Tour de France 2021

[dsw]

2 hours ago, Chris_ said:

So who are we (Pog) looking out for long term? 

Lutsenko- He's alright but is he a proper threat? 

Latour - been looking good. 

Uran - always around but, meh

Carapaz - obv the Ineos guy, looking really good. 

Mas - I really like him but he doesn't seem to quite have it

Wilco - there or therabouts 

They're all 3 mins plus minus

I would say of the names you listed Carapaz (1) and Uran (2) are themost legitimate challengers. I would add Geraint to the list as I think  ( hope) that he is recovering and could become a thread later in the race. He is arguably also the only rider who can at least challenge Pog in the last time trial ( if he has recovered). I wont add Nibali to the list (one tour too many). 

Louis Meintjes might follow the wheels to a top 20 and with some luck to a top 15....  top 10 would probably be too far fetched?

 

[Vetplant]

5 minutes ago, DIPSLICK said:

Thoughts on leaving the tour for the Olympics ????????‍♂️

I think in the case of MvdP, it is justifiable. 

He has done his grandad and the Yellow Jersey proud. 

An opportunity for Olympic gold doesn't come by frequently at all, so he needs to take it. 

Come back next year and rip the peloton to shreds once again.

['Dale]

It's still week 1, just saying. It's a looong way to Paris. 

Edited July 3, 2021 by 'Dale

[Chris_]

30 minutes ago, DIPSLICK said:

Thoughts on leaving the tour for the Olympics ????????‍♂️

I think you should have planned your life better. If you want olympics, which is awesome, go there. If you want TdF, ride it, all of it. 

Disagree with with Jewbaccas awesomeness of coming to a GT, dropping a bomb, ruining the lists, and then popping off. In that case teams will start bringing in a couple single-use specialists with the sole intention to break up sprints, mountains, or detract from the long game. 

I think the point of a GT is being able to tactically measure your dropping of bombs while knowing you still have x thousand kms to ride afterwards. (suppose to some degree I disagree with sprinters heading home as soon as the road heads for the sky too then) 

That's my initial reaction anyway ????????‍♂️. I love what MvdP et al have brought but I would like him to have to see it out too. 

[porqui]

What happened to Nic yesterday?

 

(moved from 138 to 134)

Edited July 3, 2021 by porqui

[Jewbacca]

34 minutes ago, Chris_ said:

I think you should have planned your life better. If you want olympics, which is awesome, go there. If you want TdF, ride it, all of it. 

Disagree with with Jewbaccas awesomeness of coming to a GT, dropping a bomb, ruining the lists, and then popping off. In that case teams will start bringing in a couple single-use specialists with the sole intention to break up sprints, mountains, or detract from the long game. 

I think the point of a GT is being able to tactically measure your dropping of bombs while knowing you still have x thousand kms to ride afterwards. (suppose to some degree I disagree with sprinters heading home as soon as the road heads for the sky too then) 

That's my initial reaction anyway ????????‍♂️. I love what MvdP et al have brought but I would like him to have to see it out too. 

I think he will give it a full go next year.

It's his 1st GT and it's his 2nd year racing road bikes 'semi full time'. His 1st GT just happened to fall in an 'Olympic year' as the Olympics were meant to happen last year.

His planning had always been to race the Classics last year, some XCO then smash the Olympics and then attack the green jersey this year as a 'full time' pro.

He has had to be fluid with his plans and we should all accept that.

His actions at the tour haven't really affected the GC 3 week effort as you put it. Things will level out. It's no different to Vinokourov or the general game plan of T-Mobile from their pink days when Linus Gerderman went up the road and claimed yellow. 

I think he has set up a riveting 2 weeks

[DIPSLICK]

Tuff one today

[Underachiever]

Although I would love for MvdP to keep yellow today, I think I'm going to shout for WvA.  He deserves the yellow after his super ride last year.. and to keep the jersey in the Crossers camp

[Chris_]

1 sec in and people are crumbling already. Froome outta here, couple UAE chaps, tired. 

[DJuice]

Louis at the front trying to brigde.

[Chris_]

De Bod! Go boy! 

[Chris_]

Wouldn't mind seeing Kuss and Woods get down the road

[Jewbacca]

Zakarin would definitely have crashed by now in these wet, fast conditions!

I cringe every time they go over that dotted line with the bike leaned over

[Chris_]

3 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

Zakarin would definitely have crashed by now in these wet, fast conditions!

I cringe every time they go over that dotted line with the bike leaned over

I hope the second half of the stage is dry. This is already knyp level 100

[Chris_]

Oooooo I like these moves wout! 

[Chris_]

The autobus today will have more pedigree than whole tours of the past