Tour de France Tour de France 2023, stage 2: Vitoria-Gasteiz - Donostia/San Sebastián, 208.9k

[Gratemans]

Another thing: how are you all so sure Vingegaard pulling would have meant Wout would win this? Lafay went absolutely ballistic.
Sure, everybody is really happy for him, but I feel we're not appreciating how hard he really went by just assuming Wout would have had this in the bag had Vingegaard pulled for a bit.

 

[bNator]

Another thing: how are you all so sure Vingegaard pulling would have meant Wout would win this? Lafay went absolutely ballistic.
Sure, everybody is really happy for him, but I feel we're not appreciating how hard he really went by just assuming Wout would have had this in the bag had Vingegaard pulled for a bit.

Exactly. The idea that Mr. Minutes is the one who is going to make the difference in a flat sprint with Wout having two heavyweight leadouts, is a bit silly on its own. But it just shows all that matters to the WVA leaning media is that Vingegaard succumbs to King WVA. Doesn’t really matter that much if it makes a difference or not.

 

[Netserk]

our king Van Aert

Jeez.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Jeez.

I‘m wondering if that‘s just a bad translation for ‚leader‘.

 

[Grayguard]

I‘m wondering if that‘s just a bad translation for ‚leader‘.

I hope not, since the leader should clearly be Vingegaard.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

- Pogacar didn't look that easy on Jaizkibel, you'd expect him to win that sprint way more easily than he did.

I disagree. to me it looked like this at first as well, but watching the replay I got the impression he didn't even have to fully accelerate to easily pass Vingegaard, he just immedialty stops the effort once he is in front.

 

[Grayguard]

I disagree. to me it looked like this at first as well, but watching the replay I got the impression he didn't even have to fully accelerate to easily pass Vingegaard, he just immedialty stops the effort once he is in front.

But he didn't immediatly stop... he only did that when it it became clear Vingegaard wouldn't take any leads...

 

[wickedw]

The whole vingegaard should have done more for van aert is classic sporza. For a channel who barely broadcast any cycling they for some reason think they have all the experts. Jose de cauwer in particular I've never been able to stand. Long overdue for retirement.

I'm not a fan of vingegaard but it's absolutely bull to make him try to close a gap for van aert at this point. First of all, I doubt he could, he's no remco on the flat. Secondly i don't think he should. GC is much more important than a stage win and jumbo has a very clear priority. Also wva hasn't really shown killer finishing this season so I'd think twice too. And why waste energy as the clear gc leader? If wva truly cares about this then he can go ride for any other team were they'd go all out for him.

I'm also fairly sure that wva will still likely win a stage or two. Kind of has to to save his season a bit.

 

[Monte Serra]

I‘m wondering if that‘s just a bad translation for ‚leader‘.

'Koning' is not often used as synonym for team leader in Dutch cycling parlance. So I just translated it literally. Maybe José meant it as an analogy to a chess piece. I'm not sure.

 

[Gratemans]

But he didn't immediatly stop... he only did that when it it became clear Vingegaard wouldn't take any leads...

But by then they were going downhill of course. Like Rechtscheibfehler, I also didn't really have the feeling he had to go all out to win that uphill sprint. (His timing of course is also better than Vingo's in situations like that, so I don't think we really learned anything from it regarding their shape compared to one another)

 

[Tim Cahill]

Sporza are surely taking the piss with that article, not a chance I'm falling for it, it's the Belgian equivalent of the articles about Meghan Markle doing something innocuous to rile up Daily Mail readers.

 

[Gratemans]

Jose de cauwer in particular I've never been able to stand. Long overdue for retirement.

I never could stand Wuyts. They don't come more chauvinistic than that absolute joke of a journalist.
But when they were still covering races together, I always used to love De Cauwer, being the more reasonable voice. When you get a combo of journalist and former-rider, the latter one always seems to be more realistic. But these past two years, José seems to be a lost cause as well. A damn shame.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

But he didn't immediatly stop... he only did that when it it became clear Vingegaard wouldn't take any leads...

I meant the sprint effort. He did continue to ride, but he didn't have to do a lot to win the sprint so I think beacuse of that it looked like a weak sprint.

 

[Andy schleck]

Another thing: how are you all so sure Vingegaard pulling would have meant Wout would win this? Lafay went absolutely ballistic.
Sure, everybody is really happy for him, but I feel we're not appreciating how hard he really went by just assuming Wout would have had this in the bag had Vingegaard pulled for a bit.

Yeah. Kudos for Lafay. What a attack.

 

[armchairclimber]

Meanwhile, in a Nyhaven bar, the climber in the armchair takes a tug on his big spliff and orders anothe bottle of red

 

[Boehmand]

This whole debate on "Vingegaard should have pulled" is insane.

Go watch the finish again.

When Lafay went, Vingegaard was sitting at the back of the group, so even if he wanted to (which he shouldn't), there is no way he could have made it to the front of the group, much less made any significant difference to reeling in Lafay in time - nor could he have known Benoot and Kelderman couldn't control it.

If anything the real mistake Jumbo made was, to try and make it a bunch sprint for WvA, when they had the numbers in the group and knew everyone else would be shooting off the front left, right and centre, to avoid a bunch sprint against WvA.

They should have sent a guy with each of those moves instead, to just sit on the wheel and do nothing, forcing everyone else in the group to do the work, or even have Benoot and Kelderman take turns pinging off the front themselves towards the end.

 

[ManicJack]

There should be a cover charge for this comedy club aka stage 2 thread. Have any of you raced a bike when it matters?

 

[houtdffan]

Another thing: how are you all so sure Vingegaard pulling would have meant Wout would win this? Lafay went absolutely ballistic.
Sure, everybody is really happy for him, but I feel we're not appreciating how hard he really went by just assuming Wout would have had this in the bag had Vingegaard pulled for a bit.

Why should Vingegaard pull for his mountain dom?

 

[red_flanders]

Why should Vingegaard pull for his mountain dom?

Because it’s a team, and the team has more than one valid interest to go after, and more than one champion to work for or with.

Clearly they/Vingo aren’t playing it that way like last year. But that doesn’t mean it’s the right call. Reasonable opinions on both sides.

 

[ManicJack]

Because it’s a team, and the team has more than one valid interest to go after, and more than one champion to work for or with.

That's funny. If the team's goal is 1 stage win and a top 20 in GC maybe.

 

[Andre]

...well in all fairness, Wout acts and looks like a king more than Vinge...

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

There should be a cover charge for this comedy club aka stage 2 thread. Have any of you raced a bike when it matters?

I raced my bike to school 5 days per week for many years, because i always got out of bed too late. I was told it mattered a great deal.

 

[red_flanders]

That's funny

In what way?

 

[ManicJack]

In what way?

See my edit.

 

[red_flanders]

See my edit.

How many stage wins and a GC win last year? Come on.