Team Ineos Discussion thread

[Valv.Piti]

Pathetic performance IMO, especially by Thomas. GC-riders being allergic to the wind in stages like this is beyong stupid. They got bailed incredibly hard out by Jumbo today, otherwise they were already done for.

 

[Bonimenier]

Somewhat lucky today, but they probably can be quite happy. All 3 GC contenders finishing in the first peloton.

 

[roundabout]

What happened to Thomas to end up in the Vingegaard group?

 

[Mayomaniac]

What happened to Thomas to end up in the Vingegaard group?

Maybe caught behind the Hayball crash?
Ganna has been dealing with back pain since is crash on stage 2, so I didn't expect him to be useful on the cobbles.

 

[Phillip O'Garner]

Under the radar a bit because of the Jumbo shitshow but what a pathetic display today. Not only being put into the dirt by Bora and daddy Pogacar once again but taking ages to contribute to the chase. Thomas never putting his nose into the wind and totally relying on Van Aert to bring them back. Can't wait for pointless trains in the mountains that do nothing.
Very glad Hindley wiped the floor with them in the Giro.

Thomas was involved in a crash with some Bahrain riders and was riding a damaged bike.

 

[Phillip O'Garner]

People making comments without being aware of what actually happened. Suggest checking out Thomas interview on ITV.

 

[samhocking]

Thomas was taken out by the big Bahrain crash and had a broken bike for the final 30km so couldn't do anything as stuck in one gear he said. Used up Pidcock to get back to the group. Arguably Van Baarl could have been used more wisely like Pidcock was, but who knows.

 

[Phillip O'Garner]

Thomas was taken out by the big Bahrain crash and had a broken bike for the final 30km so couldn't do anything as stuck in one gear he said. Used up Pidcock to get back to the group. Arguably Van Baarl could have been used more wisely like Pidcock was, but who knows.

Van Baarle was left in the front group before having a puncture and dropping back to finish about 9 mins behind. Can only assume it took so long get a wheel change he was passed by the Thomas group and therefore couldn't assist.

Apparently Yates was held up by another crash in the front group which is why he ended up with Thomas / Vino. Seemed happy to have limited his losses.

 

[Strawberry_Jams]

when you have 3 leaders, and at one point were 1 minute behind pog, you have to choose...whether it was thomas, yates or martinez, I don't care. They were v lucky to only loose 13 secs but it should have been nothing even if it was only one of the 3 to work.

 

[samhocking]

Yep, I wouldn't have had Van Baarle do anything other than go where Yates went. Same as Pidcock for Thomas, but it sounds like many riders just didn't know what group they were in much of the time.

 

[AlfaLum]

These guys can be criticized as much as you like but end of the day they only lost 13 seconds to Pogacar while only draining a bit of energy from some of their domestiques. All three captains fully in contention to fight for the podium spots still.

So the outcome of the race was near perfect for them.

 

[Strawberry_Jams]

These guys can be criticized as much as you like but end of the day they only lost 13 seconds to Pogacar while only draining a bit of energy from some of their domestiques. All three captains fully in contention to fight for the podium spots still.

So the outcome of the race was near perfect for them.

you can't lose 13 seconds to pogacar ha. they aren't going to gain it back in the mountains...so they've just lost a potential day to gain time, at the very least you make sure you don't lose time.

 

[samhocking]

Totally agree, Ineos & Arkea saved some matches today at Jumbo's expense for 13s on Pog who, would seem impossible to beat anyway, so I think the race is for 2nd & 3rd until there's an opportunity to exploit with Pog and he seems just on a different level, almost immune like Froome in many ways to bad luck somehow.

 

[AlfaLum]

you can't lose 13 seconds to pogacar ha. they aren't going to gain it back in the mountains...so they've just lost a potential day to gain time, at the very least you make sure you don't lose time.

Without bad luck Pogacar for now is in a league of his own anyway. Martinez, Yates and Thomas are competitors for Jumbo, Vlasov etc.

 

[Axel Hangleck]

I was hoping they were going to rip it up today; however they've only lost 13 seconds.....but still a missed opportunity I think.

 

[dusty red roads]

Don't understand why they didn't contribute more to the chase, with a few teams going for it they could gotten a lot closer to Pog, perhaps even catching him.

 

[King Of The Wolds]

Don't understand why they didn't contribute more to the chase, with a few teams going for it they could gotten a lot closer to Pog, perhaps even catching him.

They only had Pidcock as a dom, and he buried himself. They weren't prepared to invest in their leaders putting their nose in the wind. Not sure what happened to DvB though. At one point, he stayed with the Vlasov group, and stayed there when G and the gang were behind, then seemed to disappear and finish 10 mins down.

 

[Phillip O'Garner]

They only had Pidcock as a dom, and he buried himself. They weren't prepared to invest in their leaders putting their nose in the wind. Not sure what happened to DvB though. At one point, he stayed with the Vlasov group, and stayed there when G and the gang were behind, then seemed to disappear and finish 10 mins down.

He punctured.

 

[JRanton]

Thomas was taken out by the big Bahrain crash and had a broken bike for the final 30km so couldn't do anything as stuck in one gear he said. Used up Pidcock to get back to the group. Arguably Van Baarl could have been used more wisely like Pidcock was, but who knows.

Did the Bahrain crash happen in the same incident as the Ewan/Roglic hay bale?

 

[MartinGT]

Kirby, Hatch et al didn't even say anything about 'Gee' being in the group. They must have had hayfever not to pull. Only Pidcock going to the front. Spineless!

 

[Netserk]

Did the Bahrain crash happen in the same incident as the Ewan/Roglic hay bale?

Yes. Roglič hits Haig (I'm quite sure) with his foot as he crashes.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1544735278069334016

View: https://twitter.com/Fabian_IF/status/1544735278069334016

 

[JRanton]

Well they’re pretty well positioned at this point but it looked to me like Thomas was suffering quite a bit today after yesterday’s crash. Doesn’t bode well for PDBF tomorrow.

 

[Filippo_3467]

The question is: Are they willing to use their numbers before they are distanced by Pog for good. But htat's a question mainly for Next Week. The SPDBF doesn't give any opportunities other than go with the group and at the finish some will loose 10 other 20 seconds. So I guess they will be as inactive as they were before.

 

[stonerider]

I believe Ineos should protect Pidcock. He's the only one strong enough to even put his nose in the wind a little. G and Martinez are riding scared.

 

[JRanton]

After yesterday‘s sign of weakness I thought Thomas bounced back quite well today. He should definitely be Ineos’ most protected rider now, if not outright leader.