Tour de France 2020 | Stage 7 (Millau - Lavaur, 168 km)

[Bolder]

If yesterday was boring, today was super exciting from start to finish. I was rather sad about Pogačar, but 1:20 is not a complete dissaster. If he is good enough uphill, podium is still possible. And now we will finally have someone (him and Landa) who will actually try to do something to gain time back. Other than that, Wout is amazing, working all day to get Roglič into position and then has enough energy to win the sprint.

Exactly, wrt to incentive to attack.

 

[huangho]

Todays was a very entertaining stage, echelons always deliver!!

I feel bad for Pog, he had a puncture and when he joined the main group he was with Landa and Mollema at the back of the group and he believed he was safe, but near a roundabout Ineos decided to go full gas trying to drop the hammer for GC as they smelled blood, JV and Astana kept the pace and dinner was served.

That moment was the most entertaining part of the tour so far, but it seems it opens the table as well, so tomorrow we can have more action as Landa and Pog have to attack.

 

[Oliver]

Very nice race today! Woutje wins again!

 

[Leinster]

I always forget about that. In fairness he has a sort of Irish farmer head to him

Have you ever heard him interviewed? He's pure SoCoDu. I bet he's back in the team hotel now trying to get a stream for the Leinster match.

 

[Breezy1985]

A lot of Ninja's this Tour. Uran, Bardet, Quintana (one top-3, that was sloppy), Mas, Buchmann.
Pinot had his bad luck already, but today he (and his team) was impeccable.

I do hope for some non-ninjaing soon though.

Can Pinot be a ninja when he is one of the most talked about riders every day.

Surely the real ninjas make you forget they were even there

 

[Breezy1985]

Have you ever heard him interviewed? He's pure SoCoDu. I bet he's back in the team hotel now trying to get a stream for the Leinster match.

Im off to watch it in a pub. Itll be my fist time watching sport outside of my house since March

 

[Libertine Seguros]

That's right. The 2 Movistar riders there. We knew that Valverde would never give up GC time, Enric Mas is clearly flying under the radar.

You never know, maybe not testing him out yesterday will be important after all... I knew Valverde would be useful in the split here but I had thought especially after he crashed yesterday that Mas would probably get caught out like Landa did.

 

[Eclipse]

A lot of Ninja's this Tour. Uran, Bardet, Quintana (one top-3, that was sloppy), Mas, Buchmann.
Pinot had his bad luck already, but today he (and his team) was impeccable.

I do hope for some non-ninjaing soon though.

How can you really be anything other than a ninja when nothing has really happened lol.

About the only people in the top 20 to do something resembling an attack are Ala, Yates and Roglic.

I'll wait for Monday to start calling out the true ninjas

 

[Carols]

I was having new gutters installed on my house so had to keep pausing the TV to go outside. So I have just finished watching the stage and getting caught up here.

Wowza exciting stage . Maybe the whiners will stop now!
Bora Awesome to start it off, crosswinds keep the excitement going. Very enjoyable stage .

Kudos to Wout, he is just amazing! JV really has taken week one and made it their own.

After no cycling for so long I'm so happy they can race and I'll enjoy it all; the slow burn attrition and the stomping on the pedals like today.

Vive le Tour!

 

[Andy262]

Valverde has become the ninja of the Tour.

Yeah, I keep seeing the Spanish Champ jersey and assuming it's him. I'm just not picking him out in the regular Movistar kit.

Bit gutted Sagan screwed up his sprint after all that work from Bora. That would have been a great result. He looked really indecisive in the sprint. Lack of confidence.

 

[Gigs_98]

Have to say, that was a genuinely great stage. Best echelon stage in the Tour since 2015? I mean 2016 had the Froome-Sagan attack but that was only 4 guys gaining 10 seconds or so. This was proper crosswind racing.

 

[Alexandre B.]

Have to say, that was a genuinely great stage. Best echelon stage in the Tour since 2015? I mean 2016 had the Froome-Sagan attack but that was only 4 guys gaining 10 seconds or so. This was proper crosswind racing.

The 2017 stage to Romans-sur-Isère was a bit like this one.

The Quick-Step guy in green was dropped, there were echelons and Boasson Hagen came 2nd.

 

[Gigs_98]

The 2017 stage to Romans-sur-Isère was a bit like this one.

The Quick-Step guy in green was dropped, there were echelons and Boasson Hagen came 2nd.

Yeah that stage was very similar but I think the echelons only started a bit later and no really meaningful gc contender lost time

 

[Alexandre B.]

Yeah that stage was very similar but I think the echelons only started a bit later and no really meaningful gc contender lost time

Dan Martin was fifth at 1'12", though.

 

[gunara]

Great stage. Is this going to be among the biggest loss in Sagan's career? I know it's not a monument or world title at stake, but the way it was set up and how he didn't get anything at all from it.

 

[Escarabajo]

The only reason Valverde is considered a Ninja is because we are so use to seeing him with the Spanish and World champion jerseys for the last 2 years. Looks weird with that Movistar Jersey.

 

[JosephK]

• Ineos doing their homework for an echelon stage

Ever since Froome got burned by Bertie and Nairo in the 2016 Vuelta (stage 15), it seems like Sky/Ineos has been super vigilant in grand tours about crosswinds and potential gaps in the peloton.

 

[Jspear]

So, did you enjoy these last 5 k?

Hey in this case Im more than happy to be wrong

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Have to say, that was a genuinely great stage. Best echelon stage in the Tour since 2015? I mean 2016 had the Froome-Sagan attack but that was only 4 guys gaining 10 seconds or so. This was proper crosswind racing.

First day after the rest day often throws up some surprises

 

[tobydawq]

Have to say, that was a genuinely great stage. Best echelon stage in the Tour since 2015? I mean 2016 had the Froome-Sagan attack but that was only 4 guys gaining 10 seconds or so. This was proper crosswind racing.

I think last year's stage was a bit better than today (crosswind-wise). Same outcome, though.

 

[Forever The Best]

Great stage. I love some echelon action. Hopefully this incites the likes of Pogacar and Landa attack the next time we are in the mountains.

 

[Big Doopie]

And now we will finally have someone (him and Landa) who will actually try to do something to gain time back.

bingo! having time differences (ITT anyone?) actually increases the likelihood of attacks in the mountains. as long as 1-15 are within 15 seconds, you have more to lose by attacking. this freaking stupid idea that GTs should be nothing but MTFs has gotta go. it is seriously dumb-a$$.

 

[BlueRoads]

Yeah, I keep seeing the Spanish Champ jersey and assuming it's him. I'm just not picking him out in the regular Movistar kit.

Bit gutted Sagan screwed up his sprint after all that work from Bora. That would have been a great result. He looked really indecisive in the sprint. Lack of confidence.

Yes, but at least he got green back... for now... and it was a good stage for Buchmann, too, so iat least there was some result for Bora.

 

[Big Doopie]

Can Pinot be a ninja when he is one of the most talked about riders every day.

Surely the real ninjas make you forget they were even there

i actually think pog losing time may benefit pinot. pog and pinot are similar in climbing style i think and may be allies of circumstance now...

 

[tobydawq]

Last year, EF, Groupama and Astana were some of the biggest losers on the cross-wind stage. Today, EF had three, Groupama had five and Astana had seven (!!!) riders in the 41 rider lead group.