Tour de France Tour de France 2021, Stage 5: Changé – Laval Espace Mayenne, 27.2 km (ITT)

[staubsauger]

The surprise of the day has to be Vingegaard, right? Pogi was already half expected to go nuclear. Jonas has shown himself to be a good TT guy, but today he was beating some elite guys.

Yes, definitely. Van der Poel holding on that well as well. And Kelderman in a negative way. That guy was about to win the Giro d'Italia because of his TT some months ago. Desastrous performance by him today.

I guess they weren't confident that Kuss would back it up in the TT.
They still have Vingegaard up there and if Steven gets better it only takes one mountain raid at the end of the first week to turn him into a danger man once again (think about how they played their cards on the Alpe d'Huez stage in 2018).

Yes, indeed.

I was just surprised that he finished just 8 seconds behind Kelderman who uses to be a good tt'er normally and finished well ahead of other climbers like López, Quintana & Guillaume Martin who entered the Tour de France ambitious. Normally one would've expected Kuss to lose roughly as much as Martin.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Keldermann with a bad TT so far for his abilities, bit of a shame. Was hoping he would stay closer.

he bruised his elbow on day 1 and was already afraid it could compromise his TT position. It did. He said he felt "not right" on the bike. He felt power was ok. Just poor position probably.

 

[JosefK]

Yes, definitely. Van der Poel holding on that well as well. And Kelderman in a negative way. That guy was about to win the Giro d'Italia because of his TT some months ago. Desastrous performance by him today.

Yes, indeed.

I was just surprised that he finished just 8 seconds behind Kelderman who uses to be a good tt'er normally and finished well ahead of other climbers like López, Quintana & Guillaume Martin who entered the Tour de France ambitious. Normally one would've expected Kuss to lose roughly as much as Martin.

Oh yes, that guy in the yellow jersey. Tremendous performance by MvdP.

 

[Mayomaniac]

If DQ are serious about riding for the gc with Ala I wonder if having Cattaneo drop time on the first to stages by working early on was the right call.
The guy could have been used as a card to play on the first mountain stages to put others under pressure (he'd still work for Ala during the rest of the Tour).

 

[Tim Cahill]

This is what we really need

Tour de France 1947 Stage 19 (ITT) results

Tour de France 1947 Stage 19 (ITT) from Vannes to Saint-Brieuc was won by Raymond Impanis before Jean Robic and Aldo Ronconi. Pierre Brambilla was leading the general classification.

www.procyclingstats.com

Look at that battling performance from the man from West France, within 5 minutes of the imperious Belgian.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Why exactly did Jumbo sacrifice Sepp Kuss only for him to ride the tt of his life today!?

Didn't he lose over 15 minutes on a crash on stage 1?

 

[Broccolidwarf]

If DQ are serious about riding for the gc with Ala I wonder if having Cattaneo drop time on the first to stages by working early on was the right call.
The guy could have been used as a card to play on the first mountain stages to put others under pressure (he'd still work for Ala during the rest of the Tour).

They are not, he said all the time he's not doing GC.

 

[staubsauger]

Didn't he lose over 15 minutes on a crash on stage 1?

Was it because he was immediately affected by the crash or did he swap his bike, sat-up in the aftermath of the incident!?

 

[Breh]

Imagina Pogi on a reasonable TT bike

 

[Broccolidwarf]

What we know is Pogacar massacres everyone who isn't prime top form Primoz Roglic.

No amount of inserting xyz wishful thinking rival will alter the fact we're probably going to be served a "Pogacar annihilation of rivals" in the Tour for quite a few years now.

It was around this time, 2 years ago, that a bunch of people predicted Bernal would win the Tour for 10 years straight.

In 2 years, the same people will say Ayuso will win every Tour for a decade, after he has destroyed Pogacar in the mountains.

Maybe it's the nature of these SoMe times, that people have become prone to highly dramatic over the top predictions?

 

[Vesica]

So besides the conclusion that Pogi was really thermonuclear, the conclusion is also that you can't talk about a penis and doping. Hahaha it is truly North Korea.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Was it because he was immediately affected by the crash or did he swap his bike, sat-up in the aftermath of the incident!?

The way I remember it, he was down himself.

They wouldn't sacrifice Kuss on stage 1, while Gesink was 15 minutes ahead across the line.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

So besides the conclusion that Pogi was really thermonuclear, the conclusion is also that you can't talk about a penis and doping. Hahaha it is truly North Korea.

Actually, do we know for a fact, that penis-talk is illegal in North Korea?

 

[Vesica]

The way I remember it, he was down himself.

They wouldn't sacrifice Kuss on stage 1, while Gesink was 15 minutes ahead across the line.

^^ it's more a question why they let Vingegaard wait for Roglic after the crash.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Have you watched any GTs since 2010?

Large majority in this century (plus some in the 20th). What's your point? It's obvious that Bernal needs a GT with very few kms of flat TT to challenge Pog. No ITT was a joke.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

^^ it's more a question why they let Vingegaard wait for Roglic after the crash.

Because he was never supposed to ride GC - and let's all remember, we have not seen a proper mountain in this Tour yet.

Vingegaard may drop 20 minutes on Saturday or Sunday.

He is a great prospect, but consistency has so far been an issue with him. - Obviously he can prove at this Tour, that it is a past issue, but lets not put the cart before the horse here

 

[Rackham]

They are not, he said all the time he's not doing GC.

I think Alaphilippe really was riding GC.

His performance today was full gas & he beat a load of other GC guys. But it wasn't good enough & now he's in a tough position. I seriously doubt he would have gone so hard today if his objective was to save energy & win more stages, so no, today he went full in & underdelivered.

Imagina Pogi on a reasonable TT bike

I'm disappointed Pogacar slowed down at the end & didn't eliminate McNulty who finished last 6 minutes 55 seconds down. It would have provided some sh*ts & giggles.

^^ it's more a question why they let Vingegaard wait for Roglic after the crash.

Because WvA is a protected rider with a superstar status. It might not make sporting sense, but I believe what we saw was WvA riding for himself, not Roglic, whereas Vingegaard was tasked with riding for his leader at all costs.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

So besides the conclusion that Pogi was really thermonuclear, the conclusion is also that you can't talk about a penis and doping. Hahaha it is truly North Korea.

That reminds me!

You know famed old actor D!ck van D yke (can't write the name without the space, the forum changes it to "lovely person") ?

He was of Dutch ancestry - and D1ck van D yke was his stage name.

Do you know what he was baptised originally?

 

[Rackham]

Because he was never supposed to ride GC - and let's all remember, we have not seen a proper mountain in this Tour yet.

Vingegaard may drop 20 minutes on Saturday or Sunday.

He is a great prospect, but consistency has so far been an issue with him. - Obviously he can prove at this Tour, that it is a past issue, but lets not put the cart before the horse here

Wout van Aert has already said he's not going full in on the mountains, so he could be 40 minutes down himself by Sunday.

Vingegaard had no choice & was made to wait for Roglic whereas WvA was given freedom to ride for himself first. It's the only plausible explanation. It's a question of contracts & status.

But that's why JV aren't going to win this Tour (because there wasn't full commitment behind Roglic, just like last year where Dumoulin was foisted upon Rogla with joint-leadership & he went full-crazy in the Pyrenees, i.e. disobeying team orders, riding a mad tempo & breaking down in tears afterwards like a lunatic).

 

[gregrowlerson]

Ooh, Lutsenko, who's quietly sneaking up into the top ranks of the GC there...? Uran too, and maybe Vingegaard if Roglic can't continue fully.

Lutsenko paying $4 for top 10 and $17 for podium in Paris good value imo

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Wout van Aert has already said he's not going full in on the mountains, so he could be 40 minutes down himself by Sunday.

Vingegaard had no choice & was made to wait for Roglic whereas WvA was given freedom to ride for himself first. It's the only plausible explanation. It's a question of contracts & status.

But that's why JV aren't going to win this Tour (because there wasn't full commitment behind Roglic, just like last year where Dumoulin was foisted upon Rogla with joint-leadership & he went full-crazy in the Pyrenees, i.e. disobeying team orders, riding a mad tempo & breaking down in tears afterwards like a lunatic).

Were not talking about WvA, but about pepole complaining Vingegaard was "made" to wait for Roglic.

The only reason WvA didn't was, that he still had a shot at yellow on the TT, which the team wanted.

In hindsight, Vingegaard would have been a better bet for that, but nobody expected him to do a TT like today.

 

[Vesica]

Because he was never supposed to ride GC - and let's all remember, we have not seen a proper mountain in this Tour yet.

Vingegaard may drop 20 minutes on Saturday or Sunday.

He is a great prospect, but consistency has so far been an issue with him. - Obviously he can prove at this Tour, that it is a past issue, but lets not put the cart before the horse here

Because WvA is a protected rider with a superstar status. It might not make sporting sense, but I believe what we saw was WvA riding for himself, not Roglic, whereas Vingegaard was tasked with riding for his leader at all costs.

Yeah, that's true. But after Kruijswijk crashed and lost already a lot, you would expect that JV would change to Vingegaard as a backup.

Before the Tour started I already rated Vingegaard higher than Kruijswijk.

The free role of WvA I can understand.

 

[BlueRoads]

I think Ala is trying to go for yellow as long as possible, knowing that he will lose time eventually - he definitely hoped to get the jersey today, but I doubt he thought he really had a chance for a tour podium. It's more a "try to do the best" approach without a clear aim in my opinion. I expect him to try to hang on as long as possible on the first mountain stage or the first two and then, when he's lost significant time he will probably lose more and go for another stage.
I think I said a few times I wish he would focus more instead of trying to do everything, but obviously his mind works differently.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Yeah, that's true. But after Kruijswijk crashed and lost already a lot, you would expect that JV would change to Vingegaard as a backup.

Before the Tour started I already rated Vingegaard higher than Kruijswijk.

The free role of WvA I can understand.

I think it would be highly irresponsible for the team, to put GC aspirations on him in his very first Tour, on the back of having done ONE GT before, where he was 46th.

On the face of it, obviously Kruijswijk was a better bet for GC, prior to the race starting.

Hindsight is always 20/20 - but I don't think anyone would expect us to be here on day 5, before the race started.

 

[BlueRoads]

About Jumbo, I have no clue what their plans are and how strong the individual riders are at the moment - and I doubt they do until they've seen them in the mountains.