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

[TourOfSardinia]

Sagan borking it at the end of this stage
was reminiscent of
AC at not having the legs at the end of Formigal
The narrative changed.
Truth is crueler than fiction.

 

[Rollthedice]

Was reading a twitter from some Swedish dude about today's stage using translate and he mentioned Landing and Gate caught behind. These two never learn.

 

[Sciatic]

Sagan’s interview response to having his chain come off in the sprint after all the superb work his team did today: shakes head, long pause, then mutters, “F*#king cycling.”

 

[BeagleOfToledo]

Sagan’s interview response to having his chain come off in the sprint after all the superb work his team did today: shakes head, long pause, then mutters, “F*#king cycling.”

He was all over the road in that sprint - shouldered half the group before he dropped his chain. Major let-down after all that work from his team in the crosswinds

(gruppettogazette.com)

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Now that was fabulous 3 1/2 hours racing.
But writings are all about that it was a crosswind stage. Which is was too, and often has been in Tarn departement.
But seems like ppl forget, that Bora tactics was to drop the heavy sprinters at the initial climb in favour of Sagan. And they got away with it even beating Cosnefrey at first categorized climb. And then following up on next uncategorized climb.
And then they took advantage of the confusion in the headwinds/crosswinds where sprinter teams were far too late to organize.

 

[tobydawq]

Now that was fabulous 3 1/2 hours racing.
But writings are all about that it was a crosswind stage. Which is was too, and often has been in Tarn departement.
But seems like ppl forget, that Bora tactics was to drop the heavy sprinters at the initial climb in favour of Sagan. And they got away with it even beating Cosnefrey at first categorized climb. And then following up on next uncategorized climb.
And then they took advantage of the confusion in the headwinds/crosswinds where sprinter teams were far too late to organize.

I don't think it had anything to do with a lack of organization. There was just way too much up and down in the first part that it was possible to claw back time.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

The TdF peloton, in a few hours time

Oh. I missed that part

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

I don't think it had anything to do with a lack of organization. There was just way too much up and down in the first part that it was possible to claw back time.

Indeed.

 

[Armchair cyclist]

Now that was fabulous 3 1/2 hours racing.
But writings are all about that it was a crosswind stage. Which is was too, and often has been in Tarn departement.
But seems like ppl forget, that Bora tactics was to drop the heavy sprinters at the initial climb in favour of Sagan. And they got away with it even beating Cosnefrey at first categorized climb. And then following up on next uncategorized climb.
And then following up on next uncategorized climb.
And then they took advantage of the confusion in the headwinds/crosswinds where sprinter teams were far too late to organize.

Not quite:
Côte de Luzençon - km 9

Rank	Rider	Rider No.	Team	Points
1	BENOIT COSNEFROY	33	AG2R LA MONDIALE	2 PTS
2	GREGOR MÜHLBERGER	25	BORA - HANSGROHE	1 PTS

Not sure that one can claim that Bora were great after the crosswinds either: other teams took over at that stage

 

[Norks74]

The only problem in this is, Sagan still has to beat Van Aert on the line

Called that bang on.

 

[Koronin]

Enric Mas managed to hang on with the front group too, actually. He has gone a bit under the radar, considering he is only 7-10 seconds behind the likes of Bernal, Dumoulin, Pinot, Nairo, Lopez and Uran (!).

I suspect his time at DQS taught him to pay attention in the cross winds.

 

[Luthor]

Great stage and WvA was just too good. I feel bad for Pogacar but he kinda has too many punctures.
How much Carapaz has to lose before scraping Plan B? Because right now it doesn't look good at all. Maybe it's just me but I feel like Carapaz might become super dom for Bernal by stage 17.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congratulations to Wout van Aert for winning stage 7. Doing domestique oriented tasks by trade and wins Tour stages during free time. Bora–Hansgrohe really did a good job today, Sagan the Green. Riders like Pogačar, Landa, Carapaz ... lost too much time today and GC podium position is likely lost for them.

P.S. It will be interesting to see, on how Pogačar responds.

 

[gregrowlerson]

One of the rare, GT stages that was entertaining throughout its entirety. Bora riding as if it was the last 40 kms of PR at the beginning, creating interest as to whether the sprinters could get back on. Then, just as that storyline seemed to have played out, TDG begins his chapter. Now, if it was just some rider hovering at half a minute ahead of the peloton with 40-90 kms to go, we wouldn't have battered an eyelid; but this is TDG we are talking about. And if Mother Nature hadn't played her part, he would have stood some chance of actually winning the stage. But with Her having Her say, it was up to everyone's favourite team Inneos , to take the bull by the horns. And it was Kwiatkowski - who it almost always seems to be - doing the damage. What a rider. Even if he caused two of my favourite riders to inevitably lose time, I could never hate that guy. And so part three played out; what would be the time difference? Not as much as it looked like at one point, but still significant. And then there was the sprint, which was a little unpredictable also.

 

[Savant12]

Ineos are lucky that Kwiat looks to be on great form again for this Tour. Rowe didn't make it into the first group for this stage and Sivakov might only be decent in the third week so he's kind of keeping it all calm in the team. Not sure it was wise to send Castro back to bring back Carapaz who was way off the group at that point.

 

[Jagartrott]

Mollema said: "The team didn't expect there would be echelons today"
Come on... who are those DS? Reading cyclingnews forum would suffice to get up to speed if you're too lazy to check the route and the wind yourself.

 

[jflemaire]

I agree that he was zigg-zagging a lot. But the biggest swerve was the moment he dropped the chain and raising his hand to signal he has a problem is totally the right thing to do.

What's the point of signaling a mechanical 50m from the finish? Did he expect a change of bike?

 

[bambino]

What's the point of signaling a mechanical 50m from the finish? Did he expect a change of bike?

Maybe warn people behind him in the bunch that his speed is going to suddenly halt?

 

[yaco]

I suggest if Trek were deadly serious about GC they would have sent Stuyven back to help Mollema and Porte when the race split in the echelons.

 

[tobydawq]

Mollema said: "The team didn't expect there would be echelons today"
Come on... who are those DS? Reading cyclingnews forum would suffice to get up to speed if you're too lazy to check the route and the wind yourself.

Well it must be hard to have to draw sticks between their sprinters instead of just letting the world champion do all the sprints. So impossible to keep an eye on the route AND the weather as well.

 

[BlueRoads]

Seriously, who are the DSs of Trek?

 

[tobydawq]

Seriously, who are the DSs of Trek?

Kim Andersen is one. Not too bright, I would say.