If Mas recovers, he was strong enough before his illness to be sitting top 5, ahead of Bernal in the white jersey.del1962 said:Gaudu and Bennett are the strongest domestiques so farAnderis said:Pinot's support in the mountains is OK and better than many riders who managed to finish inside top5 in the last few years.WildspokeJoe said:This is going to sound like a brutal take but neither Frenchman will finish in the top 5. It's going to get hotter and neither has the type of support you need in the mountains to sustain a top 5 tour campaign. Hope I'm wrong.
This is kinda bland thought. Old guys are always making way. Can't be other way.HelloDolly said:MatParker117 said:Begs the question especially with all the new talent this year like Bernal, Sivakov, Sosa, Dunbar, Pogacar, Kamna
should the older guys just make way
I agree. Landa could be a real pest especially to teams like Ineos. He has nothing to lose. Simon Yates could also be dangerous if he sees the chance of another stage win and if he is willing to contribute to an attack from the GC contenders.Red Rick said:Really think Landa and Movistar have a few cards to play yet. Landa is probably not gonna win but he may get the role of kingmaker this Tour. If anybody he's probably the one to attack on the Izoard come Thursday.
Giro 2017 he was one of the 2 best climbers in the race in the last 2 mountain stages. He just had his usual ITT *** up. If he keeps his form, it is his to lose.Tonton said:Historically, Pinot is strong week 3: Tour '12, '14, '15, Giro '17, Vuelta '13, '18. Last year's Giro is still a very fresh memory, but it's the exception. The problem for Pinot has been to make it to the 3rd week. What now? It's a six day bike race, the first two are easy but require vigilance...it can get windy in and around Nimes; there could be a break in the peloton in the stage 17 finish. After that, it's three days, hopefully rain, which would be an advantage for Le Tibo. He can smell blood, I don't expect (fingers crossed) a let down. The real question for me is what Ineos does or doesn't do.
Is last years giro even an exception? Like, of course he had his complete collapse on stage 20, but that was obviously not due to his shape but due to illness. Before that he was mediocre for most of the giro and only got into the podium spots becuase he had probably his best performance up to that point on the Finestre stage. So his general shape wasn't bad going into the third week.Tonton said:Historically, Pinot is strong week 3: Tour '12, '14, '15, Giro '17, Vuelta '13, '18. Last year's Giro is still a very fresh memory, but it's the exception. The problem for Pinot has been to make it to the 3rd week. What now? It's a six day bike race, the first two are easy but require vigilance...it can get windy in and around Nimes; there could be a break in the peloton in the stage 17 finish. After that, it's three days, hopefully rain, which would be an advantage for Le Tibo. He can smell blood, I don't expect (fingers crossed) a let down. The real question for me is what Ineos does or doesn't do.
The Ulle hype after that ITT was out of this world!Valv.Piti said:Le Tour is not Le Tour without a proper heatwave. Memories of 2003 and Ulle!
Whether he is saying it out loud or not, I'm sure Pinot is focused on winning. He can see the opportunity is there.Broccolidwarf said:Reading the rest day interviews, one thing hits me:
Ineos is talking about "winning".
Every other team is talking about "the podium".
My money is on the team going for the win![]()
It's a question of attitude.Sciatic said:Whether he is saying it out loud or not, I'm sure Pinot is focused on winning. He can see the opportunity is there.Broccolidwarf said:Reading the rest day interviews, one thing hits me:
Ineos is talking about "winning".
Every other team is talking about "the podium".
My money is on the team going for the win![]()
And remember that what we read about a team/rider's statements in the media reports, has a lot to do with what questions journalists are asking them. Do you think anyone is asking Team Ineous, "do you think you can podium?" Of course not, they are only asking them "Can you win?"
Kokoso said:This is kinda bland thought. Old guys are always making way. Can't be other way.HelloDolly said:MatParker117 said:Begs the question especially with all the new talent this year like Bernal, Sivakov, Sosa, Dunbar, Pogacar, Kamna
should the older guys just make way
Chris Horner says hello. Evetually he too made way.
Isn't that his problem though ? If it's not crosswinds it's heat or illness or the TT. At least he has ticked the TT box this year and he is climbing as well as anyone. Time will tell.Red Rick said:Giro 2017 he was one of the 2 best climbers in the race in the last 2 mountain stages. He just had his usual ITT **** up. If he keeps his form, it is his to lose.Tonton said:Historically, Pinot is strong week 3: Tour '12, '14, '15, Giro '17, Vuelta '13, '18. Last year's Giro is still a very fresh memory, but it's the exception. The problem for Pinot has been to make it to the 3rd week. What now? It's a six day bike race, the first two are easy but require vigilance...it can get windy in and around Nimes; there could be a break in the peloton in the stage 17 finish. After that, it's three days, hopefully rain, which would be an advantage for Le Tibo. He can smell blood, I don't expect (fingers crossed) a let down. The real question for me is what Ineos does or doesn't do.
I really worry about the heat though.
Yeah, no way we could have figured out that power meters and race radios aren't the sole reason for boring racing before. After all there are no other races than the tdf, where those are used.pastronef said:http://www.twitter.com/JournalVelo
Thought for the day: just about everyone agrees this Tour has been thrilling. It has also involved race radios and power meters, so maybe banning those is not the answer.
What, why? Who was complaining about this tour?Salvarani said:I think what we learned is people will compain no matter what. Doesnt matter how the race is going.
Just look at the post above. It's not entertaining for the right reasons.Gigs_98 said:What, why? Who was complaining about this tour?Salvarani said:I think what we learned is people will compain no matter what. Doesnt matter how the race is going.
A bit like the 2012 Vuelta, though, the problem is trusting the organisers to take the right lessons out of why the race was entertaining. The 2012 Vuelta was entertaining because of some serious convergence of luck factors - Contador's ban through July and a clearly Wiggins-tailored TT-heavy Tour route meaning Rodríguez focused on Giro and Vuelta that year, plus a Valverde who had underperformed at the Tour and a Froome whose form was fading meant you had an exciting GC battle led by home favourites, two of whom specialised in the short to mid length steep finishes they were serving up ad nauseaum, so the race was far more entertaining than would have been expected. As a consequence, the Vuelta started spamming that format of stage, which guarantees 15-20 minutes of action at the end of each stage but often neuters longer distance moves because there are very few platforms for them (which is ironic when you consider how that race was eventually won) and so many of the final climbs are on garage ramps that mean little incentive exists even for the kind of move Mikel Landa tried on Sunday.tobydawq said:Just look at the post above. It's not entertaining for the right reasons.Gigs_98 said:What, why? Who was complaining about this tour?Salvarani said:I think what we learned is people will compain no matter what. Doesnt matter how the race is going.