Teams & Riders Thibaut Pinot discussion thread

[Tonton]

Re:

Strade Bianche looks rather odd on his calendar but we'll see. What's his experience on sterrato?

None that I know off. I know that he does a lot of MTB, so he's not a one-dimensional, road-only cyclist. Sterrato is different. It's intriguing, and I'd like to see it. Thibaut has really emphasized his need for change, suggesting that doing the same program every year has, as much as over training/over-racing, led to burnout. Strade Bianche? Now that would be change!

 

[Tonton]

Thibaut looked really good today.

 

[BalearicBeats]

Thibaut looked really good today.

Yeah, he did some great work!

 

[movingtarget]

Re: Re:

Calling it now: He's gonna podium in Italy!

You beat me to it .

I'll take this as a Christmas present. And I can't help but think that it was the plan all along. Tibopino must have insisted on this before extending with FDJ. And with Bardet so competitive, racing the Tour for stages and/or KOM is something that the French public will accept without fussing.

Now if he wins the Giro, and I think that he can, the circus will resume, times ten.

This hype around pinot is getting worse than the hype around contador. Do you really think that he could win il giro? In my opinion he has zero chances of making top3

I don't think he can win the Giro but he has a chance at the podium.

 

[Simurgh]

Dieseling his way to victory! He shows that he is the heir to Contador's throne (even though the King still got something left to give with his good ride today)

 

[Alexandre B.]

One of his finest wins regarding his shape and the opposition. Beating Valverde and Contador in Spain and in early season is pretty special.

Chapeau Thibaut !

 

[Arredondo]

Great showing. He's still a bit rough in my opinion: you never know if he can keep up with the best. But today he was surely on!

 

[Tonton]

Biggest win in his career (put aside the Romandie ITT ahead of Tom D. and Dawg) considering the field. Not a breakaway, just "a la pedale", by being the best on the road, fair and square. Ahead of a red-hot Valverde and the legendary Alberto. Wow! Thibaut will look good in pink .

 

[del1962]

Biggest win in his career (put aside the Romandie ITT ahead of Tom D. and Dawg) considering the field. Not a breakaway, just "a la pedale", by being the best on the road, fair and square. Ahead of a red-hot Valverde and the legendary Alberto. Wow! Thibaut will look good in pink .

Better than his 2015 Romandie Stage beating Froome and Quintana?

 

[staubsauger]

Pinot looks like a carbon copy of poor Luc LeBlanc. I absolutely expect him to put a move on the pink jersey. Just to caught himself out somewhere along the way during three weeks of intense racing. Nevertheless he's gonna have a strong spring and important wins prior to this!

 

[Jspear]

If anyone is gonna beat AC I'd prefer it be Chaves, Bardet, or Pinot, so I'm slightly okay with his win today.

Will he be racing Aru before the Giro?....He definitely has a shot at the Giro podium. I think one of his big rivals for that will be Aru.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Re:

If anyone is gonna beat AC I'd prefer it be Chaves, Bardet, or Pinot, so I'm slightly okay with his win today.

Will he be racing Aru before the Giro?....He definitely has a shot at the Giro podium. I think one of his big rivals for that will be Aru.

Tirreno-Adriatico and Tour of the Alps?

 

[Rollthedice]

Re: Re:

If anyone is gonna beat AC I'd prefer it be Chaves, Bardet, or Pinot, so I'm slightly okay with his win today.

Will he be racing Aru before the Giro?....He definitely has a shot at the Giro podium. I think one of his big rivals for that will be Aru.

Tirreno-Adriatico and Tour of the Alps?

Tirreno yes but I think Aru will do Tour of Croatia instead of Trentino.

 

[Tonton]

Biggest win in his career (put aside the Romandie ITT ahead of Tom D. and Dawg) considering the field. Not a breakaway, just "a la pedale", by being the best on the road, fair and square. Ahead of a red-hot Valverde and the legendary Alberto. Wow! Thibaut will look good in pink .

Better than his 2015 Romandie Stage beating Froome and Quintana?

In Romandie '15, when Tibopino placed his attack, Froome, Quintana, Nibali didn't react (and finished together). Only Zakarin tried to reel Pinot in.

Today there was a battle between the heads of state, a vintage Contador attack, and Pinot had to dig really, really deep to come back. And what a finish. Tibopino El Matador!

Tomorrow, wearing the French ITT Champion jersey (for the first time since his win back in June), I'm expecting a strong performance.

Haaaaaaa!!! What a beautiful day!

 

[IndianCyclist]

Pinot's confidence will be sky high after beating Contador and the Sky bots. Maybe he has progressed a level? looking forward to Giro battle with Quintana/Nibali

 

[Tonton]

Re:

Pinot's confidence will be sky high after beating Contador and the Sky bots. Maybe he has progressed a level? looking forward to Giro battle with Quintana/Nibali

IndianCyclist, BTW, I like your posts. Always thoughtful even though I disagree from time to time.

Yes, morale-wise, not being 100% after his stomach flu, Pinot battled big, battled back. Mental fortitude was a discussion months ago. He showed a lot. He went for the kill. What a boost! If he did that to Bertie, now he knows that he can do it to Nibali and Aru. Quintana? I'm not so sure, because Quintana will go to win the Giro (and set up the excuse for losing the Tour). Quintana is great.

I like Thibaut's chances. He's the underdog. But today was big for confidence. He knows that he can dominate.

Now, wearing the champ ITT jersey, he will unleash tomorrow. Same course as the Criterium International ITT: distance, profile more or less, if S++t doesn't happen, he'll get a podium in this race.

 

[Alexandre B.]

4th on the day, 3th on GC.

No regrets. Solid.

 

[staubsauger]

It's the level of performance he has to duplicate the Giro in order to be ahead of Quintana, Landa & Aru after the itt. Solid performance, good test balloon.

 

[Tonton]

I was expecting a little better, you can imagine . Still, good chrono for Thibaut. With a lot less kilometers under his belt, he's better than he was at the same time last year in Algarve.

On FDJ's website, DS Thierry Bricaud is quite satisfied, yet regrets that they chose a smaller, more conservative gear today. For what it's worth.

Nice week for Tibopino .

 

[IndianCyclist]

Re: Re:

IndianCyclist, BTW, I like your posts. Always thoughtful even though I disagree from time to time.

Thanks

 

[Tonton]

You are welcome.

Strava is not as reliable with Pinot as it was before, IMO. I have seen reports of training that wasn't recorded. Is FDJ mucking the water?

Regardless, this was a super week. And what a win! Not a break, not a sneak attack, just pure "a la pedale" domination.

Insiders tell me that LaFlo is ready to switch allegiances .

Strade Bianche should be next...if Tibopino keep it up, he's a contender. Going down and dirty. Exactly what he needs to do.

 

[manolo57]

Mmmh, I think Pinot have zero chance to win SB against Sagan Stybar Kwiat etc... But anyway, it will be interesting to see what he can do and his behaviour during the race !

 

[Tonton]

Re:

Mmmh, I think Pinot have zero chance to win SB against Sagan Stybar Kwiat etc... But anyway, it will be interesting to see what he can do and his behaviour during the race !

It's not so much about winning, but he has a chance. It's about mixing it up in unfamiliar territory, something that Thibaut hasn't done (cobbles - sterrato is the closest thing) well since the '14 TdF. He's hot, he can be a factor. I don't have big expectations, but a top-10 would be a great learning experience, validation that he can fight anyone, any day.

 

[SafeBet]

Re: Re:

It's not so much about winning, but he has a chance. It's about mixing it up in unfamiliar territory, something that Thibaut hasn't done (cobbles - sterrato is the closest thing) well since the '14 TdF. He's hot, he can be a factor. I don't have big expectations, but a top-10 would be a great learning experience, validation that he can fight anyone, any day.

I concur with this. And it's great to see him challenge himself and try different things.
I'm really looking forward watching him on the big italian climbs in May!

 

[Alexandre B.]

I didn't believe he could top-10 that race. And he did.

Great effort.