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Post by teenagefanclub on Jun 30, 2022 17:43:30 GMT
Can anyone see any surprises or will it be (an exciting non the less) battle for the yellow jersey between Pogačar and Roglic ?
Really looking forward to this years race, some great climbs over the next few weeks.
And Orla presenting as well.
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Post by salopstick on Jun 30, 2022 18:48:04 GMT
Can’t wait.
Would have loved Cav to go but Jacobsen is in better form and deserves his place
Ineos have a very decent team
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Post by deeside2 on Jun 30, 2022 19:57:42 GMT
Can't really see beyond Pogacar or Roglic with Vingegaard lurking if the other two make a mistake by marking each other. Martinez might get fourth for Ineos but I cant see Thomas making a serious challenge.
I reckon WVA to take green, Ewan or Jakobsen to be top sprinter, and Ganna to win stage 1. KOM probably Pogacar, or Vingegaard, or maybe even Bardet although I doubt it.
Really looking forward to the return of the iconic Alpe d'Huez. Bastille Day as well - how about Thibaut Pinot to spring a (big) surprise win ?
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Post by salopstick on Jun 30, 2022 20:37:24 GMT
Sweepstake? Which stage will G crash on. I’m going 8
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Post by teenagefanclub on Jun 30, 2022 20:46:02 GMT
3rd stage and his white oakley’s won’t make it
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Post by stokeuk474 on Jun 30, 2022 21:49:01 GMT
Sweepstake? Which stage will G crash on. I’m going 8 Haha, it's normally in the first week so I'll go for the cobbled stage. I think he'll be jostling for position up near the front with the GC guys and come off. Always look forward to the Tour, and I am this year, but can't help think how predictable it will most likely be. One thing I would like to see this year, is some wind that splits the peloton to pieces, makes for great racing
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Post by Bod on Jun 30, 2022 23:09:48 GMT
I’m less interested in the overall classification (unless something untoward happens and Pogacar ships a load of time on the ‘Roubaix’’ stage due to a mechanical or crash) and more invested in what batshit stuff MVDP will do. Sprints should be between WVA and Jakobsen and perhaps Ewan. Groenewegen can’t climb over a railway bridge at the best of times, so can see teams trying to put him under pressure on the tougher days (with climbs midway through the stage) which would have been traditional sprint finishes. Jakobsen isn’t exactly brilliant when the road rises either and teams are definitely more willing to animate races from further out than accept the formulaic idea that the sprinters will get back on on the descents so why bother trying to distance them. Thomas will crash on stage 4* after taking a comfort break and somehow managing to fall off and hit a cow.
* 4 is a placeholder, as any number between 1 and 21 will suffice!
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Post by teenagefanclub on Jul 1, 2022 17:23:41 GMT
Gutted that Julian Alaphilippe is riding this years Tour, I really like him as a rider and adds something to any race he is part of.
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Post by teenagefanclub on Jul 1, 2022 17:30:59 GMT
And Orla is bossing it today in yellow, wowzers!!!
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Post by Bod on Jul 1, 2022 22:26:27 GMT
Disappointed that Lampaert took yellow after what he did to Wellens at the Tour of Belgium, the shithouse. Hopefully he loses it tomorrow to WVA. Sketchy racing conditions today but everyone escaped unscathed (largely.) Thomas wants fucking for racing in a gilet! All that talk of marginal gains and he forgets to take it off. That’s proper low rent stuff.
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Post by teenagefanclub on Jul 2, 2022 10:25:34 GMT
2 great interviews though, one from G and a massively emotional one from Yves Lampaert.
Pot of coffee on and GCN on for the rest of the day.
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Post by marylandstoke on Jul 2, 2022 11:39:59 GMT
This Orla of whom you speak?
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Post by Bod on Jul 2, 2022 20:10:24 GMT
Pretty standard opening road stage. Fastest guy wins, massive crowds, a doomed breakaway, and assorted crashes but with the caveat that everyone was seemingly awarded the same finish time regardless of where they had crashed, which makes a mockery of the 3km rule. Winners of the day - Jakobsen, Cort, WVA Losers - Ewan, B + B Hotels for having two men in a break of four and both of them getting dropped.
Thomas watch = two stages and no crashes. He’s playing it coy this year and teasing us. We’ll think all is well and then he’ll stack it into a hot dog van.
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Post by Bod on Jul 2, 2022 21:57:31 GMT
Stage 3 should be another sprint finish. 3 categorised (cat 4) climbs on the route, so logically Cort should try to get himself in the break again, but as the first of them is after only 27km the break may not have been allowed to form by then. One intermediate sprint only, but the break should take care of that. The finish has what looks like a pretty tight left turn at 800m to go, so if you lose the wheel there, you’re out of it, but the finish seems to be pan flat and arrow straight. In a pure sprint, Jakobsen should take it, but TDF sprints always bring out the (even bigger) nutcase element in the sprinters so they will take more risks than usual. Someone will probably end up in the barriers or on the deck.
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Post by Bod on Jul 3, 2022 11:54:08 GMT
Been watching since the mid-80’s and never seen crowds like this. Mental.
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Post by marylandstoke on Jul 3, 2022 12:41:12 GMT
Turned it on yesterday and the first flag I saw was a cross of St George.
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Post by salopstick on Jul 3, 2022 12:58:45 GMT
Stage 3 should be another sprint finish. 3 categorised (cat 4) climbs on the route, so logically Cort should try to get himself in the break again, but as the first of them is after only 27km the break may not have been allowed to form by then. One intermediate sprint only, but the break should take care of that. The finish has what looks like a pretty tight left turn at 800m to go, so if you lose the wheel there, you’re out of it, but the finish seems to be pan flat and arrow straight. In a pure sprint, Jakobsen should take it, but TDF sprints always bring out the (even bigger) nutcase element in the sprinters so they will take more risks than usual. Someone will probably end up in the barriers or on the deck. Jacobsen proving the right sporting decision not necessarily the correct moral or sponsorship decision
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Post by Bod on Jul 3, 2022 16:34:53 GMT
Stage 3 should be another sprint finish. 3 categorised (cat 4) climbs on the route, so logically Cort should try to get himself in the break again, but as the first of them is after only 27km the break may not have been allowed to form by then. One intermediate sprint only, but the break should take care of that. The finish has what looks like a pretty tight left turn at 800m to go, so if you lose the wheel there, you’re out of it, but the finish seems to be pan flat and arrow straight. In a pure sprint, Jakobsen should take it, but TDF sprints always bring out the (even bigger) nutcase element in the sprinters so they will take more risks than usual. Someone will probably end up in the barriers or on the deck. Jacobsen proving the right sporting decision not necessarily the correct moral or sponsorship decision From a sponsorship point of view, it sort of makes sense in continental terms as Jakobsen is a Dutch rider on a team which has a fairly strong presence in The Netherlands. I would like to have seen Cavendish there though but Lefevre is a contrarian at the best of times and I think he has a dictator complex. It’s a very tricky one as cycling is certainly a ‘What have you done for me lately?’ sport and Jakobsen has been flying this year and Cav winning the nationals doesn’t tend to count for much as the field is pretty weak. On the flip side, Jakobsen is young and will have lots more opportunities to ride the TdF and if Cav has been selected and taken the stage wins record then that’s serious publicity right there.
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Post by Bod on Jul 3, 2022 17:44:32 GMT
Stage 3. Close, close finish but an absolutely dire stage until 800m to go.
Winners - Groenewegen, the Danish crowd, people who needed a nap during the race.
Losers - Jakobsen (had to get himself in the correct position at 800 to go on the left turn and ballsed it up,) Ewan (mechanical yesterday and picked the wrong wheel to follow today,) Ruben Guerreiro and Michael Storer (losing even more time on GC,) anyone who watched more than 20 minutes of the race.
Thomas watch - three stages down and Thomas and his sunglasses remain intact. Potential for a crash on the rest day during a training ride tomorrow? Initial calculations put it at 56.5%. There is also the possibility that he’s saving himself for the Roubaix stage on Wednesday where he can end up upside down in a ditch on top of a cow.
Edited to add that Ewan should perhaps not be on the losers list due to his tremendous effort in elbowing one of the Alpecin riders in the ribs three times to push him out of the line at 2/3km to go. He may not be winning stages but he still has the old school sprinter moves 😂
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Post by salopstick on Jul 3, 2022 17:52:09 GMT
Stage 3. Close, close finish but an absolutely dire stage until 800m to go. Winners - Groenewegen, the Danish crowd, people who needed a nap during the race. Losers - Jakobsen (had to get himself in the correct position at 800 to go on the left turn and ballsed it up,) Ewan (mechanical yesterday and picked the wrong wheel to follow today,) Ruben Guerreiro and Michael Storer (losing even more time on GC,) anyone who watched more than 20 minutes of the race. Thomas watch - three stages down and Thomas and his sunglasses remain intact. Potential for a crash on the rest day during a training ride tomorrow? Initial calculations put it at 56.5%. There is also the possibility that he’s saving himself for the Roubaix stage on Wednesday where he can end up upside down in a ditch on top of a cow. 😂😂😂
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Post by salopstick on Jul 3, 2022 17:57:06 GMT
Bods daily summary the highlight so far
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Post by marylandstoke on Jul 3, 2022 18:29:46 GMT
Stage 3. Close, close finish but an absolutely dire stage until 800m to go. Winners - Groenewegen, the Danish crowd, people who needed a nap during the race. Losers - Jakobsen (had to get himself in the correct position at 800 to go on the left turn and ballsed it up,) Ewan (mechanical yesterday and picked the wrong wheel to follow today,) Ruben Guerreiro and Michael Storer (losing even more time on GC,) anyone who watched more than 20 minutes of the race. Thomas watch - three stages down and Thomas and his sunglasses remain intact. Potential for a crash on the rest day during a training ride tomorrow? Initial calculations put it at 56.5%. There is also the possibility that he’s saving himself for the Roubaix stage on Wednesday where he can end up upside down in a ditch on top of a cow. 😂😂😂 Thank you.
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Post by Bod on Jul 4, 2022 9:40:57 GMT
Random rest day thoughts.
Rest day after 3 stages is shit and logistics be damned.
Chris Froome is still a bike rider. Stop laughing, he is, and has a salary of €5.5 million. He has repaid this by finishing outside the time limit in the Tour of the Alps and making his sole aim to be finishing outside the top 100 in each race he enters. His gains are now so marginal that they don’t exist. ( I like Froome and don’t begrudge him maximising his earnings but that crash finished him and I’m just happy that he can actually walk/breathe, let alone ride a bike)
Supposedly epic mountain stages with multiple cols rarely deliver. The, shorter, lumpier stages on narrower roads (Classics style) are far more entertaining.
Questions for the stages until the next rest day are 1. How many failed attempts will Movistar make at sending two riders down the road for Enric Mas to bridge to, before realising that Mas has no interest in making any type of attacking move?
2. Can Louis Meintjes make it into the top 15 on GC without ever being seen at any point during the race?
3. Will Sagan get into an argument with his own reflection over some type of perceived injustice?
4. Is it fair that Pogacar will be made to ride a unicycle on the mountain stages?
5. On which stage will Adam Blythe reveal that his personal grooming routine takes longer than a 220km road stage?
6. Should matching shirts and jerseys be banned? Polka dot jersey, shorts, socks, bike and almost inevitably, cock ring, are greater crimes than anything Harold Shipman did. I do not need to see random past their sell by date Frenchmen riding through some of the most spectacular scenery in the world looking like absolute twats. Cipollini could get away with it because he was Cipollini, but the world does not need to see Pierre Rolland attired like the world’s shittest game of Twister.
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Post by salopstick on Jul 4, 2022 10:01:57 GMT
Supposedly epic mountain stages with multiple cols rarely deliver. The, shorter, lumpier stages on narrower roads (Classics style) are far more entertaining.
Every stage would be like this.
Don’t see many GC try and attack no more. It’s all playing it safe make the time up on the ITTs. In fact get rid of ITT make the prologue TTT if you must.
I remember talking with a mate asking why GC never make a break for it. The next day Froome did that incredible ride at the Giro
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Post by Bod on Jul 4, 2022 17:59:15 GMT
Onwards to stage 4 it is. A refreshed peloton after three arduous days on those punishing Danish fourth cat climbs…
Stage 4 should be a sprint, but not totally for the out and out fast men, as the roads are narrow at times and terrain is a little heavy compared to the opening three days. There are two climbs in the final 50km which are both very short, but if Alpecin, Jumbo and Trek decide to drill it and get rid of Jakobsen and Gronewegen then it will become a pretty tough end to the day. If the wind blows into the bargain, then a lot of people will wish they were back in Denmark. Ewan should be able to make it over the hills though but it’s a matter of how much it will take out of him. WVA has to really fancy this one. There is a sharp right hand turn at 1.5km to go and then a left at around 400m left. If your team does all the work to distance the pure sprinters and you mess up that final pair of corners, then you won’t be winning any team popularity contests.
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Post by teenagefanclub on Jul 4, 2022 19:37:55 GMT
Onwards to stage 4 it is. A refreshed peloton after three arduous days on those punishing Danish fourth cat climbs… Stage 4 should be a sprint, but not totally for the out and out fast men, as the roads are narrow at times and terrain is a little heavy compared to the opening three days. There are two climbs in the final 50km which are both very short, but if Alpecin, Jumbo and Trek decide to drill it and get rid of Jakobsen and Gronewegen then it will become a pretty tough end to the day. If the wind blows into the bargain, then a lot of people will wish they were back in Denmark. Ewan should be able to make it over the hills though but it’s a matter of how much it will take out of him. WVA has to really fancy this one. There is a sharp right hand turn at 1.5km to go and then a left at around 400m left. If your team does all the work to distance the pure sprinters and you mess up that final pair of corners, then you won’t be winning any team popularity contests. Step forward Peter Sagan
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Post by Bod on Jul 4, 2022 19:54:10 GMT
Onwards to stage 4 it is. A refreshed peloton after three arduous days on those punishing Danish fourth cat climbs… Stage 4 should be a sprint, but not totally for the out and out fast men, as the roads are narrow at times and terrain is a little heavy compared to the opening three days. There are two climbs in the final 50km which are both very short, but if Alpecin, Jumbo and Trek decide to drill it and get rid of Jakobsen and Gronewegen then it will become a pretty tough end to the day. If the wind blows into the bargain, then a lot of people will wish they were back in Denmark. Ewan should be able to make it over the hills though but it’s a matter of how much it will take out of him. WVA has to really fancy this one. There is a sharp right hand turn at 1.5km to go and then a left at around 400m left. If your team does all the work to distance the pure sprinters and you mess up that final pair of corners, then you won’t be winning any team popularity contests. Step forward Peter Sagan I like your thinking. Not sure if Sagan could outkick WVA or Ewan (if he is in contention) but Sagan has started to find form again in the last month and half and he has the advantage that he doesn’t rely on a lead out train and just focuses on a specific wheel or wheels to follow. Mads Pedersen could do well tomorrow too. The climbs won’t faze him and he has a decent finish on him at the end of a rolling day.
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Post by teenagefanclub on Jul 4, 2022 20:49:24 GMT
Sagan 14-1 if you fancy a dabble
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Post by Bod on Jul 5, 2022 16:55:48 GMT
Stage 4.
You know that feeling when you're certain something is going to happen and you can do absolutely nothing about it? Well, welcome to the world of racing against Van Aert. Everyone knew that Jumbo would ‘fucking drill it’ (copyright Sean Kelly) up that final ramp. Everyone. It wasn’t a secret. Then WVA just obliterated everyone. I once heard Michael Bay’s films described as ‘Like being shouted at whilst being hit over the head with a stick of dynamite’ and that’s what it’s like to go up against Van Aert on a day like that.
Winners
WVA - God mode activated. Yellow jersey? Check. Green jersey? Check. Stage win? Check.
Jumbo - rode the final kms in Classics mode and made the race a spectacle.
Kristoff - looking in good shape for tomorrow.
Philipsen - well, at least he thought he won…
Losers
Groenewegen. To quote Buster Bloodvessel, ‘Lip up fatty.’ There was a camera shot of him from the rear and he has to have two saddles because his arse is humongous.
Ewan (again!) - made it over the climb, got back in the chase group and was in a decent position and then he vanished like John Darwin at a canoe sale.
MVDP - absent when WVA attacked. Last year he would have been closer to him than an enema. Possibly saving himself for tomorrow but he can animate the race on consecutive days when he’s on top shape.
Thomas watch - a somewhat emotional interview with G where he looked in tears as he apologised for staying upright so far and promised to rectify it tomorrow. The smart money is on a small spill in the neutralised zone to warm him up and then a spectacular on the cobbles.
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Post by marylandstoke on Jul 6, 2022 0:50:03 GMT
I like your thinking. Not sure if Sagan could outkick WVA or Ewan (if he is in contention) but Sagan has started to find form again in the last month and half and he has the advantage that he doesn’t rely on a lead out train and just focuses on a specific wheel or wheels to follow. Mads Pedersen could do well tomorrow too. The climbs won’t faze him and he has a decent finish on him at the end of a rolling day. Which cycling magazine do you work for and if not, can we all send them an email? Beautiful descriptions, funny, pertinent. I couldn’t get in to the starting stages, not even The Bridge (dum dum) the bridge. So caught up a little on here. By the way, the colour matching cock rings? ….asking for a friend.
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