Tour de France Tour de France 2023, stage 20: Belfort - Le Markstein, 133.5k

[ice&fire]

Jumbo to get Vingo the stage and KOM jersey.

And to bend space-time and get the white jersey as well

 

[FrontHeadlock]

And to bend space-time and get the white jersey as well

On the bright side, we finally get someone new wearing white next year. Tadej has worn it every day since September 11, 2020.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Hope for Pog but most likely break, probably Simon.

 

[Lequack]

Who woud've thought that MVDP and Wout would still be without a stage win by now.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Pogacar all out attack on the Ballon d'Alsace, wins by 8 minutes and wins yellow

I'd settle for Powless getting the polka dots back but, maybe next time. He's still young.

 

[Peter von]

UAE might try and keep things together Pogi might be able to win if he has regained his legs. And Yates has shown great form as well. Would be a great way to finish for Pogi if he could win. But their team has spent so much energy and I think they are content defending podium.

Ciccone will secure polka dots. Gall will try but he has GC competitors making his life difficult.

Jumbo might set a high-ish pace trying to see if they can nip the stage. But it’s not really super Jonas suited.
Maybe they let Keldermann join the break of opportunity arises.

i think it will be contested by the break away riders. Or secondary GC riders.

Just on a side note. Early Tour editions (1905) visited Alsace when allowed and raced Ballon d’alsace as one of the first mountains raced in the tour(depending a bit on your definitions), when the Germans allowed it, I believe it was the first time the peloton left France.
It got a bit politicized later on because the French wanted Alsace back also including it in Tour de France and made a big fuzz.

 

[Faserr]

We were just in the Alsace last year, and I can't tell you how helpful my German was in small towns, shops etc.

Wonderful region. Our entire family loved every bit of it.

Yes, a lot of people still speak a bit german. Four years ago I talked with a french men in german while visiting an old castle at Obernai (the Tour de France Femme was there last year). It's really worth a visit. For hiking for example.

 

[Rackham]

UAE might try and keep things together Pogi might be able to win if he has regained his legs. And Yates has shown great form as well. Would be a great way to finish for Pogi if he could win. But their team has spent so much energy and I think they are content defending podium.

If anything, I think Pog & UAE should attempt one last hurrah & blow the race apart as early as possible.

Throw caution to the wind & just light things up. They have numerical advantage over Jumbo & Laporte + Benoot 'might' be more fatigued after their efforts today. The other (safe) option is just to try for a stage win but this Tour has been a bit cr*p since Tuesday so one last little roll of the dice, i.e. just for a bit of amusement on tv, is all I want.

Just attempt to go solo with Pog after blowing the race apart. If it fails, it fails.

 

[RobertCrawley]

Pog and UAE want to win a great stage and leave on a good note. They all work for Adam Yates as a way of thanking him for his hard work and being a good teammate.

Jonas is good with this. Everyone is good with this. Everyone is happy at the end of the day.

 

[Lequack]

Tour de France. “It's pitiful, pathetic… My runners only drank Perrier! “, reacts Marc Madiot after the boss of Jumbo-Visma said that the riders of Groupama-FDJ drank “big beers” during the rest day.

Tour de France. « C’est pitoyable, minable… Mes coureurs n’ont bu que du Perrier », réagit Madiot

Richard Plugge, le patron de l’équipe Jumbo-Visma, a confié dans un entretien à L’Equipe qu’il avait vu les coureurs qui partageaient le même hôtel que sa formation lundi lors de la journée de repos boire « de grandes bières ». L’équipe en question, c’était Groupama-FDJ. Marc Madiot, manager...

www.ouest-france.fr

 

[RedheadDane]

Big break with no GC threats to get away.
Jumbo deciding that they don't need to chase.
Pinot to win.
FDJ guys to actually drink big beers.

 

[Rollthedice]

Etymological question:
What's a climb called "Platzerwasel" doing in France?

Why is Voeckler called Voeckler and what is he doing in France? Because he was born in Schiltigheim which is in France. Next question is why is Schiltigheim in France...

​

 

[Salvarani]

If anything, I think Pog & UAE should attempt one last hurrah & blow the race apart as early as possible.

I guess it depends on how worried they are for another bad day. Maybe it was just a one time thing.

Three minutes to Yates. Five minutes to C. Rod.

 

[Escarabajo]

half the peloton in the breakaway. Pogacar and Vingegaard to arrive with the grupetto!

 

[Aimar16]

The French being useless at wars isn't just a meme.

They took that land from the Habsburgs who are even bigger memes than the French

 

[dercuforever]

Etymological question:
What's a climb called "Platzerwasel" doing in France?

I grew up few km from the finish. The langage there is very similar to german, but don't ever tell them.

 

[Sciatic]

Powless getting psychologically primed for a last assault on a stage win or dots (not sure if the later is still possible?)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1682390265623990278

View: https://twitter.com/tourdetietema/status/1682390265623990278?s=46&t=gilcCUZqZuJoirVJ-hR54g

 

[RedheadDane]

Powless getting psychologically primed for a last assault on a stage win or dots (not sure if the later is still possible?)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1682390265623990278

View: https://twitter.com/tourdetietema/status/1682390265623990278?s=46&t=gilcCUZqZuJoirVJ-hR54g

I love how he starts rather calmly. And then....

 

[red_flanders]

Etymological question:
What's a climb called "Platzerwasel" doing in France?

I believe the neighbors to the east have rolled though that part of the world a time or two…

See “Strasbourg”, "Mittelweir", and "Beblenheim in the area among others…

 

[Red Rick]

KOM should be very hard for Gall given that Ciccone is faster and if Gall is gonna contest all the KOMs it's unlikely he's in the points on Platserwasel himself. I guess he'll try to be in the break but I also guess UAE and Jumbo aren't just gonna let the stage win fly away.

 

[RobertCrawley]

So Wout's baby is born on National Belgium Day?

 

[RedheadDane]

So Wout's baby is born on National Belgium Day?

I think the National Belgium Day was today. While the baby was born yesterday.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Ballon d'Alsace is a good place for Pogi to attack. He'll be riding furiously. JV will give him a small advantage initially but they will be chasing hard burning the whole team in the process. By the foot of Petit Ballon Pog will have already reduced his GC loss by half. Vinge is left alone on Petit Ballon, panics and engages 7 w/kg. Soon afterwards he cracks due to forgetting to eat during this intense stage. Pog wins the stage by over 8 minutes but he doesn't want to get off his bike at the finish pushing journalists and screaming "F**k off, I'm riding home, to Slovenia".

 

[RobertCrawley]

I love how he starts rather calmly. And then....

Like niceness descending into madness . . .

 

[Cookster15]

Hopefully Bora and Hindley can do something here. Sounds like he's improving?