Good point. Stage 9 was crazy from the moment the flag dropped. It makes sense that a rider like Quintana might suffer as a result of that, compared to his rivals.
Which might all mean that he will actually be the strongest rider in the Alps
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Good point. Stage 9 was crazy from the moment the flag dropped. It makes sense that a rider like Quintana might suffer as a result of that, compared to his rivals.
Which might all mean that he will actually be the strongest rider in the Alps
Idk, Quintana really is a rider who usually handles fast flat sections really well for a guy his size. Not just is he good in crosswinds, you can also look at stuff like the Formigal stage where he basically won his Vuelta. That stage wasn't actually that mountainous and it was full gas from kilometer 0.
Very fair points. I am probably clutching at straws.
I'll continue to clutch at the fact that it's still only week one I guess. And he usually gets stronger as the grand tour progresses.
And eleven seconds isn't exactly cracking of course.
I had more the impression that Quintana likes it more when they just nuke the bottom of a climb rather than a really fast lead in. PSM was his worst climbing day in 2015.
Nobody or very close to it will come out Covid-positive. The chance of contracting the virus is extremely low for any of the riders, just calculate how many in say 1000 spectators might be infected give the current case numbers in France, still very few. And while some are asymptomatic those who are actually sick will likely not stand on any climb. Then, the time of exposure to any given possibly infected spectator is very short, a few seconds at most. A lot are actually wearing masks, the vast majority isn't yelling into the faces of the riders and
All the protests in Germany (don't know as much about other countries) where next to no one was wearing a mask and only a minority keeping some kind of distance didn't cause a spike anywhere. All this done by people who don't care about getting infected or not. I feel that such demonstrations are a somewhat comparable situation to what we see when larger crowds gather on the roadside for the Tour, although way more are wearing masks and are keeping distance there. Knowing that I feel extremely relaxed about the infection risk, both for riders and spectators.
I think the main risk is superspreaders within teams. Based on the images, the riders and staff are mostly eating indoors (I would try organizing it outdoors), so if one rider or staff is a superspreader, he/she can realistically infect a dozen others in the team that way. Also, the team bus. One woman in a S-Korean Starbucks spread it to 22 customers just by sitting underneath an airco vent, so it doesn't need to involve very close contact.
I think this is interesting: of the top 4 in the GC after stage 9 (but I'm not sure why),
Roglic has been among the top-10 in the GC since stage 4.
Bernal has been among the top-10 in the GC since stage 2.
Martin has been among the top-10 in the GC since stage 4.
Bardet has been among the top-10 in the GC since stage 5.
Of these riders, Bernal's progression is the longest, starting in 8th place in stage 2, followed sequentially, by 6th in stages 3 and 4, 5th in stages 5 an 6, 4th in stage 7, 5th in stage 8, and 2nd in stage 9. Quintana has also had a pretty consistent progression from stage 4 (9th place) to 5th in stage 9.
We'll see.
Roglic has been among the top-10 in the GC since stage 4.
Bernal has been among the top-10 in the GC since stage 2.
Martin has been among the top-10 in the GC since stage 4.
Bardet has been among the top-10 in the GC since stage 5.
Of these riders, Bernal's progression is the longest, starting in 8th place in stage 2, followed sequentially, by 6th in stages 3 and 4, 5th in stages 5 an 6, 4th in stage 7, 5th in stage 8, and 2nd in stage 9. Quintana has also had a pretty consistent progression from stage 4 (9th place) to 5th in stage 9.
We'll see.
I'd love to see Quintana win, it feels like he has "deserved" it by now
However, I think his team isn't quite strong enough, especially after Rosa dropped out, and that he will be alone on many big mountains, if Ineos and JV punch it early.
Barguil and Anacona have step up to their A level the rest of the Tour, for him to have a shot.
His saving grace may be, that Ineoes doesn't look their normal strength, and JV has so far ridden the race pretty conservatively.
However, I think his team isn't quite strong enough, especially after Rosa dropped out, and that he will be alone on many big mountains, if Ineos and JV punch it early.
Barguil and Anacona have step up to their A level the rest of the Tour, for him to have a shot.
His saving grace may be, that Ineoes doesn't look their normal strength, and JV has so far ridden the race pretty conservatively.
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I'd love to see Quintana win, it feels like he has "deserved" it by now
However, I think his team isn't quite strong enough, especially after Rosa dropped out, and that he will be alone on many big mountains, if Ineos and JV punch it early.
Barguil and Anacona have step up to their A level the rest of the Tour, for him to have a shot.
His saving grace may be, that Ineoes doesn't look their normal strength, and JV has so far ridden the race pretty conservatively.
What's interesting is that none of the contenders besides Roglic have really had any support when the road has gone seriously uphill. Bernal/Quintana/Martin/Pog/Bardet/Landa have been on their own. Only Mollema/Porte were together yesterday, IIRC, at the end of Marie Blanche (although I could have been misremembering).
I would love to see Barguil step it up but he's a better rider in his mind than in reality, and he'd rather go for stage/polka glory than grind it out in the pack as a domestique. That might work in a lesser tour but there's some real climbing firepower this year and yesterday he just got shut down. He'd have done better to stick with Quintana, frankly.
So I think Nairo will have to do it himself. Best strategy is to hide out of the wind, don't get caught out in echelons and stick within a minute of the leader, then attack on Loze. Grand Colombier would suit him too but tbh it's a bit early, with the two hard Alps stages after that.
I question whether Bernal will be alone.
Carapaz should come good in week 2/3. We have to remember his form was initially timed for the Giro.
Castroviejo has largely been saved week 1 (he worked on the crosswind stage, everyone did).
And then it's a question how Sivakov recovers.
As I have seen the race, Ineos has mostly used Amador, Kwiato, Rowe and Van Barle for the dom work, so Carapaz/Castroviejo/Sivakov may come good the next 2 weeks.
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They would have it, if Tom Dumoulin wouldn't sacrifice his personal ambition, to win this year.
I just posted the Quintana interview in his thread. Just want to point out that the intensity, speed and wattages are so high that him and Valverde are very impressed. With these wattages few years back there would only be very few riders left compared to this year. So FWIW, the level of this year has to be considered one of the highest from the last Tour de France editions.
no, this is not fair; you gain power by years of training and Bernal if further in his development than Roglic; Roglic has improved every year so far so we still dont know where his peak is.
Again, no evidence what so ever; bernal is the same as he was at Tour al Ain; he can follow but gets destroyed in every sprint, nothing has changed.
So... Cherel finished on Alaphilippe's spare bike yesterday...
Getting a wheel from a non-teammate is against the rule, but getting a whole bike isn't? Though I guess if you're already over 30 minutes down, a 2 minute time-away-taking (sorry for completely losing the abilty to speak English there...) isn't gonna matter much...
Getting a wheel from a non-teammate is against the rule, but getting a whole bike isn't? Though I guess if you're already over 30 minutes down, a 2 minute time-away-taking (sorry for completely losing the abilty to speak English there...) isn't gonna matter much...
Bardet's opinion is similar to Nairo's.
Romain Bardet: This is the highest-level Tour de France of my career
'We’re breaking climbing records on every col we go up on this Tour'
www.cyclingnews.com
I wonder if it's to do with the fewer racing days and the freshness that gives them. It could lead to guys having lighter schedules.
It's fair to say Roglic has improved every year but usually any athlete improves at a quicker rate at a younger age. And that is just your interpretation, there is no direct evidence Bernal is improving (ie: times) but I think from watching it (through the eyes of a cycling fan who has no expertise) Bernal seems to be improving through the Dauphine and Tour and Roglic does not.
tell me please what has he improved since Ain, cause I am sure not seeing it; he could stay with roglic always and get blown away in the end. Exactly the same as right now. Just look at the sprint for bonus secs on last climb yesterday, what was different than in Ain; I belive Pogacar is stronger than Bernal, overall a better rider and biggest threat to roglic
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