burnthesheep wrote:
I think it proved there isn't a good reason either way for or against disc brakes. They work, they're effective, but they aren't necessarily so important that you can't win Le Tour without them. In other words, disc brakes are NOT the game changer that Lemond's aerobars and kit were. Not in the least. I think it did show some hurdles to address though, like wheel changes.
I disagree to dome extent. As far as stages go I agree, but for GC I think rim brakes offer a small advantage. Pogacar had a few punctures at pressure points in the race but his rim brake wheel changes were much slicker than the changes we saw with disc brakes even with power tools to remove the thru-axel. Porte was lucky that the GC group went into stalemate and that he adventually got some pulls from the Jumbo riders otherwise he might not have had his podium moment. If he was on rim brakes he could have had a mavic wheel and got back on much sooner.
Under pressure there seemed to be some horribly slow disc wheel changes to the point if possible a bike changes is often the go to. The different axel setups mean neutral service have to use an unwieldy looking tool to cover all likely hex sizes.