2020 Tour de France

[Gen]

Good luck to them all

 

With an estimated winning time of about 55' tomorrow's time cut is +13'45".

 

Average speed of 31.6km/h would be required to finish inside the time limit. #TdF2020

 

 

https://twitter.com/laflammerouge16/status/1307000406988521474?s=19

[Vetplant]

Good luck to them all

 

With an estimated winning time of about 55' tomorrow's time cut is +13'45".

 

Average speed of 31.6km/h would be required to finish inside the time limit. #TdF2020

 

 

https://twitter.com/laflammerouge16/status/1307000406988521474?s=19

Not a relaxing coffee ride by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Especially for the big guys needing to do the climb in a reasonable time.

[Gen]

Not a relaxing coffee ride by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Especially for the big guys needing to do the climb in a reasonable time.

Yep.. going to be tough.. but with Paris around the corner they will be very motivated.

[Vetplant]

 

Alex Dowset talking about the ITT today.

[betaboy]

Wow yesterday was a quick one... I almost got it right well half as I did have a Dane for the win... Pity for Sagan, I was rooting for him but man has he got a shadow in Sam. LOL

 

So todays dance is.. The Podium Shuffle. The TT is a rather tech one, All the talk is will there be a bike change? I for one don't think so, but am sure maybe one or two have calculated its worth a shot?

 

I have Tom Dumoulin taking this one with Pog in second and my outsider Is Porte.

 

My Questions for todays 36 last chances.....

 

Can Sepp show a last great performance in this true test?

Will Lopez surprise us all with a killer last 6km;s?

Can Ino take the KOM to Paris and salvage some Sponsor cred?

Will Tony shine once again at his fav day out?

Can Valverde stay in that top ten?

 

Enjoy the race lads...

Edited September 19, 2020 by betaboy

[Eldron]

A TT of two halves!

 

I reckon Ineos will keep the KOM - Carapaz has the luxury of "cruising" the first 3/4 then gassing it up the climb - Poggy has to gas the whole TT to protect his GC position.

 

It's gonna be a fun battle of the TTer versus Climber. The TTers have 30km to build up a lead and a 6km climb to protect that lead...I reckon the Climbers will win the day.

 

Either way - I will be glued to the TV with beer and frites!

[Vetplant]

Wow yesterday was a quick one... I almost got it right well half as I did have a Dane for the win... Pity for Sagan, I was rooting for him but man has he got a shadow in Sam. LOL

 

So todays dance is.. The Podium Shuffle. The TT is a rather tech one, All the talk is will there be a bike change? I for one don't think so, but am sure maybe one or two have calculated its worth a shot?

 

I have Tom Dumoulin taking this one with Pog in second and my outsider Is Porte.

 

My Questions for todays 36 last chances.....

 

Can Sepp show a last great performance in this true test?

Will Lopez surprise us all with a killer last 6km;s?

Can Ino take the KOM to Paris and salvage some Sponsor cred?

Will Tony shine once again at his fav day out?

Can Valverde stay in that top ten?

 

Enjoy the race lads...

John Wakefield said at UAE they did some serious assessments of the stage and they found that you can lose up to 4mins by making bad choices w.r.t. equipment and where you do the bike change. Most serious GC teams would have studied their options for the stage in detail, so it will be interesting to see whether they all then settle on the same strategy.

 

Carapaz should target the Climb for the KOM competition, so he will likely do the flat section with a comfortable pace, do the bike change to the climbing bike early and then gun the climb to secure the polka-dot.

 

Pogacar will be going for a good result on GC, so he won't be able to compete with Carapaz on the climb as he needs to gun it from the start. Very strong contender for the stage win, but will most likely end up 2nd on GC and KoM and comfortable winner of the White Jersey.

 

WvA, Tony Martin, Roglic, Domoulin will all be in with a shout of winning the stage. Like someone else said, can easily see JV taking top 3 on the stage today.

 

Who knows, maybe some dreams are shattered today within sight of Paris, will be fun to watch it unfold.

[TheoG]

With so many variables in the mix its certainly going to be a very interesting day.  Kudos to the organizers for choosing this particular stage.

 

This will show who have the best "all round" ability, not just pure TT or climbing, cant wait to see.

 

Sorry for the sprinters, they will have their day tomorrow.

[TheoG]

Valverde only have 19 sec over Caruso, hope he can hang on to that 10th spot !

[Gen]

Now I am not the biggest Chris Horner fan but found this quite good

 

https://youtu.be/EJWxt-FW7nE

[Eldron]

 

Carapaz should target the Climb for the KOM competition, so he will likely do the flat section with a comfortable pace, do the bike change to the climbing bike early and then gun the climb to secure the polka-dot.

 

 

 

A fine observation sir. A bike change when you're not worried about overall time is a genius idea!

[Eldron]

My money in on WvA today - best combo of TT and Climber I reckon (plus he is in ridiculous form).

[Gen]

Interesting day.. how many riders will also have an eye on Worlds ITT in 5 days time going into today...[emoji848]

[Chris_]

There was an ITT recently , I don't remember if it was TDF but it had a real nasty kicker at the end. Some nowhere okes rode road bikes from the start, lots changed bikes from TT to road at the base of the hill, and if I remember correctly most top GC guys hammered through on TT. So there will be a ton of data from then as well as work done for today to make hopefully the right decision.

[jimmycool]

My money in on WvA today - best combo of TT and Climber I reckon (plus he is in ridiculous form).

This is a good call. I'm going to back you on this one and also give WvA my pick.

[Eldron]

There was an ITT recently , I don't remember if it was TDF but it had a real nasty kicker at the end. Some nowhere okes rode road bikes from the start, lots changed bikes from TT to road at the base of the hill, and if I remember correctly most top GC guys hammered through on TT. So there will be a ton of data from then as well as work done for today to make hopefully the right decision.

 

JV and UAE will probably use the data from their early starters in the TT to make the final decision on bike change (if it is even feasible).

 

Both teams will have TT and Climbing bikes available for Roglic and Poggy - again - if the numbers stack up.

 

Either way - it's gonna be a cracker!