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Tour de France 2020 | Stage 5 (Gap - Privas, 183 km)

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He can only blame his team (he won't). Isn't Lotto-Soudal build around him??
it was the same on stage 3 when he was alone from >1k to go. He was just lucky that it turned out to be an advantage to come from behind that day, due to the headwind.

I wouldn't say "blame" them though. As mentioned, Gilbert and Degenkolb are out, and also his lead-out man (de Buyst) is injured
 
didn't say we hadn't...

doesn't make what he is doing any less phenomenal.

tho i think your comparison to Van Avermaet is weak now and will prove ludicrous in time.
In my mind it actually makes his performances slightly less spectacular when it's been done before (and in recent times even). It is impossible to rate rider performances without considering the context, of which the uniqueness of the performance is an important aspect. I think most people will agree with this way of thinking since we are creatures with a relative mindset.
 
In my mind it actually makes his performances slightly less spectacular when it's been done before (and in recent times even). It is impossible to rate rider performances without considering the context, of which the uniqueness of the performance is an important aspect. I think most people will agree with this way of thinking since we are creatures with a relative mindset.

fair enough.

i just don't think the way Van Avermaet has won is in any way comparable to what Van Aert has already shown he can do, and can dominate doing. Van Avermaet is comparable to a Mollema in terms "dominance" in their domains. In fact, I would not describe either of those riders -- good though they may be -- as in anyway dominant. Van Aert can dominate and on more than one domain. I really feel they are in completely different categories.
 
fair enough.

i just don't think the way Van Avermaet has won is in any way comparable to what Van Aert has already shown he can do, and can dominate doing. Van Avermaet is comparable to a Mollema in terms "dominance" in their domains. In fact, I would not describe either of those riders -- good though they may be -- as in anyway dominant. Van Aert can dominate and on more than one domain. I really feel they are in completely different categories.
GVA was quite dominant in the classics in 2017 to be fair. He won the Omloop, E3, GW and PR and finished second in SB and RvV.
 
At first I joked about it, but now I'm thinking it might really have been on purpose. Alaphilippe really relaxed about it. Either he's a very cool guy or this was a bit shady.
Anyway a bit funny, first Cosnefroy: "This was not the way I wanted to get that jersey", now Yates "this was not the way I wanted to get that jersey".
 
You are putting words in my mouth. I never said that the current version of GVA is Better than WVA. I just said that we have previously seen examples of riders who can do the same things or who have the same versatility. Maybe GVA is not the best example here, since his skillset has always been more skewed towards endurance than sprinting.
I didn't talk about the current version of GVA though. I think WVA is better than peak GVA in all the categories I mentioned as well.
 
It's a stage race dude.

If we want heated action, there are plenty of 1 day races to go around.

I find it absolutely understandable, that the teams ride it this way, it's only day 5 in a 3 week race.

I have been watching GTs for decades and never seen it as bad as today (the stage 2 days ago was also dreadfully passive). There was no point of protest and no super hard preceding day to justify this behaviour, even if logically I fully sympathise with the smaller teams in not participating in such a futile exercise. We arent even anywhere near a rest day with riders on their last legs (as you say, it is only day 5). The best GTs will feel like they contain numerous one day races to sustain interest on days when there is no GC fight. That is completely fundamental to their viability as a mass spectacle.

I suspect it is an attempt by lower budget teams to send a message to Quickstep and LottoJumbo to at least give a breakaway a few minutes lead to create the slightest hint of a contest. I suspect we will see breakaway leads opened to 3-4 mins in the coming days. I also suspect ASO will think twice in future about sprint point placement. Perhaps being so close to the start it demotivated any breakaway hopefuls even further?

If you were satisfied watching this then that is of course fine. But to try and defend it as normal is to re-write history. I am sure most fans, sponsors, TV networks and ASO will not have been satisfied and that there will be discussions behind closed doors to avoid a repeat. Either that or we shorten stages to 15km!
 

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