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Teams & Riders Thibaut Pinot discussion thread

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Re: Re:

Red Rick said:
Hugo Koblet said:
Well done! I really like Pinot when he rides like this. Hopefully he'll target more one day-races next year.
Honestly I don't think the Ardennes are hard enough for the kind of racing we're seeing. They're hard enough for climbers to be up there, but not hard enough to make the difference.
I hope we'll go back to old Liège, that could be wild.

If Amstel can be selective gain, so can Liège. Right, ASO?
 
Re: Re:

Alexandre B. said:
Red Rick said:
Hugo Koblet said:
Well done! I really like Pinot when he rides like this. Hopefully he'll target more one day-races next year.
Honestly I don't think the Ardennes are hard enough for the kind of racing we're seeing. They're hard enough for climbers to be up there, but not hard enough to make the difference.
I hope we'll go back to old Liège, that could be wild.

If Amstel can be selective gain, so can Liège. Right, ASO?

How would you make Liege selective?
 
Re: Re:

OlavEH said:
Alexandre B. said:
Red Rick said:
Hugo Koblet said:
Well done! I really like Pinot when he rides like this. Hopefully he'll target more one day-races next year.
Honestly I don't think the Ardennes are hard enough for the kind of racing we're seeing. They're hard enough for climbers to be up there, but not hard enough to make the difference.
I hope we'll go back to old Liège, that could be wild.

If Amstel can be selective gain, so can Liège. Right, ASO?

How would you make Liege selective?

By re-locating the finish line.
 
Re:

Valv.Piti said:
What the closest thing Pinot has been to this kind of shape throughout his career? Giro 2017?
I have never seen him this strong, not even close. Thibaut's descending usually is an indicator of his state of mind: when he doubts or when pressure gets to him, we have seen some bad descending. This week, he didn't act as an outsider, but clearly went out there with a mace, ready to crash skulls. Tibopino was Thinard Pinault. He's in the best shape, both physically and mentally of his career. He believes that he can beat anybody.

Today, Il Grandissimo Tibopino was flying down the descents, mauling everybody, it was by far his best display as a pro.
 
Re: Re:

Tonton said:
Valv.Piti said:
What the closest thing Pinot has been to this kind of shape throughout his career? Giro 2017?
I have never seen him this strong, not even close. Thibaut's descending usually is an indicator of his state of mind: when he doubts or when pressure gets to him, we have seen some bad descending. This week, he didn't act as an outsider, but clearly went out there with a mace, ready to crash skulls. Tibopino was Thinard Pinault. He's in the best shape, both physically and mentally of his career. He believes that he can beat anybody.

Today, Il Grandissimo Tibopino was flying down the descents, mauling everybody, it was by far his best display as a pro.
I agree with you, he was considerably stronger than I ever can remember him today and thats why I asked thq question He did extremely well on some stages in Giro 17 and 18, but also Tour 2014 over Bales for example, but never looking like a dominant rider. He did today. Bravo!
 
Re: Re:

Valv.Piti said:
Tonton said:
Valv.Piti said:
What the closest thing Pinot has been to this kind of shape throughout his career? Giro 2017?
I have never seen him this strong, not even close. Thibaut's descending usually is an indicator of his state of mind: when he doubts or when pressure gets to him, we have seen some bad descending. This week, he didn't act as an outsider, but clearly went out there with a mace, ready to crash skulls. Tibopino was Thinard Pinault. He's in the best shape, both physically and mentally of his career. He believes that he can beat anybody.

Today, Il Grandissimo Tibopino was flying down the descents, mauling everybody, it was by far his best display as a pro.
I agree with you, he was considerably stronger than I ever can remember him today and thats why I asked thq question He did extremely well on some stages in Giro 17 and 18, but also Tour 2014 over Bales for example, but never looking like a dominant rider. He did today. Bravo!
The Romandie ITT that he won was the closest IMO. And the '17 Monte Grappa, when he comes back, catches Quintana and Nibali, attacked, and in the final did a ton of work and still dominated the sprint.

Today, Tibopino put it all together, everything that I knew he was capable of. I waited so long for this day :) .
 
Re:

Red Rick said:
First time he's been really fresh at the end of the year. Just skip Tour forever please. Don't overcommit to march/april stage races. The freshness allowed him to get better during the Vuelta.

Well, ideally I would prefer to see him in this form in the Tour. The Tour needs both Pinot and Quintana and other top GC riders to counteract the Sky and Dumoulin dominance.
 
Gigs_98 said:
I actually don't know if he was better than last year. Last year Nibali was in freak shape, this year he wasn't.
Nibali is not the only reference. Last year he got caught back again after the Civiglio. This time he basically put time into everybody from the start of the Civiglio while doing almost everything solo, while having attacked on the Muro di Sormano and done his share of the work on the flat.

Also, last year he finished 8th in Milan Torino, this year he won it convincingly.
 
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He's super strong and also really lean right now.
Maybe the Bales stage was on the same level, but this has to be the best form that we've ever seen for him.
Of course I'd rather see him at the Giro that at the Tour, but you have to keep the French sponsors happy.
For him it's actually a good thing to have Demare on the same team, he can also get a stage win at the Tour and take away some pressure from Thibaut and give him more freedom when it comes to picking the gts.
Everyone seems to be happy for him, there aren't many bigger names that are as popular as him without having a bunch of haters.
 
So, he and Jérémy Roy have ridden 390 race days together. Then finally, 1 week after the latter ended his career, Pinot manages to win something really big. Luckily, Roy was there to high-five him in the final metres.

Congrats to Pinot. I honestly had never seen the very biggest of potentials in him and thought it always a bit over-optimistic to think he would ever win a Grand Tour. But his ride on the stage 11 of the Vuelta was an eye-opener for me, and his late season form has been sensational this year. It really was a shame that he was utilised as was the case in the Worlds Road Race (well, obviously not since Valverde ended up winning because of it, but from his and the Frenchies' perspective it was a shame).

I still don't see him as a future Tour winner but I won't rule out a victory in one of the other Grand Tours now.
 
Re:

Mayomaniac said:
He's super strong and also really lean right now.
Maybe the Bales stage was on the same level, but this has to be the best form that we've ever seen for him.
Of course I'd rather see him at the Giro that at the Tour, but you have to keep the French sponsors happy.
For him it's actually a good thing to have Demare on the same team, he can also get a stage win at the Tour and take away some pressure from Thibaut and give him more freedom when it comes to picking the gts.
Everyone seems to be happy for him, there aren't many bigger names that are as popular as him without having a bunch of haters.

Very true.
 
Kwibus said:
Awesome! Very happy for Pinot and his fans! Hes certainly a rider I will always support, the ups and downs are big and this up is huge!

He’s only 28 and already he has been the next big French GT hope, then a basket case who looked like he would never descend at faster than walking pace again, then a comeback GC rider duking it out with Dumoulin, Quintana and Nibali at the sharp end of a Giro, then a guy who blew up spectacularly in his main goal of the season and now again the comeback king, transforming his palmares with the best form in the peloton at the end of this season.

It’s never boring if you cheer for Thibaut.

(I think it was when he got the yips descending that he moved from being a rider I like to a permanent favourite. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pro bricking it on the descents as badly as I might before.)
 

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