Tour de France Tour de France 2021, Stage 7: Vierzon – Le Creusot, 249.1 km

[spalco]

Obviously they're not going to give Van Aert, Nibali, or Yates a free 10 minutes so I expect the gap to be closed considerably by the end of the day

This game of chicken is very interesting though. Shades of Stage 17 in 2006

Normally: yes. But today it's easier said than done imo. Guys in the break know their job.

 

[Netserk]

Well, I haven't watched... but even if you have a rider in the break, I would think that if you want your GC rider on the podium it doesn't matter if Hugo Houle is in the break, van Aert and Nibali and even van der Poel could become a threat to your ambitions.

UAE will just take it easier if others help. So you have to invest a lot for little return, if you help early on.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Well, I haven't watched... but even if you have a rider in the break, I would think that if you want your GC rider on the podium it doesn't matter if Hugo Houle is in the break, van Aert and Nibali and even van der Poel could become a threat to your ambitions.

Not really though.

 

[IndianCyclist]

this much horsepower means any team that chases alone would not be able to peg it back

 

[spalco]

this much horsepower means any team that chases alone would not be able to peg it back

They also aren't climbing Alpe d'Huez in the final today. The break will shed off some riders, but VA, MVP, Nibali, Asgreen etc will stay, and good luck taking time off them unless they are fooling around.

 

[Eclipse]

Be interesting to see what the gap does now the climbing really gets going.

Such big engines in the break you can't see them really dialling back much and UAE have burnt some matches.

 

[Red Rick]

Kinda interested to see how long Cavendish will hang on

 

[perico]

The Shark is way too hungry for UAE, Ineos, EF, Movistar to give away that amount of time to. They would rather force Pogacar to lose than win? Nibali will make mincemeat of the others in the break over the next few weeks if he has the chance.

 

[spalco]

The Shark is way too hungry for UAE, Ineos, EF, Movistar to give away that amount of time to. They would rather force Pogacar to lose than win?

Absolutely. Nobody's beating Pogacar straight on this year, so if you want to win you have to take risks and go some other way.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Well, I haven't watched... but even if you have a rider in the break, I would think that if you want your GC rider on the podium it doesn't matter if Hugo Houle is in the break, van Aert and Nibali and even van der Poel could become a threat to your ambitions.

I guess if the likes of Ineos thought they could take Pogacar on man-on-man they would have been pulling too. But he crushed everyone the other day to the extent where rolling the dice in a chaotic race becomes a worthwhile option imo. Burn his team up, maybe try various attacks if he's isolated later, let some potentially (but not extremely) dangerous overall contenders go up the road. And then see how his team copes over the next days too...

 

[Red Rick]

This stage will have a massive snowball effect on the rest of the Tour if it continues like this.

 

[JosefK]

Allez, break! Go! Go!

 

[Leggitte]

If Van Aert does manage to take 5-6 minutes on Pogacar today, should TJV change their tactics and ride for Van Aert? Or will Roglic still be their man?

 

[TourOfSardinia]

The Shark is way too hungry for UAE, Ineos, EF, Movistar to give away that amount of time to. They would rather force Pogacar to lose than win? Nibali will make mincemeat of the others in the break over the next few weeks if he has the chance.

He'd suffer 3rd week with the Giro in his legs.
He want to be top for the week following the TdF.

 

[Eclipse]

Absolutely. Nobody's beating Pogacar straight on this year, so if you want to win you have to take risks and go some other way.

Yep. It's pretty obvious that Pog is going to crush everyone if he's TT'ing like he did yesterday so you just hope to wear him and the team down as much as possible and gamble that as a result he has trouble somewhere and that you can overhaul the others (who while strong are obviously not top GC contenders)

 

[Krzysztof_O]

The Shark is way too hungry for UAE, Ineos, EF, Movistar to give away that amount of time to. They would rather force Pogacar to lose than win? Nibali will make mincemeat of the others in the break over the next few weeks if he has the chance.

There's also Van Aert. But I agree that other teams (like Ineos) are in losing situation as well. Maybe then plan to help only if the gap gets really big (but this tactic may fail big time cause their guys are in even worse position than Pogacar). The finish today is difficult, maybe UAE climbers will put the hammer down to reduce the gap if they think it's too big.

 

[perico]

Absolutely. Nobody's beating Pogacar straight on this year, so if you want to win you have to take risks and go some other way.

You send Porte or Lopez in the breakaway rather than come away with nothing. Is Van Baarle now back in the main group?

 

[jarvo]

You send Porte or Lopez in the breakaway rather than come away with nothing. Is Van Baarle now back in the main group?

Van Baarle is in the break still, and there is no way i feel this break sticks with LRP or MAL in it

 

[DanielSong39]

The Shark is way too hungry for UAE, Ineos, EF, Movistar to give away that amount of time to. They would rather force Pogacar to lose than win? Nibali will make mincemeat of the others in the break over the next few weeks if he has the chance.

UAE, Ineos, EF, and Movistar refreshing Betfair odds as we speak
Nope, Pogacar still odds-on to win
When Van Aert is at lower odds than Pogacar they will chase

 

[perico]

Van Baarle is in the break still, and there is no way i feel this break sticks with LRP or MAL in it

Then put Valverde and Tao in it. You force UAE to chase either way.

 

[TeoSheva]

almost 7minutes, impressive!

 

[DJ Sprtsch]

Ha ha, Mohoric, you could havesaved some energy there.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

If Van Aert does manage to take 5-6 minutes on Pogacar today, should TJV change their tactics and ride for Van Aert? Or will Roglic still be their man?

Van Aert is not in last year's form, so obviously TJV should not ride for his GC as endgoal even if he had a big gap.

 

[MrTea1976]

You send Porte or Lopez in the breakaway rather than come away with nothing. Is Van Baarle now back in the main group?

Main group of the break, yes. Well ahead of the slackers with the white jersey.

 

[jarvo]

Then put Valverde and Tao in it. You force UAE to chase either way.

they are chasing now, have done 120km of chasing on the front already