I don't think the Giro or Vuelta suit GT well. Just too steep and nasty, but if Dumoulin can do it, I suppose GT can too. There was very little ITT'ing this year at the TdF. Throw in a 52 km TT and he likely creates enough of a gap where Bernal rides for him and never attacks, and wins his second straight TdF. If I'm Ineos, I send Thomas back to the TdF as a co-leader. He's proven that he can both be a good teammate, or a very solid plan B.

More kudos to Alaphilippe. I seriously doubted him, but he proved me wrong. Serious guts and he would be dangerous if he trained for GC. Sit in till the final 1 km and attack the summit, or better yet sit in and attack the final 1 km of a hill just before a downhill finish. Part of me thinks this was the perfect storm though, and he'll go back to classics, stage hunting, etc. I won't say he can't compete for the GC if he wanted to though...LOL.

Let's all agree that the Polka Dot jersey is not the best climber's competition just like the Green jersey is not the best sprinter's competition. Both are just points competitions. Nothing less or more.

Going back to the Vuelta though. Stages that will bring riders to their knees as usual. Supposedly Yates (defending champ), Carapaz, Quintana, Valverde, Roglic, Majka, and Lopez are all in. Will we see another disfunctional Movistar team who doesn't want to ride for a someone jumping ship next year (Carapaz)? Wondering if Roglic will bounce back. Lots of opportunities to burn matches in week 1/2 and implode in week 3.

Let's all agree that the Polka Dot jersey is not the best climber's competition just like the Green jersey is not the best sprinter's competition. Both are just points competitions. Nothing less or more.

I think we're all tripping over ourselves about Bernal, but if the ASO built a course for Dumoulin with 56km of ITTing rather than for Bardet then rather than Bernal winning, suddenly Thomas is winning again and we're talking about the future of Bernal as we were last year and whether Thomas is team captain or Froome is next year. I bet you this is what Thomas is thinking and rightfully so. Plus if on Iseran if it is not shortened, then Thomas sits in with the chasers and bridges up to Bernal on Tignes after dropping everyone else. Thomas ends up in yellow, Bernal is super domestique. Both on podium but the other way around.

You have to think who is happier after this years tour Landa, Uran or someone else in places 5-10 or Simon Yates and Nibs. Maybe not the best example since they’ve both won GTs. But what’s better for a sponsor/rider a top 10 or a stage win?

Definitely looking forward to Worlds, can’t wait to see MVP back on a road bike.

Stage wins. You're a winner. Quintana's stage win was more valuable than his top ten placing. See Landa or Valverde or Uran. DeGent impressed more with his stage win. Same for Wout Van Aert.

Caleb's three stage wins right up there with the green jersey. Caleb might be a future green jersey holder or could Alaphillipe start going for those points?