I think he absolutely has to be taken seriously given the TT and bonuses, and that we'll see a very quick ascent on Saturday as a result. My money is on UAE ripping this from the bottom of Prati di Tivo.
I think he absolutely has to be taken seriously given the TT and bonuses, and that we'll see a very quick ascent on Saturday as a result. My money is on UAE ripping this from the bottom of Prati di Tivo.
If Bernal and Pogacar attack early enough in the last climb (at least at 3 or 4 km from the finish), they could take a few dozen of seconds back to Van Aert. Enough for Pogacar to resist in the TT.
- Jan 4, 2020
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I think van Aert can get a great result in the GC, but to win he has to beat Pogacar. And I just don't see that.
Van Aert maybe can beat Pogacar in the TT, but not take enough seconds back to beat Poga for the general. Because Van Aert will lose (dozen) of seconds on Prati di Tivo . Ganna should win the TT.
- Apr 12, 2019
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Yap, you could see how quickly climb makes the difference. UAE Jabel is not steep and shorter than Prati, and you could see Kuss struggling a lot when the pace got extremely high from Yates and Pogi. Minutes flying away once you get dropped, not seconds. And in final ITT (10 km) Pogi will not lose big amount of time to van Aert. Maximum 15 seconds
- Jan 8, 2020
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Hoping Prati di Tivo will be a direct confromtation between Pogacar and Bernal for the win.
If Simon Yates finds his firepower, he should be in the fight too,
If Simon Yates finds his firepower, he should be in the fight too,
- Jun 6, 2017
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He was at the end, but Ala made his jump quite earlier giving few bike lengths Van Aert and Pogacar. It's debatable who the stronger was. Van Der Poel had plenty of time to position himself better, but he didn't, which means that he was on the limit and saved all his strength for that final explosion. But he was too far back, or it was too late...
- Nov 6, 2020
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I doubt Yates will improve that much in 2 days, I think the crash at Strade messed him up a little bit.
- Apr 28, 2010
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Everyone was on their limit. That doesn’t mean he couldn’t have positioned himself better, it’s kind of a recurring theme with him. I doubt it’s “just” because he’s on his limit like everyone else.
If he really was on his limit there’s nothing left in the tank for such an explosive attack/sprint. Not buying it.
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- Apr 16, 2009
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- Sep 26, 2020
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He was dropped on every single mountain stage.
- May 5, 2010
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Outsprinting the climbers isn't that unusual, though.
- Mar 13, 2009
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i dont believe for a second vdp was on the limit. Or it was a really bad day after strade lol.
What is more likely, is something I read in an interview just before the 2nd stage.
And that is the idea of the team is that VDP is supposed to come out of the Tirreno relatively fresh. Which also meant for this stage: if it's being controlled, sprint for the win. If it's being pushed extremely hard, let go. Basically the plan is for VDP to not over-exert himself here.
So he might ride on a limiter here and not go beyond until the sprint.
Which brings me to question that tomorrow is the nthe only chance left, because for sure Castelfidardo is going to be raced hard and he'd be put on a limit there. So i see him as likely to softpedal both Prato di Tivo and Castelfidardo.
- Jun 7, 2011
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Let's say, he dropped as many climbers as the number of climbers that dropped him.
- Apr 12, 2019
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Has he really outclimbed them?? C'mon. He was impressive on stage 4 (Orcières-Merlette ) where Rogla won. But it was 15 minutes climb, he did the last part. The next time he was destroying on a climb was the first half of Grand Colombier (Stage 15). Still, very different-often, if needed and if wanted, classics guys all can do it. Nothing special in here. Still, after him there was always Dumoulin and Kuss to do their job. If you give a classics guy a job to do the damage on the climb-he will always deliver the wanted damage. But doing damage is sth different than going on your result and try to win a mountain top finish. Or following the wheels on best possible way, even that gets tougher if you are the leader and not domestique.
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- Sep 2, 2011
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I feel like you're overlooking possibly his biggest threat.
He has 4 seconds on Alaphilippe, who to me is still the better climber of the two (he was third on Ventoux less than one month ago) and who might lose less than 20 seconds in the ITT.
Pogacar is still the favorite, but he will need to go early on Prati di Tivo and gain as much as he can on the classics guys.
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- Jan 4, 2020
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Alaphilippe certainly has an advantage with the Almeida card to play. If Ineos play it well, they should also be able to do something with their crazy team. The 10k ITT might just be enough to break Bernal's neck, but Thomas was good today, and he might make use of that TT. Still, I can't see past Pogacar... but might be my lack of imagination. Well, I'm rooting for Alaphilippe, van Aert or Higuita... or Bernal.
- Jul 4, 2016
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