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After Pog puts another 1'30" into the next GC guy in the TT (probably Jonas), he'll have a gap over 7 minutes to 2nd.
So Bernal and Landa can race and there will be 0 chance to win. Just Pogacar vs Roglic. Sounds fun.no. More TT kms to always ensure that the best man wins like this year.
Also, the breakaway forming uphill makes the race so much harder early on improving the potential for the rest of the stage. I can't remember any stage that was really backloaded that ended with anything else than just action on the final climb unless it was a Mortirolo sort of idea.This, that has bothered me the most with the mountain stages with a flat start: the pack fodder breakaways (climbing wise) with no chance at all.
14 August.
He is the best since Indurain
Roglic would not have beaten him
Nor Bernal nor any of the rest in top form
He is is a field of his own
talent and killer instinct
But that he is so cool and so enjoys racing is the main reason he is the man to beat for the next x years or so
So Bernal and Landa can race and there will be 0 chance to win. Just Pogacar vs Roglic. Sounds fun.
Ineos looked more like their old selves today. Only Porte disappeared early. Certainly killed off Uran but Carapaz knew he was racing for third overall.Castroviejo hasn't stopped getting better, some would never thought he would be more than decent tt-ist and flat/lower slope dom years ago, now he's up there among the best 15 or 20 GT riders while slaving hard and ahead of everyone else in Ineos train hierarchy.
so pogacar got 80 points in two mountain top finishes, Poels got 88 total
smells like a bad points distribution more than anything
The double-points thing isn't great but Woods summed it up perfectly: the four guys who've taken points off each other is what brought Pogacar back into the mix.
Still, I'm glad Pog has won it as hopefully, we'll see a points system change.
I mean the kid is 22. If you look at Froome's wins, 2013 and 2015 was decided on the first mountain stage where he got out climbed numerous times in the last week of both Tours - mainly by Quintana. 2016 and 2017 were just straight up bad years with horrible competition, raced extremely conservative with an extreme amount of talent on Team Sky which basically killed the race.Hard to say..Roglic and Bernal + Ineos A-team (this tdf-team isn not Ineos A-team nowadays) would have made thing quite a bit taxing. Plus as said many key players were lost in the first week-first half.
Absolute VAM times are of course one measurement and w/kg derived from that, but..Overall Pogi is not still lookin that much of an absolute superman that Froome was his peak years, but closing. Still looking forward to see great downhill escapes, running race uphill with Vingegaard, doing small group escape from the front of echelon at lightspeed flat stage..Ganna included perhaps aso.
If the routes were 'balanced' then GTs would be even more boring than this because climbers would have no chance. Watching two guys take minutes in time trials and then easily match everyone else in the mountains is not interesting.And vingo.
and the revival of the all rounder.
bernal and Carapaz are not on the same planet if the routes were balanced again.
also seeing Pogacar slaughter everyone to LGB was much more exciting than seeing Ritchie Porte slaughter everyone at Ax 3.I mean the kid is 22. If you look at Froome's wins, 2013 and 2015 was decided on the first mountain stage where he got out climbed numerous times in the last week of both Tours - mainly by Quintana. 2016 and 2017 were just straight up bad years with horrible competition, raced extremely conservative with an extreme amount of talent on Team Sky which basically killed the race.
Sure, very impressive. I would rate Pogacar's win this year with Froome's in 2013 - the rest I dont consider that impressive at all.
Think about anybody and that rider is going too!Who is going, Pog, Rog, Bernal?? Anyone else of note?
Sure, although I must admit that I loved that stage. Peak MTF Tour de France actionalso seeing Pogacar slaughter everyone to LGB was much more exciting than seeing Ritchie Porte slaughter everyone at Ax 3.
If the routes were 'balanced' then GTs would be even more boring than this because climbers would have no chance. Watching two guys take minutes in time trials and then easily match everyone else in the mountains is not interesting.
Padun maybe?Who is going, Pog, Rog, Bernal?? Anyone else of note?
Trying to control Quintana's attack on Pailheres that day really killed the Sky train in 2013. Porte recovered later in the race but on the next day Froome was completely alone, sadly Movistar couldn't capitalise on it.Sure, although I must admit that I loved that stage. Peak MTF Tour de France action
Padun maybe?