Tour de France Tour de France 2023, stage 14: Annemasse - Morzine, 151.8k

[BigCoward]

You can watch the pre-race podium signings and stuff live:

https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1lPJqBBDQenxb

You can, but why would we want to?

 

[Lequack]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1680164479579877379

View: https://twitter.com/NBCSCycling/status/1680164479579877379?s=20

 

[KZD]

Jumbo is more than likely preparing something for today but I think they could play it in two ways.

Either they let a small breakaway go and control the stage from the peloton try to set up a Vingegård attack to drop Pogačar on Joux Plane and get the bonus seconds there and at the finish line or they send riders a rider like Van Aert or Van Baarle in the breakaway and possibly a Kuss too, in order to put pressure on UAE and force them to chase and then even if Pogačar attacks on Jeux Plane, they guarantee that Vingegård will be well supported and could actually come back in the descent limiting his losses and if he proves to be stronger he can open a big gap to Pogačar with the help of his teammates.

I am also curious to see how the podium fight is going to develop, this should be a better stage for Carlos Rodriguez than the unipuerto ones that we had previously and Pidcock could use the descents to his advantage but I think Hindley will stay strong.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Btw.: Aso's classification of the KOMs is just pure trolling today isn't it? How is Col du Feu (5,8k, 7,8%) in the same category as Col du Ramaz (13,9k, 7,1%). The latter is twice as long and has a section in the middle that is harder than the entire Col du Feu climb.

 

[DNP-Old]

Marie Blanque was just a dipping of the toes into the waters, trying to get a feel for Pogacar's wrist, whereas Tourmalet was just a plan quickly made up trying to go for the early kill after noticing he was indeed a bit weaker; today is the first of two days Jumbo likely targeted prior to the race as to where they would win the Tour de France and I expect them to take this day by storm.

 

[ZamlinusYoutubeious]

Kuss should ride tempo from Ramaz

 

[Lequack]

As much as it sucks fro sprint competition, I think with sprinters like Cavendish, Jakobsen, Ewan and others abandoning those teams really come to life. We now have Quickstep, Lotto and Astana all trying for breaks and racing aggressively.

 

[Eclipse]

Very much looking forward to this one - can actually watch start to finish for once this tour too so hope it doesn't disappoint

 

[Poursuivant]

Carnage today

 

[Extinction]

I always assumed today was the most pivotal day & I think that's what we'll see. Joux Plane is such a nasty climb, so time gaps can be enormous (with a technical descent as well where any over exuberance can end badly).

We're going to see whether all the theories & narratives floating around regarding which types of stages, climbs & weather suit which rider better even matter, or whether it's all just a collection of circumstantial factoids haphazardly plucked from a small sample of previous races & what really matters is who has the best legs on the decisive day - not who has better 'stats' on multi col stages like pro cycling is a video game which can be reduced down to statistics & mathematical certainties.

I think whomever has more energy on Joux Plane will drop the other. No matter any preconceived notions or beliefs about their respective strengths.

It boils down to form and form alone. I'm insterested to see if Pog can keep on attacking, put the pressure on and break Vingeggard; or, by contrast, has the Slovenian shot too many bullets?

 

[Rollthedice]

Question is if Vinge has the balls to attack Pog on the final descent.

 

[Boehmand]

It's currently raining heavily at the finish.

Obviously it dries up quickly on a hot day, but if it continues the final technical and fast descent will be quite the show

On the plus side, riders that usually struggle a little with heat will have a better day - amongst them Pogacar.

 

[rallybanana]

Btw.: Aso's classification of the KOMs is just pure trolling today isn't it? How is Col du Feu (5,8k, 7,8%) in the same category as Col du Ramaz (13,9k, 7,1%). The latter is twice as long and has a section in the middle that is harder than the entire Col du Feu climb.

There's quite a large range from smallest to biggest cat-1s in this year's race
Col du Feu - 450m
Cormet de Roselend - 1200m

 

[DNP-Old]

Wout on the first row, he's ready.

 

[Potomac]

This should be a good one

 

[Rollthedice]

What's the time when they are expected to finish?

 

[Boehmand]

Interesting start, nobody wants to go into red ahead of the first climb, so it's quiet before the storm

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

I demand spectecular first 30 minutes, because that's as much as I gonna get to watch live.

 

[Boehmand]

Bora active at the start, while Ineos are nowhere to be seen

 

[Rollthedice]

Crash!

 

[titan31]

Oof what happened there

 

[RobertCrawley]

I think tables will turn and TJV will set an attack with WVA in front waiting for Pogi to be dropped penultimate climb. UAE will probably be on defensive. But as always I can be very wrong

This is a tactic that Jumbo likes to use. These is the first stage of the race that suits Jonas, so I can see him giving it a go. He obviously will lose to Pogi if he simply follows Pogi, who can always sprint and gain seconds at the end of any stage.

It's a good stage for a breakaway with a big hill at the beginning. There will likely be a selection.

So if Wout can get in the break and then wait at the top of a summit, he could help Jonas on a downhill and flat.

 

[Eclipse]

Carnage today

Well that proved correct very quickly

 

[Boehmand]

Skjelmose down, Trek waiting with 3 riders

 

[Rollthedice]

Neutralisation