Suspect this will end up in a bunch sprint. The stage would need to be ridden very hard to have a chance at avoiding a sprint and am not sure who would have an interest in that. Does Nizzolo have a realistic chance to upset the Ewan and Bennett?
Chances for a bunch sprint a really high.
I think more riders want to go in the group today compared to the first stages in the last editions of the Tour because:
A lot of riders want to show themselves this years after the break for new teams.
The stage is only 150 k and there are some hills. They don't have to ride 250km with 2-3 guys on the flat. They won't be totally dead after the stage.
For good punchy climbers there is the chance to get the mountain jersey and perhaps defend it on stage 2.
There is a minimal chance to get to the finish.
I think more riders want to go in the group today compared to the first stages in the last editions of the Tour because:
A lot of riders want to show themselves this years after the break for new teams.
The stage is only 150 k and there are some hills. They don't have to ride 250km with 2-3 guys on the flat. They won't be totally dead after the stage.
For good punchy climbers there is the chance to get the mountain jersey and perhaps defend it on stage 2.
There is a minimal chance to get to the finish.
- May 14, 2009
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- Feb 20, 2010
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Yea this should be a sprint. For some reason the circuits get progressively easier rather than harder, as each time the summit is moved further from the end of the circuit. Probably too much climbing for d'Hoore types, but Vos will be there, Deignan, etc. if they have any form. Bastianelli if she's in her early 2019 form, if she isn't she'll be dropped on climbs of this length, and I'm sure the likes of van Vleuten and Longo Borghini who aren't likely to win by sprinting will try to make it something else. Dark horses will be puncheuses with good sprint finishes - Lippert, Vollering, maybe Majerus, Mackaij. Really hard to tell as there haven't been that many opportunities to really get to see what the péloton is like form-wise post-Covid and indeed for some this is their first real race back.
- May 5, 2010
- 51,712
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The climbs are so insignificant and so far away that they would need to be pushed really, really hard to avoid a big bunch sprint.
I don't really see enough teams with both power and interest to do that. Can you imagine Cras, de Buyst and Frison tearing the peloton apart for Gilbert?
other than them, AG2R looks like the strongest sprinterless team that doesn't focus on GC and have guys that could fight for a stage win (Naesen, Cosnefroy). Maybe CCC if they don't have faith in Zakarin. But that's still a bit too little firepower IMO.
- Deceunick could be interesting but they have no reason to go all out to avoid sprint when they have Bennett.
- BORA could be interesting if they knew that they don't have to look after Buchmann but I don't think they'll write GC out this early.
Unless something extraordinary happens, some splits occur and GC teams start riding furiously.
Yeah 2 teams with the riders to disrupt a sprint are Lotto and Quickstep, but the 2 best sprinters in the race belong to Lotto and Quickstep. I'd love it if an attacker won yellow but it's surely gonna be a bunch sprint.
- May 3, 2010
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- Feb 20, 2010
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I am nothing if not consistent.Sneakily turning this into La Course, huh?
- Sep 17, 2012
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Yup.
Also, Easter is very late this year, ofc... Holy Week is now end of October.
- Feb 20, 2010
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We may need to rewrite the rules of women's cycling, to add another direction where Kasia Niewiadoma will attack.
- Feb 20, 2012
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I tried that with uni insisting I had no classes cause the TdF was on.
Didn't work sadly
- Feb 20, 2010
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Cille joins the group so we now have 6 up there. Henderson, Niewiadoma, Longo Borghini, Uttrup, Majerus and Kopecky, so an interesting mix. Three climbers, two fast finishers and a real all-terrain vehicle. Henderson is apparently an ex-Alpine skier so that would explain her lack of fear. Interesting group, wouldn't expect it to stay away, but there are a number of major teams in there. I wonder how happy Sunweb would be with Henderson being there if it comes to the next climb going up against Kasia, Elisa and Cille, they've got people like Labous and Lippert who would be better suited to contesting the climb, but Labous doesn't really sprint much I think. Liane is good from that reduced kind of bunch, but her climbing threshold is shorter than Juliette's I believe, or at least has been to date in their development.
- Feb 20, 2010
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- Sep 7, 2011
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I think ewan is probably a bit faster than bennett so in theory should be easy enough to sit behind bennett knowing he'll be lead out by morkov and just come around him at the end.... Bennett definitely seemed to work better without a train. He'd just wheel surf and than jump off the fastest wheel to win.
- Feb 16, 2010
- 15,339
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- May 5, 2010
- 51,712
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- Feb 24, 2014
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Too late, toby.
Would be absurd to do it after half of the race.
Nice city.
Would be absurd to do it after half of the race.
Nice city.
- Nov 16, 2013
- 26,686
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