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

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Aug 13, 2011
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We agree. So, they don't have the confidence that pogacar can drop Vingegaard in the mountains. He will try to follow him.
Jumbo obviously doesn’t have the confidence Vingegaard will drop Pogacar in the mountains with upping the pace when Pog stops to pee.
 
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Aug 29, 2009
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MVDP will be on super-leadout duty for the next two at least. Logical for him not to waste energy in a doomed effort.
they may change it depending on the type of finish, but as far as I understood, Rickaert is supposed to be Philipsen's leadout man
 
Jul 3, 2022
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So to recap the last couple of pages: Van Aert is selfish, Vingegaard is boring and selfish. Pogačar is exciting, but possibly also selfish, and Dutch commentators are great because they don't wear suits.
WvA was selfish last year as well.

Also, Powless is extraordinarily nice.
 
May 4, 2011
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No-one was surprised that Pogacar was 2nd to Van Aert in the main part of the sprint. That being predictable, then Vingegaard helping close the gap would have had
*potential benefit of stage victory for team, but they will expect plenty of others, WvA already has 9 so not a great bonus for his palmares
*potential cost of extra fatigue for himself (probably marginal), 2 extra bonus seconds to Pogacar (6 for 2nd rather than 4 for 3rd).

Now those 2 seconds might not be crucial in three weeks time (it will have been a hell of an exciting Tour if they are), but why expend energy to give them away?
So WVA is more likely to go the extra mile for you.
 
Mar 13, 2009
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I think it's fair to be disappointed he didn't even try. It's not like he has any chances in the next 4 stages.
I was also disappointed he didn't try. But on the other end, like I said he'd have ended up with Pedersen and Alaph most likely
 

Vingegaard better pray Wout is of the same opinion and hope he doesn't blame him, because Vingegaard has played this very badly as far as being a leader goes.
 
Nov 16, 2013
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Actually, my main issue with Vingegaard is not that he didn't help Wout, it is that he never takes the lead, ever, unless he drops everyone. Another example is from the Roubaix stage last year where he didn't lift a finger to help himself out of his predicament but solely relied on his teammates. Afterward, he said some nonsense along the lines of "it would probably be better for me not to disturb my teammates in the work as they are more suited to riding on the flat". It's like it never even occurs to him to hit the front. I guess I just find it weird.

Have we ever seen him on an echelon stage?
 
Sep 20, 2017
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Actually, my main issue with Vingegaard is not that he didn't help Wout, it is that he never takes the lead, ever, unless he drops everyone. Another example is from the Roubaix stage last year where he didn't lift a finger to help himself out of his predicament but solely relied on his teammates. Afterward, he said some nonsense along the lines of "it would probably be better for me not to disturb my teammates in the work as they are more suited to riding on the flat". It's like it never even occurs to him to hit the front. I guess I just find it weird.

Have we ever seen him on an echelon stage?
Don't disagree with this at all, but it's rather funny that a Valverde fan puts someone through the ringer for never doing legitimate pulls.
 
Jul 16, 2015
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Vingegaard better pray Wout is of the same opinion and hope he doesn't blame him, because Vingegaard has played this very badly as far as being a leader goes.

Boom! Shots fired.

Red Rick wrote his press release pretty quick I think, well done!

In all seriousness, this is... a bit wild? There seems to be some friction here in his comment aka "I already did something for Van Aert", i.e. Netflix would have some fun, for sure.
 
Apr 14, 2021
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Actually, my main issue with Vingegaard is not that he didn't help Wout, it is that he never takes the lead, ever, unless he drops everyone. Another example is from the Roubaix stage last year where he didn't lift a finger to help himself out of his predicament but solely relied on his teammates. Afterward, he said some nonsense along the lines of "it would probably be better for me not to disturb my teammates in the work as they are more suited to riding on the flat". It's like it never even occurs to him to hit the front. I guess I just find it weird.

Have we ever seen him on an echelon stage?
He did leadout s for Laporte in Dauphine
 
Jul 10, 2014
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Vingegaard better pray Wout is of the same opinion and hope he doesn't blame him, because Vingegaard has played this very badly as far as being a leader goes.

I doubt Vinge did anything other that the team asked him though. The main goal is the GC, every year Jumbo has the same issue with multiple goals. Last year it worked out for them, mostly because Wout was so strong he could basically do anything.
 
Jul 11, 2022
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Actually, my main issue with Vingegaard is not that he didn't help Wout, it is that he never takes the lead, ever, unless he drops everyone. Another example is from the Roubaix stage last year where he didn't lift a finger to help himself out of his predicament but solely relied on his teammates. Afterward, he said some nonsense along the lines of "it would probably be better for me not to disturb my teammates in the work as they are more suited to riding on the flat". It's like it never even occurs to him to hit the front. I guess I just find it weird.

Have we ever seen him on an echelon stage?
It's almost like Vingegaard is the GC leader of the team.

If you want to see Vingegaard take the front look at the races when he was a domestique.
 
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Nov 16, 2013
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Don't disagree with this at all, but it's rather funny that a Valverde fan puts someone through the ringer for never doing legitimate pulls.

Fair enough but I think that was mostly because he was biding his time for the upcoming sprint. In 2016, he actually did sacrifice his own podium chances to help a not-at-all-stronger-than-him Quintana in the Tour. It wasn't that often that Valverde had a teammate they would be better off riding for (I know, Firenze, I know).

Edit: Also, I just like Valverde and dislike Vingegaard so there will obviously be some bias.
 
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