Tour de France Tour de France 2025 Stage 7: Saint-Malo – Mûr-de-Bretagne (197.0k)

[Red Rick]

This is the one for Vauqelin.

Hoping for Nys to have one of his days.

Am I crazy for thinking Nys should just be the top favorite if he's not injured? He's a better puncheur than MvdP in my book and he's probably a better sprinter than Pogacar.

 

[Cookster15]

Picking Pogacar since MVDP seems cooked. But would be amazing to see Alaphilippe win.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

They were showing a graphic on Peacock where they were comparing sleep percentages between Healy and MVDP, evidently Healy can sleep through anything like a baby at 100%, while MVDP is only something like 96%. Take from that what you will and I do not know how they arrived at these percentages.

Was Every Breath You Take playing in the background during this segment?

 

[solo80k]

The team most interested in having Pog in yellow

Visma, which is stupid.

 

[Flamin]

Am I crazy for thinking Nys should just be the top favorite if he's not injured? He's a better puncheur than MvdP in my book and he's probably a better sprinter than Pogacar.

Nys has yet to prove he can outpunch the top dogs. I believe he could do it after an easy/soft-pedalled stage, but not (yet) in a crazy race like the Tour. He still needs to grow his engine.

 

[Didinho]

Am I crazy for thinking Nys should just be the top favorite if he's not injured? He's a better puncheur than MvdP in my book and he's probably a better sprinter than Pogacar.

That’s what many of us think I guess. He was been really sick just before the Tour and only just made it to the start. A shame because he would’ve had a lot of opportunities in this first week. Specially a finish like tomorrow, he would been my top favorite. Stage 2 and 4 how it turned out I was thinking the only one who could change the outcome in the sprint was Nys.

He was yoyo-ing between the peloton and the first group behind today and later on worked for Skjelmose.

 

[gavia88]

I don't expect much of MvdP tomorrow, seems completely dead after todays stage. Till 20k to go it looks liked he could spent till Monday in yellow, but I guess he will be dropped on the last ascent Tomorrow. I had the impression in the TT that he was not super anymore. And today he completely collapsed after to many elevation and heat in combination with to many matches burned the last few days. Wonder if his team really is going to chase even.

 

[Red Rick]

Nys has yet to prove he can outpunch the top dogs. I believe he could do it after an easy/soft-pedalled stage, but not (yet) in a crazy race like the Tour. He still needs to grow his engine.

Engine is overrated and I just don't rate Pogacar as an anaerobic athlete as much as everyone else seems to do.

If you can get 15th in Eibar in Itzulia and can top 5 Liege, endurance is not the limiting factor on a stage to Mur de Bretagne.

 

[gavia88]

Engine is overrated and I just don't rate Pogacar as an anaerobic athlete as much as everyone else seems to do.

If you can get 15th in Eibar in Itzulia and can top 5 Liege, endurance is not the limiting factor on a stage to Mur de Bretagne.

he was just ill and is not in his best shape as a result

 

[Samamba]

Am I crazy for thinking Nys should just be the top favorite if he's not injured? He's a better puncheur than MvdP in my book and he's probably a better sprinter than Pogacar.

He did say he's feeling better and better after his crash, so yeah i definitely expect him. Nys in top form would be favorite (given how much energy the others have spent) I agree, but not sure if he is.

 

[Prim]

They were showing a graphic on Peacock where they were comparing sleep percentages between Healy and MVDP, evidently Healy can sleep through anything like a baby at 100%, while MVDP is only something like 96%. Take from that what you will and I do not know how they arrived at these percentages.

Guess they must have included the night before the WCRR in Wollongong.

 

[Red Rick]

he was just ill and is not in his best shape as a result

I guess that if I speak I am in big trouble once more.

 

[Gigs_98]

Am I crazy for thinking Nys should just be the top favorite if he's not injured? He's a better puncheur than MvdP in my book and he's probably a better sprinter than Pogacar.

If Pogacar really wants this I think neither MvdP nor Nys can follow on the steep bit of the Mur de Bretagne. But yeah I'm unsure who will win as well. I don't think Pogacar will be able to drop Vingegaard here when he couldn't do it on stage 4 and once people start coming back on the false flat it's great territory for someone to sneak away.

 

[scribers]

Have tough decision. This stage or kids school play. I hope I won't regret my decision by staying at home

Priorities, responsibilities, and emotional/spiritual considerations must be carefully tended to.

You picked correctly by staying home to watch this stage.

 

[Red Rick]

If Pogacar really wants this I think neither MvdP nor Nys can follow on the steep bit of the Mur de Bretagne. But yeah I'm unsure who will win as well. I don't think Pogacar will be able to drop Vingegaard here when he couldn't do it on stage 4 and once people start coming back on the false flat it's great territory for someone to sneak away.

The steep part is only like 600m though, so to drop riders there you need to drop them in the first 1'30 of the climb and that's not Pogacar's main advantage at all. I think it's much more likely he wins in the final 200m because he's recovered from the first minute at 10 W/kg while Van der Poel is sprinting backwards than that he just clean drops everyone with 1.5km to go.

 

[Cycling111]

Nys was also the favorite in the FW preview

 

[Flamin]

Engine is overrated and I just don't rate Pogacar as an anaerobic athlete as much as everyone else seems to do.

If you can get 15th in Eibar in Itzulia and can top 5 Liege, endurance is not the limiting factor on a stage to Mur de Bretagne.

High base tempo of the Tour eats you day after day, so having a big engine and durability is important.

Not sure why those examples are testimony of excelling in the Tour. 15th and 5th?

 

[CyclistAbi]

Rogla by an impulse and not by pure will.

 

[Ancalagon]

Nys was also the favorite in the FW preview

Nys is probably among the top 5 most overrated riders right now — likely because he's Belgian and has pulled off a few spectacular wins. He's undeniably strong, but there’s a clear gap between his actual achievements and the level some fans attribute to him.

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

Only one wish for tomorrow!

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Tomorrow...

 

[Red Rick]

Nys is probably among the top 5 most overrated riders right now — likely because he's Belgian and has pulled off a few spectacular wins. He's undeniably strong, but there’s a clear gap between his actual achievements and the level some fans attribute to him.

I'd say he's world class at something really niche but Mur de Bretagne should fit into that very well.

 

[Gratemans]

This time maybe the peleton will keep any breakaway on leash: Alpecin will work for MVP (IMO he won't go into a breakaway again), maybe UAE will be interested in a stage victory as well.

Today's profile was better for Pogacar than tomorrow's. MVP will be an important rival, Vingo will be there as well. Still, 1 km @ 9.5% (including nasty 11-12% section) is not bad to attack for Pogi. But if he drops Matthieu he will probably have to mind Vingo on his wheel for another kilometer. To weaken MVP a bit UAE will have to drill since the penultimate Mur.

MVP must be pretty friggin exhausted by now. (and said so himself). I'm 100% sure he won't go for the break. I'm actually not even sure he has his eyes set on winning this stage per se. I mean, ofcourse he'll try to when the peloton arrives there as a whole, but seeing that he won on the Mûr already, I don't think he's completely devoted to winning this one.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Climbing @Logic-is-your-friend ’s favorite climb tomorrow going by the name.

When you've got climbs named after you from before you were born... well let me put it this way, when you come across a mont-saint-Tadej you let me know.

 

[proffate]

They were showing a graphic on Peacock where they were comparing sleep percentages between Healy and MVDP, evidently Healy can sleep through anything like a baby at 100%, while MVDP is only something like 96%. Take from that what you will and I do not know how they arrived at these percentages.

I thought it was 92 for mvdp.

That 100% score did stand out to me. Healy is such an optimizer, I'm imagining him carrying around a sleep mask, ear plugs, a body pillow, essential oil diffuser, blue blockers....