Tour de France 2019 stage 18: Embrun > Valloire 208 km

[carton]

Not a good look for Thomas, chasing his own teammate; but understandable, he is the defending Tour champ.

And ROFL at the clueless Brit commentators thinking that the world junior MTB medallist is "not at all a good descender" (that has to be pronounced with an Irish accent, of course). Great ride by Bernal.

And finally chapeau to Quintana, I was hoping for a Landa attack but good to see Nairito has still got it, and good to see Movistar rewarded for their bravery.

Edit: Typos

 

[Escarabajo]

Ineos went too late. I hope they don't regret it later. I can't believe they cannot read faces. Everyone was on the limit except for them. Simply too late.

 

[hrotha]

Re: Re:

Well done Quintana and fck you Movistar

What on earth you got against Movistar this stage? No one else tried anything on the penultimate climb. Obviously, Landa didn't have the legs today. They got the win. Excellent stage for them.

If Landa didn't have the legs, didn't he realize until after he'd have the team chase Quintana's group, costing them like 2-3 minutes? Movistar's tactics could only be justified as an all-out assault on the GC by Landa, but that never came. Therefore, in the end they sacrificed Quintana's GC prospects for literally nothing.

 

[DenisMenchov]

Re:

Bardet gets the jersey.

It world be so funny if the was the only Frenchman standing on the podium in Paris parter all the hype around JA and Pinot and all the bashing he got.

 

[BullsFan22]

If Ineos, Jumbo, and Movistar are smart, they'll go already on the Iseran. Can't just attack 1-2 km from the top of a climb and hope to build a 2 minute gap. They had over 3 big cols and 200 km+ of racing to attack today but wasted about 98% of it. Pity to see Kriuswijk not doing anything. Yes, De Plus was dropped and Bennett crashed, twice, today, but surely he needs to attack. Tomorrow he needs to do something, as they all do, apart from Alaphillipe.

Quintana, if his form is returning and he isn't too knackered tomorrow, could attack on the Iseran and that will definitely send fears into the GC, because they cannot allow him anymore leeway.

 

[Escarabajo]

Chapeau to Quintana. Great win after all the pressure he had last week.

There you have it Movistar, your Tour stage.

 

[HelloDolly]

Movistar will take the race on tomorrow ...with Landa & Quintana

They can gain time imo

When Alaphillipe cracks then Bernal goes in to yellow but Thomas is his biggest rival

 

[jaylew]

Re: Re:

Well done Quintana and fck you Movistar

What on earth you got against Movistar this stage? No one else tried anything on the penultimate climb. Obviously, Landa didn't have the legs today. They got the win. Excellent stage for them.

If Landa didn't have the legs, didn't he realize until after he'd have the team chase Quintana's group, costing them like 2-3 minutes? Movistar's tactics could only be justified as an all-out assault on the GC by Landa, but that never came. Therefore, in the end they sacrificed Quintana's GC prospects for literally nothing.

What GC chances? He doesn't have any. Who knows when Landa knew he didn't have the legs and when he relayed that info.

Stage 10.

I'm over the whining about stage 10. You have to be strong on the flats and windy stages as well as on the TTs and climbs to win the Tour. Everyone knew what what was likely to happen and gave their best. All the guys who lost time just weren't good enough on that stage.

 

[sir fly]

Re: Re:

Bardet gets the jersey.

It world be so funny if the was the only Frenchman standing on the podium in Paris parter all the hype around JA and Pinot and all the bashing he got.

Ко се бије тај се воли...

He's still the French darling, regardless, I'd say.
As is any other French showing passion.

 

[F_Cance]

Ala got really lucky today that the Ineos riders waited way too long.

 

[HelloDolly]

Landa had the legs...Movistar cut it as Nairo was way in front and could win stage and go up GC

 

[hrotha]

Re: Re:

Well done Quintana and fck you Movistar

What on earth you got against Movistar this stage? No one else tried anything on the penultimate climb. Obviously, Landa didn't have the legs today. They got the win. Excellent stage for them.

If Landa didn't have the legs, didn't he realize until after he'd have the team chase Quintana's group, costing them like 2-3 minutes? Movistar's tactics could only be justified as an all-out assault on the GC by Landa, but that never came. Therefore, in the end they sacrificed Quintana's GC prospects for literally nothing.

What GC chances? He doesn't have any. Who knows when Landa knew he didn't have the legs and when he relayed that info.

First of all, even without those 2-3 minutes Quintana is a minute ahead of Landa right now and he was VERY strong today. Weirder things have happened.
Secondly, even if Quintana's GC prospects were short-lived and he lost time tomorrow again, that'd still translate into a superior strategic position for the team tomorrow. They sacrificed this for literally no gain by pulling and then stopping.
Thirdly, if they hadn't pulled, someone else would have (as indeed someone else did when Movistar stopped doing it). Having to do it for longer would have translated into weakened rival teams while preserving their own domestiques. Which is good.

You don't sacrifice those advantages without a good reason. "Landa is trying to launch a major attack on the GC" is a good reason, but only if he actually does it.

As for when Landa realized he didn't have the legs, if that's what happened: lol, surely it must have been long before Movistar stopped pulling. I won't cut Movistar any slack for basically repeating the same mistake they made the other day when they dropped Quintana.

 

[spalco]

Re: Re:

Really dislike how reddit is just so prone to have a hivemind mentality.

The main problem with reddit is, it's so shortlived. There are many threads here that have been ongoing for months, and years even. That's completely impossible with the reddit algorithm. Almost no discussion on reddit goes on for more than 1-2 days max.

 

[Scarponi]

Re: Re:

Well done Quintana and fck you Movistar

What on earth you got against Movistar this stage? No one else tried anything on the penultimate climb. Obviously, Landa didn't have the legs today. They got the win. Excellent stage for them.

Anyway, I'm happy with today's result. The only guy on that top 6 to gain time on Alaphilippe is the only guy I'd rather see win than him.

Nah it’s the way Movistar have treated Quintana all tour, the way Valverde and Unzue teamed
Up to make Nairo look like a dog

 

[Escarabajo]

Re:

Landa had the legs...Movistar cut it as Nairo was way in front and could win stage and go up GC

Cut me a break. Landa had no legs on the last climb. I am not seeing the same as you are.

 

[broppo]

Alaphilippe was pushed by the crowd multiple times and also by his own soigneur!!!!! It would be so ridiculous if he doesnt get any time penalty!!! look at this! https://twitter.com/mart_vg/status/1154411162341167104

 

[MrTea1976]

Ineos/Jumbo podium I think. Thomas might well win tomorrow. Pinot 4th overall. Alaphillipe to hold on for 5th.

 

[luckyboy]

Everybody waited too long today. Riding with Van Baarle until a few kilometres from the top?? How can you drop Alaphilippe like that? I guess De Plus wasn't good but still Bennett and Gaudu would've been more useful.

They are handing the race to Alaphilippe if they just attack near the top of these climbs today and the next few days.


Thomas's move was another dumb one as well. Almost any other other teammate would just sit there and watch the gap grow.

 

[jaylew]

Re: Re:

Well done Quintana and fck you Movistar

What on earth you got against Movistar this stage? No one else tried anything on the penultimate climb. Obviously, Landa didn't have the legs today. They got the win. Excellent stage for them.

If Landa didn't have the legs, didn't he realize until after he'd have the team chase Quintana's group, costing them like 2-3 minutes? Movistar's tactics could only be justified as an all-out assault on the GC by Landa, but that never came. Therefore, in the end they sacrificed Quintana's GC prospects for literally nothing.

What GC chances? He doesn't have any. Who knows when Landa knew he didn't have the legs and when he relayed that info.

First of all, even without those 2-3 minutes Quintana is a minute ahead of Landa right now and he was VERY strong today. Weirder things have happened.
Secondly, even if Quintana's GC prospects were short-lived and he lost time tomorrow again, that'd still translate into a superior strategic position for the team tomorrow. They sacrificed this for literally no gain by pulling and then stopping.
Thirdly, if they hadn't pulled, someone else would have (as indeed someone else did when Movistar stopped doing it). Having to do it for longer would have translated into weakened rival teams while preserving their own domestiques. Which is good.

You don't sacrifice those advantages without a good reason. "Landa is trying to launch a major attack on the GC" is a good reason, but only if he actually does it.

As for when Landa realized he didn't have the legs, if that's what happened: lol, surely it must have been long before Movistar stopped pulling. I won't cut Movistar any slack for basically repeating the same mistake they made the other day when they dropped Quintana.

Even if I bought all of this, none of it makes any meaningful difference to anything. You said another team would have worked if not Movistar so throw out any extra time gained by Nairo. So, a Movistar dom or two would have been slightly fresher which frankly means nothing. So they would have hung on slightly longer on the Galibier? Wouldn't have changed the fact that Landa didn't have it when it counted. Maybe their tactics weren't flawless but they got the stage win and nothing they did really has any adverse effect on anything. I can certainly think of other team's tactics that were worse.

 

[RattaKuningas]

Excellent win by Quintana today. Hopefully he can do something great tomorrow as well. I also think that Uran looked much stronger than he had during last week so it is possible that he might gain lots of places as well.

 

[yaco]

The altitude played its part today - Quintana delivered the most brutal attack of the TDF, while Bernal showed strength in the final and Uran rode his best stage so far.

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Re:

Excellent win by Quintana today. Hopefully he can do something great tomorrow as well. I also think that Uran looked much stronger than he had during last week so it is possible that he might gain lots of places as well.

Yeah, Uran Uran does look like he will produce one of those last weeks that he has done before in grand tours. Not sure how many positions there are to make up for Uran though, as Kruijswijk and Manny Bookman, who are both quite far ahead of him in GC, were the only riders to show weaknesses apart from Alaphilippe today. That he keeps his 9th position is probably the most realistic 'guesstimate' at this point.

 

[IndianCyclist]

Today was a strategy of errors. First Movistar chasing after Quintana. Dylan Van Baarle the great mountain domestique dropping Visma climbers De Plus and Bennett. G chasing after his own teammate.
The only good move was the attack of Bernal. Now that Alaphillipe is weak, and they are 2,3 on GC they can easily do a 1-2 counterpunch either on same or different days putting them in the drivers seat.

 

[Red Rick]

Re: Re:

Really dislike how reddit is just so prone to have a hivemind mentality.

The main problem with reddit is, it's so shortlived. There are many threads here that have been ongoing for months, and years even. That's completely impossible with the reddit algorithm. Almost no discussion on reddit goes on for more than 1-2 days max.

Absolutely. It's the main reason I like places like this way more

 

[Red Rick]

All in all, I think Movistar chasing after Quintana is overblown. The favorite group suffered a lot from the Izoard like 3 minutes faster when they were climbing the Galibier.