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Team Ineos Discussion thread

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For whatever my opinion is worth, apart from Rowe being OTL, Ineos had a good day, really. The team had a plan to make the race hard on their terms, carried it out, and saw Carapaz gain time on several contenders for the podium. They don’t have to do everything in one stage, so now they keep working on how to get Carapaz on the podium, which seems doable to me. They will have to put some time into Uran and Vingegaard because of the ITT to come, but they have several stages in which to make that happen. I really do think this was a good day for the team.
 
I disagree that Ineos had a good day - Their target was to go for the stage win but they showed weakness in being unable to bring back the break - They struggled to get any time back on the break in the Cat 1 climb, the first ascent of Mt Ventoux and the valley before the second ascent of Mt Ventoux - And Rowe was OTL.
Story of the Ineos race. Mess around on the front for a while aimlessly when they don't have to and then let UAE take over. For a team that has had little to do with the race lead they have wasted too much energy on the front. Yesterday was probably their best stage of the race as they got rid of O'Connor but they didn't damage Pogacar at all even if he had a moment at the top of the climb.
 
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Judged by the time splits on Ventoux (slow first part, fast end), I think it's plausible that they rode to protect Carapaz on a poor day.
Porte wasn't pulling time back on WVA but Porte has looked out of sorts since early in the race. Ineos doms not doing the damage they used to do and Thomas was on the front for a long time. I'm a bit perplexed by the team's tactics as many others are.
 
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This TDF has been a disaster for the team. Yesterday’s tactics were bizarre in the extreme, they went full Movistar. Chasing a break that is a who’s who of breakaway artists when you have no sprinter is just plain weird. If they chased to place a man in the break then you must question what on earth Kwiato and DVB were doing in first place to miss it - the whole world knew that after the sprint there was an opportunity for a counter attack.
For a team with the biggest budget this TDF has been embarrassing
 
Castro rode an outstanding Tour, but the guy has already finished 20th in the Tour once as a pure domestique at Movistar. Michal also did what he does. Everyone else underperformed (Carapaz just a bit), many of them because of crashes.
They can't be happy with their Tour performance.
Well they can't really go like "we shoulda beaten Pogacar with this team here". They went for the Giro with Bernal very deliberately IMO.
 
Their only chance was having multiple cards and going on long range attacks, but everyone but Carapaz flopped early on (mainly because of crashes).

Carapaz tried a few attacks early on, but got chased down by another team fighting for 6th and got destroyed by Pog the stage after. A stage win would have been good, but a podium was the best they could have hoped for this Tour.

As Rick alluded to , I think they knew what was waiting for them here and the Giro was a solid chance for Bernal to regain some confidence.
 
Carapaz tried a few attacks early on, but got chased down by another team fighting for 6th and got destroyed by Pog the stage after. A stage win would have been good, but a podium was the best they could have hoped for this Tour.

As Rick alluded to , I think they knew what was waiting for them here and the Giro was a solid chance for Bernal to regain some confidence.
I still thinl they should have send one of their superdoms on the attack to get a stage win instead of pacing once Uran was dropped on the Tourmalet. Carapaz had a podium spit pretty much wrapped up at this point, so they could have tried something different.
With Thomas and Porte in Dauphine shape they could have put a lot of pressure on Pogacar, but it is what it is.
 
I still thinl they should have send one of their superdoms on the attack to get a stage win instead of pacing once Uran was dropped on the Tourmalet. Carapaz had a podium spit pretty much wrapped up at this point, so they could have tried something different.
With Thomas and Porte in Dauphine shape they could have put a lot of pressure on Pogacar, but it is what it is.
I think attacking the Tourmalet for a stage win was pretty much impossible. Gaudu was probably the #1 candidate who could try that and he finished 3 minutes down.
 
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I mean, they are are allowed to put riders in the break. There have been several stages where the break has gone to the end. If Plan A all along was just to put Carapaz on the podium then how the mighty have fallen. As soon as it was evident they couldn’t win the tour they should have gone stage hunting. Carapaz would still be be on the podium
 
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I guess Bernal will return to the Tour next year, but the only thing that he does better than Pogacar are long climbs at high altitude.

The wildcard is Adam Yates, if he's able to replicate his one week race form in the Vuelta he could become on of the 2 main guys for the Tour.
The guy is always flyimg durimg the spring, so give him a really light schedule with only the UAE Tour and T-A or Catalunya, then a long break before the Dauphine. No need to pull a Porte and overrace during the spring only to fade in gts every single year (until the pandemic forced him to take a break).
 
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If you don't have the strongest rider it's not impossible, but difficult to win the Tour, no matter how good your team is. That Thomas and Porte crashed early and even repeatedly - well, bad luck, but not completely unexpected...
I liked that Carapaz tried something on several stages, even if it was maybe not always the most clever thing to do.
That being said they have used some questionable, or let's say uncreative tactics during this Tour. Apart from Carapaz himself it often looked like the only thing the team was able to do was build up their train, no matter if it made any sense in their situation.
Kwiatkowski might have gotten a stage win if they had worked more towards that, he seemed to be in a good shape. I really would have given up this stupid train if I was them, let Carapaz do his thing, let Kwiatkowski do his, and try to use Castroviejo and Hart to set up a stage win of Michal. Would have at least been a bit more exciting and won them some sympathy, this way, although a podium with Carapaz is within what could be expected from a results point of view, it looked like a dissappointing Tour for them - so, more because of the way they raced for me.
 
I guess Bernal will return to the Tour next year, but the only thing that he does better than Pogacar are long climbs at high altitude.

The wildcard is Adam Yates, if he's able to replicate his one week race form in the Vuelta he could become on of the 2 main guys for the Tour.
The guy is always flyimg durimg the spring, so give him a really light schedule with only the UAE Tour and T-A or Catalunya, then a long break before the Dauphine. No need to pull a Porte and overrace during the spring only to fade in gts every single year (until the pandemic forced him to take a break).
Has Bernal ever put significant time into Pog on any climb?
 

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