Tour de Suisse 2021 (June 6-13)

[Broccolidwarf]

MvdP is obviously very good but as far as the Tour is concerned I am really not sold on his flat bunch sprint capabilities. I don't doubt he has the speed to be in the mix but I can imagine him not being there consistently enough to win green.

In all the years Sagan won a lot of that was on the basis of simply being there Every Single Sprint.

I would expect Merlier to be their sprinter, possibly with MvdP as leadout.

 

[Panda Claws]

I would expect Merlier to be their sprinter, possibly with MvdP as leadout.

Also this. Good point.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Difference between vdp and alph today.

ala going all out on the climb with multiple accelerations, had nothing left
vdp riding own pace, only accelerating when he needed to close gaps. Had the most left in the finale. He even had logic fooled thinking he had no legs or something. Smart riding from mathieu for once

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Also this. Good point.

Since he is riding the Tour as preparation for the MTB Olympics, I expect him to select stages where he goes deep for the win, and then others where he just sits at the back and does nothing.

 

[saganftw]

i think its more realistic that he wins a stage maybe two then abandons after two weeks to prepare for olympics - thats his main goal, tdf is for sponsors

 

[limak_]

Whether he can or not I think it just doesn't make much sense for van der Poel to go for green if he wants to focus on the Olympics. He would have to be there on so many stages.

I really doubt he even plans to do the whole Tour. 2-3 stage wins in the first week and come back to his mtb bike

 

[Broccolidwarf]

Still, they are missing Cortina on the official results

 

[Mayomaniac]

MvdP is obviously very good but as far as the Tour is concerned I am really not sold on his flat bunch sprint capabilities. I don't doubt he has the speed to be in the mix but I can imagine him not being there consistently enough to win green.

In all the years Sagan won a lot of that was on the basis of simply being there Every Single Sprint.

I think he clearly wants to try to get that Yellow Jersey that his grandfather never got on the first 2 stages.

 

[Broccolidwarf]

I really doubt he even plans to do the whole Tour. 2-3 stage wins in the first week and come back to his mtb bike

Yeah.

The MTB event is only 8 days after the Tour, so it stands to reason he needs more time, especially with jetlag being a factor.

We may actually see a whole bunch of riders going to the Olympics, drop out on the last rest day.

 

[Eeslliw]

He's impatient but also very predictable. He's got only one scenario in his roadbook - explosive attack just before the top of the climb. His acceleration is obviously incredible and he won some races thanks to that, but it starts to become kinda boring.

I don't know about boring. I mean today he started and made final selection of 7-9 riders with his attack. What else do you expect? To attack 100k from finish?

 

[shalgo]

Even the organizers can't believe their eyes upon seeing Cortina up there.

 

[RedheadDane]

I think he clearly wants to try to get that Yellow Jersey that his grandfather never got on the first 2 stages.

Poulidor never even wore the yellow jersey?

 

[Mayomaniac]

Poulidor never even wore the yellow jersey?

Yes, not on a single stage, despite finishing the Tour on the podium 8 times.

 

[Escarabajo]

Chaves climbed 111 spots because of his poor TT. That is some jump for a small dude like him!

Tour de Suisse 2021 Stage 2 results

Tour de Suisse 2021 Stage 2 from Neuhausen am Rheinfall to Lachen was won by Mathieu van der Poel before Maximilian Schachmann and Wout Poels. Stefan Küng was leading the general classification.

www.procyclingstats.com

 

[Earns1985]

Dumoulin lost 10 minutes..

 

[limak_]

I don't know about boring. I mean today he started and made final selection of 7-9 riders with his attack. What else do you expect? To attack 100k from finish?

Saying boring, I meant that with a steep climb before the finish like we had today, it's a certainty that Alaf will go full gas there, hoping that he'll drop as much guys as possible. As soon as you know the stage profile, you know what is going to happen there. And that's kinda boring imo.

For me, sometimes Alaf seems to be relying on this one particular skill too much and (ofc he won many races thanks to that) can't find another way to win a bike race. He's become a little bit one-dimensional rider in my eyes (I'm not saying he's not versatile though). A great example of a different approach is MvdP today - he could've just sat in the wheels, counting on his sprinting ability and probably he would've won this one anyway. But his style of racing is much more entertaining. He successfully tried long range attack today, he tries massive (from 50kms to go) longe range attacks and you can just always expect something unexpected from him.

 

[ppanther92]

Dumoulin lost 10 minutes..

Who is better right now? Froome or Dumoulin

 

[Taxus4a]

Impressive Van der Poel, What a Great rider!!!. Great stage!!.

Happy to see Garcia Cortina in the fight.

He didnt regulate at the climb so well as Van Der Poel...I understand. Sometimes Allaphillipe go and you never see him again, but this time was a mistake.

Carapaz is the stronger rider, and I hope to see Uran on the podium.

 

[Taxus4a]

Who is better right now? Froome or Dumoulin

Domoulin did yertarday a good stage. Under his level, but good.

With rain Froome is not good...But today with good weather I think he would have been better...

 

[Valv.Piti]

Carapaz is my favorite to win (pretty big favourite at that) and also the rider I expect can challenge Pogacar the most in a month. Vamos Richie!

 

[staubsauger]

Arensman lost 10 minutes as well. Surprising in a bad way.

Dumoulin clearly is riding into condition. Nothing wrong so far. If he produces another solid result on Saturday everything is just fine!

Vanderpoel truly is an entertaining rider. If not for Fuglsang closing the gap and / or Schachmann jumping around, the flying Dutchman would've been gone with 3,5 kilometers to go already.

Carapaz looks superbly strong. No. 1 favorite to take the golden jersey IMHO!

Poels & Mäder good too. Maybe one of them can step onto the podium at the end of the week.

Pozzovivo traditionally misses the split in this kind of situation. He had to be distanced and he delivered.

Hirschi's climbing level will be interesting to see. Wouldn't completely rule him out for a top 5 spot.

 

[kingjr]

MvdP is obviously very good but as far as the Tour is concerned I am really not sold on his flat bunch sprint capabilities. I don't doubt he has the speed to be in the mix but I can imagine him not being there consistently enough to win green.

In all the years Sagan won a lot of that was on the basis of simply being there Every Single Sprint.

What's more, I don't think he feels very comfortable in the craziness ahead of a bunch sprint.

 

[broppo]

Impressive Van der Poel, What a Great rider!!!. Great stage!!.

yeah this tour is already so much better than the dauphine!

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Dumoulin lost 10 minutes..

honestly why do ppl care. He even said he's only going for the tt's.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

also funny to read people are not convinced of Van der Poels flat sprint speed. Let me assure you, even though he lost to Asgreen, SPEED is not the issue.

It's more the hectic of a mass sprint he doesn't like nor is he good at it. He is never well placed in a true mass sprint. But speed? Man, that is not even remotely a problem if he were to go for green. It's just positioning and hectic.
And certainly this year is not the year to go for green with the olympics straight after.

 

[Anybody_but..]

honestly why do ppl care. He even said he's only going for the tt's.

Who cares. He might focus on soil fertilization.