I still remember thinking the same when Froome crashed late in the 2016 Tour just for not a single serious gc contender making a single move on the final mountain stage. That said, Pogacar is no Richie Porte. He might actually try.Considering Vingegaard crashed, I think more than one team will be interested in putting pressure on him on the first climb to see if he's hurt.
If Wout is in the break, then Jumbo will have too few riders for pacing the peleton. Will Benoot and Kuss be enough for the two climbs? Don´t think so.. Laporte and van Hooydonck will only offer help until the first slopes of Port de Lers. It would be a totally different story with Kruiswijk or Roglic still in the race, but they aren´t anymore..Lotto just need Wout in the break on the top of the last climb. Harder said than done. Or Laporte for that matter, but thats a lot harder. Then even if you lose 30 seconds, you just mitigate the loss with Wout. I think that should the the priority today. Thats why I still don't get Vingegaard didnt try on Galibier - even if Pogacar drops you, he drops you for absolute nothing and if you drop him just with 15 seconds, I think thats Tour over right then and there. Thats not 3 minutes, but much more.
Crosswind action would be nice, but I somehow doubt it'll happen.
Lotto just need Wout in the break on the top of the last climb. Harder said than done. Or Laporte for that matter, but thats a lot harder. Then even if you lose 30 seconds, you just mitigate the loss with Wout. I think that should the the priority today. Thats why I still don't get Vingegaard didnt try on Galibier - even if Pogacar drops you, he drops you for absolute nothing and if you drop him just with 15 seconds, I think thats Tour over right then and there. Thats not 3 minutes, but much more.
Oh frick, why in the world would I confuse Jumbo Visma, the best team in the race, with Lotto, mostly preoccupied since stage 4 with bringing Caleb Ewan to Champs Elysees? Darn..
Any word on Benoot following his crash?If Wout is in the break, then Jumbo will have too few riders for pacing the peleton. Will Benoot and Kuss be enough for the two climbs? Don´t think so.. Laporte and van Hooydonck will only offer help until the first slopes of Port de Lers. It would be a totally different story with Kruiswijk or Roglic still in the race, but they aren´t anymore..
If Wout is in the break, then Jumbo will have too few riders for pacing the peleton. Will Benoot and Kuss be enough for the two climbs? Don´t think so.. Laporte and van Hooydonck will only offer help until the first slopes of Port de Lers. It would be a totally different story with Kruiswijk or Roglic still in the race, but they aren´t anymore..
Any word on Benoot following his crash?
“I didn't even sleep that badly,” said Benoot yesterday. “I did take a painkiller. If I slept on my left side, it wasn't that bad, but if I turned around unconsciously, I woke up from the pain.” Nevertheless, Benoot went for a ride yesterday. "I had no other choice, otherwise you'll stiffen up completely and that's obviously not what you want in the Tour."
Benoot is not thinking about giving up for the time being. He would prefer to continue to assist Jonas Vingegaard until the last gasp. “My hip is swollen from the impact. We'll see what it gives, but it's not serious enough to throw in the towel. I know I'm facing torture. Especially with that heat. Those scrapes make me lose even more moisture, and if I cut water over it, the salts won't make it any more pleasant. The advantage is that because of this new pain I may suffer less from the pain in my legs.” (laughs)
Ah ***, he did sound reasonably confident two days ago in an interview with German TV after the race that he might be over the worst and it'll get better from now on. Looks like the opposite happened.