Tour de France Tour de France 2020

[Valv.Piti]

FFS I forgot when the meme started and it's bothering me right now

Roubaix 16? Agnello 16?

 

[Andy262]

I'll be amazed if this gets to Paris tbh. Has every potential for turning into a 100% gold-plated fiasco.

And if it did, what chance do people give the Giro and Vuelta?

To be honest, I think the sport would have been better focusing on a programme of one day and stage racing up to a week for the remainder of this year.

 

[tobydawq]

Hey, mods! Can't you make a subforum where people can spew their pessimism about Covid19? It's getting depressing to read each hour that some new random guy doesn't believe the Tour can finish...

 

[Northerner]

I mean yes it was foreseeable a three week race might be more likely to encounter problems, but right now it's just bad luck that the French invented the Grand Tour. If it was the Giro starting tomorrow, or a three week tour of Britain or Germany we wouldn't be seriously mentioning cancellation.

 

[search]

there's no talk at all about a cancellation of the Tour either. And the fact that one of the biggest (and most exposed) sports events can go ahead, is more of a sign that there won't be any problems for the coming races as well

 

[Breezy1985]

Hey, mods! Can't you make a subforum where people can spew their pessimism about Covid19? It's getting depressing to read each hour that some new random guy doesn't believe the Tour can finish...

Yes please. I'm on a few sports forums and there's always a few " there will be no ..... this year " like what are we supposed to do sit round talking about nothing for the next few years. TdF is going ahead and and I'm not gonna stop talking about it till it's ober

 

[RedheadDane]

Roubaix 16? Agnello 16?

It doesn't matter when the meme started. The important part is that it did, and we shall live and breathe the meme until this forum truly - not simply what it has been reported to be for the last 6+ years - dies.

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Yes please. I'm on a few sports forums and there's always a few " there will be no ..... this year " like what are we supposed to do sit round talking about nothing for the next few years. TdF is going ahead and and I'm not gonna stop talking about it till it's ober

Absolutely. Can't wait.
"Tibopino, Tibopino, Allez Tibo, Tibopino!
Tibopino, Tibopino, Sur un vélo, t’es beau Pinot "

 

[Blanco]

I am beginning to wonder if after the lockdown they are writing off the TDF and aiming to use it to get get their Mas and Soler in shape and really focus on riding for the win at La Vuelta and a high placing with Soler at the Giro (which will be more challenging since his support there won’t be as strong as as the Vuelta squad where Mas and Valverde have proven their GC bonafides.

I don't know, the most they could get is top 10 placing and maybe a stage win with Valverde, or from the break. And that would be a successful Tour for them, as things stand right now.

 

[Valv.Piti]

It doesn't matter when the meme started. The important part is that it did, and we shall live and breathe the meme until this forum truly - not simply what it has been reported to be for the last 6+ years - dies.

Im actually getting just as bothered as Rick, but Im quite sure it was about that time it started. Maybe Giggs can verify!

 

[Mayomaniac]

Roubaix 16? Agnello 16?

I think it was the legendary edition of G-W that was one by Paolini (just look at my AV), but I'm not 100% sure either.

 

[SafeBet]

I think it was the legendary edition of G-W that was one by Paolini (just look at my AV), but I'm not 100% sure either.

It was PR 2016.
Gigs himself linked the topic a few posts ago and I went through it. He actually mentions that the last big race he didn't watch before PR 2016 was GW 2015, but nobody knew at that time.

 

[Roku]

FDJ has a good team.

Who do you want to win?
I've ranked the top possible GC riders based on how much I want them to win:
(++)Pinot, Carapaz, Bardet, Urán
(+) Bernal, Buchmann, Martínez, Lopez
(+ -) G Martin, Mas, Valverde, Quintana, Landa
(-)Roglic, Sivakov
(- -) Dumoulin, Pogacar, Mollema, D Martin, Porte

Quite the opposite for me

Sivakov, Dumoulin, Pogacar and Mollema are the ones i like the most.

 

[Mayomaniac]

It was PR 2016.
Gigs himself linked the topic a few posts ago and I went through it. He actually mentions that the last big race he didn't watch before PR 2016 was GW 2015, but nobody knew at that time.

Ok, so that's why I remembered GW.

 

[tobydawq]

If you miss an edition of Paris-Roubaix, are you even a real cycling fan?

 

[Ranagazoo]

Could they just skip stages 1-3 to get out of the red alert zone? "Everyone stay in the hotels until Monday, then team buses to Grasse on Monday morning, and we will ride out the last 150km of the same scheduled route to Sisteron."


Disclaimer; I don't know if the alert extends as far as Sisteron or not.

The Guardian is a good site but it's well known for its pessimism. It reads the cyclingnews article "Tour de France under heightened security" and turns it into "Tour de France in doubt".

 

[Ranagazoo]

Who do you want to win?
I've ranked the top possible GC riders based on how much I want them to win:
(++)Pinot, Carapaz, Bardet, Urán
(+) Bernal, Buchmann, Martínez, Lopez
(+ -) G Martin, Mas, Valverde, Quintana, Landa
(-)Roglic, Sivakov
(- -) Dumoulin, Pogacar, Mollema, D Martin, Porte

Not rooting against anyone in particular, but if someone outside Jumbo or Ineos won then the race would probably be more exciting. I'd put Pinot as the one I want most.

 

[mrgmyers]

Watching the Team Presentation in Nice on the GCN app last night, it was noticeable how many people had left when Inneos were presented and even MORE noticeable was the fact that whoever was providing the feed had to use system-generated noise where there was supposed to have been audience applause I cannot imagine what they were drowning out! Egan looked taken aback but It would appear the team's popularity has not improved and today we find that Bernal's back injury is possibly causing issues, I am not so sure he will weather bad feeling in the same manner Geraint and Froome have in the past, I wish ALL teams and riders a safe well fought TdF.

 

[Gigs_98]

If you miss an edition of Paris-Roubaix, are you even a real cycling fan?

Well if you think that was a sin I can assure you the cycling gods punished me appropriately ^^

But yeah, Paris Roubaix 2016 it was. It got worse when after the first two dreadful weeks of the giro that year I missed the Andalo stage (though I was fortunate enough to watch the Risoul stage) and then when I missed the Formigal stage in the Vuelta because I was celebrating my own f*cking birthday with my family and I couldn't just leave, the meme was never to go away again.

 

[gregrowlerson]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQXAwHfKs4k

 

[CyclistAbi]

Tour de France: Egan Bernal still not fully recovered from his back injury

Reigning champion still working his way to full form

www.cyclingnews.com

Likely on why they decided to bring Carapaz.

 

[CyclistAbi]

One day and counting.

 

[cellardoor]

The big question mark for me is whether Alaphilippe will be in top form as he's looked a bit "good, but not great" all season.

 

[jaylew]

So Bernal says he still has back pain but it's not as bad as it was during the Dauphiné and he hopes it will get better during the first couple of weeks of the Tour. I'm not that knowledgeable about back injuries I don't know why it would get better while racing hard day after day.

 

[BlueRoads]

The big question mark for me is whether Alaphilippe will be in top form as he's looked a bit "good, but not great" all season.

He was very good at MSR. Everyone is expecting so much from him because of last season. Even if he had last season's form - which he obviously hasn't - everything would still be much harder for him because he's being watched like Sagan and nobody's working with him now and also I think he has to lose time in order to be let away.