Tour de Suisse (2.UWT), 9-17 June 2018

[Broccolidwarf]

Re:

5 Dutchman in the top 11. Holy ****

You guys will have a great team for the World Championships this year

 

[carton]

Re:

I guess we're not going to see anything from the Klausenpass tomorrow?

Doubt it. But I hope Mas or Quintana or Kelderman or someone else just goes early for the training miles tommorow and blows the race open. If this is properly raced then there could be no GC action bar for a five minute skirmish on friday (unless you count time trials as "GC action").

 

[Blanco]

Re:

Regardless of what they say, tactics and whatever, if Landa and Quintana will survive the first part of the Tour it looks inevitable that none will ride for the other and both will follow any opportunity to take time on the other.

Yeah, possibly. But, by attacking and working for themselves they could actually do something useful one for another. Like today, for example, Landa attacked to gain some time if possible, but that was a good situation for Quintana too, and had that climb been a little steeper Porte would've been in real difficult situation.
Regardless the Tour, I think Valverde will be the most aggressive of the three cause he cares the least about the GC.

 

[Leinster]

Re:

UAE seem to have gotten a sliver of hope the past week, after a terrible spring.

Is Ulissi definitely not going to the Tour? With him and Martin, they’d have multiple options for the Mur de Bretagne stage in particular.

 

[Blanco]

BMC doesn't look good btw, and if Movistar wants to rip the race apart tomorrow, they could easily do it on Clausenpass.

 

[hazaran]

You have to be some Klaus to "rip the race apart" on some 6% incline :lol:

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

I guess we're not going to see anything from the Klausenpass tomorrow?

Of course not. Not that anything significant will happen anyways.

As Red Rick said, its effectively 18 km ITT, 3 km of mountain on Arosa and 35 km of individual time trial. I can't grasp how organizers can manage to make such a shitshow of a route

 

[Valv.Piti]

On top of that, listening to the horrible trio of Staghøj, Nygaard and Chris Anker Sørensen just makes this race painful. Gosh they are annoying. Maybe I should just stop watching....

 

[Cance > TheRest]

Please, do that.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Predict Astana sending minimum 2 guys out early.

Any captain attempting anything tomorrow, will need guys for the flat 70K in the end.

Some may want to wait for Friday - those still eyeing a podium finish - but others will try already tomorrow, as a long range attack is good practice for the Tour..... and Astana can do with some extra TTT practice

 

[Valv.Piti]

Re:

Please, do that.

I think i will. Chris' and Nygaard's tactical brilliance is too much for me, I get overwhelmed!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Re: Re:

I guess we're not going to see anything from the Klausenpass tomorrow?

Doubt it. But I hope Mas or Quintana or Kelderman or someone else just goes early for the training miles tommorow and blows the race open. If this is properly raced then there could be no GC action bar for a five minute skirmish on friday (unless you count time trials as "GC action").

Hope for Mas and Quintana then.

Kelderman is not going to do anything except count on his TT or maybe his last 500m (he is pretty punchy in a sprint)

 

[Red Rick]

Kelderman vs Porte sounds more like a last longer bet than a race. If I were Sunweb I'd let Oomen go for it.

Just saw the last 5km of today. Landa looks pretty strong.

 

[hazaran]

Actually, he looks stupid, given he lost time.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

yeah because it was not steep and against headwind

unfortunately for Landa I don't really see any tough mountains in Suisse this year to make a real difference. This reminds me more of the Cancellara / Tony Martin strong years in Suisse.

 

[Red Rick]

How mind numbingly dumb to actually try to win.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Quite funny given they have had Rettenbach the last 3 years, so this year Landa and Quintana go when all they are climbing are glorified hills. Would have loved those two going up against LRP, heck, just on one decent MTF. And no, Arosa isnt decent

And the conclusion will be: Conitnue making shitty routes, thay way we attract bigger stars than Dauphine (and no, it has NOTHING to do with the Tour starting one week later!!). Cant wait

 

[Koronin]

Re: Re:

Regardless of what they say, tactics and whatever, if Landa and Quintana will survive the first part of the Tour it looks inevitable that none will ride for the other and both will follow any opportunity to take time on the other.

Yeah, possibly. But, by attacking and working for themselves they could actually do something useful one for another. Like today, for example, Landa attacked to gain some time if possible, but that was a good situation for Quintana too, and had that climb been a little steeper Porte would've been in real difficult situation.
Regardless the Tour, I think Valverde will be the most aggressive of the three cause he cares the least about the GC.

Well if nothing else, I'm going to go with Landa and Quintana today have proven they are going to make the Tour entertaining even if they are more interested in beating each other than anything else.

I agree that Valverde may be the most aggressive because he has the least to loose as the Tour isn't on his goal list. Come to think of it, he may be the first rider to actually be using the Tour to get ready for the Vuelta/Worlds/Lombardi combo.

 

[Angliru]

Re:

Actually, he looks stupid, given he lost time.

Nothing ventured nothing gained. He came within a few hundred meters of a victory. If the purpose was to test his legs, and that is what most claim the Dauphine is, a prep and test of form for the Tour, then I think he should be happy. Not all attacks end in success.

Edit: That should of course be Tour de Suisse, not Dauphine!

 

[Forever The Best]

Re:

You have to be some Klaus to "rip the race apart" on some 6% incline :lol:

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

Actually, he looks stupid, given he lost time.

Nothing ventured nothing gained. He came within a few hundred meters of a victory. If the purpose was to test his legs, and that is what most claim the Dauphine is, a prep and test of form for the Tour, then I think he should be happy. Not all attacks end in success.

What do people claim Tour de Suisse is?

 

[Angliru]

Re: Re:

Actually, he looks stupid, given he lost time.

Nothing ventured nothing gained. He came within a few hundred meters of a victory. If the purpose was to test his legs, and that is what most claim the Dauphine is, a prep and test of form for the Tour, then I think he should be happy. Not all attacks end in success.

What do people claim Tour de Suisse is?

My bad! They both are that, prep races for the Tour, at least for many riders.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Re:

UAE seem to have gotten a sliver of hope the past week, after a terrible spring.

Ten wins is ok at this time of year. Not great, not terrible. They have enough quality on their roster that they were always likely to improve from their disastrous classics campaign at some point

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Re:

Actually, he looks stupid, given he lost time.

Tour de Suisse is not Landas goal.

A lot of the captains are holding back some days, and going beyond their limits others, to work their shape and test themselves.... and the other riders.

It's all preparation for the tour.

The only performances you can truly read something into IMO, are the people that get blown out the back early on climbs..... and those that appear great, like Porte.

Though the latter type, being in great shape already now, 6 weeks before fighting for the tour up Col de Portet, are going to have a fine line to walk (or ride, as it were), to not run out of steam by then..... time will tell.

 

[Koronin]

From what Landa said he was disappointed he didn't win today because he got so close. However, he said he did prove the one thing he needed to know and that is that he is on track to be ready for the Tour. He said he's happy because he knows he's on track to do well in July which is his main goal.