interesting if Ayuso puts a minute into everyone else (or at least the Pog) in the ITT. Hasn’t he done good ITTs last year and it seems like he is the best in sandbagging. Ayuso is the big surprise so far.

 

[scribers]

Wouldn’t it be very interesting if Ayuso puts a minute into everyone else (or at least the Pog) in the ITT. Hasn’t he done good ITTs last year and it seems like he is the best in sandbagging. Ayuso is the big surprise so far.

Mou foretold us Ayuso is not close at all to pogi in TT

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Who the hell is Saint Vulbas?

"Willebaud (Vulbas) served in King Dagobert's army in the 7th century. After becoming governor of Burgundy, he was murdered by his rival Flocat near Autun."
I'm not sure what is so saintly about that, but who am I to judge?

 

[RedheadDane]

We are in a very surprising place where DSM, Arkéa, Intermarché and Astana have won stages.

Surely, Coquard or Turgis will win tomorrow.

You were a bit early with the Turgis prediction.