Tour de France 2020 | Stage 15 (Lyon - Grand Colombier, 174.5 km)

[Valv.Piti]

In stages like this that's largely been a by-product of us actually having a maillot vert battle, though. In most of the flat stages (not stage 7 obviously), though, it's been a trend since Bob Stapleton's train of hate with HTC-Columbia in 2009-10 that the break only gets 2-3 minutes rather than 10... it is infecting other races, but the Tour does have the highest incidences of such stages where a break that would have little chance regardless is held very close throughout, because the exposure that comes with the Tour is so high and so the sprinters' teams do not want to risk letting slip one of their opportunities for a stage win.

Like the problem with the timid racing and attitudes like Kuss', however, we do have a problem of a whole generation of cyclists who've never known it any other way, so the doomed break of the day is less appealing when it is controlled so tightly they can't even dare to dream.

Theres not any point just handing away 10 minutes though. I remember these stages, break goes and the peloton basically stops for a good 15 minutes and suddenly you are 10 minutes behind and have to spend more to catch the break and on top of that, you can actually get snubbed by a break with good legs or favorable conditions

 

[huangho]

I think Quintana is recovered, not at his 100%, but will be enough for GC action, but once again Rogla will smash this...

 

[TomLPC]

Bonifazio just got caught and Van Baarle just made it back, so it can't be that pacey.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Come on Kenny, set Richie up Froome Finestre style!

 

[perico]

Bonifazio just got caught and Van Baarle just made it back, so it can't be that pacey.

They’ll drop again as they started on the Biche. They all came back on the descent.

 

[Tigerion]

Come on Kenny, set Richie up Froome Finestre style!

Do we dare to dream

 

[titan31]

I think Ineos have had a bit of bad luck with crashes (as have Jumbo), but we all expected Sivakov to be stronger.

I do think they made a mistake not taking Thomas though. He would have been a lot more help than Amador or Van Baarle imo.

 

[Red Rick]

Theres not any point just handing away 10 minutes though. I remember these stages, break goes and the peloton basically stops for a good 15 minutes and suddenly you are 10 minutes behind and have to spend more to catch the break and on top of that, you can actually get snubbed by a break with good legs or favorable conditions

Yeah to me it seems pretty logical to keep a tight lid on breaks in flat stages if you're a sprinters team. I my opinion it's the clear stages with breakaway chances that have underwhelming breakaways quite often. though.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Theres not any point just handing away 10 minutes though. I remember these stages, break goes and the peloton basically stops for a good 15 minutes and suddenly you are 10 minutes behind and have to spend more to catch the break and on top of that, you can actually get snubbed by a break with good legs or favorable conditions

Sure, but at the same time, you've got more energy to up the tempo and do that if you've gone easier earlier. It's just a different way of racing, but it's not necessarily a more fun one. If you're close enough that you're seeing people attack and then be brought back continually, as sometimes happens in women's cycling, it can be fine (though the stages where everybody's just riding tempo really need a breakaway), but we got the ultimate example in stage 5 here where nobody thought it worth their while going up the road, so the péloton just ambled by at the kind of tempo that it used to go when it was gifting the breakaway 10 minutes.

 

[Red Rick]

I think Ineos have had a bit of bad luck with crashes (as have Jumbo), but we all expected Sivakov to be stronger.

I do think they made a mistake not taking Thomas though. He would have been a lot more help than Amador or Van Baarle imo.

Judging by Thomas' comments, he got the choice to be a domestique for the Tour or lead the Giro.

 

[johnymax]

I have a feeling Rogla wins today, hopefully. Would be nice

 

[Ted Striker]

I think Ineos have had a bit of bad luck with crashes (as have Jumbo), but we all expected Sivakov to be stronger.

I do think they made a mistake not taking Thomas though. He would have been a lot more help than Amador or Van Baarle imo.

i'm willing to cut Sivakov some slack, he took a couple of hard falls

 

[Krokro]

I have a feeling Rogla wins today, hopefully. Would be nice

I'm hoping for more excitement tbf.. Would be great for the show if he loses ground today. Otherwise it's like watching a thriller knowing the end already.

 

[gregrowlerson]

Do we dare to dream

Always.

 

[Pirazziattacks]

Richie's snuck in behind the train, strap in folks.

 

[gregrowlerson]

I actually wish now, that mythical third week Poels was still with his old team.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Gesink is actually just a monster... this guy can suffer for an eternity

 

[huangho]

TJV is smashing the gruppeto before Colombier, we will see who can attack after this effort

 

[Savant12]

I actually wish now, that mythical third week Poels was still with his old team.

Jumbots would just bring him back.

 

[TourOfSardinia]

Doesn't he have Sivakov and Castro?

Sivakov was there .... now dropped.

 

[Red Rick]

Ineos is just in shambles, only expect stages to be ridden hard if Roglic fancies dropping everyone

 

[70kmph]

Sivakov blows up

 

[Bolder]

Good to see Rolland riding pretty well. But everytime I see him I think he could use a little more bodyfat.

He had some monster rides early in his career at the Tour but I'm not sure anyone really figured out what kind of rider he should be.

 

[Savant12]

Ineos should re-group on the descent.

 

[Red Rick]

Mechanical for the broom truck