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Team Ineos Discussion thread

Page 144 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
...so I was being a bit hyperbolic, but not by much...here's an assessment that lists their top 3 over Roglic...it's from this cool site, Cyclingnews.com...you should check it out...: https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/form-ranking-tour-de-france-2021-contenders-pre-race/
I remember reading that article and, to be fair, it was a "form ranking" and he obviously hadn't been competing in recent weeks. To quote from it:
"Last year’s runner-up is still the second favourite in the eyes of most bookmakers, and we’d agree, but he slips down the form ranking by simple reason of his absence from racing for the past 10 weeks. "
 
I remember reading that article and, to be fair, it was a "form ranking" and he obviously hadn't been competing in recent weeks. To quote from it:
"Last year’s runner-up is still the second favourite in the eyes of most bookmakers, and we’d agree, but he slips down the form ranking by simple reason of his absence from racing for the past 10 weeks. "
Which was one of my original points, that article was clickbait, geared to UK fans of Ineos, intended to sell s**t.
 
  • Wow
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Didn't know he's already old. Thought just not as young as the crossers in the spotlight.

Sir Dave's claims (before the start) about exciting, unpredictable, opportunistic racing might become true sooner than expected.
Ineos are one of the best (only) options for it at this point. The other viable alternative I can see even potentially is Bahrain Victorious,
 
Sorry but MVP, Mathews, Corbrelli can eat Ineos for lunch on this type of stage. They could have done it to Froome and Bernal, too. They're built for that task and a healthy Sagan will show up as well.

Sure, but it's a bit weird to set the tempo & then see your supposed leader (G Thomas) get unceremoniously dropped like a sack of potatoes. Carapaz meanwhile fared slightly better, but the TT could be fatal for him (& it's not like UAE or Jumbo will just let the guy ride away in the mountains & gain minutes).

Ineos need both Slovenians to have a bad day/crash/make a mistake/get caught in an echelon. That's a lot to ask for.

Ineos are one of the best (only) options for it at this point. The other viable alternative I can see even potentially is Bahrain Victorious,

And DQS with Alaphilippe.

That's going to be a continued question mark until he'd dropped for good (& judging by his TT potential, he could even be in yellow again after Wednesday).
 
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I wouldn't be writing either Ineos rider off after just two punchy stages. I think the uphill finishes of the last 2 days will have taken a lot out of a fair few riders .... even the likes of Roglic and Pogacar. It may bite them later in the race. Alaphilippe and Matthews both suffered yesterday from their exertions on stage 1.
 
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The problem is that ineos best chance of victory in my mind was Thomas being slightly stronger in the TT so all he had to do was use the train to keep up with the Slovenians in the mountains, with Carapaz as the wildcard.

With time already lost that is no longer an option, he isn't taken minutes in the TT and he isn't dropping them in the mountains..
 
Today's stage 2 proved that the two Slovenians can still get time bonuses while racing solely against each other. Ineos had only Carapaz following in the same time zone so, unless one or both of those two suffer mishaps Ineos best strategy is have Carapaz glued to the last Slovenian he can follow. Sort out the rest afterward.
GT on the other hand; he tends to maintain his strength so he could improve. He doesn't have a choice.

Yeah, and yesterday's also showed a glimpse that the Ineos train might not be all that useful when there are a couple guys in other teams who are just stronger than anyone in the train.

But I don't know what else Ineos could do other than keep calm, keep the gaps as close as possible, continue on and hope the Slovenians make a mistake.
 
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Now Carapaz should prey he's not next on the randomized chopping block where GC contenders get mauled through sheer bad luck.

It's not like Ineoz should rejoice that their main contenders lost time today through crashes (or that Thomas himself crashed & caused Gesink's injury & abandon).

idk..In my own lowlife amateur racing long gone by I kinda felt that if I tried to avoid trouble, it got memyselfandi into the trouble and if I spanked my bike like a madman I somehow managed to keep out of trouble. But it was bloody hard. :D And problem is these guys are all spankin as hard as they can.

To my eye, Ricky Bobby and Egan seem to spank hardest in these situations from these Ineos boys.
 
Now Carapaz should prey he's not next on the randomized chopping block where GC contenders get mauled through sheer bad luck.

It's not like Ineoz should rejoice that their main contenders lost time today through crashes (or that Thomas himself crashed & caused Gesink's injury & abandon).
Carapaz is like his South American compatriot, Nairo; they both know how to ride a bike in a tight field. They both continually impress with freelancing without wasting too much effort. Congrats to both for today's survival fortune.
 
Should have protected Porte on stage 2 as i said ...he could have been further up there and help create a threat for UAE to follow

He had the best TT and looked better on the climbs than G

Not sure how G will create a threat as he is not climbing so well

But it could be a better bet to look for a n opportunity on flat or rolling stages in the wind
 

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