UAE Tour 2021, February 21 - February 27

[Samu Cuenca]

Nah, the Gorilla is going to take Ronde this year

If he does that, I'll be buying the whole forum a Ronde of drinks!

 

[Bonimenier]

10 second time penalty for Pogacar for pushing another rider. I doubt it's going to affect anything though.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

10 second time penalty for Pogacar for pushing another rider. I doubt it's going to affect anything though.

Any details available of who he pushed and when?

 

[Bonimenier]

Any details available of who he pushed and when?

Reading now that he didn't push anyone, but his teammate Polanc pushed him forward in the last 100m. Both got the penalty.

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

This is the jury report:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1365321011403624451

View: https://twitter.com/laflammerouge16/status/1365321011403624451?s=21

 

[Tinnekeisabella]

and I just rewatched the footage and it looked more like Polanc was just patting him on the back to,say he was safe. 10 seconds penalty is a bit harsh

 

[Lequack]

and I just rewatched the footage and it looked more like Polanc was just patting him on the back to,say he was safe. 10 seconds penalty is a bit harsh

If they applied that rule as strictly then we would have a lot of people losing minutes in a stage.

UAE boys

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Nice sprint. Dekker not as good when he hit the front. But impressive positioning. Viviani with his best sprint for Cofidis.

think that is understandable. If you watched closely Dekker had to come from 40/50th position to the wheel of Bennett in just 2km. I think he was pretty much out of energy when the sprint started. He even stated as much. Easier when you have the best train working for you

Although even without that train it's clear for some time now Bennett I think currently just that bit better than all other sprinters.

 

[Bonimenier]

and I just rewatched the footage and it looked more like Polanc was just patting him on the back to,say he was safe. 10 seconds penalty is a bit harsh

Yeah, a bit of an overreaction. At least we know now that the UAE tour doesn't give priviliges to team UAE.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Yeah, a bit of an overreaction. At least we know now that the UAE tour doesn't give priviliges to team UAE.

Would they have given the penalty had it happened before both MTF?

 

[Earns1985]

Stork, the surprise rider of the UAE so far, broke his kneecap and several ribs in his fall today..

UAE Tour: Stork bricht sich die Kniescheibe und mehrere Rippen | radsport-news.com

www.radsport-news.com

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

Stork, the surprise rider of the UAE so far, broke his kneecap and several ribs in his fall today..

UAE Tour: Stork bricht sich die Kniescheibe und mehrere Rippen | radsport-news.com

www.radsport-news.com

That sounds very unpleasant. ☹

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

It will be interesting to see if there’s another all in wrestling match for Bennett’s wheel tomorrow, with everyone hoping to be the guy in position to benefit if DQS get their timing wrong. Or if other teams try something else. I suspect that another sprinter is more likely to get Bennett if the sprint gets messy.

 

[Lequack]

It will be interesting to see if there’s another all in wrestling match for Bennett’s wheel tomorrow, with everyone hoping to be the guy in position to benefit if DQS get their timing wrong. Or if other teams try something else. I suspect that another sprinter is more likely to get Bennett if the sprint gets messy.

I often hear about these other strategies in sprint, but in the end it always ends in Quickstep winning , with whatever rider they happen to have on hand.

 

[armchairclimber]

Dekker didtoday what Gaviria should have done yesterday, put Ewan back in his hole. Having said that, good to see Gaviria actually contesting this sprint. Maybe he just needs more racing after so long away....both in terms of fitness and in terms of confidence.

 

[Escarabajo]

I am a bit critical of Gaviria but when I think about it, he was absent last year. He really needs more miles in his legs. We cannot ignore having been with Covid twice. What a luck.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

I often hear about these other strategies in sprint, but in the end it always ends in Quickstep winning , with whatever rider they happen to have on hand.

Sure, DQS are DQS. But you can let them lead it out, fight for their wheel and hope they screw up the timing so that you can beat Bennett coming off his wheel. Or you can try to disrupt their plan. Bennett won on stage 4 and he won on stage 6, like your point suggests. But he’s a lot easier to beat in a stage 4 situation than he is coming off Morkov’s wheel at over 70km/h with 150m to go already in the lead as in stage 6.

 

[Zinoviev Letter]

I am a bit critical of Gaviria but when I think about it, he was absent last year. He really needs more miles in his legs. We cannot ignore having been with Covid twice. What a luck.

Yeah, I agree. It’s a serious respiratory illness with potential long term effects of unknown duration. He deserves credit for being back at a reasonably high level already after that year.

 

[tobydawq]

Yeah, I agree. It’s a serious respiratory illness with potential long term effects of unknown duration. He deserves credit for being back at a reasonably high level already after that year.

He did make the first echelon on day one which tells me he is back at full fitness. There is no cheap tickets to such a party. But he does have a tendency to not sprint for secondary placings which I am not too impressed by.

 

[Breezy1985]

Dekker didtoday what Gaviria should have done yesterday, put Ewan back in his hole. Having said that, good to see Gaviria actually contesting this sprint. Maybe he just needs more racing after so long away....both in terms of fitness and in terms of confidence.

No penalty for Ewan and no one screaming for it either.

Sorry if there was and I missed it

 

[armchairclimber]

No penalty for Ewan and no one screaming for it either.

Sorry if there was and I missed it

That doesn't mean that he didn't deviate from his line, use his shoulders to barge his way out of a hole and impede another rider. He tried the same yesterday and, rightly, was shoved back into the hole he'd made for himself. The fact is that Gaviria gave up on the contest far too easily ... perhaps with his own crashes and that of Jokobsen/Sarreau at the forefront of his mind. It's immaterial that no penalty was handed out.

 

[armchairclimber]

He did make the first echelon on day one which tells me he is back at full fitness. There is no cheap tickets to such a party. But he does have a tendency to not sprint for secondary placings which I am not too impressed by.

It's annoying when he's in your CQ team for sure.

 

[tobydawq]

Ineos tactics for today should be to have four different riders pushing Pogacar some time during the course which would duck him 40 seconds in total, and Yates has the race.

 

[Lequack]

With Pogacar furiously swatting away, or rather the whole team, with Majka being the chief swatter.

 

[Lequack]

Token breakaway has formed, destined to fail.