Good analysis. Few teams have been able to buy a Grand Tour winner (though they pay some riders like they will be). More often than not, it doesn't work out - Porte, Landa, etc.

IMO Porte doesn't have much confidence in Porte at this time; yet, he's probably happy that he got paid more for those years.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

My take is that Ineos are saving their matches for 3rd week (Poels quite often is held back in first week of a GT), plus the pace on Thursday just wasn't that high, as evidenced by the break staying clear and the main pack still being pretty big right up until near the end. Things will unfold very differently when they hit the high mountains and the long climbs at the end of next week, and I'm sure we'll see the Ineos train putting the hurt on everybody up Tourmalet next Saturday.

IMO EF does not ride well. Two to three riders here and there. It's one of the most undisciplined teams that I notice out there. It's like Uran rides the wheel of other teams rather than his own team.

Even the continental teams seem to take what they are doing with more seriousness/thought than the haphazard way that EF team operates. One of the characteristics of the better teams is that the riders know what they're supposed to do as a team riding together and they do it or else. I just don't see EF riding like a team protecting themselves throughout a race.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

Fair points. Let me specify my comment though; Woods and Uran rode well. I will agree that over the past few years it seems like their team is scattered across the peloton.

It's interesting to listen to Brailsford this week talking about the psychological and pressure aspects of being a leader at a major event like the Tour. I think it's something that's hugely underestimated by fans, and a bit by other teams as well. How often have we seen people saying about a super-domestique "it's not fair that X has to ride to support Y, he should move to another team to be leader", and then when that happens the results are underwhelming? It's happened multiple times with Sky riders - Uran, Porte, Landa all looked like awesome potential GT winners when riding in support of Froome, and none have won anything big since leaving (to be fair to Uran he's at least come 2nd). The only Sky super-domestiques that have actually gone on to win a GT AFAIK are the 2 that stayed - Froome himself and Thomas.

Super-domestiques don't have to take a lead role in the team off the road, they can afford to have off days, they don't have to deal with as many journalist demands, interviews, speculation about whether they're doping, etc. They can just get on with riding their bikes. Ineos seem to be better than most at identifying riders who have the whole package to win a GT and not just the physiological capabilities. Maybe they're better at developing them as well - certainly they seem to get the most out of all their riders on technical aspects like TTing, a lot of ex-Sky riders have regressed in the TT after leaving. At one point Brailsford was saying his next challenge might be to produce a French TdF winner (this might have been tongue in cheek to wind up the French, might also have been before he signed Bernal on such a long term deal), would certainly be fascinating to see how the likes of Bardet, Pinot and Barguil would perform in a Sky set-up, or whether they could convert LFF to being a GC guy.

speaking of the lesser teams....Poor Griepel has fallen off a cliff. In the sprint stages he isnt even getting to the front let alone contesting. Is this due to his form or age? lack of lead out train? both?
I like the gorilla, but its surely his last year this year. The old guard of him, Kittel, Cav...father time waits for noone

Sagan is often on his own when there’s no action. And Nibali. That teams completely stick together for 200k is sort of laughable.

Sagan, Matthews and Colbrelli today? Looks like Bora and Sunweb are controlling break

Like trying to put on a rain jacket - at speed - on a TT bike while on a course recon, and running into a house?

'Dude, the clock's not running; take a break & stop for that'





As is the latest story about how Froome crashed, vs the original "reached up to blow his nose while in a tuck, and the wind got him"

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Well, I didn't say that CF was blameless in his recent crash. And, sure, sometimes sh!t just happens. But TJVG was finally in a position, seemingly, to have a successful TdF. It also seems to me that a successful TdF this year is really important to TJVG's career. I guess that, with so much on the line and enough experience to know how to stay out of trouble, his crash is disappointing. AFAIK, no other rider, including 1st time GT riders and others with far less gravitas, whacked themselves on that obstacle...

That putting on the rain jacket move, I don't know how many times I have done it with no clock running while in motion on the TT bike and every time I do it I swear, "This is so stupid, I should just stop get off and put the silly rain jacket on".....but every time I go out of the next ride and the rain starts, I repeat this totally high risk move (your arms trapped in a jacket that is partially on while riding no hands on a TT bike and hitting a crack, rock, or wind gust). Part of the theory is to be able to practice puttting on and off clothing while in motion in training so that when you do it in racing, its automatic and you've reduced the risk of doing it in racing by making it automatic in training and for these guys its pretty second nature as they are doing it many times in each stage race albeit on a road bike.

I'm disappointed that we're not seeing Froome and Dumoulin. I'll probably spend most of the weekend watching Serena and Federer when I am not training since the rest of this TdF so far is mainly a GC snoozer (as we would expect in week1....Giro and Vuelta are way more fun in week 1). I wish they would mix up the format and maybe have a few mountain stages right at stage 2 and 3 when everyone has some fresh leg firepower....then do a bunch of flat and rolling stages and "saw teeth stages" in the Vosges/Jura/Massif Central.....throw in a Ventoux stage and TT week 2 and then pack a ton of mountain stages every day in the final week. (oh wait, that's more like we get in the Giro with stuff like Etna early in week 1 and then Dolomites/Alpes in week 3).

 


there are very close to zero race situations where one puts on a rain cape while riding a tt bike.

Wait, what is the latest story?

After giving up 8 minutes the day before? (clearly not by choice or plan)

I’m sitting on a plane and can’t get live video. This is weekend hardship.

They're doing well now. Student body to the front. I'd guess trying to keep Sagan and Matthews in trouble, and maybe set something up for Bettiol or Clarke.

Edit: And just when I try to support EF, Woods stacks up the entire plastics posse.

:08 time bonus at top of final climb, Alaphilippe is down :06.

Pinarello broken in two pices ~15km to go,... sad sight.

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Don't stop when you're tired. Stop when you're done.

- D. Goggins

Kind of weird...didn't seem like a high energy crash.

How has to you think Alaphilippe wants this one? Only :01 out of yellow now.

Pinot on attack will help Sagan and Matthews, GC guys can’t let that go.

This is just good bike racing. DeGendt being an absolute hardman. The French hopes taking risks and working together.

De Gendt is a badass, Wellens too. Bare knuckle brawler bike racers.

they are old school bad asses. anyone remember their trip from Lombardy back to Belgium by bike last fall?

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i wanted to catch a bit of the stage (suppose to end ~11:30 EDT), so i woke up ~10:30, only to find the stage finished. Then i remembered that i'm on central time now. grr

at least this is on Eurosport on demand

Or stage 1 of Catalunya this March. Different class in the peloton of course, but he is a monster.

Looking at top 10, still shaping up for an exciting run over next two weeks for the 2nd/3rd podium spots.

The “final breakaway” or something like that. Love seeing that stuff, shows how much they simply like to ride their bikes.

Thought you might have abandon this thread, welcome back.