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Moerkoev saying in the post race interview, that the day turned out well, because Bennett was much better than yesterday, where he had a complete meltdown, while Sagan didn’t get a big payoff.
Ewan will probably be close to the elimination time for the next week. The only thing he wants to do now is win in Paris. McEwen used to do the same.Maybe they just really took it easy but honestly at this point I wonder how Ewan wants to make it through the Alps. Stage 18 is gonna be a nightmare and a half for him
Ewan will probably be close to the elimination time for the next week. The only thing he wants to do now is win in Paris. McEwen used to do the same.
He had one of those days at the 2018 Giro too, he finished last, and completely by himself, on the Zoncolan.Yesterday was weird. The last time Bennett was looking like one of the worst climbers in a GT was when he and Mørkøv both got taken down in a stage 1 sprint a few years ago and both of them were limping around trying to get to Paris for another 20 stages. He’s never in serious difficulty on a climbing stage. Just goes to show how much energy gets used competing to get to and then win intermediates every day.
Today was much more his usual level, better than the vast majority of bunch sprinters but nowhere close to Sagan.
The Tour's GPM had been counterbalanced less to prevent that kind of winner than the Giro or Vuelta, precisely because of that fact, because the higher prestige meant it was harder to win in the Virenque method without being an elite climber already. Charteau was just the first to do so, and that was largely the product of Prudhomme's poor course design, because that points method had never produced a similarly "undeserving" KOM before. Double points for final summit is absolutely fine, it doesn't have to be an MTF (which it is now), and the bias toward HCs was better then as well. However, stages like 2009 Tarbes and 2010 Pau, combined with that being the era of no bonus seconds so the GC guys left almost all the mountain stages to the break, meant huge points totals were going to the break that the GC guys were never going to consider.Okay, maybe stop pretending that a GPM victory in the Giro or the Vuelta is anywhere near a GPM victory in the Tour.
Nice call!Just loving how relentless Bora are being - not much fun for guys who want to be in the breaks but it's made for some really interesting dynamics on the road and days like this are a lot more watchable.
I suspect we'll see sunweb try and capitalise on the matches Bora have burnt later on and there will be plenty more attacks in the last 60k
I expect him to be out of the time limit on stage 16 tbh.He had one of those days at the 2018 Giro too, he finished last, and completely by himself, on the Zoncolan.
Edit: he came dead last on two more mountain stages that year, now that I look at it. So not that weird, apparently.
He was pulling wheelies for the crowd on the Zoncolan that year. Bennett collects a lot of last places in mountain stages. It doesn't always mean he was suffering to the finish.He had one of those days at the 2018 Giro too, he finished last, and completely by himself, on the Zoncolan.
Edit: he came dead last on two more mountain stages that year, now that I look at it. So not that weird, apparently.
He had one of those days at the 2018 Giro too, he finished last, and completely by himself, on the Zoncolan.
Edit: he came dead last on two more mountain stages that year, now that I look at it. So not that weird, apparently.
Denk does not looks very happy about the outcome today It looks like the days od Sagan are in coundown.
Sagan is not at his best but still bringing a lot of video time in the Tour. Winning or loosing.
Yeah he probably goes really far trying to save some extra energy.He had one of those days at the 2018 Giro too, he finished last, and completely by himself, on the Zoncolan.
Edit: he came dead last on two more mountain stages that year, now that I look at it. So not that weird, apparently.
Really? Did Denk say something? I dont think anyone can reasonably have watched today’s stage and thought that Sagan sucked. He didn’t win, but he was very strong, tried super hard and just ended up in a tactically impossible situation at the very end. Denk must be well aware that in cycling you can do everything right and get beaten.
I expect Bora to hit that day hard from the start but he should be able to hang on the day after a restI expect him to be out of the time limit on stage 16 tbh.
Don't think a rest day will save Ewan from getting dropped on the first cat 3. They'll probably want to drop Bennett lol. Yeah him and his domestiques could be fresher but if that stage is all out war the gap is gonna be a lot more than today.I expect Bora to hit that day hard from the start but he should be able to hang on the day after a rest
Has to be the haircut
Sorry I thought you meant Bennett was gone after 16Don't think a rest day will save Ewan from getting dropped on the first cat 3. They'll probably want to drop Bennett lol. Yeah him and his domestiques could be fresher but if that stage is all out war the gap is gonna be a lot more than today.
I thought about putting Bennett OOT but he's not really among the absolute worst climbers in the peloton and there's no real stage perfectly suited for it so that won't happenSorry I thought you meant Bennett was gone after 16
I thought about putting Bennett OOT but he's not really among the absolute worst climbers in the peloton and there's no real stage perfectly suited for it so that won't happen
Don't think it matters too much as he stays equally fresh by simply being a better climber and chilling harder once dropped.it would never happen under normal conditions unless like four fifths of the sprinters and half of the rouleurs all ended up in a too slow grupetto. But it is possible that he blows his own doors off chasing intermediates and holding on on climbs he would usually just drop from. He conspicuously almost never bothered previously wasting energy on points jerseys in any race before. You can never be sure how someone will stand up to something they haven’t tried before
I fear this not so easy days to affect GC battle. GC guys might not have enough in the tank in the last week to deliver any kind of long range attack.In fact I’m curious to see how much impact this no easy days racing has on general attrition rates in the last week
"I thought it would be easy today but it was full gas racing. At least it didn’t last so long and our team didn’t have to work all day. It’s the Tour de France and another day behind us.