Tour de France 2021

[Vetplant]

1 minute ago, J Wakefield said:

 

Team is all in for Tadej, there is no personal ambitions, results etc other than support for Tadej.. 

 

Good move????. Going to be a big fight. Sad for Ulissi though. but he will get his opportunities.

With this now known, I would suspect JV will do the same and won't allow WvA to go hunting for stage wins. But I think that will be a mistake on their part. He is at the top of his game and they need to allow him to go for the uphill sprint wins. At least that way they have something to show for their efforts when Tadej wins his 2nd TDF title in a couple of weeks time. 

 

[Long Wheel Base]

52 minutes ago, Vetplant said:

Good move????. Going to be a big fight. Sad for Ulissi though. but he will get his opportunities.

With this now known, I would suspect JV will do the same and won't allow WvA to go hunting for stage wins. But I think that will be a mistake on their part. He is at the top of his game and they need to allow him to go for the uphill sprint wins. At least that way they have something to show for their efforts when Tadej wins his 2nd TDF title in a couple of weeks time. 

 

I wonder how Wout's recent medical issue will have affected him?

[Vetplant]

1 minute ago, Long Wheel Base said:

I wonder how Wout's recent medical issue will have affected him?

Anyone's guess...?

I'm thinking he will be better off without that unnecessary weight

No official word yet, so I'm thinking that if he can pedal a bike, they will have him on the provisional start list. They will leave the call as late as possible.

[Vetplant]

1 minute ago, Vetplant said:

Anyone's guess...?

I'm thinking he will be better off without that unnecessary weight

No official word yet, so I'm thinking that if he can pedal a bike, they will have him on the provisional start list. They will leave the call as late as possible.

https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-de-france/2021/startlist

[Long Wheel Base]

Just now, Vetplant said:

Anyone's guess...?

I'm thinking he will be better off without that unnecessary weight

No official word yet, so I'm thinking that if he can pedal a bike, they will have him on the provisional start list. They will leave the call as late as possible.

Reminds me of a mate of mine. Fell off his motorbike, luckily it wasn't too serious and worst damage to his body was his right pinky which broke. It wasn't the same afterwards though and it sat a bit skew, ok it was very skew. Now he played more golf than cycled but the broken finger messed with his golf swing. So much so that he had the thing removed!!!!! We laughed and said maybe now he will be a better cyclist as he is lighter. Well it didn't help with the cycling but his golf got better again apparently(I don't play so take his word for it).

I hope Wout can be back to his best for the tour. He is a serious asset, even when he decides to sprint for the win after protecting Roglic all day.

UAE vs JV vs IG is going to be a good battle this year. 

[Vetplant]

2 minutes ago, Long Wheel Base said:

UAE vs JV vs IG is going to be a good battle this year. 

????

[TheoG]

I'm all for Roglic redeeming himself after last years disasterous ITT ...  

[lechatnoir]

1 hour ago, Vetplant said:

Good move????. Going to be a big fight. Sad for Ulissi though. but he will get his opportunities.

With this now known, I would suspect JV will do the same and won't allow WvA to go hunting for stage wins. But I think that will be a mistake on their part. He is at the top of his game and they need to allow him to go for the uphill sprint wins. At least that way they have something to show for their efforts when Tadej wins his 2nd TDF title in a couple of weeks time. 

 

So much needs to go right and so little can go wrong with the tight margins these days. It really is a perfect planetary alignment that's needed. One mechanical, a dropped bidon, a carelessly discarded musette or a +ve covid test and winning chances can go bye-bye. And that's why we're going to watch and speculate (probably incorrectly) each day. isn't it fun?!?

[Vetplant]

1 minute ago, lechatnoir said:

So much needs to go right and so little can go wrong with the tight margins these days. It really is a perfect planetary alignment that's needed. One mechanical, a dropped bidon, a carelessly discarded musette or a +ve covid test and winning chances can go bye-bye. And that's why we're going to watch and speculate (probably incorrectly) each day. isn't it fun?!?

That is why we love sport! The unpredictability of it.

(And yet, it is human nature to try and get the prediction right)

[Jewbacca]

2 hours ago, Vetplant said:

Good move????. Going to be a big fight. Sad for Ulissi though. but he will get his opportunities.

With this now known, I would suspect JV will do the same and won't allow WvA to go hunting for stage wins. But I think that will be a mistake on their part. He is at the top of his game and they need to allow him to go for the uphill sprint wins. At least that way they have something to show for their efforts when Tadej wins his 2nd TDF title in a couple of weeks time. 

 

WvA has already categorically stated that he is there to work for Roglic and not for stage wins, grenn jersey points and and and....

What we have seen though is that if he gets PR into the last 3km and feels he has the legs AND the race schedule plays ball, he is given license to sprint.

No matter what we as fans would like to see, Jumbo and WvA have their own plans and have made no bones about it.

 

[Gen]

Aaand teams are starting to confirm their squads for TDF

 

Article will explain selections and goals. 

 

 

['Dale]

Is Sagz Baby aiming for maillot vert? ????

[Vetplant]

14 minutes ago, 'Dale said:

Is Sagz Baby aiming for maillot vert? ????

Guess it depends whether DQS will go for it with Sam Bennett.

[Gen]

13 minutes ago, Vetplant said:

Guess it depends whether DQS will go for it with Sam Bennett.

Sam's participation according to old man Pat (so take it with a pinch of salt) is in doubt due to a nagging knee injury. 

[Vetplant]

1 minute ago, Gen said:

Sam's participation according to old man Pat (so take it with a pinch of salt) is in doubt due to a nagging knee injury. 

Interesting...

So Cav is a decent backup-option for DQS. He will contest for sprint wins, but will most likely not be able to pick up points in the hilly stages..

That makes life much easier for Sagan to contest for Green. Bennett really had his number last year. Without Bennett there, he should have a decent chance of taking it once more.

 

[Gen]

1 minute ago, Vetplant said:

Interesting...

So Cav is a decent backup-option for DQS. He will contest for sprint wins, but will most likely not be able to pick up points in the hilly stages..

That makes life much easier for Sagan to contest for Green. Bennett really had his number last year. Without Bennett there, he should have a decent chance of taking it once more.

 

As long as Morkov is lead-out man any DQS Sprinter stands a good chance of winning.. 

 

I think realistically MVDP will be the biggest threat in the Green Jersey competition.. If he decided to go for it.