Tour de France Tour de France Femmes 2023 (July 23rd-30th)

[Skalman]

Yes, I've seen that, also. But if there was a gap in the peloton before the crash, they might split the groups up, in which case Vollering will pick up 23 seconds on AVV.

Its corrected now

 

[Samu Cuenca]

There was a rumour about Kopecky planning to leave the race early to prepare for track Worlds, but now that she's pretty much secured the green jersey it probably won't happen.

 

[Dk one]

Emmmmmaaaaaa🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰 First wt win I believ, an okay one at that😉

 

[Libertine Seguros]

She was dropped early on, but managed to close the gap with too much help from the team car, which was also thrown out of the race.

See this is why they had to sanction SD Worx, otherwise you can see AG raising a stink for this - the one rule for the big teams and one rule for the small thing. I suspected Lotta might have had her licence withdrawn by the Finnish federation for being caught smiling on camera and thereby bringing disgrace to the nation, mind.

Nordgard is way too strong for these others.

She's determined to not be seen as a sprinter, which has actually been somewhat to the detriment of her results. She also cost me points in the prediction game by staying away, I thought about picking her but decided not to because she doesn't tend to get too involved in sprints and the team would obviously have van Vleuten to look after too...

That chicane is a bit of a joke in a sprint stage, especially going over railways, who approved this?

Yea, whoever greenlit this finish needs punishing somehow. Tramlines are bad enough at the best of time but in a bunch sprint? A chicane is bad too, but can be dealt with. We've seen some ridiculous sprint finales of late, like the one in the Women's Tour with four corners in the last 400m progressively getting narrower or the men's Vuelta a Burgos one with speedbumps in the final kilometre, but this is right up there.

Exactly - You look at a team like Jayco Alula who picked an awful squad BUT not once have they infiltrated a breakaway - They are just jogging along at the back of the peleton.

I think an exception here should be made for Ane Santesteban who I think has had a good race to date. She hasn't lost considerable time in the areas that she isn't suited to, and is in a solid spot to get into a potential GC top 10 if she has decent form tomorrow. It's all about tomorrow's stage and the legs she has for that, and just being there for the rest of the race through the rouleuse stages without being really notable or getting dropped is about as much as you should realistically expect from her, and that she has achieved that means she's performing solidly.

GC standings show the gaps are not being nullified by the 3km rule? Vollering picked up 23 seconds.

This was inevitable - the immediate timings are based on what has been picked up from the transponders so you do see these oddities when a crash has impacted the field at the end, especially where enough riders have been affected that the manual adjustments haven't had time to be done in time before they broadcast the updates. The same can be the case where a rider has had to finish on a teammate's bike.

 

[RedheadDane]

Emmmmmaaaaaa🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰🇩🇰 First wt win I believ, an okay one at that😉

Yes. Even though she has a Giro stage win too, that was in 2021, when the race had lost WT status.

 

[jaylew]

That was great. Good on Emma for getting in the break instead of waiting for the sprint and another 2nd-5th place.

That last bend was ridiculous. You could see that crash coming a mile away with how they were chasing.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

There was a rumour about Kopecky planning to leave the race early to prepare for track Worlds avoid having to reciprocate work for teammates, but now that she's pretty much secured the green jersey it probably won't happen.

FTFY

 

[Jagartrott]

Not too impressed with team tactics in general in this Tour.

 

[Kaptain Kool]

Is Lotte Kopecky the Belgian Sepp Kuss?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

edited by mod

Exhibit A
Exhibit B

Is Lotte Kopecky the Belgian Sepp Kuss?

Absolutely not. Kopecky will at least work for herself, even if she will only work for herself. Kuss for most of the last few years wouldn't work for anyone.

 

[RedheadDane]

Exhibit A
Exhibit B

Just pick her then!

Kuss for most of the last few years wouldn't work for anyone.

I think Vingegaard would disasgree.

 

[jaylew]

I think Vingegaard would disasgree.

Many people would disagree.

 

[Andre]

Can Kopecky survive the climbs and stay in contention for the last stage contre la montre?

 

[Libertine Seguros]

What was wrong with the meme? I thought it was funny

 

[RedheadDane]

What was wrong with the meme? I thought it was funny

Wondering that too...

 

[dobrien]

Absolutely not. Kopecky will at least work for herself, even if she will only work for herself. Kuss for most of the last few years wouldn't work for anyone.

What in the world are you talking about? Sepp Kuss has literally made his name as the best mountain DOMESTIQUE on the planet. ('Domestique being a rider who works for others, in case you'd forgotten). It's a shame to see one of the more knowledgeable posters in the board turn around and completely diminish themselves with such irrational and silly posts.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

Wondering that too...

I guess one of the mods isn't a fan of South Park and/or Anna og Lotte.

 

[ManicJack]

What in the world are you talking about? Sepp Kuss has literally made his name as the best mountain DOMESTIQUE on the planet. ('Domestique being a rider who works for others, in case you'd forgotten). It's a shame to see one of the more knowledgeable posters in the board turn around and completely diminish themselves with such irrational and silly posts.

I don't get it either. 🤷

 

[Libertine Seguros]

What in the world are you talking about? Sepp Kuss has literally made his name as the best mountain DOMESTIQUE on the planet. ('Domestique being a rider who works for others, in case you'd forgotten). It's a shame to see one of the more knowledgeable posters in the board turn around and completely diminish themselves with such irrational and silly posts.

And how have they used him to domestique for most of the last three years? Sitting in the group of 15, not taking the front once, just dissuading other people from attacking.

Yes, the problem is the team car more than Sepp himself, and yes, they've used him far, far better this last few months. But while he may have the capabilities of the best mountain domestique on the planet, the team's usage of him has meant that those capabilities have spent much time being wasted, and the fact that his presence not only added nothing to the entertainment but also prevented other people from being entertaining too - exacerbated an extremely ill-advised and stupid interview to justify some pathetic "racing" that they then backed up by using him so poorly for the rest of the race in the 2020 Tour - created the antipathy. To be the best domestique you actually have to do something for your teammates other than just not get dropped, and for far too much of the time since he's had this role, the Jumbo DSes have been content to just have Kuss sit there looking like he's on a Monday morning commute and have the whole GC mix tap out the pace of Bennett, or Kelderman, or whoever is 3rd in line.

He's a lot better when let off the leash, plus it seems he's probably better served with Vingegaard than he is with Roglič since Jonas seems more willing to use him proactively rather than just as a deterrent.

 

[RedheadDane]

Enough about Sepp Kuss (or Lotte Kopecky). This is about Emma Norsgaard!

Mackaij cheered so wildly, her glasses (almost) fell off:

 

[pmcg76]

WooHoo, sprinters foiled again. Way more exciting when there is less certainty of the catch and i always felt Norrsgard had a shot at it from the break today. Have always said sprinters wouldn't win nearly as much without their teams and this is borne out in this race. The teams simply don't have the strength in depth to shut things down, the gap was about 45seconds with 10k to go!!!

This is more what it was like before the 90s on the mens side with more breakaways and late attackers winning. EPO played a big part in narrowing the talent levels and teams were able to put more donkeys to work in chasing down breaks and strangling the race to within an inch of its life. I much prefer this old version of racing Reborn..

What on earth was that last corner about? as soon as the break went through it, I immediately thought there would be trouble in the bunch, just pure craziness.

Ewers sure banged her head hard in the crash, think it might have been wise to stop. Hoping she has some scans done before continuing tomorrow.

 

[dobrien]

Yes, the problem is the team car more than Sepp himself.

Your entire post basically says exactly this, NONE of which is Sepp's fault. His VERY JOB is to be available at mission critical moments, a job which he does better than anyone else in the cycling universe. If you don't like how he is employed by the DS, and/or don't like the chilling effect he has in the racing, that is fair.

But what seems like an irrational, almost personal antipathy towards a rider who is not only the best in the world at what he does, but one who is regarded by teammates and others who knows him as a really cool and genuine guy just (in my opinion) makes you look sad. It would be one thing if it was just one post but you've gone on and on about this for years now, and frankly (again, just my opinion) it's long since grown very old and tired and really detracts massively from your otherwise valuable contributions to the board.

To everyone else, my apologies, I get that this is the Women's TDF board, but this post was so ridiculous I felt compelled to respond. This is the last I'll say about it.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Your entire post basically says exactly this, NONE of which is Sepp's fault. His VERY JOB is to be available at mission critical moments, a job which he does better than anyone else in the cycling universe. If you don't like how he is employed by the DS, and/or don't like the chilling effect he has in the racing, that is fair.

But what seems like an irrational, almost personal antipathy towards a rider who is not only the best in the world at what he does, but one who is regarded by teammates and others who knows him as a really cool and genuine guy just (in my opinion) makes you look sad. It would be one thing if it was just one post but you've gone on and on about this for years now, and frankly (again, just my opinion) it's long since grown very old and tired and really detracts massively from your otherwise valuable contributions to the board.

To everyone else, my apologies, I get that this is the Women's TDF board, but this post was so ridiculous I felt compelled to respond. This is the last I'll say about it.

You also, like Toby, appear to be under the impression that everything I post is serious and I'm not capable of laughing at my own expense once in a while.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Guys, if any of my post are unpopular, just remember that they are all satire. But please also take me seriously all the time . Vielen dank

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Guys, if any of my post are unpopular, just remember that they are all satire. But please also take me seriously all the time . Vielen dank

It's not like I don't actually dislike the guy or haven't lost the plot a few times. But exaggeration and hyperbole are comic devices.