Critérium du Dauphiné 2020

[Gen]

Brilliant just Brilliant..goosebumps

 

Well done Formolo

['Dale]

Davide, with his low cadence high torque pedalling style. Eina, my kniekoppe. With a courageous 60 km solo attack on a mountaineous parcourse and then to win with the Italian national jersey on his back... Chapeau! It must be his biggest day as a PRO. Just love it when the break wins, hey. 

 

Sweet memories from sweet Madeleine:

 

Edited August 14, 2020 by 'Dale

[Pure Savage]

I have always liked Davide Formolo, from EF days.

 

Called it

[Thomo]

Davide, with his low cadence high torque pedalling style.

 

There were a couple of times during the last half hour or so when I wasn't sure whether it was high torque or grinding to a halt.

As spectators I think we're always cheering for the breakaway irrespective of who it is.

Good for him for holding on.! Well done.!!

[Vetplant]

Congratulations on the win Mr Wakefield.

 

Glad to see the Pogfather up with the main group today as well.

[Trackz]

Best move for Froomey IMHO will be to pull the plug on the TDF now and shift focus to the Vuelta, better chance for a GC podium there if he shifts his programme now.

 

I think Carapaz was given the Giro leadership, so no sense in Froomey going there.

 

And just want to reaffirm what others have said: Froome has done a remarkable recovery after that terrible accident to be where he is already.

 

Smart call. As much as it hurts to say, there's nothing for Froome to gain in this TDF and on current form he can't contribute much to the team either. Said with the greatest of admiration and respect. No ways Froome will drop time like he did last two weeks if he had the ability to fight up front, never. He won races leading up to TDF on all his wins. never mind do domestic duties and dropping off.

 

Apart from that, there's something missing in this Ineos team, no sign of the cohesion from the past and "sacrificing themselves for the team leader". Even today, Sivakov rode off into the distance without Bernal, never seen that with Ineos/Sky before, leaving a leader behind. Ineos have not rallied behind Bernal the way they have rallied around other leaders in the past and he can't win TDF without the team behind him.

 

TDF is 2 weeks away, what we're seeing is what they got. No time for games any longer, these races are to build team confidence and tweak riding roles, to gain authority in the peloton. Ineos have problems and it's really painful to watch. Would be delighted if they prove me wrong.

Edited August 14, 2020 by Trackz

[Jewbacca]

Smart call. As much as it hurts to say, there's nothing for Froome to gain in this TDF and on current form he can't contribute much to the team either. Said with the greatest of admiration and respect. No ways Froome will drop time like he did last two weeks if he had the ability to fight up front, never. He won races leading up to TDF on all his wins. never mind do domestic duties and dropping off.

 

Apart from that, there's something missing in this Ineos team, no sign of the cohesion from the past and "sacrificing themselves for the team leader". Even today, Sivakov rode off into the distance without Bernal, never seen that with Ineos/Sky before, leaving a leader behind. Ineos have not rallied behind Bernal the way they have rallied around other leaders in the past and he can't win TDF without the team behind him.

 

TDF is 2 weeks away, what we're seeing is what they got. No time for games any longer, these races are to build team confidence and tweak riding roles, to gain authority in the peloton. Ineos have problems and it's really painful to watch. Would be delighted if they prove me wrong.

While I agree, the Springboks fooled the entire world at the world cup last year by playing boring, 1 dimensional rugby and then destroying England with ball in hand, multi phase front foot ball in the 1st 25 minutes of the final.

 

Bigger bluffs have been played! hahaha

 

I for one would be happy to see the end of Sky/Ineos domination. For no other reason that it would be great to see Lances influence on racing fall away from the peleton.

[Knersboy]

Smart call. As much as it hurts to say, there's nothing for Froome to gain in this TDF and on current form he can't contribute much to the team either. Said with the greatest of admiration and respect. No ways Froome will drop time like he did last two weeks if he had the ability to fight up front, never. He won races leading up to TDF on all his wins. never mind do domestic duties and dropping off.

 

Apart from that, there's something missing in this Ineos team, no sign of the cohesion from the past and "sacrificing themselves for the team leader". Even today, Sivakov rode off into the distance without Bernal, never seen that with Ineos/Sky before, leaving a leader behind. Ineos have not rallied behind Bernal the way they have rallied around other leaders in the past and he can't win TDF without the team behind him.

 

TDF is 2 weeks away, what we're seeing is what they got. No time for games any longer, these races are to build team confidence and tweak riding roles, to gain authority in the peloton. Ineos have problems and it's really painful to watch. Would be delighted if they prove me wrong.

Ineos definitely don’t look their normal selves do they? Regarding cohesion, well there have been a few occasions with this team where there were issues. Froome rode away from Wiggins at the Tour and the Vuelta if I remember correctly, and Landa did something similar to Froome. Bound to happen with such strong riders on the same team.

 

Honestly today I think Sivakov thought he was leading Bernal out, only for Bernal not to have the legs. Given there were only a few hundred meters left, I doubt Sivakov falling back would have saved Bernal even a second.

 

I will be disappointed if Froome doesn’t ride the tour, but I see the logic of targeting the Vuelta. I don’t watch bike racing for logic though.

Edited August 14, 2020 by Knersboy

[Eldron]

Much as I like the Ineos set up - their dominance did dampen the excitement.

 

It would suck if Jumbo just replaced them though. I'd love to see a IneosJumbo tooth and nail scrap at the TdF. Some huge names in both teams!

 

On paper Ineos should dominate but the road is Jumbo's at the moment. I also reckon Ineos are doing a little bluffing at the moment...

[Wayne pudding Mol]

Big training block bluff

 

Or a team in crises

 

Either way we win

[Jase619]

Patience we haven't even had RvV,P.R ,TdF or Giro. Season still a pup

Was actually referring to not have to listen to Liverpool fans and glory seekers that now own Liverpool shirts anymore haha

[eddy]

Was actually referring to not have to listen to Liverpool fans and glory seekers that now own Liverpool shirts anymore haha

I believe a guy got pissed at a pub-quiz in Liverpool and answered every question as either The Beatles or Steven Gerrard.

 

He came second....

[J Wakefield]

Best move for Froomey IMHO will be to pull the plug on the TDF now and shift focus to the Vuelta, better chance for a GC podium there if he shifts his programme now.

 

I think Carapaz was given the Giro leadership, so no sense in Froomey going there.

 

And just want to reaffirm what others have said: Froome has done a remarkable recovery after that terrible accident to be where he is already.

He won’t go to the Tour this year. Agree with the Vuelta focus and go for top 5.

[DieselnDust]

I don't think Ineos is bluffing. No way they're bluffing. 

Why would they? Their tactics has always been to use the Dauphine to strike a psychological blow to the opposition and then dominate week 1 &2 of the tour and defend in week 3. That script is pooh now.

 

Where they have won the Dauphine they have dominated Le Tour. 

When tehy did not dominate the Dauphine they the years they won Le Tour their rivals imploded. This year they don't look to have the form nor the time to find that form in time for their usual strategy to work.

No one gets stronger during the tour. You can only be less tired than your rivals. 

 

I hope Jumbo don't try to dominate Le tour from week1. Rather let Alaphillipe wear Yellow till week 3

[dsw]

Was actually referring to not have to listen to Liverpool fans and glory seekers that now own Liverpool shirts anymore haha

 

That is how it goes in football and sport in general. The supporters of teams who have not won anything are always in a such a hurry for the next season to start  

[Mountain Bru]

Ineos' performance is so strange for a team with their strength. When have we ever seen Sky/Ineos leader be consistently isolated day after day. Either their team is imploding, or they're up to something strategic. But I find it hard to believe that Kwaito, Thomas and Froome are just getting dropped by Jumbo everyday when loads of other riders are still able to hold their wheels.

All the focus is on Froome's performance, but Thomas hasn't really looked that strong either, or the rest of the team for that matter. Even Bernal seems uncharacteristically off the pace. 

I wouldn't be surprised if they're on a completely different preparation program for the tour than most other teams, and thats why their performance is off now. Referring back to previous year's results and strategies is bit irrelevant when you consider how massively different this year's race calendar is and the fact that none of the riders have been able to train and prepare as normal. It almost seems illogical to follow the strategy from previous years when everything has been completely changed by covid and lockdowns etc.