Alexandre B. said:At least there will be plenty of « Bardet v. Pinot » confrontations next year.
Should be fun.
Tonton said:Alexandre B. said:At least there will be plenty of « Bardet v. Pinot » confrontations next year.
Should be fun.![]()
Funnier if Pinot wins.
Jokes put aside, considering the routes, it's the right choice. The Giro's is an attempt to get Dumoulin vs. Froome, if that's the case, all will fight for third, 2nd at best.
The Tour was tailor-made for the two musketeers (the third one will come out of the shadows like Warren and Julian did the past couple of years). If not tailor-made, at least as close as ASO could make it.
But when I see FDJ's new recruits all ITT guys, plus Preidler, Seb and Tibo, it's a team preparing for the TTT. Add Rudy and the mountains are covered. FDJ means business. In comparison, AG2R's lineup looks weak in this exercise and Bardet may lose feathers...45 seconds more or less that will be hard to regain when the Sky train steamrolls the climbs. And the small ITT could add another 45 seconds, maybe a minute. You can't give Sky that much. And Movistar may finally get a clue.
It's a better route for Romain, I hope he'll podium. Win the bike race? Probably not. But he'll give it all he's got and that's plenty. One Frenchman will podium, maybe two. I hope it's two. We have two great entertaining riders near the top of the GT food chain, entering their prime. It's time to deliver. And if they can work together at some crucial times, all the better.
I don’t know when you heard it, but Ag2r switched to Eddy Merckx bikes for this season. Campagnolo drive trains, Rotor Cranks, Mavic wheels. Not sure what the TT setup is like, but their road bikes look good.Pantani_lives said:I once heard a comment by a bicycle manufacturer that Bardet was riding on a bad TT bike because of contractual reasons. Is that true and has that problem ever been solved?
Going by his performance up Ventoux, AG2R would be better off signing Herrada. :sad:movingtarget said:Seems to be the forgotten GC rider in the Tour which he probably won't mind. No Froome and maybe Dumoulin below his best or a no show, Quintana and Bardet should be making the most of it ......if they can......
Merckx has no TT bikes, so they are using rebranded Ridley bikes instead (which is the same company anyway). They are totally fineLeinster said:I don’t know when you heard it, but Ag2r switched to Eddy Merckx bikes for this season. Campagnolo drive trains, Rotor Cranks, Mavic wheels. Not sure what the TT setup is like, but their road bikes look good.Pantani_lives said:I once heard a comment by a bicycle manufacturer that Bardet was riding on a bad TT bike because of contractual reasons. Is that true and has that problem ever been solved?
Until very recently Merckx didn't provide bikes at all to AG2R according to Eurosport! Hence, why they rode rebranded Ridley bikes instead. I guess that's what Pantani_lives referred to.search said:Merckx has no TT bikes, so they are using rebranded Ridley bikes instead (which is the same company anyway). They are totally fineLeinster said:I don’t know when you heard it, but Ag2r switched to Eddy Merckx bikes for this season. Campagnolo drive trains, Rotor Cranks, Mavic wheels. Not sure what the TT setup is like, but their road bikes look good.Pantani_lives said:I once heard a comment by a bicycle manufacturer that Bardet was riding on a bad TT bike because of contractual reasons. Is that true and has that problem ever been solved?
Hodeg refuses to.@NL_LeMondFans said:I'm sure he'd do great at Deceuninck Quick Step (but who wouldn't ?).
His size is a bit of a puzzle. he looks anorexic (stats have him at 1.84 m and as light as 63.5 kilos -- whoa!), but then again he does well in the hardest one-day races and has hung tough in some grueling mountain stages. I'm not saying he should gain weight but a program of weight training and a little more food might not be a terrible thing, either.@NL_LeMondFans said:I think Bardet already peaked with this team. They can't pull him faster nor further. I also think his best chance of winning a GT would be the Vuelta but since he'll always ride the Tour... He's so thin that I doubt his body can endure 2 GC chases in GT within the same year.
I'm sure he'd do great at Deceuninck Quick Step (but who wouldn't ?).
Ah! Well if it’s good enough for Campanaerts to set Hour records, then Bardet has no excuses.search said:Merckx has no TT bikes, so they are using rebranded Ridley bikes instead (which is the same company anyway). They are totally fineLeinster said:I don’t know when you heard it, but Ag2r switched to Eddy Merckx bikes for this season. Campagnolo drive trains, Rotor Cranks, Mavic wheels. Not sure what the TT setup is like, but their road bikes look good.Pantani_lives said:I once heard a comment by a bicycle manufacturer that Bardet was riding on a bad TT bike because of contractual reasons. Is that true and has that problem ever been solved?
Barguil would be better off right now had he stayed with Sunweb. (So would Sunweb). Alaphilippe is doing great things with Quickstep. Pinot seems to enjoy/succeed riding in Italy more than in French races. And of course the last genuine French gc threat was Jalabert who spent most of his career at ONCE and then CSC. Getting out of the goldfish bowl is probably not a bad thing for a French rider with real ambitions.Bolder said:His size is a bit of a puzzle. he looks anorexic (stats have him at 1.84 m and as light as 63.5 kilos -- whoa!), but then again he does well in the hardest one-day races and has hung tough in some grueling mountain stages. I'm not saying he should gain weight but a program of weight training and a little more food might not be a terrible thing, either.@NL_LeMondFans said:I think Bardet already peaked with this team. They can't pull him faster nor further. I also think his best chance of winning a GT would be the Vuelta but since he'll always ride the Tour... He's so thin that I doubt his body can endure 2 GC chases in GT within the same year.
I'm sure he'd do great at Deceuninck Quick Step (but who wouldn't ?).
I absolutely agree that he has peaked with AG2R, but I simply can't imagine a French GT hopeful going to a non-French team. And, that the Vuelta offers him a path to victory.
yeah, I think so too. Maybe they were talking about the time with Factor, who's time trial bike for Ag2R was the first they ever produced (so probably far from perfect).Leinster said:Ah! Well if it’s good enough for Campanaerts to set Hour records, then Bardet has no excuses.search said:Merckx has no TT bikes, so they are using rebranded Ridley bikes instead (which is the same company anyway). They are totally fineLeinster said:I don’t know when you heard it, but Ag2r switched to Eddy Merckx bikes for this season. Campagnolo drive trains, Rotor Cranks, Mavic wheels. Not sure what the TT setup is like, but their road bikes look good.Pantani_lives said:I once heard a comment by a bicycle manufacturer that Bardet was riding on a bad TT bike because of contractual reasons. Is that true and has that problem ever been solved?
I was careful to reference current riders who perform better for foreign teams/in foreign races, and the only ancien coureur I named (Jalabert) has a contemporary (Virenque) who also demonstrates the point in his own unique “only Virenque” way. While being no more or less clinicky.Tonton said:The stuff about French riders joining foreign teams is old and some of it Clinic material.