Tony Gallopin

[Alexandre B.]

So much whining today.

He rode the race he had to do in order to preserve his general classification and his chances for the stage win. And he didn't cooperate to chase on Wellens.

Paris-Nice was his primary objective this winter, how could we blame him to race for the best possible classification?

 

[Gloin22]

Re:

So much whining today.

He rode the race he had to do in order to preserve his general classification and his chances for the stage win. And he didn't cooperate to chase on Wellens.

Paris-Nice was his primary objective this season, how could we blame him to race for the best possible classification?

Because he destroyed the almighty Contador chances of winning the GC in a Contador fanatic dominated forum?

 

[DBotero]

Re:

So much whining today.

He rode the race he had to do in order to preserve his general classification and his chances for the stage win. And he didn't cooperate to chase on Wellens.

Paris-Nice was his primary objective this winter, how could we blame him to race for the best possible classification?

Don't know,he followed his own interest and that's it.People around here still dream about everyone riding against Sky while neglecting their own chances to get something from races.

 

[SafeBet]

I don't care much about the outcome of the race. It was entertaining and that's all that matters.
But I don't see how his racing could have helped Wellens in any way. And if he followed team orders, well that's stupid team orders to me.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Wellens won the stage, Gallopin won the sprint for 4th and didn't lose his top-10 placing.

How's that stupid?

 

[SafeBet]

Wellens won the stage, Gallopin won the sprint for 4th and didn't lose his top-10 placing.

How's that stupid?

Wellens would have won anyway. And Gallopin would have finshed 11th in the worst case scenario.
But Thomas and Henao bridging to the chasing group gave this group a far better chance of closing the gap to Wellens, thus lowering his chance of winning the stage.

Is the difference between coming 8th and 11th in the GC worth putting at risk your teammate's win? I really don't think so.

 

[Flamin]

Exactly.

Coming to think of it, I'm not sure this decision was made by Gallopin himself though. Everyone knows how much even the lower GC spots mean to Lotto. De Greef, Declercq etc. Examples are countless.

 

[LaFlorecita]

Just odd tactics. In the end, it worked out, but it could have gone wrong too and Gallopin would have looked like a fool.

 

[Flamin]

Re:

Just odd tactics. In the end, it worked out, but it could have gone wrong too and Gallopin would have looked like a fool.

Yes, definitely. And I was pissed at the time too, but it wouldn't be surprising at all if the DS made that call..

 

[trevim]

Gallopin making weird tactical decisions isn't really new. Which was that cobbled classic where he refused to cooperate and then attacked the group to get a 6th place? E3 2014 I think.
Good job today though, he has won a couple of beers with track specialist/cobbled classics rider/mountain goat/future GT winner Geraint Thomas, that's great. Maybe he can ask for a contract as well

 

[roundabout]

Re:

Wellens won the stage, Gallopin won the sprint for 4th and didn't lose his top-10 placing.

How's that stupid?

Wellens would have won anyway. And Gallopin would have finshed 11th in the worst case scenario.
But Thomas and Henao bridging to the chasing group gave this group a far better chance of closing the gap to Wellens, thus lowering his chance of winning the stage.

Is the difference between coming 8th and 11th in the GC worth putting at risk your teammate's win? I really don't think so.

And Gallopin would have won had the 3 been caught.

Nothing odd from the perspective of Lotto.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Wellens won the stage, Gallopin won the sprint for 4th and didn't lose his top-10 placing.

How's that stupid?

Wellens would have won anyway. And Gallopin would have finshed 11th in the worst case scenario.
But Thomas and Henao bridging to the chasing group gave this group a far better chance of closing the gap to Wellens, thus lowering his chance of winning the stage.

Is the difference between coming 8th and 11th in the GC worth putting at risk your teammate's win? I really don't think so.

And Gallopin would have won had the 3 been caught.

Nothing odd from the perspective of Lotto.

Exactly - with Wellens in the front group and Gallopin in the second group, Lotto were favourites to win in any scenario.

Without representation in the second group it was more risky in case that group caught onto the front three. Then there would have been a much higher risk that Wellens, isolated by himself, could have got outdone by tactics.

 

[Flamin]

Re: Re:

Wellens won the stage, Gallopin won the sprint for 4th and didn't lose his top-10 placing.

How's that stupid?

Wellens would have won anyway. And Gallopin would have finshed 11th in the worst case scenario.
But Thomas and Henao bridging to the chasing group gave this group a far better chance of closing the gap to Wellens, thus lowering his chance of winning the stage.

Is the difference between coming 8th and 11th in the GC worth putting at risk your teammate's win? I really don't think so.

And Gallopin would have won had the 3 been caught.

Nothing odd from the perspective of Lotto.

No way was this as much of a certainty as Wellens winning vs Contador and Porte was. If all came together at say 2k to go, the tempo would have likely dropped a bit and that would have opened the door for attacks.

 

[roundabout]

I am sure Wellens would have had a couple of km in him to keep the speed up

 

[rick james]

the fact he has Bertie fans boys hating him is amazing, always looking for excuses that lot

 

[damian13ster]

Re: Re:

Wellens won the stage, Gallopin won the sprint for 4th and didn't lose his top-10 placing.

How's that stupid?

Wellens would have won anyway. And Gallopin would have finshed 11th in the worst case scenario.
But Thomas and Henao bridging to the chasing group gave this group a far better chance of closing the gap to Wellens, thus lowering his chance of winning the stage.

Is the difference between coming 8th and 11th in the GC worth putting at risk your teammate's win? I really don't think so.

And Gallopin would have won had the 3 been caught.

Nothing odd from the perspective of Lotto.

No way was this as much of a certainty as Wellens winning vs Contador and Porte was. If all came together at say 2k to go, the tempo would have likely dropped a bit and that would have opened the door for attacks.

Those accusations are absolutely ridiculous. Two groups up the road, in first one your teammate who will win the sprint from that group, behind him 2nd group that can still catch him and potentially outsprint him, you are in 3rd and a decent sprinter.
What do you do? Join the 2nd group and sit up preserving strength in case it comes down to sprint. This is an only logical choice

 

[carolina]

also, if thomas was way more tired then anyone on the 2nd group, how would joinning them make the chase for contador faster?

 

[cantpedal]

if "ifs" and "ands" were "buts" Flo would be a Froome fan.

Tony made the correct move. He even stopped working when they got close to the 2nd group.

 

[Jakub]

Tony made the correct move. He even stopped working when they got close to the 2nd group.

I'm trying to uderstand, but actually the two sentences don't make sense together.

 

[pink_jersey]

Tony made the correct move. He even stopped working when they got close to the 2nd group.

I'm trying to uderstand, but actually the two sentences don't make sense together.

Actually, they make sense. Tony was in 3th group and Wellens in 1st. At that time, Wellens should have work with Contador and Porte. When Gallopin caught 2nd group, Wellens didn't need to work because he had a teammate in the second group. When Gallopin was in 3rd group, Wellens should have work because if his group was caught, Lotto was without options.

 

[Inquitus]

if "ifs" and "ands" were "buts" Flo would be a Froome fan.

Tony made the correct move. He even stopped working when they got close to the 2nd group.

Poor Flo's really lost the plot today, poor Tony did nothing wrong, find someone else to blame.....

 

[cantpedal]

Tony made the correct move. He even stopped working when they got close to the 2nd group.

I'm trying to uderstand, but actually the two sentences don't make sense together.

Actually, they make sense. Tony was in 3th group and Wellens in 1st. At that time, Wellens should have work with Contador and Porte. When Gallopin caught 2nd group, Wellens didn't need to work because he had a teammate in the second group. When Gallopin was in 3rd group, Wellens should have work because if his group was caught, Lotto was without options.

Exactly

 

[LaFlorecita]

if "ifs" and "ands" were "buts" Flo would be a Froome fan.

Tony made the correct move. He even stopped working when they got close to the 2nd group.

Poor Flo's really lost the plot today, poor Tony did nothing wrong, find someone else to blame.....

I think you'll realize that it's not just me who's confused by Gallopin's actions. Just read this thread to find a couple others. No need to insult me.

 

[cantpedal]

if "ifs" and "ands" were "buts" Flo would be a Froome fan.

Tony made the correct move. He even stopped working when they got close to the 2nd group.

Poor Flo's really lost the plot today, poor Tony did nothing wrong, find someone else to blame.....

I think you'll realize that it's not just me who's confused by Gallopin's actions. Just read this thread to find a couple others. No need to insult me.

I wasn't trying to insult you Flo. comparing the absurdity of all the arguments of possibilities of what could or should have happened with the thought that you might root for Froome.

 

[Publicus]

I actually think it was a rather dumb set of tactics by Gallopin. Thomas had a teammate AND was in yellow. All he had to do was sit on and let Sky drive, while we hitched a ride (what were they going to do, stop trying to close the gap? not likely)). By his own admission, he was helping Thomas out (see comments from Eurosport). So as much as you folks want to chalk this up to sour grapes by Contador fans, there's a fair amount of schadenfreude being exhibited by the pro-Sky/Froome, anti-Contador crowd if you don't recognize that his tactics were a bit questionable under the circumstances and facts (i recognize every rider rides his own race, but TG made it clear he was helping out his mate).

In any event, it was a great stage and fantastic racing, so there's really nothing to complain about from a sporting perspective and I hope that isn't lost in all of this nonsense.