Tour de France 2020 | Stage 4 (Sisteron – Orcières-Merlette, 160.5 km)

[Broccolidwarf]

Why do they have to put that pressure on him? I mean, they have serious contenders for the GC, Pinot, maybe even Martin, maybe, maybe even Bardet. Do they want to break him, too?

Because it sells newspapers

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Is Declerq the rider on the World Tour with the hardest job?

 

[Gigs_98]

Why do they have to put that pressure on him? I mean, they have serious contenders for the GC, Pinot, maybe even Martin, maybe, maybe even Bardet. Do they want to break him, too?

Yeah, the hype around Alaphilippe is completely stupid. Even last year Alaphilippe was never actually close to winning. In the pyrenees the climbers didn't take him serious yet so they didn't make the mountain stages very hard. The first time they actually took him serious and rode a climb with a really high pace from the start was the Col d'Isere and he got dropped the minute the other gc teams attempted to drop him.

 

[search]

Why do they have to put that pressure on him? I mean, they have serious contenders for the GC, Pinot, maybe even Martin, maybe, maybe even Bardet. Do they want to break him, too?

his brother said that he did a lot of training on altitude, longer efforts on the climbs and so on, so that it's likely that he has improved for the big mountain stages, and should get stronger until week 3. It's not just the media

 

[Jungle Cycle]

probably lead

don't understand why he's in front of the bunch, he should have with the attackers, why should he ride to bring them back? orders from the team car? for not having made the attack?

probably to rladout Ewan to the IS...

 

[BlueRoads]

Is Declerq the rider on the World Tour with the hardest job?

He's basically "the peloton".

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah, the hype around Alaphilippe is completely stupid. Even last year Alaphilippe was never actually close to winning. In the pyrenees the climbers didn't take him serious yet so they didn't make the mountain stages very hard. The first time they actually took him serious and rode a climb with a really high pace from the start was the Col d'Isere and he got dropped the minute the other gc teams attempted to drop him.

It was even earlier. He got already wrecked on Prat d'Albis. Also basically showed that if you want to kill off Alaphilippe you just start the climb really fast rather than doing endless moderate pace bs. The best Alaphilippe could do is become a better climber to be more competitive at 10-15 minute climbs which would make him a potential Il Lombardia winner and an absolutely broken stage hunter.

Still actually sad Pinot didn't just rip it on Tourmalet cause he would've taken a load of time on everyone.

 

[Breezy1985]

Yeah, the hype around Alaphilippe is completely stupid. Even last year Alaphilippe was never actually close to winning. In the pyrenees the climbers didn't take him serious yet so they didn't make the mountain stages very hard. The first time they actually took him serious and rode a climb with a really high pace from the start was the Col d'Isere and he got dropped the minute the other gc teams attempted to drop him.

If a classics rider with little GC pedigree can win the Tour then why can't we believe in Ala

 

[Lexman]

probably lead


probably to rladout Ewan to the IS...

might be indeed, the IS is before the first climb...

 

[Jungle Cycle]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1300767569322876929

View: https://twitter.com/letour_es/status/1300767569322876929

 

[savornin]

Underestimate Alaphilippe at your own peril. I don't think he is going to do better than last year... but last year he showed to be an able if not top notch climber, and a great time trialist. You never know if he will improve further. And who knows if he's been training his climbing abilities?
Wiggins, Froome and Thomas also quickly improved on their way to GT wins. Why wouldn't Alaphilippe be able to do that?

 

[skippo12]

Is Declerq the rider on the World Tour with the hardest job?

Between him and Martin.

 

[Lequack]

Roglic seems really chatty with his Norwegian teammate Jansen.

 

[Red Rick]

Underestimate Alaphilippe at your own peril. I don't think he is going to do better than last year... but last year he showed to be an able if not top notch climber, and a great time trialist. You never know if he will improve further. Wiggins, Froome and Thomas also quickly improved on their way to GT wins. Why wouldn't Alaphilippe be able to do that?

Cause he's so explosive it's pretty much mutually incompatible with great day to day recovery and elite high mountain climbing.

Thomas had at least shown it in races like Paris Nice, and more notably a dominant Dauphine win before he won the Tour.

Alaphilippe after his miracle Tour immediately regressed to getting quartered on every hard climb out there.

 

[Devil's Elbow]

The best Alaphilippe could do is become a better climber to be more competitive at 10-15 minute climbs which would make him a potential Il Lombardia winner and an absolutely broken stage hunter.

It depends where he wants to take his career. If he goes the Valverde route, he should be able to get similar GT results as, well, Valverde, while also being (one of) the best in the more hilly classics. For a Tour win, all the stars would need to align though (didn't we say the same about Thomas though?). But he could also win every monument, probably bar Paris-Roubaix, if he doesn't. It's a shame he didn't get to ride Flanders this spring to see where his boundaries are on the cobbles, if he doesn't have it there, he should try for GTs imo.

 

[skippo12]

Where is the wind coming from?

 

[BlueRoads]

Underestimate Alaphilippe at your own peril. I don't think he is going to do better than last year... but last year he showed to be an able if not top notch climber, and a great time trialist. You never know if he will improve further. And who knows if he's been training his climbing abilities?
Wiggins, Froome and Thomas also quickly improved on their way to GT wins. Why wouldn't Alaphilippe be able to do that?

Without wanting to go into detail here I would not wish him to take that road.

 

[Red Rick]

It depends where he wants to take his career. If he goes the Valverde route, he should be able to get similar GT results as, well, Valverde, while also being (one of) the best in the more hilly classics. For a Tour win, all the stars would need to align though (didn't we say the same about Thomas though?). But he could also win every monument, probably bar Paris-Roubaix, if he doesn't. It's a shame he didn't get to ride Flanders this spring to see where his boundaries are on the cobbles, if he doesn't have it there, he should try for GTs imo.

Alaphilippe is a better rouleur and puncheur than Valverde ever was, and he's also heavier.

Valverde broke onto the scene and immediately finished 3rd in the Vuelta. And even Valverde never evolved into the multi GT winning climber a lot of people had hoped he woudl become.

 

[Pantani_lives]

So today's final climb is the one where Ocaña beat Merckx in 1971 to take yellow for three days. Let's see if anything as special will happen this time.

 

[yaco]

De Gendt in 3rd position in the peloton.

I think that's the first time in years I have seen him, not either in the break or at the back of the peloton.

What - DeGendt spends lots of time at the front of races, especially when Ewan is riding in the race - He spent most of the first week at the front in the 2019 TDF.

 

[Lexman]

Where is the wind coming from?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1300768600089862145

View: https://twitter.com/thijszonneveld/status/1300768600089862145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1300768600089862145%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsporza.be%2Fnl%2Fmatches%2Fwielrennen%2Ftour-de-france%2F2020%2Frit-4-live-tour-eerste-aankomst-bergop-tiesj-benoot-in-de-kopgroep1571309226950%2F


Zonneveld rode last part of the stage, hard tailwind to the feet of the climb...

 

[Lequack]

 

[Pithek]

Quick Step decided to not allow more than 4 minutes to the attackants.
Well, it will be very hard for the front of the race to win...
Alaphilippe wants to keep his yellow.

 

[Brumdog66]

People aren't taking into account the possibility that next years tour is packed with hilly stages to suit Alaphillipe. Would make quite an interesting race as well imo

 

[BlueRoads]

Nils Politt for the stage win and green