2020 Tour de France

[splat]

I am loving the rise of the young guns and new powers.

TJV has been a tropical storm brewing offshore for quite a while, and now it's unleashing all it's force and power with devastating effect. Great to watch!

Team Ineos has lost its puff after a very impressive run of GT victories and I am enjoying the change of scenery.

 

Watching MvdP win yesterday, I wonder if/when he will ever ride The Tour and what his performance will be like. He needs a team around him though - The Tour can't be won as a solo rider.

 

That brings me to The Pog   
I am loving his style - perhaps he will prove my previous point wrong.

[DieselnDust]

Question for John Wakefield perhaps.

 

TdF preparations have obviously become a science, with every team having a clear plan to get their riders to the start in the right form to race over 21 days.

 

The plan is built on knowledge gained over many seasons and each team executes, monitors and measures everything to achieve this.

 

2020 was different and much if what was done in the past - training camps, outdoor training blocks, racing into form, monitoring of multiple vsrisbles etc. was not possible and in any event, based on the luck if the draw depending on where you found yourself when lockdown started.

 

Some teams (or riders) must have been affected more or less than others.

 

How much if what we have seen can be ascribed to this ?

 

Did Sunweb strike it lucky, were JV in some way at an advantage, did Bernal (unsupervised) ride himself into the ground in training, could the Slovenians manage training better during periods the world was in lockdown ?

 

I suppose the question is, to what extent could lockdown, the cancellation of a racing season and the move of the Tour to late Aug/Sept, etc. have led to greater variability in preparation by the teams and has this lead to some of the results we have seen?

 

 

Watch the Stage 15 recap on The Move. Andy schleck gives really good insight to the same question.

Basically Bernal is likely over trained while the Slovenians and Belgians were able to prepare very well during lock . Good weather in summer and less draconian laws allowed them to follow their programs much better. Being on the same time zone with their team doctors must also have played a big part.

Average speed for this tour is thus far slower than the previous 3 tours . Not sure if that is normalised for altitude gain.

[DieselnDust]

I am loving the rise of the young guns and new powers.

TJV has been a tropical storm brewing offshore for quite a while, and now it's unleashing all it's force and power with devastating effect. Great to watch!

Team Ineos has lost its puff after a very impressive run of GT victories and I am enjoying the change of scenery.

 

Watching MvdP win yesterday, I wonder if/when he will ever ride The Tour and what his performance will be like. He needs a team around him though - The Tour can't be won as a solo rider.

 

That brings me to The Pog   

I am loving his style - perhaps he will prove my previous point wrong.

 

 

 

The only Reason MvdP didn't ride this years TdF is because Alpecin Fenix didn't receive a wild card entry to the tour. He will be riding the Giro I believe so we'l see how he goes there. The Giro seems to be the lower pressure introduction to 3week Grand Tour racing LOL..

Hopefully we see MvdP at TdF 2021. He's contracted to Alpecin-Fenix and Canyon for a while still so lets hope his loyalty is rewarded

[eddy]

Watch the Stage 15 recap on The Move. Andy schleck gives really good insight to the same question.

Basically Bernal is likely over trained while the Slovenians and Belgians were able to prepare very well during lock . Good weather in summer and less draconian laws allowed them to follow their programs much better. Being on the same time zone with their team doctors must also have played a big part.

Average speed for this tour is thus far slower than the previous 3 tours . Not sure if that is normalised for altitude gain.

 

 

This. ^^^^

 

I was wondering if, in a normal year, the leaders would have been ahead of the JV guys.

 

When you have a number of excellent GC contenders all at peak form they should at some stage distance the rest. 

 

If you have some of them at sub-optimal form then maybe they fall behind a perfectly prepared, super domestique (if that is how one describes a CX world champ)

 

Any way, great racing !

[dsw]

I am loving the rise of the young guns and new powers.

TJV has been a tropical storm brewing offshore for quite a while, and now it's unleashing all it's force and power with devastating effect. Great to watch!

Team Ineos has lost its puff after a very impressive run of GT victories and I am enjoying the change of scenery.

 

Watching MvdP win yesterday, I wonder if/when he will ever ride The Tour and what his performance will be like. He needs a team around him though - The Tour can't be won as a solo rider.

 

That brings me to The Pog   

I am loving his style - perhaps he will prove my previous point wrong.

 

Vd Poel's attack over the last km yesterday was outrageous.. It is very unlikely that any other bike rider in the world can replicate that.

 

I do not think I have ever seen a rider going backwards so fast as the Bora rider who seemed certain of a win at that stage.

 

It would be very interesting to see VD Poel's power data for the duration of that effort.

[Gen]

The only Reason MvdP didn't ride this years TdF is because Alpecin Fenix didn't receive a wild card entry to the tour. He will be riding the Giro I believe so we'l see how he goes there. The Giro seems to be the lower pressure introduction to 3week Grand Tour racing LOL..

Hopefully we see MvdP at TdF 2021. He's contracted to Alpecin-Fenix and Canyon for a while still so lets hope his loyalty is rewarded

According to his post stage TA interview yesterday he will focus is on the classics, that's also why he isn't going to Worlds.. course doesn't suit him..

 

You'll note Flanders and Paris Roubaix clash with the Giro

Edited September 14, 2020 by Gen

[betaboy]

I'm totally out of the loop with the Jumbo Visma plans for the two other Grand Tours. Anybody know whether they will go with GC ambitions or if it is all-in for TDF and the other two will be based on whoever is in some sort of form?

 

Will Kuiswijk be recovered from his injury by then?

Its all in... problem is we have the worlds soon, so several teams will want to spread the bets on getting the max sponsorship exposure from a half ass season. Expect them to give everything a go before Oct. Resigning team money season starts soon... and we all know whats happened globally to the world, the sponsors, the sporting codes. Thats why 2021 will be a real acton packed year. The crop of youth currently is pretty intense and they going places.

[Frosty]

MvdP rides Road, XC and CX, so while he focuses on three disciplines he’ll unlikely have a good road team that will allow him to do that.

 

Surely it’s the media and fans that want him to race here, there and everywhere.

[TNT1]

MvdP rides Road, XC and CX, so while he focuses on three disciplines he’ll unlikely have a good road team that will allow him to do that.

 

Surely it’s the media and fans that want him to race here, there and everywhere.

I disagree. Money talks. Look at the contract garbage Van Aert had to go through just to get to Jumbo. Ditto for Dumoulin. 

 

Same for Sagan. He could easily have continued with dual disciplines. He's gonna kill himself at the TdF and then again at the Giro. Money.

Edited September 14, 2020 by TNT1

[The Ghost]

Some light hearted rest day amusement.

 

https://youtu.be/PfhAmkjaxfg

[Gen]

MvdP rides Road, XC and CX, so while he focuses on three disciplines he’ll unlikely have a good road team that will allow him to do that.

 

Surely it’s the media and fans that want him to race here, there and everywhere.

Yes and he still has XCO Olympic ambition..he is just where he wants to be.

 

What the media and fans want is their problem and his career won't be shaped on their opinion.

 

He is making smart decisions regarding his transition (if he so chooses to) IMO.

Edited September 14, 2020 by Gen

[Patchelicious]

Ineos must be regretting their little knee jerk now.

[Gen]

Ineos must be regretting their little knee jerk now.

Have you been watching TA..?

[DieselnDust]

According to his post stage TA interview yesterday he will focus is on the classics, that's also why he isn't going to Worlds.. course doesn't suit him..

 

You'll note Flanders and Paris Roubaix clash with the Giro

 

 

That must be a recent update because he mentioned he was excited to ride the Giro this year as his team got an invite.

 

PS: nope seems he made te classics announcement after they didn't get a TdF invite. My bad

Edited September 14, 2020 by DieselnDust

[DieselnDust]

Ineos must be regretting their little knee jerk now.

 

 

 

what knee jerk is that?

[Gen]

That must be a recent update because he mentioned he was excited to ride the Giro this year as his team got an invite

Yes yesterday after his TA stage win..and are you 100% sure they got an invite cause I don't recall them getting an invite to any GT? Edited September 14, 2020 by Gen