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Tracking the French drought

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Re: Re:

CheckMyPecs said:
Sadly for la belle France, Pinot didn't manage to green its laurels at the Dauphiné. Moreau remains the last French winner of the race. I don't know who could win TdS for France this year.
Now I realize how you remembered Agnolutto so soon! I hadn't noticed this thread yet.

The French can win the Tour before 2022 in a year when Quintana has bad luck, Aru focuses on the Giro and Pinot, Bardet or Barguil reaches the form of his life. At least their chances are better than ten years ago.

A Frenchman who wins the Tour would get a statue as big as the Eiffel Tower.
 
IndianCyclist said:
Oliwright said:
I hope the French do win the Tour soon, it would boost the interest in the race massively and you would see much bigger crowds on the roads, also the French media wouldn't be so irresponsible and bad at reporting on other riders, as they wouldn't be blinded by jealousy.
for that Quintana has to retire

Or get sick once or fall off once or lose stupid time in crosswinds once or...
 
Re: Re:

Pantani_lives said:
CheckMyPecs said:
Sadly for la belle France, Pinot didn't manage to green its laurels at the Dauphiné. Moreau remains the last French winner of the race. I don't know who could win TdS for France this year.
Now I realize how you remembered Agnolutto so soon! I hadn't noticed this thread yet.

The French can win the Tour before 2022 in a year when Quintana has bad luck, Aru focuses on the Giro and Pinot, Bardet or Barguil reaches the form of his life. At least their chances are better than ten years ago.

A Frenchman who wins the Tour would get a statue as big as the Eiffel Tower.

I think Pinot is genuinely there, close to or at the very top of the second tier riders after the big 4. I don't know if he's better than Aru, but I'm pretty sure he could beat him all things being equal. Pinot could win the Tour as soon as next year if the top riders decide to go to the special edition Giro. Even if only Froome and Quintana go to the Giro, I think Pinot would have a chance against Nibali and a one-year-older Contador, specially if next year's Tour has a long ITT that suits him.
 
Re: Re:

AlexNYC said:
Pantani_lives said:
CheckMyPecs said:
Sadly for la belle France, Pinot didn't manage to green its laurels at the Dauphiné. Moreau remains the last French winner of the race. I don't know who could win TdS for France this year.
Now I realize how you remembered Agnolutto so soon! I hadn't noticed this thread yet.

The French can win the Tour before 2022 in a year when Quintana has bad luck, Aru focuses on the Giro and Pinot, Bardet or Barguil reaches the form of his life. At least their chances are better than ten years ago.

A Frenchman who wins the Tour would get a statue as big as the Eiffel Tower.

I think Pinot is genuinely there, close to or at the very top of the second tier riders after the big 4. I don't know if he's better than Aru, but I'm pretty sure he could beat him all things being equal. Pinot could win the Tour as soon as next year if the top riders decide to go to the special edition Giro. Even if only Froome and Quintana go to the Giro, I think Pinot would have a chance against Nibali and a one-year-older Contador, specially if next year's Tour has a long ITT that suits him.

My understanding is that as part of his contract re-negotiations Pinot demanded to ride the Giro - Though the 100th edition will be a hot field.
 
Mar 14, 2016
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Very silly of Pinot to ride the Giro in 2016. I know it's the 100th edition, but come on, when will be the next time that all the big foreign riders enter the Tour with another GT in their legs?
 
Re:

CheckMyPecs said:
Very silly of Pinot to ride the Giro in 2016. I know it's the 100th edition, but come on, when will be the next time that all the big foreign riders enter the Tour with another GT in their legs?

I think that if he sees them (Froome/Quintana/Contador/Nibali) go to the Giro, he will go to the Tour instead. Something that the sponsors and DS's probably will celebrate!
 
Re:

King Boonen said:
Barguil, Bardet, Alaphillipe and Pinot all still there and all looking pretty good so far.
Don't forget Rolland. Alaphilippe will crack in the mountains.

Climbing support, though.
1467827402-cannondale.png
1467827515-alpecin.png
 
Re: Re:

Alexandre B. said:
King Boonen said:
Barguil, Bardet, Alaphillipe and Pinot all still there and all looking pretty good so far.
Don't forget Rolland. Alaphilippe will crack in the mountains.

Climbing support, though.
1467827402-cannondale.png
1467827515-alpecin.png

Yep, I thought I have put Rolland down, he's in my Velogames squad!

I'm interested to see how Alaphillipe does, but I think you're very likely right. I'm hoping they will all have a dig at some point and not just ride for a top 10, although I think Barguil will just want to sit there and secure the white jersey.

I'm not ruling out a couple of French riders on the podium. It's a long shot but the Tour hasn't really started yet and anything can happen!
 
Re:

IndianCyclist said:
If the French arrive at the Vuelta fresh, they definitely have a good chance to win whether the big four participate or not. Look at what Dumoulin did last year.
The french had great track cyclists but none of them are there in the road scene whereas Britain & Australia have managed to do so. The french are behind w.r.t methods as exemplified by Madiot and spoken by Rolland. Voeckler came closest to wining the tour and he was not a mountain climber of any note. There is talent but not properly trained or spotted or motivated. Maybe they should hire Sutton.

The trouble is they all ride the Tour so they won't be reaching the Vuelta fresh. Bardet was a good ride last year but never really threatened Froome unlike Quintana in 2015 who just isn't aggressive enough especially in the first half of the Tour.
 
Aug 6, 2015
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Re:

Alexandre B. said:
What an awful year for us.

No victories of significance, only stage wins.
Bala junior is the only one who can win big races in my opinion but unfortunately he has too many injuries and I really don't know why... maybe overtraining?
 
Re:

Alexandre B. said:
I'm depressed.

Australia wins big more often.
Netherlands win big more often.
Colombia wins big more often.
Even Denmark wins big more often.

I don't consider those countries superior to us. But they win big. We are not.

Since when? Denmark has, what? Three WT wins this year (Fuglsang's two stages and the overall at Dauphine), while France has... I don't even wanna start counting.
Dunno if you're going by some other criteria. Other Danish victories this year; Cort in Valencia and Almeria, Søren Kragh in Oman... can't think of others right now. Probably gonna get some next week, but Tour of Denmark isn't exactly a big race.
Buttom line: Denmark doesn't have more big victories than France.
 

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