Tour de France Tour de France 2024, Stage 15 14/7 Loudenvielle-Plateau de Beille 197.7k

[Escarabajo]

Yet it does work like that. Look at how Benoot, Jorgenson, etc went above their limit today and were able to drop better climbers than them. They are able to do that for more than 1 minute. Again, when Landa only loses 1m over 10k of climbing, he should have been able to pace Evenepoel quite a bit, but it would come at the expense of his own GC.

Well, that decision has to be made by the coach and Remco. What else was Landa going to do?

 

[tobydawq]

Weird watching guys try to jump on!! When Carapaz got passed he attempted to keep the wheel off a few feet and then said, oh I see why I got dropped!! A sort of whooshing sound!!

Well, he rode to the finish with them twice three years ago. Maybe he thought he could just do that again.

 

[staubsauger]

Yet it does work like that. Look at how Benoot, Jorgenson, etc went above their limit today and were able to drop better climbers than them. They are able to do that for more than 1 minute. Again, when Landa only loses 1m over 10k of climbing, he should have been able to pace Evenepoel quite a bit, but it would come at the expense of his own GC.

There simply isn't the necessarity for Landa to do that. Remco can't match Pogačar & Vingegaard. So there's no urgent need for Landa to prepare a Remco attack, that gets countered anyway.

Remco has to ride his own pace and secure his podium spot. He does that very good. Not forcing himself to follow the 2 big guns. That also means there isn't much usage for Landa as his super domestique. Neither for Hirt, who's injured anyway.

If this was the Vuelta a Espana and Remco would be in a position to successfully launch an attack and win the race, then of course Landa would be upping the tempo before Remco wents and gaps his opponents.


But that scenario simply doesn't exist at the 2024 Tour de France. And it's fully okay. Trying to box above his weight and get knocked out entirely would be stupid from Remco. He rides intelligent and good. He tried to respond on the Galibier actually, but realized he can't.

 

[Unchained]

So, in short, you're upset about some idea of Remco fans that exists only in your head. I'll leave you to it then.

Always keep in mind Roglic is number one, old, two has been spotty in results department and lots of rumours, that can sort of be fleshed up w Red Bull dumping additional money.. So is Remco going to transfer? Who knows but if he switched from QS Soudal he would have a much better stage race structure in place.. And Soudal made obvious mistake by not putting Julian Alaphiliippe in role of worker.. He would have been useful at TDF

 

[AmRacer]

Always keep in mind Roglic is number one, old, two has been spotty in results department and lots of rumours, that can sort of be fleshed up w Red Bull dumping additional money.. So is Remco going to transfer? Who knows but if he switched from QS Soudal he would have a much better stage race structure in place.. And Soudal made obvious mistake by not putting Julian Alaphiliippe in role of worker.. He would have been useful at TDF

They shouldn't have sent Ala to the Giro.

 

[Unchained]

They shouldn't have sent Ala to the Giro.

Probably agree and he does not look to be having ego issues and in my opinion would have been a great addition for Remco..and he has some moments of scattered brilliance and could have come up with a stage just for old times sake..if he goes FDJ or Confids world is going to get smaller..

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

There simply isn't the necessarity for Landa to do that. Remco can't match Pogačar & Vingegaard. So there's no urgent need for Landa to prepare a Remco attack, that gets countered anyway.

Remco has to ride his own pace and secure his podium spot. He does that very good. Not forcing himself to follow the 2 big guns. That also means there isn't much usage for Landa as his super domestique. Neither for Hirt, who's injured anyway.

If this was the Vuelta a Espana and Remco would be in a position to successfully launch an attack and win the race, then of course Landa would be upping the tempo before Remco wents and gaps his opponents.


But that scenario simply doesn't exist at the 2024 Tour de France. And it's fully okay. Trying to box above his weight and get knocked out entirely would be stupid from Remco. He rides intelligent and good. He tried to respond on the Galibier actually, but realized he can't.

Ugh, i'm not suggesting Landa does what Jorgenson did in order to weaken opponents and prepare an attack.

 

[perico]

What was the Pantani stage like? Longer, harder , third week? Can we even give him a minutes leeway with those factors lol

9th or 10th stage- he put roughly 1:30 into Bobby Julich.

 

[Red Lobster]

After today why would any GC rider who is serious about actually winning a GT bother showing up at the Tour? You've got no chance at all, like not even a prayer, when Tadej and Jonas are on top form.

 

[staubsauger]

9th or 10th stage- he put roughly 1:30 into Bobby Julich.

I think Pantani ran a bit out of fuel towards the top of Plateau de Beille after attacking with full intensity to create the gap on Ullrich, Julich & Boogerd!

At least that's what Mart Smeets & Steven Rooks mention in the Dutch coverage!

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kgaeT2Q9u2M

 

[Rackham]

After today why would any GC rider who is serious about actually winning a GT bother showing up at the Tour? You've got no chance at all, like not even a prayer, when Tadej and Jonas are on top form.

It's not just GC riders. It's every rider who isn't a sprinter.

The Tour has become a bizarre unbalanced spectacle in which interminable transition stages are dominated by a dozen sprint teams, all with riders working for their sprint leader. No TV breakaways anymore either. Just a bunched peloton heading towards the inevitable bunch sprint whilst dodging street furniture which is more or less just left there to cause some chaos for the evening news headlines.

Then all the high mountain & medium mountain stages are now GC stages. Breakaway riders (usually GC riders who've dropped so far down in the classification they need to try & save something with a stage win) need to get very lucky to resist the Tour favorites.

And... that's about it.

 

[staubsauger]

It's not just GC riders. It's every rider who isn't a sprinter.

The Tour has become a bizarre unbalanced spectacle in which interminable transition stages are dominated by a dozen sprint teams, all with riders working for their sprint leader. No TV breakaways anymore either. Just a bunched peloton heading towards the inevitable bunch sprint whilst dodging street furniture which is more or less just left there to cause some chaos for the evening news headlines.

Then all the high mountain & medium mountain stages are now GC stages. Breakaway riders (usually GC riders who've dropped so far down in the classification they need to try & save something with a stage win) need to get very lucky to resist the Tour favorites.

And... that's about it.

Makes Turgis win last Sunday even more special!

 

[Rackham]

Makes Turgis win last Sunday even more special!

Yep. And Bardet as well.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I agree with the sentiments above. I've not been a Vingo fan either, finding him not very personable. But I've warmed to him as well. He's got a fighting spirit that's for sure. It was good to see him take the Stage 11 win and see his joy after all the suffering he had to endure to recover from his Basque crash. Chapeau!
And I don't think this Tour is over. Well, it's over for everyone except maybe 3 riders.

 

[danielovichdk2]

How they ride so much faster than others is a mystery to me. Next level stuff from a guy that did the Giro and puts Vingegaard best performance in the corner. And Vingegaard that almost died 3 months ago looking like is peak shape.

 

[Rob5091]

Well Visma tried but with no Kuss or Roglic it soon became mano o mano and Saturday all over again. The wonders of modern science that keep Vingegaard going seem to be wearing off. Landa and Rodriguez are in thier own battle for 5th spot on GC which is good news for Landa who normally has had a bad day by now.
Onto to the 2nd rest day and week 3 which at the moment appears to be a exercise in damage limitations and GC position defending. There is also the threat of sickness so it's back to 2020.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/a...vingegaard-tadej-pogacar-win-stage-15-cycling
"Pogacar and his team must also safeguard against illness as the spread of Covid-19 within the convoy has led to the return of strict measures to prevent further riders succumbing to the virus.

Mask-wearing, already adopted by some teams, is now compulsory in the start area, finish area and the team buses paddock. With several of the Tour peloton due to travel to Paris to compete in the Olympic Games, the reintroduction of Covid protocols for the Tour’s final week is a worrying development."

 

[Gigs_98]

After yesterday UAE have absolutely no reason to control this break. They have the gap they need, now they just have to play it defensively without taking unnecessary risks. Today will be very hard to control and Jonas probably profits from a harder pace throughout the stage, so the only team that might have any interest in controlling is Visma. I think without yesterdays beating that would have been their plan today, but I wonder if they dare to challenge Pogi right now. Todays stage isn't that much harder than yesterdays after all. I wouldn't be surprised if they prefer to live to fight another day and go all out on the final three stages. Make this stage really hard and you might end up gifting another minute to Pogacar. And then it gets really, really hard to win.

So yeah, I'm expecting a breakaway win and would absolutely love it if Felix Gall tried to sneak in there.

Visma decided not to live to fight another day.

 

[Lequack]

Some pics

 

[red_flanders]

Looks vintage with the simulated grain and the color. Someone's been using Dehancer. Back off the saturation and this would be a pretty cool treatment.

 

[Fantastico]

The fact that he is 5th in GC is proof in itself that he hasn't spent energy in helping Evenepoel, unless you think Landa was going to rival Pogacar and Vingegaard otherwise. He hasn't paced him once, he hasn't lead him on crucial descends and he generally rides behind him. I'd say that's plenty of evidence to suggest his input as helper of Evenepoel is limited.

So far, there was no clear situation where Landa could have really paced Remco.

And how do you know that it is not the team's plan for Landa to stay as close to Remco as possible (even if behind him) in case Remco starts struggling?

 

[Krzysztof_O]

I was always curious how fast cyclists can ride a vertical kilometer? I think this record was beaten today at least as far as offiicial races are concerned. Profiles very and it's hard to say where exactly it is but likely between 3.5 and 4 km to go (at the end average gradient decreases and so does VAM): Pog did a vertical km in 30'40'''-31'30'' time (1900-1960 m/h of VAM). Missed the magical 30 minute barrier by a bit.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I think Remco's performance is getting a little lost here. But for Pog and Jonas, he'd be 5:30 ahead of the next rider. I had a lot of doubts about Remco's climbing in the high mountains, his previous Vuelta win notwithstanding, but he's proven himself as a major Tour contender.

 

[Mac9]

Remco can match them in time trials - could he lose a few more kilos and maintain his power?

 

[ManicJack]

I had a lot of doubts about Remco's climbing in the high mountains, his previous Vuelta win notwithstanding, but he's proven himself as a major Tour contender.

If on a different team.

 

[DarkBlue]

Almeida is a pure diesel - paced his effort superbly