Tour de France 2020 | Stage 17 (Grenoble - Méribel Col de la Loze, 170 km)

[Breezy1985]

Yeah...

no.

We have been on here for years now saying put this here or that there and even when ASO do it we are usually back here listening to how boring it was and how they should put this here and that there

 

[Red Rick]

So, he's great when nobody important cares what he's doing, not so great when the other greats are battling out. He's a very good climber, as a gregario he had a huge influence in Aru's, Froome's and Carapaz's wins and that's about it. Never was, never will be grand tour winner material.

I'm not so sure we can generalize this season that easily, but I guess his consistency in the mountains in GTs (including Giro-Tour doubles) and other stage races probably deceives a perhaps somewhat lacking peak. That said, his level in Astana was undeniable IMO. Then he had 2 Giro's thrown away due to gastro and Kelderman.

I think Landa also performs better in races without dominant trains. Perhaps he actually had much better days than today but they were simply far worse opportunities to do something.

 

[Red Rick]

We have been on here for years now saying put this here or that there and even when ASO do it we are usually back here listening to how boring it was and how they should put this here and that there

Well they sure as hell aren't listening to me smh

 

[Breezy1985]

I'm not so sure we can generalize this season that easily, but I guess his consistency in the mountains in GTs (including Giro-Tour doubles) and other stage races probably deceives a perhaps somewhat lacking peak. That said, his level in Astana was undeniable IMO. Then he had 2 Giro's thrown away due to gastro and Kelderman.

I think Landa also performs better in races without dominant trains. Perhaps he actually had much better days than today but they were simply far worse opportunities to do something.

Ya Landa can't cope when his own teams train is dominant

 

[Carols]

He won a stage in Tirreno 2018.

My Bad. He also won a stage in 2019 Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali!

 

[Rollthedice]

I'm not so sure we can generalize this season that easily, but I guess his consistency in the mountains in GTs (including Giro-Tour doubles) and other stage races probably deceives a perhaps somewhat lacking peak. That said, his level in Astana was undeniable IMO. Then he had 2 Giro's thrown away due to gastro and Kelderman.

I think Landa also performs better in races without dominant trains. Perhaps he actually had much better days than today but they were simply far worse opportunities to do something.

This was his second bad day. Not denying his level though most seem to hit a peak at Astana, just that he is not the world beater some people think he is and that different circumstances prevented him to win a Grand Tour. There's a new generation of stratospheric climbers and his window of opportunity closed when he had to wait for Aru.

 

[Red Rick]

This was his second bad day. Not denying his level though most seem to hit a peak at Astana, just that he is not the world beater some people think he is and that different circumstances prevented him to win a Grand Tour. There's a new generation of stratospheric climbers and his window of opportunity closed when he had to wait for Aru.

Yeah. I do really appreciate his consistency as a reference for comparing races lol.

And his actual best opportunity he probably literally shat down a toilet in 2016.

 

[75Driver]

Is it just me or does the madeleine/croix de fer/alp not qualify for a Queen stage? That trifecta seems to produce some great racing.

 

[Red Rick]

Is it just me or does the madeleine/croix de fer/alp not qualify for a Queen stage? That trifecta seems to produce some great racing.

It doesn't.

Croix de Fer is really bad from 2 of 3 sides, and there's always 15km of flat before the Alpe. It's what I really dislike about the climb.

The way I want to see AdH is AdH>Sarenne>Les Deux Alpes.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

We have been on here for years now saying put this here or that there and even when ASO do it we are usually back here listening to how boring it was and how they should put this here and that there

Yea, but the problem is ASO can't influence how the riders behave other than trying to incentivise action through the parcours, and they need to take into account the predilection of the riders looking at other races, and try to design the parcours around those trends to generate the desired effect on racing.

The only other thing they have 100% say in that can help shape the way the riders race is the choice of wildcard teams.

 

[75Driver]

It doesn't.

Croix de Fer is really bad from 2 of 3 sides, and there's always 15km of flat before the Alpe. It's what I really dislike about the climb.

The way I want to see AdH is AdH>Sarenne>Les Deux Alpes.

Have they ever done that route? Started with AdH like that?

 

[Red Rick]

Have they ever done that route? Started with AdH like that?

Sort of. In 2013 they did AdH > Sarenne > AdH.

Which was silly cause it was all about that final climb anyway.

That combination still needs some climbing before it though.

 

[Red Rick]

By the way is there any particular reason the Tour ahs never used Finestre?

 

[75Driver]

Sort of. In 2013 they did AdH > Sarenne > AdH.

Which was silly cause it was all about that final climb anyway.

That combination still needs some climbing before it though.

I remember the double trip up the Alpe I just don’t remember them starting there.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

By the way is there any particular reason the Tour ahs never used Finestre?

Sestrières hasn't ponied up the money for the Tour since Finestre was introduced so the best you'd have been able to get would be Briançon after Finestre, Sestriere and Montgenèvre.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

By the way is there any particular reason the Tour ahs never used Finestre?

I'd guess ASO not wanting to use unpaved roads until a few years ago combined with a lack of stage hosts willing to pay. Sestriere hasn't hosted the Tour in this century. I the way of alternative options, Pinerolo was essentially a one-off and Briançon has somewhat disappeared off the map too.

 

[Mayomaniac]

By the way is there any particular reason the Tour ahs never used Finestre?

Sestriere prefers to spend it's money on an exciting race.
Honestly, Sestriere is so ugly, it might as well be a French ski resort/skiing town.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Sestriere prefers to spend it's money on an exciting race.
Honestly, Sestriere is so ugly, it might as well be a French ski resort/skiing town.

That collection of Olympic white elephants probably hasn't helped them raise the money to bring bike racing to town either.

 

[Mayomaniac]

That collection of Olympic white elephants probably hasn't helped them raise the money to bring bike racing to town either.

I mean, they still get Giro stages, but they are a lot cheaper. Still, with many of those ugly ski resorts I wonder why the actually pay for stages, showing how bad they look durning the summer can't be great publicity.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

I mean, they still get Giro stages, but they are a lot cheaper. Still, with many of those ugly ski resorts I wonder why the actually pay for stages, showing how bad they look durning the summer can't be great publicity.

Name recognition?

 

[Rollthedice]

Managed to watch the final now. So Steep Kuss launched Superman, nice. For me today, at last, MAL confirmed his talent as an extraordinary climber. Rog, very strong, a worthy Tour winner. Not a spectacular rider, but he is a complete package. Best Watts/Kg team in the world obviously helps. Pog continues to confirm, unbreakable. Porte became consistent in a period when the competition is too strong for his level., nevertheless a good performance. Would be nice to see the race turned upside down until the final ITT but I guess today we have the final podium.

 

[Big Doopie]

can richie still podium?

or too much to ask of the ITT...?

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Col de la Loze delivered! Cyclists were arriving at the finish one by one. It's a legend in the making, like Finestre at the Giro. Last few kilometers really made differences: cumulative effort of these huge climbs and the whole Tour affected even JV. Congrats to Lopez on a great victory. He was the strongest today and will probably get the race podium. Also congrats to Roglic on a very important day, which got him closer to overall victory. I was disappointed with Poga but when I saw him swinging seemingly too much in the middle of the climb I thought he wasn't feeling great. Still, he limited his losses to minimum. Tomorrow is also a day when a lot can happen, with cyclists feeling a lot of fatigue which will be exposed on super-steep last climb. Even Lopez might have a shot at GC victory, if he feels really well and decides for some crazy attack.

 

[savornin]

So today was the decisive stage. Instead of losing time to Pogacar, expected by many people here, Roglic gained time on Pogacar. Can't see him losing anymore.

 

[Lequack]

35 Big Photos from Stage 17 (more to come) — corvos/aso/reuters/bettini
http://www.steephill.tv/2020/tour-de-france/photos/stage-17/

http://www.steephill.tv/2020/tour-de-france/photos/stage-17/