Tour de France Tour de France 2025 Stage 19: Albertville-La Plagne (93.1k) ‚Historic day, magnificent racing‘ ~ Rob Hatch, probably

[RedheadDane]

I greatly admire Pog and Jonas and think they are awesome for the sport. I can also understand why people get frustrated by their talent level compared to the normal humans. Even when they aren't at their best, no one is close.

It's the Pogacar-Vingegaard World.
Everyone else is just living in it.

 

[topcat]

Vlasov NEEDs to disrupt the chase now. He's spent the whole season doing nothing but if he has one strength this year it's riding slowly uphill. So now they need to play for that. He needs to go to the front and slow the pace for Roglic

Disrupt the chase to the hotel?
Best laugh on a disappointing day.

 

[Unchained]

All this Tour, we've been hearing how Pog is so arrogant and flamboyant, he wins everything, he's "ruining cycling."
Now you're like "Pog has no panache."

Many things are in conflict.. Is Pogacar riding fantastic? Maybe, but you can't really tell how good Pogacar is with an entire organization from the bus driver, feed folks, every rider and coach ,car chumps at Visma trying to do everything wrong, every day!! Today was great deviation from 18 days on pressure on Pog strategy that's been a complete disaster!! Today instead of dumb, they sat on and still did nothing!! The only way for Visma to make more mistakes is to have Jonas DNS or DNF in Paris!!

 

[pmcg76]

Those were two absolutely awful mountain stages back-to-back. As for the joke ending today, I think Vingo was the bigger loser. To not even try to test Pog once and still lose the stage. Mate, Pogacar has the Tour won with 4 stage win, likely KOM and is in the midst of the greatest single season since Merckx whilst wearing the rainbow stipes. Whilst he might have wanted the stage, it wouldn't change much to his palmares either way.

Meanwhile Vingo only has the minor Algarve race to his name this year. You have to risk it sometime, see if there is a *** in the armour, so what if it doesn't work, you are still better than everyone else. 2nd behind Pog or 2nd behind Arensman, what's the difference? Pogacar was negative as well, but I think he expected at least one attack and when he realised Vingo was going to follow him the whole stage, he just decided to let it go to annoy Visma. Sad, sad racing and I thought the sprints were bad.

Edit: I used a common phrase and it got edited out. That's hilarious. So how do you re-write the phrase about the armour?

 

[Red Rick]

Those were two absolutely awful mountain stages back-to-back. As for the joke ending today, I think Vingo was the bigger loser. To not even try to test Pog once and still lose the stage. Mate, Pogacar has the Tour won with 4 stage win, likely KOM and is in the midst of the greatest single season since Merckx whilst wearing the rainbow stipes. Whilst he might have wanted the stage, it wouldn't change much to his palmares either way.

Meanwhile Vingo only has the minor Algarve race to his name this year. You have to risk it sometime, see if there is a *** in the armour, so what if it doesn't work, you are still better than everyone else. 2nd behind Pog or 2nd behind Arensman, what's the difference? Pogacar was negative as well, but I think he expected at least one attack and when he realised Vingo was going to follow him the whole stage, he just decided to let it go to pass of JV. Sad, sad racing and I thought the sprints were bad.

Edit: I used a common phrase and it got edited out. That's hilarious. So how do you re-write the phrase about the armour?

A stage in the Tour doesn't move the needle for Vingegaard either. Visma already have a stage too. Vingegaard will probably go to the Vuelta, and if the signals of Pog not seeming too keen on the Vuelta now are correct, he will be the big favorite for that one.

 

[Unchained]

Every one is definitely wiped out from a very hard course this year. Visma made it even harder with the way they raced. I do wonder what they will do differently next year. I really hope there's less backloading with the route, I'd like to see some really hard stages early when everyone is still fresh.

What would they do different next year?!!!!!! Really?
What they should do different next year is everything, from staff, to menu, hotel choices!!
Visma didn't work together or work with anyone else!! Visma could have worked with Ineos, Israel, Total Energies..Quickstep... Visma chased almost nothing instead racing at the front trying to break Pogacar!!
What since February would have given Visma even a hint, a clue that Tadej is weak, or likely to break!? What Pogacar did they see? What Pog made them think and act like this? Visma management is an absolute disgrace for 19 days in a row!!
It's a common phrase after something stupid!!
Visma what were you thinking?

 

[pmcg76]

A stage in the Tour doesn't move the needle for Vingegaard either. Visma already have a stage too. Vingegaard will probably go to the Vuelta, and if the signals of Pog not seeming too keen on the Vuelta now are correct, he will be the big favorite for that one.

So why the wheelsucking then?

 

[Red Rick]

So why the wheelsucking then?

Both want to win the stage, obviously. But the idea that Vingegaard should pull because he's had a bad year is just cookook nonsense. It's actually the opposite of how cycling has traditionally worked, and should work.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

A stage in the Tour doesn't move the needle for Vingegaard either.

Both want to win the stage, obviously.

LOL

 

[pmcg76]

Both want to win the stage, obviously. But the idea that Vingegaard should pull because he's had a bad year is just cookook nonsense. It's actually the opposite of how cycling has traditionally worked, and should work.

According to who? Red Rick. Mate, you have always hear about teams without a win needing to be aggressive. Does that not apply to individual riders? Nobody says he had to pull, but not to test Pog even once was a sad spectacle.

 

[KZD]

Fantastic Tour for Arensman, two stages wins that save Ineos performance in the race.

While we can see this as a disappointing result for Pogačar because he didn't win the stage, he already has four stage wins and his 4th overall win should be a formality at this point, so job done for him.

The one that likely comes out of this Tour empty handed is Vingegaard. Just like Pogačar he is also paid to win the Tour but ultimately he was unable to do so and unlike last year when he managed to win a stage after coming from injury, this year he gets nothing and I am glad he didn't win today because he wheelsucked the whole climb.

Great result for Lipowitz, third place overall is still not a guarantee but at this point its looking very likely. Still, Onley was once again impressive, he and Healy are the two surprises of the two for me.

 

[Unchained]

According to who? Red Rick. Mate, you have always hear about teams without a win needing to be aggressive. Does that not apply to individual riders? Nobody says he had to pull, but not to test Pog even once was a sad spectacle.

If you wanted to see smart racing it was Lipowitz coming up on Vingegaard and Pogacar at around @11,12 to go.. Lipowitz knew who he was racing and why, immediately rode in front of Pog to put time into Onley, good move and could have had a dividend by being ignored..
He could have crossed and possibly had stage chance..
And also Roglic did semi silly move by jumping away, rode alone, didn't support Lipo..but it all worked.. Bora looked good.. Kuss showing really weak legs almost first half he never rode anywhere but in the back, did zero work.. And all that energy that was supposedly in reserve has not been used..Kuss will finish in Paris and hardly needing to do laundry, bike maintenance or big plates of calories, has done nothing

 

[Cookster15]

if Pogi wanted to win the stage he would have won it

I think so. But maybe Pogacar has been reading the CN forum that he is greedy or some Game of Thrones character

 

[madthebad]

According to who? Red Rick. Mate, you have always hear about teams without a win needing to be aggressive. Does that not apply to individual riders? Nobody says he had to pull, but not to test Pog even once was a sad spectacle.

The way I see it after Arensman's 3 initial attacks to which only he responded I think Pogi said to himself : " Alright , no one else wants the win today , this danish guy only wants to suck wheel so I'll ride tempo without pushing too hard and risk blowing up . I'm the yellow jersey , not even my job to pull " . On the other hand Vingegaard was too scared to be cracked or destroyed in the sprint so he didn't want to pull a pedal until the end . But that's way too conservative , Vingegaard could have won the stage easily , Arensman was kinda cooked but the gradients were not that steep so that you can recover 10 seconds in 200 meters, you have to go earlier . Maybe I'm wrong but great champions don't ride in this pathetic fashion , you have to take some risks but Vingegaard rides like a robot , Visma press a button and he does it , if you don't tell him what he needs to do he's clueless , no flair , no panache , no risky maneuvers , he either has the watts or he doesn't .

 

[Gratemans]

A stage in the Tour doesn't move the needle for Vingegaard either. Visma already have a stage too. Vingegaard will probably go to the Vuelta, and if the signals of Pog not seeming too keen on the Vuelta now are correct, he will be the big favorite for that one.

So you get to mention a needle but pmcg can't mention crack? Double standards I say!
Edit: lol, it doesn't get autocensored this time? 😄

 

[madthebad]

I think so. But maybe Pogacar has been reading the CN forum that he is greedy or some Game of Thrones character

I think Pogi reached a new level of maturity in this TDF , very calculated , totally in control , strong leadership , encourages his teammates , maybe understands that he sometimes needs to also make some gifts to the guys in peloton , make a few friends , very relaxed and he's only 26 . I think he's got 3-4 more TDF's in him if he doesn't get bored , he's still as evolving as a GC rider something that I don't see at Vingegaard , that dude rides like a robot .

 

[Andy262]

I think so. But maybe Pogacar has been reading the CN forum that he is greedy or some Game of Thrones character

Think Pog was more interested in ensuring Vinge didn’t win the stage than winning it himself. That’s the only conclusion I could draw from todays utter heap of excrement.

 

[kingjr]

If you wanted to see smart racing it was Lipowitz coming up on Vingegaard and Pogacar at around @11,12 to go.. Lipowitz knew who he was racing and why, immediately rode in front of Pog to put time into Onley, good move and could have had a dividend by being ignored..

He didn't do anything immediately, he had to call his DS twice before he knew what he had to do.

 

[Gratemans]

Think Pog was more interested in ensuring Vinge didn’t win the stage than winning it himself. That’s the only conclusion I could draw from todays utter heap of excrement.

Yeah, that's what I took from it. I mean, he went after Arensman four times. I got the feeling that the fifth time he was like, you take car of it Jonas. And after that, he didn't really care who'd win, as long as it wasn't Jonas.
And by that I don't mean to add to the storyline of them hating eachother or something (which I believe they don't at all). It's just natural racing dynamics. "You don't feel like helping today? Than you don't win today either"

 

[QueenStagiaire]

He didn't do anything immediately, he had to call his DS twice before he knew what he had to do.

It was still enough for Aldag to call it genius after the race, though, which says a lot about Red Bull‘s tactical expectations from their riders.

 

[Red Rick]

Yeah, that's what I took from it. I mean, he went after Arensman four times. I got the feeling that the fifth time he was like, you take car of it Jonas. And after that, he didn't really care who'd win, as long as it wasn't Jonas.
And by that I don't mean to add to the storyline of them hating eachother or something (which I believe they don't at all). It's just natural racing dynamics. "You don't feel like helping today? Than you don't win today either"

He paced way too much himself for that just to be the case. No reason to not just let it blow out to a minute if that's the case

 

[Unchained]

He didn't do anything immediately, he had to call his DS twice before he knew what he had to do.

You could be right.. In my eyes ,you are going uphill in the rain in the biggest bike race in the world, you have a 200 heart rate, suddenly find yourself in the company of the 2_greatest bike racers in the world, one of them is also world champion and defending Tour champion, don't see a young guy asking for instructions, even multiple times as a liability.. Smart racing!!
Think if Del Toro and UAE had a Giro do over, all would agree that double and triple checking radio relayed instructions is not a bad thing!!! Lol!!!
When in doubt ask the boss!!

 

[Gratemans]

He paced way too much himself for that just to be the case. No reason to not just let it blow out to a minute if that's the case

Did he really though? I got the distinct feeling they weren't riding at a particularly high pace (for the aliens they are, I mean). But looks can be deceiving and I haven't looked at any metrics.

 

[Red Rick]

Did he really though? I got the distinct feeling they weren't riding at a particularly high pace (for the aliens they are, I mean). But looks can be deceiving and I haven't looked at any metrics.

I base it on the fact that they did not catch Arensman in the end while Vingegaard's sprint took them to 2 seconds from the win. Pogacar really wanted it, but he was not confident enough at all to make it a sprint long enough to catch Arensman.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

It's a good thing I was banned, because I had a lot to say about this stage. I think the thread title needs to be retitled:

"Tour de France 2025 Stage 19: Albertville-La Plagne (93.1k), Dumbest Stage Ever"​