2020 Tour de France

[LUZERN]

hopp schwiiz !   hop suisse !

 

[The Ghost]

Okay, my last post on the subject

 

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/tour-de-france/wout-van-aert-tried-to-speak-to-peter-sagan-after-stage-11-but-the-only-thing-that-came-back-was-strong-words-467355

[Pure Savage]

We need a little drama between sprinters and climbers. That is what makes sport so entertaining, gladiators of the sport going to one another. Not everyone is going to hug and sing kumbaya at the end of every stage. 

 

Green jersey master being ridden circles round by super domestique and classic specialist. No love lost, bare knuckle racing everytime they meet, gold. Imagine these 2 ending up in a break away in a an early season classic next year. 

 

Think this is something F1 does well. You have people that get on well together and others that hate each other. 

[Pure Savage]

When I watch Hirschi race, I feel inspired to pop an espresso, get into my kit and go train in the mountains, hey.

 

It’s his first win as a professional. He is the first Swiss to win a stage in the Tour de France since Spartacus in 2012. To go again and again and return to a pain cave today take tremendous conviction and courage. The relief and sense of accomplishment a win is clear to see in the tears that flowed. Team Sunweb will celebrate hard tonight, I'm sure, as the team have been desperate for results.

Beautiful racing all round! What a scenic course.

 

Pic: Team Sunweb

IMG_9931.jpg

Finally something has come of Sunweb, from the outside that team just does not feel all there with riders cancelling contracts early regularly. Leaving in form sprinters out of Tour. Glad to see them getting it together today, Roche also rode really really well.

[Chris_]

This is a good looking a stage.

 

Is it time for meaningful GC attacks yet?

 

or we wait for Colombier (!), or those beauts middle of next week but thats cutting it quite fine..

 

[Vetplant]

This is a good looking a stage.

 

Is it time for meaningful GC attacks yet?

 

or we wait for Colombier (!), or those beauts middle of next week but thats cutting it quite fine..

 

Capture.PNG

If a breakaway survives to the top of the penultimate climb, the GC contenders will try to make moves only on the final climb.

 

If the breakaway is caught before, then you might see Pogacar/Quintana attack on that climb to claim some bonus seconds and then push to the final.

 

They probably won't go too deep today in terms of emptying the tank with a long range attack, as you mention the Colombier stage, where you can pay dearly for going too deep. (Although, tomorrow is a bit more relaxed in terms of climbing, so they might be able to recover somewhat)

 

My guess is Pogacar will be in 3rd or 4th by the end of today.

[DieselnDust]

I like your stage assessment.

[reflexus]

Looks set to be a great couple of days riding, today should be a cracker and will be interesting to see if Hirschi has anything left for the mountains after the 2 big breaks and a sprint in the first week.

Getting a bit concerned about the COVID numbers shooting up in France and what this might mean for the tour.

[Vetplant]

I like your stage assessment.

What I forgot was the Green Jersey battle. 

 

DQS will do everything in their power to get a break up the road established WITHOUT Sagan. To munch up as many points as possible at the Intermediate sprint point before the peloton arrives.

 

So Bora vs DQS will set the tone at the start of the stage.

[Chris_]

What I forgot was the Green Jersey battle. 

 

DQS will do everything in their power to get a break up the road established WITHOUT Sagan. To munch up as many points as possible at the Intermediate sprint point before the peloton arrives.

 

So Bora vs DQS will set the tone at the start of the stage.

 

Surely they'll be happier to let the break go collect the sprint points. Its a long way down the (hilly) road, you'll have to work pretty hard to get there first for a couple points.

 

Edit: I think I misread your post... 

Edited September 11, 2020 by Chris_

[Vetplant]

Surely they'll be happier to let the break go collect the sprint points. Its a long way down the (hilly) road, you'll have to work pretty hard to get there first for a couple points.

 

Edit: I think I misread your post... 

DQS will be happy for any break to go up the road as long as Sagan isn't in it... was what I was trying to say.

 

Whether Bora thinks Sagan will be able to stick with the Main bunch up the CAT 1 climb remains to be seen. Pretty sure Bennett won't be able to.

[Chris_]

DQS will be happy for any break to go up the road as long as Sagan isn't in it... was what I was trying to say.

 

Whether Bora thinks Sagan will be able to stick with the Main bunch up the CAT 1 climb remains to be seen. Pretty sure Bennett won't be able to.

 

Ja sorry, thats what I got after hitting Post

[dsw]

The last 2 and a half km's today is double digit stuff and is going to be murder. I expect the time differences between the top 5 to change quite a bit today even if a breakaway rider wins the stage.  

[Gen]

 

 

DQS will be happy for any break to go up the road as long as Sagan isn't in it... was what I was trying to say.

 

Whether Bora thinks Sagan will be able to stick with the Main bunch up the CAT 1 climb remains to be seen. Pretty sure Bennett won't be able to.

Bennett wont be able to but Sagan is climbing quite well and the cimb is right at the beginning.

 

So the pace will either be steady and controlled by DQS on that climb or it will be a hectic pace by Bora again....if it is the latter then I will declare Fridays Bora days.

[Vetplant]

This is a good looking a stage.

 

Is it time for meaningful GC attacks yet?

 

or we wait for Colombier (!), or those beauts middle of next week but thats cutting it quite fine..

 

Capture.PNG

 

 

The last 2 and a half km's today is double digit stuff and is going to be murder. I expect the time differences between the top 5 to change quite a bit today even if a breakaway rider wins the stage.  

Clear your schedules from about 16h00 onwards...

[Mntboy]

DQS will be happy for any break to go up the road as long as Sagan isn't in it... was what I was trying to say.

 

Whether Bora thinks Sagan will be able to stick with the Main bunch up the CAT 1 climb remains to be seen. Pretty sure Bennett won't be able to.

On day like today where there is the possibility of gaining loads of KOM points DQS could opt for a different stratagem regarding the ISP. Have Sagan in the break but have guys Jungels and Alaphillipe in there as well. Jungels could do a lead out for Alaphillipe with the aim of beating Sagan in the sprint, which is highly probable seeing that Alaphillipe does possess a decent sprint and climbs better than Sagan as well. Once that's done then JA can fully concentrate on snapping up KOM points.

 

Today will be an interesting day, regardless of what tactics get used in the various classification battles!