Too Late, Too Furious: Tokyo Drift - The 2020 Olympics Thread

[SafeBet]

As for Valgren - yes he can do the same job - but both Honore and Kron have been better, last year and this year

In what races?
Kron has never ridden a Monument in his life. As far as I know, the longest race he's done was the NC last week, and it's not like he won with a one minute gap on the peloton.
Honore has ridden 2 Monuments in his life and cracked the top50 once (yes, he was working for others, but still...).
In the time frame you mention Valgren was 11th in a very hard WC, 21th in the Ronde, 13th in AGR. He also has a history of overperforming in national teams events, as @Samu Cuenca says.

The youngsters have surely impressed in the last few months, but this is a different beast entirely. We're talking about 237 km Olympic course with almost 5000 mt of climbing. Winning a Catalunya or Itzulia stage to me has little relevance in this context.

 

[Fuente De]

Anyone knows why Loulou is not racing Tokyo?

 

[SafeBet]

Anyone knows why Loulou is not racing Tokyo?

He doesn't want to spend too much time away from his family. He became a father a few weeks ago.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

In what races?
Kron has never ridden a Monument in his life. As far as I know, the longest race he's done was the NC last week, and it's not like he won with a one minute gap on the peloton.
Honore has ridden 2 Monuments in his life and cracked the top50 once (yes, he was working for others, but still...).
In the time frame you mention Valgren was 11th in a very hard WC, 21th in the Ronde, 13th in AGR. He also has a history of overperforming in national teams events, as @Samu Cuenca says.

The youngsters have surely impressed in the last few months, but this is a different beast entirely. We're talking about 237 km Olympic course with almost 5000 mt of climbing. Winning a Catalunya or Itzulia stage to me has little relevance in this context.

They have won.

 

[SafeBet]

Italian team

RR: Moscon, Bettiol, Nibali, Caruso, Ciccone
TT: Ganna, Bettiol

 

[Mayomaniac]

Italian team

RR: Moscon, Bettiol, Nibali, Caruso, Ciccone
TT: Ganna, Bettiol

I can understand why Formolo won't be there. Giro+Tour and the jetlag is probably too much.
He is also faster than Formolo in a sprint.

No Ulissi is the most important thing. He's a great stagehunter and a guy for semiclassics, but a poor descender and he can't really handle a long, hard one day race.

 

[perico]

I could care less about the Olympics. I’ll watch it and a lot of riders invest in it, but it’s just not my thing when it comes to cycling. I’ll watch it and enjoy it, but don’t find it any more valuable than a Lombardía, LBL, or rainbow jersey.

On the plus side, this course is pretty badass.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

I could care less about the Olympics.

So you DO care?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Belgium
Men's RR: Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel +3 TBA July 3rd
Men's TT: Wout van Aert, Remco Evenepoel

Benoot, Vansevenant and Van Avermaet will join Van Aert & Evenepoel.

Too bad De Plus has been MIA for the last year, he would have been invaluable in his 2019 form. Not sure if Van Avermaet can still be of use on this course.

 

[Blanco]

Benoot, Vansevenant and Van Avermaet will join Van Aert & Evenepoel.

Too bad De Plus has been MIA for the last year, he would have been invaluable in his 2019 form. Not sure if Van Avermaet can still be of use on this course.

Someone's got to work in the first part...

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Someone's got to work in the first part...

Not convinced he's the best option available for that either.

 

[SafeBet]

Colombia

TT: Martinez
RR: Martinez, Higuita, Uran, Quintana, Chaves

 

[BlueRoads]

Colombia

TT: Martinez
RR: Martinez, Higuita, Uran, Quintana, Chaves

Love that team, but I'm disappointed Bernal doesn't race it.

 

[Sciatic]

Would be fun to see one of the Colombians take gold. The flags will be everywhere! .

 

[Koronin]

Would be fun to see one of the Colombians take gold. The flags will be everywhere! .

I don't think Japan is allowing much of anyone into the country as spectators.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Not sure if Van Avermaet can still be of use on this course.

I don't recall the rules, is he selected on a personal extra spot because he is the reigning champion, or does the country just get an extra spot and the federation decides?

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Love that team, but I'm disappointed Bernal doesn't race it.

Yeah, completely agree - we have the same issue with Vingegaard - and he will probably ride a stellar Tour, and look like he could have been a medals candidate

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Because it may have an impact on race dynamics, of the WT riders mentioned so far in the thread, these are their WT teams:

Ineos: 10
EF: 5
Trek: 5
Bahrain: 4
BEX: 4
Bora: 4
DQ: 4
Jumbo: 4
UAE: 4
FDJ: 3
ISN: 3
Movistar: 3
AG2R: 2
Astana: 2
DSM: 2
Cofidis: 1
Arkea: 1
Qhubeka: 1

 

[Sciatic]

I don't think Japan is allowing much of anyone into the country as spectators.

Good point, the celebration would have to happen in Colombia,

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I don't recall the rules, is he selected on a personal extra spot because he is the reigning champion, or does the country just get an extra spot and the federation decides?

I would think neither? We got 5 spots, same as other countries, and his name has only just been revealed, so he had no more "dibs" on that spot than anybody else.

 

[Wvv]

Benoot, Vansevenant and Van Avermaet will join Van Aert & Evenepoel.
Not sure if Van Avermaet can still be of use on this course.

I don't recall the rules, is he selected on a personal extra spot because he is the reigning champion, or does the country just get an extra spot and the federation decides?

I would think neither? We got 5 spots, same as other countries, and his name has only just been revealed, so he had no more "dibs" on that spot than anybody else.

He'll be the road captain. Last year at the Worlds he proved to be a good teammate for Van Aert, and on a good day he can still survive a hard course in a one day race. He's usually also very resistant to heat.

I agree the years begin to count a little and he's not always up there as much as he was for many, many times. But he still can be of value, and I believe he will show himself in Tour the coming weeks.

 

[yaco]

Colombians have to play this smart because they've chosen an unbalanced - They must ensure one of their riders gets into every break as they have no flat land grunt in the team , outside of Martinez.

 

[rokovski]

Slovenian selection for Olympics
Road race

Primož Roglič
Tadej Pogačar
Jan Tratnik
Jan Polanc

TT

Primož Roglič

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Colombians have to play this smart because they've chosen an unbalanced - They must ensure one of their riders gets into every break as they have no flat land grunt in the team , outside of Martinez.

Every country has a small team, so not a lot of countries have the "luxury" of having a dedicated flat road domestique. There are countries with only one or two participants. Everybody will need to play it smart to maximize the potential of a small team. They can, just like many others, profit from the work of other teams. I think flat land grunt wouldn't get far on this course anyway. It's not like Higuita, Martinez and Uran can't hold their own on flat roads. For a moment i was thinking about Narvaez, but he's not colombian... Who would you have picked?

 

[Blanco]

Slovenian selection for Olympics
Road race

Primož Roglič
Tadej Pogačar
Jan Tratnik
Jan Polanc

TT

Primož Roglič

So no Mohoric, wtf?