Paris-Nice 2023, March 5-12

[topcat]

Hopefully the TTT won't spoil the GC fight and the gap between you know who will be small.

Hopefully the gap will be big enough for a balls out attack.

 

[Nick2413]

I haven’t seen a ton of team TTs but with drafting being a solid 30% boost I can’t see how a single rider would benefit from going off the front and dropping the rest, unless I’m missing something.

How does strategy change when TT goes by 1st rider’s time vs 4th?

Also, I think this will be a battle for stage wins rather than GC because of the TTT. The 16k climb on stage 7 will be the most meaningful data point and I expect it to be raced hard.

 

[tobydawq]

I haven’t seen a ton of team TTs but with drafting being a solid 30% boost I can’t see how a single rider would benefit from going off the front and dropping the rest, unless I’m missing something.

How does strategy change when TT goes by 1st rider’s time vs 4th?

Also, I think this will be a battle for stage wins rather than GC because of the TTT. The 16k climb on stage 7 will be the most meaningful data point and I expect it to be raced hard.

I also think this is too flat to benefit reducing the team to fewer riders. If there had been some steep climbs, it could have been quite fun.

It's also way too long.

 

[RedheadDane]

Hopefully the gap will be big enough for a balls out attack.

Oh, god... please no! I don't think anyone would wanna see that.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Oh, god... please no! I don't think anyone would wanna see that.

Get your mind out of the gutter!

 

[Red Rick]

I also think this is too flat to benefit reducing the team to fewer riders. If there had been some steep climbs, it could have been quite fun.

It's also way too long.

Sometimes you see people dropping very early in TTs. It's probably not all that great to keep riders around if they're considerably weaker. So this probably gives a little bit more freedom to drop your weaker riders.

For the rest, this mainly affects the final few kms, you don't need to have that 5th guy who can barely hang on and is of no use. He can just do one more turn and drop off.

That said, if you need your GC leader to finish in first, and he's actually not a great TTer, I think this isn't the greatest idea either.

 

[YavorD]

I wish the TTT started with a steep(ish) climb and then flat.
What does Pog/UAE do? Does he go berserk on the climb and ITT's the flat or he waits for the team?

Sadly, on this course we'd probably see a typical TTT for 30 kilometers and bit of a different strategies for the last 2.

 

[CyclistAbi]

I do imagine that the teams will try to stay together for majority of the stage. Due to the rules at the finale i can imagine some tactical moves to be made. Maybe up to three best TT cyclists to finish. Will the difference be big enough to seal the deal in regards to GC? Normally it could be. But the whole point i guess is for Pogi to try to put Jonas in some difficulty on other stages. As this is where feedback is needed the most. For both. So for now i am not 100% convinced TTT will seal the GC deal.

 

[Andy schleck]

The TTT could be very important to decide who will be the winner of PN, but the most important goal is who will be dropped on col de la couillole. This can turn out to be important mentally. If pogacar drop Vingegaard on col de la couillole but loses the PN because of the TTT, it will not matter much to him. He achieved the most important, the mental edge.

 

[Potomac]

Many teams yet to have their startlist ready, at least from what I see at PCS.

 

[Lequack]

 

[CyclistAbi]

All in all for me personally i will enjoy watching this race. Knowing what is at stake. That is actually very little is at stake here. Some pride and ego. As such only GC win matters and both cyclist will do everything in their power to achieve that goal. They don't have much to lose. Good luck to both and may the better one win.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

UAE have a lot of strong guys, like Almeida, Ayuso, Yates, Vine. Yet, they almost never send them to help Pogacar (especially the first two, the latter two joined recently but I expect a similar strategy). This seems different from other teams.

 

[tobydawq]

UAE have a lot of strong guys, like Almeida, Ayuso, Yates, Vine. Yet, they almost never send them to help Pogacar (especially the first two, the latter two joined recently but I expect a similar strategy). This seems different from other teams.

Pogacar doesn't really need that much help so why would you waste your best riders on that?

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Pogacar doesn't really need that much help so why would you waste your best riders on that?

Generally true but I'm curious if last year's TdF will make them enforce the team for this edition. I.e. Almeida would be a super solid helper able to maintain a steady strong tempo, which could've been helpful on stages like Galibier last year for example.

 

[Berflamand]

So unlike Pogi, Wellens does do Strade Bianche and Paris Nice. I'd think he's an important member of the TTT squad and he should be there at training so that will probably be a short trip to Italy.

 

[search]

So unlike Pogi, Wellens does do Strade Bianche and Paris Nice. I'd think he's an important member of the TTT squad and he should be there at training so that will probably be a short trip to Italy.

nah, normally not. They cancelled the private jet, though, after Pogacar changed his mind, so Wellens needs to take the regular flight on Sunday morning

 

[CyclistAbi]

Looks like Tratnik instead of Laporte for JV.

 

[Samamba]

Not a lot of wind expected the first few stages sadly. First 2 stages were so good for some echelons.

 

[HelloDolly]

Cant wait for this one

Expect Pog to try someting to try and drop Vinge from far out on one of the stages ....

Very cold weather going to play a big part

 

[Red Rick]

Pogacar doesn't really need that much help so why would you waste your best riders on that?

This arrogance might be understandable before the 2022 Tour, but after?

 

[Netserk]

La Verrière > La Verrière
03/05/2023 - Stage 1 - 169,5 km

Different cast, same movie.

 

[DNP-Old]

Different cast, same movie.

How steep is that climb at six kilometers from the finish even?

 

[search]

How steep is that climb at six kilometers from the finish even?

1.2k @6%, according to ridewithgps

edit: yep, it's this one, isn't it?! https://climbfinder.com/en/climbs/cote-des-17-tournants

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Cant wait for this one

Expect Pog to try someting to try and drop Vinge from far out on one of the stages ....

Very cold weather going to play a big part

He might even try something crazy tomorrow with 6-7 degrees of temperature but total elevation gain is probably not enough to weaken the peleton and chasing groups. His attack in the last 10-20 km is not that far fetched though.