Paris-Nice 2024, March 3-10

[theyoungest]

Wilco Will Crash has been given the same time as the Bernal group, so apparently his crash was within the final 3k. He keeps his GC position.

 

[jmdirt]

Reserved is coming across in the TV interviews. Intelligent is not.

Reserved people rarely come across as intelligent (especially in an interview following a hard stage in bad weather).

 

[Samu Cuenca]

One day, somebody will get better than him, it's the nature of cycling, but it won't be for now.

Who knows? It usually happens sooner than expected.

 

[DNP-Old]

Who knows? It usually happens sooner than expected.

I think Pogacar will start to fade before him though.

 

[proffate]

Reserved people rarely come across as intelligent (especially in an interview following a hard stage in bad weather).

I dunno, Brits as a rule seem to have that combo nailed. (Not necessarily the bike jock ones, but in general.)

I got way more enjoyment out of the Campanearts interview even though his English is poor and his performance wasn't very relevant.

So anyway, my point is that he's bad at interviews or thinks he's supposed to maintain a serious and "professional" demeanor and not that he's a bad person. His Instagram persona paints him as a down to Earth goof who values family and friends so I'll assume that represents him better.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

I think Pogacar will start to fade before him though.

That's definitely plausible, since he got his breakthrough at a younger age.

 

[DNP-Old]

That's definitely plausible, since he got his breakthrough at a younger age.

Precisely. Vingegaard career trajectory seems much more suited to sustain a top level long term. Could be that Pogacar is just a LeBron who doesn't want to partake in logic, but him being a jack of all trades does have its downsides.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Awful from Roglic. Disappointing by Evenepoel. Vingegaards second last domestique being better than both tells you quite straight forward why he and Pogacar will again be a level or two above the rest at the Tour and Evenepoel and even more Roglic won't change that.

Now maybe I challenged universe enough with that bold statement to make a 4-5 man fight happen at the Tour

Need more jinx.

 

[ppanther92]

Need more jinx.

I treid hard already.

 

[shadowrider]

Remco could have sat on Jorg’s wheel at 45k and had second place wrapped up on the strength of jorg’s winning effort. Why he pulled at all is the dumbest thing I’ve seen in a long time

This comment proves you don't know anything about pro cycling. If Evenepoel didn't pull all the time (70 % of the work), the three would immediately been brought back by McNulty, Roglic, Skjelmose, Bernal. Jorgenson would never have riden as the only one in front, with Evenepoel in his wheel. If he had, he would not have had any chance to keep at the front or resist to Evenepoel in the last climb. Neither himself or Evenepoel would have won the stage and would have ended on the podium.
So, Evenepoel decided to do most of the work, to win the stage and the second place in the GC. Jorgenson was in the ideal situation. Again, if Evenepoel hadn't done the job, he wouldn't have won the stage, nor ended second in the GC, nor have won the mountainsjersey and the pointsjersey. Evenepoel was in a impossible position. He could only hope Jorgenson would end without fuel in the final.... So, Evenepoel made this time the right tactical decison.

 

[Oldermanish]

I haven't been around him for several years, but in my interactions with him he is polite, intelligent, and yes, reserved. So that IS his personality that you are getting in his interviews. I would also say that his mind is far from blank, but he isn't the kind of kid who has to prove anything to others.

Oldermanish, you've been around him too right? Would you agree?

Have never met Mateo. I know his sister's boyfriend and met her. She's not shy but considerate of Big Personalities around her. Her boyfriend and his bro are well known (Red Bull films, etc) Big Mountain skiers and guides. They are all pretty modest around here which is a good quality because there are athletes in their 70s, 80s that can humble a cocky jock. Same thing about Chamonix and other mountain towns, etc.; talented locals that rarely leave their home.

I gather he is smart and the first guy to mention him to me was an irrigation sales counter salesguy, about 60 years old. He'd ridden gravel with him and was stoked at some of Mateo's results 3 years ago and had followed him as a local junior.

For those that think Visma "manufactures" riders; you should know and most folks here also are aware Mateo learned how to own his training regimes. His success last year on Movistar involved spending most of his salary on refining nutrition/recovery and didn't come from nowhere. He would've had a spectacular Tour win last year had he not pulled the breakaway for 100(+)km. He is a WvA type that likes to climb. He's not Wout, yet.

 

[Oldermanish]

Precisely. Vingegaard career trajectory seems much more suited to sustain a top level long term. Could be that Pogacar is just a LeBron who doesn't want to partake in logic, but him being a jack of all trades does have its downsides.

It's a generalization to think success at an early age means anything. So much of success relies on discipline and motivation as you get deeper into a career. Jonas has had the benefit of starting in the major data era. He hasn't had to waste too much time climbing a traditional cycling ladder to be a pro. Remco, by contrast; has been in the spotlight from birth; but still has much to learn about tactics and his limits.
I doubt either will win Paris Roubaix any time soon; unless that's all they care about.

 

[shadowrider]

I really think Jorgenson is now the second/third best "allround"climber of his team. He is also one of the best allrounders in general. Even close by Van Aert in cobble classics.
I'm pretty sure Jorgenson could prove to be the better "allround" climber, even better than Kuss, in a three weeks GC. Even if Kuss would prove the better climber in one or two stages. So, in the future (this year already or next year ?) Jorgenson will become the first mountain domestique of Vingegaard. Perhaps evolving into the leader in two or three years.

 

[Froome]

I really think Jorgenson is now the second/third best "allround"climber of his team. He is also one of the best allrounders in general. Even close by Van Aert in cobble classics.
I'm pretty sure Jorgenson could prove to be the better "allround" climber, even better than Kuss, in a three weeks GC. Even if Kuss would prove the better climber in one or two stages. So, in the future (this year already or next year ?) Jorgenson will become the first mountain domestique of Vingegaard. Perhaps evolving into the leader in two or three years.

Another perfect rider to do the high Kj thing.

 

[scribers]

This comment proves you don't know anything about pro cycling. If Evenepoel didn't pull all the time (70 % of the work), the three would immediately been brought back by McNulty, Roglic, Skjelmose, Bernal. Jorgenson would never have riden as the only one in front, with Evenepoel in his wheel. If he had, he would not have had any chance to keep at the front or resist to Evenepoel in the last climb. Neither himself or Evenepoel would have won the stage and would have ended on the podium.
So, Evenepoel decided to do most of the work, to win the stage and the second place in the GC. Jorgenson was in the ideal situation. Again, if Evenepoel hadn't done the job, he wouldn't have won the stage, nor ended second in the GC, nor have won the mountainsjersey and the pointsjersey. Evenepoel was in an impossible position. He could only hope Jorgenson would end without fuel in the final.... So, Evenepoel made this time the right tactical decison.

Remco’s best shot to win the entire race was on that last hill and what does he do? He pulls Jorg up it? The race was jorgensens to lose and it was behind him. So why not exploit that?

 

[Rackham]

Remco’s best shot to win the entire race was on that last hill and what does he do? He pulls Jorg up it? The race was jorgensens to lose and it was behind him. So why not exploit that?

Jorgenson was the strongest. I think that's pretty clear. He never once looked on the limit. He actually looked like he could have gone harder, had he wanted to. It was easy for him just to follow & collect. The fact he did pull with Evenepoel as well showed how strong he was (he had no concern about getting dropped later).

 

[scribers]

Literally no one in cycling is going to say “oh my god why is remco losing his second place podium???”

Because everyone is now talking about how does he expect to win the tour if he can’t beat the 6th man on vismas depth chart

 

[Krzysztof_O]

What a stage! As I expected, action for 40+ km initiated by Evenepoel. Congrats to Remco on winning the stage, animating the race and dropping everyone but Jorgenson. He did everything he could but the American was simply too strong. Congrats to Matteo on his biggest success to date. Really impressive level by JV guy - no Roglic anymore but here comes Jorgenson! Speaking of Primoz, the worst one-week race by him I remember (excluding those he was hampered by an injury). He has a mountain to climb formwise to kick it with the mutants in July.

Remco’s best shot to win the entire race was on that last hill and what does he do? He pulls Jorg up it? The race was jorgensens to lose and it was behind him. So why not exploit that?

Remco tried with 3 strong accelerations but couldn't drop Jorgenson before. On the last climb he decided for a steady, very strong tempo, which is the way he dropped riders on steep gradients before. This didn't work as well. Nothing worked against Jorgenson today.

 

[Gratemans]

I'm reluctant to say it but today, all the way through the race Evenepoel did exactly what he had to. Jorgensen was just stronger. I think he achieved the maximum result.

 

[shadowrider]

Remco’s best shot to win the entire race was on that last hill and what does he do? He pulls Jorg up it? The race was jorgensens to lose and it was behind him. So why not exploit that?

Because it was already late in the stage, Evenepoel already did the most of the job before. I don't think he had the legs left good enough on that short last climb. Even after attacking, Evenepoel could only have taken a few seconds... to have to take risks in the descent.... and to quickly catch up again on the descent by the far better descender Jorgenson. By no longer taking the lead on the last climb, McNulty and co would have come close to the three (Vlasov wouldn't have been dropped, and could win the stage). Not close enough to prevent Jorgenson from winning P-N, but close enough to prevent Evenepoel from getting on the podium. So, anyway, it was the right tactical decision of Evenepoel. This is pro cycling, in real. not a computer game.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Precisely. Vingegaard career trajectory seems much more suited to sustain a top level long term. Could be that Pogacar is just a LeBron who doesn't want to partake in logic, but him being a jack of all trades does have its downsides.

Vingegaard is Curry, Pogacar is prime LBJ

 

[shadowrider]

I'm reluctant to say it but today, all the way through the race Evenepoel did exactly what he had to. Jorgensen was just stronger. I think he achieved the maximum result.

Exactly

 

[RobertCrawley]

I really thought Remco would dig deeper to try to crack Mateo, but maybe he could tell Mateo was ready for anything today.

Mateo signed with Visma for better training and support. What a difference a team makes!

 

[AmRacer]

I really thought Remco would dig deeper to try to crack Mateo, but maybe he could tell Mateo was ready for anything today.

Mateo signed with Visma for better training and support. What a difference a team makes!

Cian figured that out too.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Vingegaard is Curry, Pogacar is prime LBJ

I think he's much, much stronger than Lyndon Johnson ever was.