Tour de France 2021

[Chris_]

If you're #1 in your team, I'm not sure what the conversation will be in the busses tonight.

Pog's form is looking pretty ominous for the tour. I know its early days still but that was mad.

[TheoG]

Maybe a bit early to open my trap, but Pogacar look pretty unbeatable at the moment.

[Mountain Bru]

1 minute ago, Chris_ said:

If you're #1 in your team, I'm not sure what the conversation will be in the busses tonight.

Pog's form is looking pretty ominous for the tour. I know its early days still but that was mad.

You've gotta wonder how much all the crashes effected today. Like would Roglic have been closer if he hadn't crashed. Would Gee have been more competitive? That might cause things to change a bit over the next 2 weeks if guys recover a bit. 

What's also different this year to last year is teams having multiple contenders in good positions. TJV and Ineos have stronger teams than UAE, and TJV have multiple contenders in the mix, so their plan will have to be to isolate Pogacar, and then attack with Vingegaard and WVA while Rogla marks him. They're good enough to win, so he has to chase them, but he can't cover attacks from 3 different riders. I would say that's their best hope of taking back time on him.

And if there's a hint of crosswinds, expect absolute chaos. He lost time in the cross-winds last year. If there's a chance of cross winds, Ineos and TJV will throw the kitchen sink at trying to gap him again. 

[Vetplant]

Well, this sets it up for attacking racing from the other Gc teams. He's going to nail them in the last TT too. They need to get time back. 

[babse]

there will be a twist (i hope) but poggie is likely to get stronger through the tour

[Frosty]

It’s a bit hard to attack when everyone is close to, or over, their limit. INeos can’t do the 6W/Kg thingy up the climbs, and expect to drop everyone. TP will just sit their wheel. He’s in prime position currently.

There needs to be attack, after attack, on the easier bits by more than one team. 

[Jewbacca]

13 minutes ago, Mountain Bru said:

You've gotta wonder how much all the crashes effected today. Like would Roglic have been closer if he hadn't crashed. Would Gee have been more competitive? That might cause things to change a bit over the next 2 weeks if guys recover a bit. 

What's also different this year to last year is teams having multiple contenders in good positions. TJV and Ineos have stronger teams than UAE, and TJV have multiple contenders in the mix, so their plan will have to be to isolate Pogacar, and then attack with Vingegaard and WVA while Rogla marks him. They're good enough to win, so he has to chase them, but he can't cover attacks from 3 different riders. I would say that's their best hope of taking back time on him.

And if there's a hint of crosswinds, expect absolute chaos. He lost time in the cross-winds last year. If there's a chance of cross winds, Ineos and TJV will throw the kitchen sink at trying to gap him again. 

 

The Ineos leaders are going to need a super strong team to attack in the mountains. 

Re the crashes, I think it's safe to say that the crashes have definitely affected the performance. Be it physical pain and/or mental stress and nerves, which has a massive effect on performance.

On another note, is Jonas Vingegaard related to Michael Rasmussen?

[DieselnDust]

50 minutes ago, babse said:

there will be a twist (i hope) but poggie is likely to get stronger through the tour

let hope there's a twist just to keep the race alive. Last years edition was riveting. Roglic actually did pretty well to limit time loss today. I thought he would be over 2min down after the TT but he held it nicely considering his injuries. Glad I selected the Pog to win as that was nice points haul on the Tissot fantasy game.

Roglic has cards to play. He can take the race to UAE and Pog but he won't be in a position to do this until end of next week once he recovers from injuries. Everything now is damage limitation. Or he can let the others take the race to Pog and stay on the wheels. If he can climb with Carapaz he has a chance but he has to stay there. Carapaz is the only likely challenger now until/unless Roglic can get back in the game. TJV tactics hasn't been as sharp this year so they better get the wet stones out

Edited June 30, 2021 by DieselnDust

[The Ghost]

49 minutes ago, TheoG said:

Maybe a bit early to open my trap, but Pogacar look pretty unbeatable at the moment.

Seems like it’s done for the win, barring any unforeseen oddities.

Thought Pogacar would win it, but not like this. Great for UAE, not great for viewing. 
 

[Vetplant]

15 minutes ago, The Ghost said:

Seems like it’s done for the win, barring any unforeseen oddities.

Thought Pogacar would win it, but not like this. Great for UAE, not great for viewing. 
 

Anything can happen. 

One day of Crosswinds and Pog can lose minutes. 

I think we are still in for a stormer! 

[lechatnoir]

37 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

 

The Ineos leaders are going to need a super strong team to attack in the mountains. 

Re the crashes, I think it's safe to say that the crashes have definitely affected the performance. Be it physical pain and/or mental stress and nerves, which has a massive effect on performance.

On another note, is Jonas Vingegaard related to Michael Rasmussen?

Ineos? Attack? In a parallel universe perhaps, but not this one

['Dale]

Year 2032. Evenepoel and Pogacar each won 6 Tours now. Van der Poel will be competing in 17 disciplines at the olympics, aiming at 17 medals. Van Aert won Paris-Roubaix for the 7th time. Valverde announced that he will continue for another year as he doesn’t feel his age yet.

@DeGendtThomas

[Knersboy]

Hmmm…

[DJuice]

Only watch the highlights now, VDP had to work hard to keep the yellow. Have not seen him spent like that before.

The Pog bearly breaking a sweat.

[Jewbacca]

1 hour ago, lechatnoir said:

Ineos? Attack? In a parallel universe perhaps, but not this one

Well, If you've watched them winning grand tours and stage races in the last year attacking attacking attacking then well, yeah.......

They have been the most aggressive team over the last year, ripping races wide open.

I can only hope they continue racing in that same vein

[Wayne pudding Mol]

7 hours ago, Patchelicious said:

And if he doesn’t you do. 
Deal! 

Done ✔️