Tour de France Tour de France 2024, Stage 4: Pinerolo > Valloire, 139.6 km

[Tricycle Rider]

Remco really does look very fit, even when wearing white.

 

[Penninepeddler]

Stage 9, the gravel stage. After what we saw Pogacar do at Strade, I'd suggest Visma might be a bit more concerned.

It is nothing like Strade though...

there is not a single bump worth noting in the last 55km.

 

[Rackham]

Same thought. Think Ciccone, Gall, Bernal were closer to Roglic than Roglic to most guys he finished with. But he hang in there and then benefited from the slipstream and Rodriguez' wheel going downhill.

It's stage 4.

I mean come on, form will be different in week 3 & everyone knows it. Vingegaard isn't out of it, neither is Rodriguez, Evenepoel or even Rog, actually (despite persistent desperation from many observers to call the guy washed). The ITT's will play a real important role as well & we also have the gravel stage.

If you don't realize Rog has the ability to hang on whilst suffering in a group like that, you don't know this rider well at all. That's one of his strengths.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Judging by the last part of the descent... maybe not kill, but Pog is likely to gain more time on Jonas in the first TT. At least that is my guess based on today.

However, judging by Remcos pace on the flat... Remco will likely gain time on Pog.

We will see.

Yes, Pogacar has more lasting power than Jonas, at least in this first part of the Tour. Plus ITT setup is likely better by UAE. I definitely expect Pogacar to take time on all his rivals except Remco (and I think he could be quite close to the Belgian).

 

[Salvarani]

Beating the climbing record with two minutes with extremely strong headwinds. I want to believe in the sincerity of this sport but boy, they are making it hard sometimes.

You have to consider stage length, how early this is in the race... bla bla as well. Everything makes a difference, outside of things not to be discussed here.

 

[gunara]

I've been on the angry train towards all cancellations since Crostis 2011, but in reality I don't know if I totally enjoyed watching a huge, even only mildly threatening, descent finish like this. "Totally" is the key word, because for most part it's just awesome. Some horror films are awesome too, but they don't kill real people in it.

 

[AnotherArmChair]

You have to admire the confidence of Ayuso, just not giving a *** about how awkward the dinner table will be for the rest of the tour.

He almost slipped up at the interview at the finish line when he said he was happy with his position when asked about the team

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Simon Yates lost 4 minutes. So he will probably inexplicably win the time trial on Friday

 

[DJO]

It is nothing like Strade though...

there is not a single bump worth noting in the last 55km.

Here's hoping Pogacar attacks around the 120 km point, then.

 

[Le Grand Doop]

Pog was awesome.
Jonas showed present limits.
Remco was impressive -- looked easy and then was third best mountain sprinter. However, as soon as he was alone on the descent, I knew he would lose time and be caught by those behind.
I expect Pog to beat Jonas in the ITT and he won't lose yellow to Remco (might be even very close in the ITT between them).

Ayuso simply confirms what his every action since turning pro has demonstrated...that he is the greatest a$$-hole in the peloton.

 

[Didinho]

Remco said he slipped a couple times in the wet corners. Not good for my confidence.

“Knew the boni seconds on top so he rode as hard as he could, the other a level above me when they attacked”.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Pog had to reel the overly eager interviewers in - yep, it's only day 4, still a long way to go!

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

I missed what Ayuso did

 

[SHAD0W93]

Cavendish is safe, prepping for his win on Thursday.

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

I missed what Ayuso did

When Almeida was pulling hard, and A.Yates was already dropped, he was haging around at the end of the group.
Almeida turned around, and waved emphatically at him to come forward and take a pull. And lo and behold, Ayuso had no problems any more, came to the front, and pulled. Not as much as Almeida for sure though.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

When Almeida was pulling hard, and A.Yates was already dropped, he was haging around at the end of the group.
Almeida turned around, and waved emphatically at him to come forward and take a pull. And lo and behold, Ayuso had no problems any more, came to the front, and pulled. Not as much as Almeida for sure though.

Ah, ok, thanks! I did see that, you're right. Ayuso did seem to experience a massive recovery after that. Seems he's quite keen to avoid working and save himself to support his own ambitions.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Cavendish is safe, prepping for his win on Thursday.

No worries, he's just getting started! (Takes us older folk a little longer to get going. )

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

well he was nearer to Pog at the top than at the bottom which means practice needed imo

He lost 17s to pogacar in the descent to my countings and calculations. He lost less than Vingegaard but more than Roglic/Rodriguez/Ayuso. I'd like to see him do better obviously, but then again, it's really not the end of the world either.

He says his wheel slid a bit on one of the wet sections, and he stopped taking risks after that.

 

[AmRacer]

I didn't know Ayuso and Almeida were wheelsuckers.

 

[KenFiamingo]

Wow.

Remco. Dude. Great ride overall, but can I continue to support someone who can't descend? Sheesh!

And yet, he did a faster descent than Vingegaard.

 

[Bolder]

Pog probably wishing he'd attacked sooner. Vingegaard now knows that at this point in the race he's not 100%, and his light weight didn't help him on the descent. Very good stage from Rodriguez, and now he's going to have full support from Ineos. He's a podium threat.

 

[yaco]

What has happened to Simon Yates?

He was always the slightly better brother until they went their seperate ways.

Though last year looked to be back in some level of form.

And this year just seems another BIG step down, pretty consistently from the start of the season.

I posted early in the year that he had a poor preparation because of sponsor commitments. His last race day in 2023 was in the Taiwan on the 27th October, then in Mid January, he was riding the TDU in Australia, then he went straight to the Alula tour in Saudi Arabia at the end of January. Since then he has not fired a shot. Jayco needs to make a decision whether he drops more time and tries for stages or battles on to get top 15 GC.

 

[Peter von]

Pog probably wishing he'd attacked sooner. Vingegaard now knows that at this point in the race he's not 100%, and his light weight didn't help him on the descent. Very good stage from Rodriguez, and now he's going to have full support from Ineos. He's a podium threat.

Yeah maybe. But he had to wait for the gradient to go up as well.

 

[red_flanders]

And yet, he did a faster descent than Vingegaard.

I trust we're not going to argue that descent was anything but painful to watch.

Well maybe not for you. For me it was.

 

[will-10]

Ah, ok, thanks! I did see that, you're right. Ayuso did seem to experience a massive recovery after that. Seems he's quite keen to avoid working and save himself to support his own ambitions.

He was swapping off with Almeida in the last 2km with everyone else pinned, he looks pretty good to me

Following Pog down Galibier was pretty epic. Almost certainly won't be the fastest descent of the day but man it was fun to watch.