• The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

Tour de France Tour de France 2021, Stage 15: Céret – Andorre-la-Vieille, 191.3 km

Page 20 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
I am. Nobody looks as good with a helmet as Sepp Kuss! And nobody can make it look like he doesn't even try when the gradient is 20+%.

(But isn't Libertine's take that he's used wrong, not that she doesn't like him?)

Explanation given in stage 7 thread.
Kuss' comments about stage 6 last year were absolute BS, but they were just stupid words put in his mouth probably by a DS. However, the way that Jumbo raced the rest of the race - and essentially every race since - actually kind of backed up that nonsense. He is not the reason for the evil, but he is the embodiment of it: this appalling role as the non-domestiquing domestique, whose role is solely to sit there doing nothing implying threat, rather than actually trying to attack or providing any assistance to his teammates. Because he's so strong in the climbs, he's usually there with all the bigs, but Jumbo never ask him to do a turn, so they just sit there with 10-15 in the group and nothing happening, because nobody dares attack because Kuss is still fresh to chase them down, but Kuss won't go on the front to thin the group out any further, resulting in tedious group rides, but without even the modicum of interest that Sky's train gave us where they could put the moto on the back of the group and watch people get dropped. When Sepp isn't working for Rogla or Dumoulin himself, he is less of a problem (although there was some hilarious mis-management of him by the team car in the UAE Tour too), but because he's too limited to be a GT leader in his own right, at least at this point in time, as soon as we get to the biggest races, he inevitably gets included, and he inevitably gets deployed specifically to prevent entertaining racing from happening.

Addy Engels is the orchestrator of this vicious assault against entertainment, but Sepp Kuss is the weapon with which this assault is perpetrated. When he is removed from the bunch, the action in the GC contenders' group improved, almost like clockwork.

You know how people countered the "neverending final set at Wimbledon" problem with just saying, ban John Isner, since his "all serve no substance" game was the main problem? One of the best ways to counter the ills of modern cycling is to prevent anybody playing the role that has been created specially for Sepp.
With Rogla leaving the race early this year, Sepp has had more freedom, and has either been invisible and inoffensive, or like he was today, stagehunting. I even posted in the stage 8 thread that I thought him going out to win stages and the GPM like Simon Yates in 2019 would be optimal usage of him given his skillset.

He definitely is best served making hay while the sun shines to get results and try to force some opportunities as leader, since as soon as Rogla is back, you know Addy's going back to plan A.
 
One mechanical or crash for Jonas when he was isolated and it would have backfired. Having all 3 of the guys who can climb in the breakaway was a big risk, but in the end it worked out.
Still, it wasn't a tactical masterclass.

They did indeed gamble big time. It could easily have gone all wrong, had Kuss not been the strongest (and after what he showed this year I would not have bet on that), had Vingegaard had a mechanical, had UAE not worked at all in the first half and Ineos not upped the pace so that the main group was pretty close in the end and Kruijswijk and van Aert not been in comfortable distance in the end...
They needed it all to play out, but, well, it did.
 
Yes please, keep him away from Roglič, it will be way better for both audience and riders that way. Sepp will have more freedom, and Addy won't handcuff him to Primož and be so defensive. How is Sepp with bad weather though? Serious question - pretty much every performance I've seen from him has been in the height of summer sun, and he's been absent or dropped on stages like Formigal.
Wasn't there a stage a couple years ago (Roglic's first Vuelta GC win) when MAL attacked on a hard mountainous stage and the weather was really bad, and Kuss was there for Roglic for many kilometers of hard riding? --I could be mistaken (it happens more often lately).
 
They did indeed gamble big time. It could easily have gone all wrong, had Kuss not been the strongest (and after what he showed this year I would not have bet on that), had Vingegaard had a mechanical, had UAE not worked at all in the first half and Ineos not upped the pace so that the main group was pretty close in the end and Kruijswijk and van Aert not been in comfortable distance in the end...
They needed it all to play out, but, well, it did.
I was skeptical about Kuss, based on his performances this year. Obviously, he was much better than I believed him to b.
 
Sep indicating he is all-in for Vingegaard after today.
And today when others tried to get things going..sure there may have been a tiny bit of confusion because of the white jersey, but Vinegegaard sat on and predictably did nothing to contribute to chasing his teammate. And for Kuss to attack and hold off a champion like Valverde is fantastic..
I hope something good happens for Roglic ..Jumbo is making the most of this..
 
8 captains and crazy tactics. Before we know it Netflix will be talking to them about a documentary.

"The most expected train"
Maybe it would have been wiser to send Geoghegan Hart stage hunting, because Carapaz simply needs to drop Uran & Vingegaard anyway. So far he fails to do so ultimately. Not much to do for the train IMHO.

It's not that Van Aert or Kuss looked any stronger than Hart prior to the rest day, so I certainly would've given him a go up towards Ventoux. Especially with UAE happily allowing breaks to go. Ineos hasn't capitalized from that at all in contrast to Jumbo so far.
 
Massive headwind on the Port d'Envalira.
So maybe you can explain to me why they had the riders in front of him? To attack in the last climb? the steepest one. That is crazy. You attack in the moment where it hurts the most, for you as well as your rivals. Especially when you have the altitude in your favor. That was the biggest opportunity that he will have in this Tour. That was a complete wasted opportunity. If by any chance he breaks the elastic he could connect with 2 of his teammates. And there, the false flat, is when you can use them the most. IMHO.
 
So maybe you can explain to me why they had the riders in front of him? To attack in the last climb? the steepest one. That is crazy. You attack in the moment where it hurts the most, for you as well as your rivals. Especially when you have the altitude in your favor. That was the biggest opportunity that he will have in this Tour. That was a complete wasted opportunity. If by any chance he breaks the elastic he could connect with 2 of his teammates. And there, the false flat, is when you can use them the most. IMHO.

But it doesn't hurt the rivals if they follow you while you attack into a headwind...

Didn't you ser how the riders in the break almost turned around to not be at the front at a certain point a couple of kilometers from the top?

It would have been suicide. Unfortunately.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sandisfan

TRENDING THREADS