Teams & Riders The Onley Fans thread

[Barnacle Bill]

David Walsh's piece today obviously had some focus on Onley again. Mentioned that great moment when his chasing group led by the Picnic riders steamed past the yellow jersey group in the valley. A couple of snippets:

Full article (paywall)

Oscar Onley was the fourth man to cross the finish line at the summit of Col de la Loze, a 26-kilometre monster of an Alpine climb that came at the end of the 18th stage. Onley didn’t have the strength to lift his head and savour the moment. Soon he was crouched over his bike, barely able to speak but with the flicker of a smile brightening his face because often the purest exhaustion comes with the purest satisfaction.

Daniel Friebe, the ITV reporter, told Onley he was now just 22 seconds away from a place on the Tour de France podium: “Ah,” Onley said softly, “I don’t know, that’s not much. We’ll give it everything tomorrow.” And with that, he was whisked away to a place where recovery begins. On what everyone agrees was the most difficult stage of this year’s Tour, Onley, 22, had astonished us.

We use the word “heroic” too freely but this performance should be remembered as just that. At the beginning of the race no one listed him as a general-classification (GC) contender. His modest Dutch team, Picnic-PostNL, thought that maybe one of their riders would sneak a stage win. Even after an impressive first week from Onley, the sports director Matt Winston’s instinct was to stick with the original plan.

Stage after stage, Onley kept keeping on. Climbing up the GC ladder. Seventh, fifth and then fourth. Talking before this leg to the Col de la Loze, the feeling was that he had done well to be where he was. The difficulty would be holding on to fourth. Primoz Roglic, Tour runner-up in 2020, was just 38 seconds adrift in fifth and riding strongly.

As for moving up to third, that horse looked to have bolted, as Roglic’s Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team-mate Florian Lipowitz had a 2min 1sec lead on Onley. Two and a half weeks of watching him race in the front line of this Tour and still we didn’t see what he had. On the Col de la Loze this kid from the Scottish Borders quietly reminded us. But how could we have know that when Jonas Vingegaard launched his final attack, two kilometres from the summit, Onley would have been one of just two riders able to respond?

On the Madeleine, an unrelentingly cruel climb, Onley was in trouble and couldn’t follow the accelerations. He fell 30, then 40 seconds behind the Yellow Jersey group, and at that moment you wanted to pat him on the back and tell him not to worry. He’d ridden a great Tour.

Then he fell further behind. A minute, then a minute and a half, then 1min 45sec. So far back that three of his Picnic team-mates joined him and somehow they had the energy and the desire to pursue. In the GC group Pogacar and Vingegaard couldn’t agree on who should ride in the valley before the Col de la Loze and they loitered without much intent.

All the while the Picnic boys drew closer. And if you wanted the moment of the day, it came as the group of favourites rode through Brides-Les-Bains 25km from the finish. As they rode through the village, steaming up the right side of the road came a group led by four Picnic riders, including Onley. He who had been lost was found. Then on the Col de la Loze, Onley was strong, perhaps in part inspired by the work of his team-mates.

Lipowitz had broken clear of the group, Roglic had been away with the breakaway riders and it seemed he was determined to take Onley’s fourth place. Lipowitz, though, had spent his energy unwisely and weakened on the final climb. Roglic too. Onley stayed right behind Vingegaard, who by now was riding directly behind Pogacar.

Two kilometres from the top, Vingegaard attacked for the last time. Pogacar responded, and then Onley. It was a sight to behold and you thought of what the great French cycling writer Pierre Chany used to say at moments such as this: “In today’s Tour, we see tomorrow’s winner.” Maybe, just maybe, Onley has what it takes.

At the line, he was 13 seconds down on Pogacar, just four behind Vingegaard. Given how he suffered on the Madeleine, it was a hell of a ride from one so young. He gained 1min 39sec on Lipowitz, who finished 11th. The second Alpine stage offers Onley the opportunity to take the 23 seconds he needs to get on the podium. One thing is certain, he will go for it.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Good defense, but Lipo was stronger today.
Only the brave will be awarded tomorrow and possible in Paris.

 

[Squire]

Very impressive Tour. Pretty much zero bad days. Showed that he can go into a non-alien-infested GT and have hopes of being a serious contender.

 

[Wyndbrook]

Well done to Lippo on the white jersey, but 25 in a couple of months, come on ASO get with it , couple of years and riders will on the way down by that age.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Well done to Lippo on the white jersey, but 25 in a couple of months, come on ASO get with it , couple of years and riders will on the way down by that age.

Romain Grégoire is currently winning the U23 competition with a lead of 27 minutes and he hasn‘t been anywhere since the first mountain stage.

 

[P4rthen0n]

4th in the Tour Down Under
5th in the UAE Tour
3rd Tour de Suisse
4th Tour de France

He started the year on a positive note and has just achieved a remarkable and surprising 4th place in the Tour. And he's only 22!
Chapeau.

 

[Sciatic]

4th in the Tour Down Under
5th in the UAE Tour
3rd Tour de Suisse
4th Tour de France

He started the year on a positive note and has just achieved a remarkable and surprising 4th place in the Tour. And he's only 22!
Chapeau.

Super impressive showing this Tour. And I don’t mind that he rode so passively given he couldn’t know what he would be capable of in Week 3.