Tour de France Tour de France 2021, Stage 2: Perros-Guirec - Mûr-de-Bretagne Guerlédan, 183.5 km

[Broccolidwarf]

Shooo... into the Football thread with that nonsense.

Traitor

 

[IndurainsTdF1994]

Again, as modern cycling goes - barring accidents - I don’t think the final outcome will be close.

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[Armchair cyclist]

That ride deserved that jersey, and that jersey would have deserved this ride. Shame it was on the wrong day.

 

[Rackham]

For the final outcome (without accidents etc.), it's going to be decided in the TT's between Rog & Pog.

Ineos will need to play a tactical masterclass to get Carapaz or Thomas on top, whilst I don't see how either Rog or Pog can drop each other on the climbs (& remember, there are only 3 summit finishes now in this Tour). So it's not some random bonus seconds fought out in mountain sprints which will decide this race.

Rendez-vous on Wednesday for the first real GC battle in the TT. And if the GC standings between the favorites remain the same over the next couple of flat stages, Pogacar will start just in front of Roglic (again) for a remake of sorts of last year's final TT.

 

[will-10]

If MVdp had won yesterday, with the changed kit and all the build-up, yes it would have been a fairytale.... but to do it today, against the odds, with a wild plan to get the boni seconds along the way... is so MVdP

 

[Big Doopie]

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i think -- once again, barring accidents -- pog will win this easily and handily (at least according to modern terms).

and i have never been known to be wrong...

 

[Big Doopie]

For the final outcome (without accidents etc.), it's going to be decided in the TT's between Rog & Pog.

i actually wouldn't mind it if rog takes time on pog in the TTs.

this will force pog to go thermonuclear which will be fun to watch.

only the entire bahrain team will be able to follow him.

 

[Rackham]

i think -- once again, barring accidents -- pog will win this easily and handily (at least according to modern terms).

and i have never been known to be wrong...

You're wrong here & you can quote me on this later.

Pogacar might indeed win, but I've never seen him properly drop Roglic on a climb in a straight mano-à-mano. So the (flat) TT's are everything.

 

[Cian]

You're wrong here & you can quote me on this later.

Pogacar might indeed win, but I've never seen him properly drop Roglic on a climb in a straight mano-à-mano. So the (flat) TT's are everything.

I guess you missed the Peyresourde last year and LBL this year where Pogacar dropped Roglic.

 

[Big Doopie]

I guess you missed the Peyresourde last year and LBL this year where Pogacar dropped Roglic.

...and i think they also missed the fact that pog is a year older and has likely grown in strength from last year (think the difference between fignon 1983 and 1984 -- stratospheric!)

...then again, I could be wrong...

 

[Rackham]

I guess you missed the Peyresourde last year and LBL this year where Pogacar dropped Roglic.

The reverse could be said as well, like last year on the Col de la Loze or the Slovenian national championship when Roglic dropped Pogacar on a climb (& yes, I know Pogacar reversed that in the Slovenian National TT which was on a climb & of course the Belle Filles incident).

There's also Basque Country 2 months ago where Pog & Rog had extremely similar climbing stats. Bottom line, I just don't see the traditional sight of one of them in the yellow jersey dropping the other on a climb (i.e. instead of total domination by the Tour leader in the mountains, I expect something closer to a 2010 Schleck versus Contador situation instead).

 

[Krzysztof_O]

The reverse could be said as well, like last year on the Col de la Loze or the Slovenian national championship when Roglic dropped Pogacar on a climb (& yes, I know Pogacar reversed that in the Slovenian National TT which was on a climb & of course the Belle Filles incident).

There's also Basque Country 2 months ago where Pog & Rog had extremely similar climbing stats. Bottom line, I just don't see the traditional sight of one of them in the yellow jersey dropping the other on a climb (i.e. instead of total domination by the Tour leader in the mountains, I expect something closer to a 2010 Schleck versus Contador situation instead).

Yup, it's gonna be a duel. Both are so similar to each other (great climbing, strong TT, punchy finishes) and there won't be big differences. I would give a slight edge to Pog in the mountains and to Rog during flat TTs. The odds have them both at about 5/4-6/4. Interestingly after first 2 days of the Tour Roglic's odds shortened and equalled those of Pogi (who was pre-race favourite). Other guys' chances decreased.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

For the final outcome (without accidents etc.), it's going to be decided in the TT's between Rog & Pog.

Ineos will need to play a tactical masterclass to get Carapaz or Thomas on top, whilst I don't see how either Rog or Pog can drop each other on the climbs (& remember, there are only 3 summit finishes now in this Tour). So it's not some random bonus seconds fought out in mountain sprints which will decide this race.

Rendez-vous on Wednesday for the first real GC battle in the TT. And if the GC standings between the favorites remain the same over the next couple of flat stages, Pogacar will start just in front of Roglic (again) for a remake of sorts of last year's final TT.

Anyone can crack dude, especially in week 3, and we are yet to see a real mountain in this Tour.

Both UAE and Jumbo are vulnerable, because it's all eggs in one basket.

An injury or a bad day for the captain, and suddenly Ineos is sitting pretty, with their "strength in numbers" strategy.

But yeah, baring that, it will be as expected

 

[Mayomaniac]

Let me tell you something, brother: You all may cheer for the Slovenians right now, but watcha gonna do, when Keldermania runs wild on you, brother?!

Jokes aside, Wilco riding a good Toour would be nice and if he rediscovers his 2014 panache it would be even better.

 

[Red Rick]

Kelderman might be the only Dutchman in sports I rate lower than Frank De Boer.

 

[JosefK]

GC battle shaping up somewhat as expected. I'm a little surprised G Thomas has begun shipping time already, but not that surprised, considering Thomas wasn't able to find form for the Tour last year and now he's in his mid 30s. Not everyone can stave off Father Time like Valverde and Horner. I think Wednesday's TT is more important for Rog than Pog. If Pogacar is ahead after Wednesday, the GC battle could get boring fast.

 

[Blanco]

Lopez again doing his thing. Yesterday in a podcast they were blaming Movistar for not looking after him. The Colombians were blaming him because he just simply doesn't know how to position. Today he was clearly at the back all the time (just like yesterday). Literally, all the time. I just don't get why Movistar don't have someone with him to Shepperd him. I don't get it. And Valverde at the front does not matter at all. He is already out. Why doesn't he help. Proving again what many on this forum say about him, he is too old to win at the Tour and he is not use to be Gregario. So it is a wasted position. Anyway. Just like in the Giro, when the mountains come is going to be completely out of it.

Valverde was at the front for two reasons: because he's the only one from the team who can contest for the win, and for taking care that Mas doesn't lose any time. Mas is at the moment protected rider No.1, cause Superman lost significant time. I think that Lopez is gonna finish higher despite this, but it is what it is. Valverde did nothing wrong imo.
And what about Giro?

 

[staubsauger]

Kelderman might be the only Dutchman in sports I rate lower than Frank De Boer.

What about Ronald de Boer on 7th July 1998?

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Waste of energy

this backfired

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Kelderman might be the only Dutchman in sports I rate lower than Frank De Boer.

yet he currently outperforms the entire Ineos team

 

[DaveJones2]

Feel very privileged to be following cycling in an era where the likes of Alaphillpe and MVDP are competing on a level where they can bring their classics skills to the TDF and pull it off.

Pog and Rog looking ominously good, but equally these sort of finishes are quite suited to them.

Saving grace is that Ineos are by far and away the best team to have behind them as finishing 3rd (or lower) holds absolutely zero interest for them so they'll be giving it a go until the very end rather than trying so hold on for Paris.

 

[red_flanders]

Fantastic stage, beautiful result. Really enjoyed that. This Tour is off to a great start!

 

[pinkobalinko]

The pure utter sadness that Van der Poel takes such a victory that'll barely register over here cause the national team has to play in 10 minutes.

Guess this is not relevant anymore.
They should replay the stage finale on Dutch TV to cheer folks a bit.

 

[Breezy1985]

Full Yellow, Green, Polka, White is too much.

Oh how wrong you are

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congratulations to Mathieu van der Poel for taking the stage win and maillot jaune in a way it for sure made his grandfather proud. Woman from yesterday should take a cue.

Day two and we got to see two classics already. Both won with style. Now i guess sprinters will take over in the next two days. Competition for green should be very open this year hence i feel we are going to enjoy watching it.

Slovenians confirmed again they are in great form. It looks like it won't come down to bonus seconds. Both had a good team support. JV was a bit better in this regard. Mainly due to van Aert looking after Roglič. Martin was injured still managed doing his best. Kuss went ahead of Ineos train for a while to say hi.

Ineos i guess has to decide who is the leader and go with one. Other teams will only profit from it if they won't decide up front. In between Thomas and Carapaz.

GC standings. I could see on why some are already saying it's in between the Slovenians. Realistically this is day 2 and up to position 21 the differences are not all that big. Anyway, two days of healing all the injuries from stage 1 ahead for GC guys and after i guess the first TT should provide additional pointers for adapting potential strategies, when it comes to GC.