Tour de France Tour de France 2024: Stage 19: Embrun - Isola 2000, 19/07 144.6k

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Oct 30, 2023
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I think Jonas is on the ropes as well, but you never know. Dropping Pog at Bonette AND having domestiques up front is highly unlikely, but hey, you never know.

Pog with 30 seconds to Remco
I doubt we see Visma in another break this tour. The team race is on and it's better to just close it down in real time so Vingo has no assistance toward the base of Isola if something goes down on Bonnette
 
Plateau de Beille told Visma they cannot win this Tour de France. I even think there is a 50/50 chance Vingegaard might crack. A fully fit Vingegaard might win the Tour again on Bonette. But he isn't.

Pog will attack on the Bonette then extend his lead to the finish at Isola. UAE will then control tomorrow's easier on paper but still dangerous stage.
 
Apr 3, 2009
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Plateau de Beille told Visma they cannot win this Tour de France. I even think there is a 50/50 chance Vingegaard might crack. A fully fit Vingegaard might win the Tour again on Bonette. But he isn't.

Pog will attack on the Bonette then extend his lead to the finish at Isola. UAE will then control tomorrow's easier on paper but still dangerous stage.
I mean I wouldn't put anything past Pog, but I think that would be deeply crazy.
 
Aug 24, 2009
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I think [not saying anything particularly insightful here] Visma tries to make it very hard again. I just don't see them harming Pogacar - in fact [again, not saying anything new], Pogacar probably takes more time.

I hope Remco can overtake Vingegaard. I don't think it will be quite the 'I'm gone, I'm dead' for Vingo, but I just don't see him improving. Then again, I've been very often wrong.

Should be fun!
 
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Sep 26, 2020
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Let's hope everyone stays on their bikes!

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Ryan Gibbons to avenge Augustin and win tomorrow!
 
Mar 19, 2009
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So the Tour endgame is coming! The weekend everybody has talked about and every GC rider fears. Two hard Alpine stages and a difficult ITT. It will produce big gaps and even Pogacar can't be sure of his GC win. Tomorrow probably the hardest one: including the highest climb used in pro-cycling (Bonette) and long MTF at 2000 m.

The certain thing is that Visma and Vingo will attack. They are too far back to calculate and Vingo will maybe have his first try on Bonette already. Visma will try to send strong guys into a breakaway (to potentially help Vingo between the climbs) but UAE will want to catch them obviously. If they don't attack on Bonette (or fail to drop Pog) then Vingo will try in the first part of Isola. If he can't distance Pog the Slovenian will likely counter and gain more time (Visma realize it but they have nothing to lose at this point of the race). If Pog is vulnerable (for the first time in this Tour, everybody can have a weaker day) and Vingo feels very well then he can get a significant gap and keep his Tour chances alive. The Dane is kinda inconsistent in this Tour and great performances are mixed with worse (it could be associated with his rushed preparation) so it's not a given he will be super strong OFC.

It will be very hot BTW (heat test for Teddy, he would prefer a different weather surely).

Agree with most, but I'd think stage 11 was a bit of a stinker for Pogacar, he lost a sprint to Vingo, and somehow got swallowed up by him again after having a very decent gap. Compared with PdA and PdB it can be considered a bad day.

I still have the fear he'll somehow explode himself, but than again we might as well see him winning by 3 minutes.
If he doesn't bonk I think Vingegaard won't be able to drop him, Pogis level is too high and the climbs may be long and high but are really not that steep. He won't outkick him to get him out of the slipstream either.

My prefered scenario is this:

On Bonette everything explodes and Remco goes, but Vingo doesn't follow to begin with. Than once Ramco has a good gap, Pogacar bridges and we see the Bromance ride away into the horizon to deliver Ramco's secod place.
 
Apr 30, 2011
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I just hope Vingegaard will have greater courage than what Pogi had the last two years after he was beaten. So a few half-hearted attacks on the last climb would be a disappointment.
 
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Jul 7, 2013
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I just hope Vingegaard will have greater courage than what Pogi had the last two years after he was beaten. So a few half-hearted attacks on the last climb would be a disappointment.

Hmmm? Pog attacked furiously on Spendelles (during Hautacam stage in 2022) but couldn't get a gap. He also crashed on the descent, he evidently had courage on that day. Last year after Loze it was over anyway, monster gap with only one moderate mountain stage left.
 
Apr 30, 2011
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Last year after Loze it was over anyway, monster gap with only one moderate mountain stage left.
And he was as courageous as Van Aert was today. Sad. Didn't even dare an attack on Petit-Ballon.

I also think his courage in 2022 has been massively overrated. All of what he did after Granon would pale in comparison to a committed attack on Bonette.
 
Sep 20, 2017
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This stage is essentially a slightly better version of the Cambasque stage of last year, which nobody in their right mind hailed as queen stage.
Slightly better? Vars > Aspin, Bonette > Tourmalet, Isola 2000 > Cambasque, flat between the two final climbs tomorrow << flat between the two final climbs on that stage.
 
Sep 20, 2017
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Thing that matters most is Bonette vs Tourmalet and I'm not that sold on Bonnette being that much harder cause the gradient is much lower.

Like if you ask me if I want this or a 2 climb stage with Agnello and Risoul I'd snap take the 2nd one most of the time.
I mean, Agnel is probably the single best climb that has at least one of its sides in France...
 
Mar 27, 2024
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Those talking about Visma and Jonas for tomorrow are watching a different race from me. Jonas is done for this TDF. He looks 100% cooked. He ain’t doing a damn thing because he can’t. Visma riders been jumping in breaks left, right and centre because they know as well. Wouldn’t surprise me if Visma try and win from break with Matteo tomorrow
 
Jun 26, 2024
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Pog on Bonnette, he wants the stage and maybe revenge, as dumoulin suggests.
battle for second is where the racing will be interesting: remco might do it on the climb but i fear the descent, maybe he should send landa in the break and see if he remembers those martinelli's tacticts he enjoyed back in the days.
 
Mar 7, 2013
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Maybe it's all bluff, but if Vingegaard tomorrow is the same we've seen after the last two stages (looked like he could barely climb the stairs on to the bus yesterday, skipping the cooldown and straight on to the bus today) then Remco has a fair shot at snagging 2nd.

Plateau de Beille told Visma they cannot win this Tour de France. I even think there is a 50/50 chance Vingegaard might crack. A fully fit Vingegaard might win the Tour again on Bonette. But he isn't.

I fully expect Remco to take at least a 1 minute on Jonas. Jonas will desperately try, but only crack himself. He might lose even more than Pogačar last year on Loze.
 
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Jul 7, 2009
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Pog will attack on the Bonette then extend his lead to the finish at Isola. UAE will then control tomorrow's easier on paper but still dangerous stage.
Tomorrow, sure, agree with everything you say.

Saturday, eeehhhh... UAE team bosses will WANT to control Saturdays stage, and the team meeting will be just about that.

However, Teddy is still channeling Hinault 'As long as I breathe, I attack'; and he is gonna attack anyway.
 
Jun 4, 2009
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Those talking about Visma and Jonas for tomorrow are watching a different race from me. Jonas is done for this TDF. He looks 100% cooked. He ain’t doing a damn thing because he can’t. Visma riders been jumping in breaks left, right and centre because they know as well. Wouldn’t surprise me if Visma try and win from break with Matteo tomorrow

This.