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Teams & Riders Team Visma - Lease a Bike

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Seems like a legitimate point when the leader is strong enough not to let the race come to the final sprint

Does Vingegaard really care about winning another stage and 4 bonus seconds though? There was definitely a risk that if he attacked today he might lose time tomorrow.

Vingegaard is in a great position. All he has to do is stick with Pog tomorrow. If he gains anything that would just be a bonus.
 
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Oh but there was a sprint

Also it's not about Jumbo not attacking ever, it's about Jumbo consistently deciding that they're all set when history shows they often underestimate how much time would be safe due to their risk aversion

2:18 is quite a lot going into the TT. Aside from Vingegaard crashing or catching COVID, if Pog is actually able to put over 2:30 into Vingegaard on the TT then a certain sub-forum on here will be absolutely LIT UP on Saturday.
 
2:18 is quite a lot going into the TT. Aside from Vingegaard crashing or catching COVID, if Pog is actually able to put over 2:30 into Vingegaard on the TT then a certain sub-forum on here will be absolutely LIT UP on Saturday.
But what if Vingegaard isn't feeling too well tomorrow for whatever reason and he loses 0:30-0:45 to Pogačar? Suddenly it wouldn't be so unthinkable that he could lose the Tour in the ITT, would it? Why should he be one crash or puncture away from losing the Tour when he could just... not be?

More importantly, do you realize how idiotic Jumbo would look if they lost another Tour to Pogačar on the last day after an unlikely good ITT just because they didn't expect anything unexpected to happen? They'd never hear the end of it, I'd be mortified. Sure, most of the time nothing unexpected happens, that's why it's unexpected. It's still silly to leave yourself open like this, especially when Jumbo has paid for the very same mistake several times in the past.

I don't think the Clinic explosion of 2020 was any consolation for Roglič.
 
But what if Vingegaard isn't feeling too well tomorrow for whatever reason and he loses 0:30-0:45 to Pogačar? Suddenly it wouldn't be so unthinkable that he could lose the Tour in the ITT, would it? Why should he be one crash or puncture away from losing the Tour when he could just... not be?

More importantly, do you realize how idiotic Jumbo would look if they lost another Tour to Pogačar on the last day after an unlikely good ITT just because they didn't expect anything unexpected to happen? They'd never hear the end of it, I'd be mortified. Sure, most of the time nothing unexpected happens, that's why it's unexpected. It's still silly to leave yourself open like this, especially when Jumbo has paid for the very same mistake several times in the past.

I don't think the Clinic explosion of 2020 was any consolation for Roglič.
These are my thoughts exactly. Now, I don't know if this is down to Jumbo, Vingegaard or a combination, but on finishes like this you take what you can get to limit the possibilities of punctures, crashes, semi-bad days, out of this world TTs etc. Theres simply no point not to - especially when the win is on the line and you can reverse the bonus in your favor as well which is 8 seconds. Thats not a lot, but its something, and how much more would you be able to get? Nobody knows, because Vingegaard stuck to the ultra-conservative, completely bulletproof plan from 2020!
 
I imagine I'll immediately be informed that Sky did this just a few years ago, but when was the last time a team so thoroughly dominated the Tour? Looks like:
  • Yellow jersey
  • Green jersey
  • Polka dot jersey
  • 5+ stage wins
  • Best climbing domestiques
And still potential wins tomorrow and into Paris. All this while losing Roglic and Crushweak. Unbelievable. If Roglic were in the race, I think he'd be in second or third.
 
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