Tour de France Tour de France 2024, Stage 2: Cesenatico > Bologne (Bologna), 199.2 km

[AnotherArmChair]

Remco on the podium looking like he would like to fight someone

 

[RobertCrawley]

If they didn't want the yellow, Pogi shouldn't had attacked.

Pogi had to attack today. There wasn't a choice.

 

[jono]

The first 23 are still within 21 seconds on GC, so there is a lot of racing still to be done before we can say anything definitive

Gee and Thomas are the only real casualties so far.

Thomas is the 4th GC option for Ineos while Gee is dying to ship more time so he can go play in breakaways.

 

[nightowl]

I see all the Nostradamuses are out in force already. We’ve had one short attack on a false flat drag, zero TTs, and zero high mountains. Let’s relax a little bit we don’t know anything yet!

 

[Krzysztof_O]

So, guys, please explain to me, how Pog can actually win this tour? This was his terrain and the start of the tour where Jonas should not be 100%. Jonas is going to get better throughtough the tour whereas Pog will probably fade after the giro. I dont see any way how he could beat Jonas.

Jonas' rushed preparations: they did everything to maximize improvement of threshold w/kg (almost from zero to TdF level in 6-7 weeks). The progress was way steeper than optimal so Pog's hope is that Vingo will pay the price at some point of the race.

 

[tobydawq]

Agree. Stage 3,5 and 6 are sprinter stages so they will control the peleton. Then stage seven is an ITT. So UAE only have to work one stage in the next 5 stages.

Actually zero stages, because he will not have the jersey on Tuesday.

 

[Põhja Konn]

Yeah he has to be a bit worried. Vinge has no where to go but up, while Pog has to maintain his form and hope that Giro in his legs doesn't catch up to him later in the race. This will be interesting to see how Pog deals with this. Nice to see Remco there, but sad for Rogla, I was hoping...

Not so sure about the underlined part. He lost such a big portion of his preparation time due to injuries, that he couldn't possibly build a similar base as last two years, so his form is most likely on much shakier foundation than usual and he could actually start losing it deeper into the race, rather than getting stronger relative to his opponents as he normally does.

I would actually be shocked if he goes from strenght to strenght from now on, like that crash in Itzulia and gruesome injuries never happened.

 

[proffate]

So, guys, please explain to me, how Pog can actually win this tour? This was his terrain and the start of the tour where Jonas should not be 100%. Jonas is going to get better throughtough the tour whereas Pog will probably fade after the giro. I dont see any way how he could beat Jonas.

Well last year Pog supposedly cracked late tour due to imperfect prep. So I guess Jonas will do that this year. Or not.

 

[SorelyBoy]

Just an observation. Remco single handedly destroyed Pogacar and Vingegaard combo on the final flat run in today. Something else to consider. The Giro in Pogacar’s legs will start to bite in the final week. He must hope that Vingegaard suffers similarly for the opposite reason of a lack of miles in the legs.

 

[Salvarani]

He is not 100% yet. He can still improve until the last week.

100% ready for the race and to win.

 

[Salvarani]

Just an observation. Remco single handedly destroyed Pogacar and Vingegaard combo on the final flat run in today. Something else to consider. The Giro in Pogacar’s legs will start to bite in the final week. He must hope that Vingegaard suffers similarly for the opposite reason of a lack of miles in the legs.

Yeah, Remco got this. Viva la Remco!

 

[Boehmand]

So, guys, please explain to me, how Pog can actually win this tour? This was his terrain and the start of the tour where Jonas should not be 100%. Jonas is going to get better throughtough the tour whereas Pog will probably fade after the giro. I dont see any way how he could beat Jonas.

Nobody knows how Vingegaard performs in the big mountains, and especially in week 3, which is where he is usually a level above everyone else.

Even if he smashed Pogacar on Galibier, I would still not feel certain he would win it.

 

[fbjim]

So, guys, please explain to me, how Pog can actually win this tour? This was his terrain and the start of the tour where Jonas should not be 100%. Jonas is going to get better throughtough the tour whereas Pog will probably fade after the giro. I dont see any way how he could beat Jonas.

he can win it by going faster than all the other riders op

 

[proffate]

The GC is still close but let's be honest, others only hope to win is that both Pogacar and Vingegaard will crash or feel the legs in the last part of the race (the former due to the Giro and the latter due to rushed preparations).

Being the third face in the podium picture from the highest level tdf of all time may be the best chance of your visage being immortalized in the history books.

 

[jono]

Just an observation. Remco single handedly destroyed Pogacar and Vingegaard combo on the final flat run in today. Something else to consider. The Giro in Pogacar’s legs will start to bite in the final week. He must hope that Vingegaard suffers similarly for the opposite reason of a lack of miles in the legs.

According to the live timing, the Carapaz-Remco combo was never more than 10-12 seconds behind Vingegaard and Pogacar. Remco did most of his damage in the last few km when Vingegaard stopped riding. That duo was not going full gas at that point, as evidenced by the fact that Jegat was able to stay in the wheels. Not the most surprising outcome.

 

[Salvarani]

...he crashed...it was a dumb comment.

No, he was done as he dropped. I only commented on what was on the screen.

Nothing else.

 

[Boehmand]

Based on ITTs this year I definitely favor Pogacar in the first ITT.

Yep, especially since Vingegaard has not been able to train on his TT bike since the crash.

On the other hand Vingegaard has a big advantage on the gravel stage, which his team is exceptionally suited for, and UAE decidely not.

 

[scribers]

Just an observation. Remco single handedly destroyed Pogacar and Vingegaard combo on the final flat run in today. Something else to consider. The Giro in Pogacar’s legs will start to bite in the final week. He must hope that Vingegaard suffers similarly for the opposite reason of a lack of miles in the legs.

Pog had no reason to press his lead under the circumstances. Remco did. I saw tactics as the difference rather than abilities

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Vingo sounded surprisingly animated and charismatic in his interview, and he's pleasantly surprised by his own performance. As I'm sure many of us are.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Compared to Pike last year, the superiority of Vingegaard and Pogacar looked less obvious compared to the rest of the field, but maybe that's just the difference in climbs.

I mean, Pog attacked on like a 7% section and put a billion kilometers into Carapaz and Remco immediately while Victor Lafay was up there on a wall last year.

 

[Froome]

On the other hand Vingegaard has a big advantage on the gravel stage, which his team is exceptionally suited for, and UAE decidely not.

That is not true, we can't believe in everything Visma says.

Nevertheless, i believe Remco is the favourite for the first ITT.

 

[Peyroteo94]

Yep, especially since Vingegaard has not been able to train on his TT bike since the crash.

On the other hand Vingegaard has a big advantage on the gravel stage, which his team is exceptionally suited for, and UAE decidely not.

Pogacar, Wellens and Politts are more than enough to not have any problem

 

[RobertCrawley]

So, guys, please explain to me, how Pog can actually win this tour? This was his terrain and the start of the tour where Jonas should not be 100%. Jonas is going to get better throughtough the tour whereas Pog will probably fade after the giro. I dont see any way how he could beat Jonas.

As someone else said, the race is won in the big hills.

This is just one test for Jonas. He passed with flying colors. He has other tests of his recovery in the coming days.

 

[SHAD0W93]

Yep, especially since Vingegaard has not been able to train on his TT bike since the crash.

That could be some Visman propaganda.

 

[Sciatic]

I didn't follow cycling yet back then, but I remember this classic intro all too well. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... it was the freaking Wide World of Sports!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k1gajZeegg

Whenever I want to engage I have the full opening sequence with narration running in my head. But I guess I should give credit where it’s due, because watching that every Sat afternoon helped me develop my interest in many sports beyond mainstream American Leagues.