Tour de France 2019
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Shonak |
Posted on 25-07-2019 18:36
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Maybe Nairito didn't tell his team that he had good legs today
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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ringo182 |
Posted on 26-07-2019 08:36
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Well Alaphilippe holds on for another day. They just didn't ride the first two climbs hard enough and left it to late to attack on the last climb. Alaphilippe is getting dropped on every final mountain now, he would have lost considerable time yesterday if there wasn't a long descent to the line.
Think he might hold on to yellow today as the last climb isn't too bad. But he will defo lose the jersey on Saturday. Bernal and Pinot look the most likely to win ATM, but then again I've got nothing right so far
"Ringo is exactly right", Shonak - 8 September 2016
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Posted on 18-12-2024 23:02
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ringo182 |
Posted on 26-07-2019 08:36
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Well Alaphilippe holds on for another day. They just didn't ride the first two climbs hard enough and left it to late to attack on the last climb. Alaphilippe is getting dropped on every final mountain now, he would have lost considerable time yesterday if there wasn't a long descent to the line.
Think he might hold on to yellow today as the last climb isn't too bad. But he will defo lose the jersey on Saturday. Bernal and Pinot look the most likely to win ATM, but then again I've got nothing right so far
"Ringo is exactly right", Shonak - 8 September 2016
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Tafiolmo |
Posted on 26-07-2019 09:16
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ringo182 wrote:
Well Alaphilippe holds on for another day. They just didn't ride the first two climbs hard enough and left it to late to attack on the last climb. Alaphilippe is getting dropped on every final mountain now, he would have lost considerable time yesterday if there wasn't a long descent to the line.
Think he might hold on to yellow today as the last climb isn't too bad. But he will defo lose the jersey on Saturday. Bernal and Pinot look the most likely to win ATM, but then again I've got nothing right so far
I for one would agree with that and it's probably the general opinion overall because Bernal looks better than Thomas and I think the only real way to crack Alaphilippe are the mtn top finishes. The Eurosport commentator was going crazy yesterday when Alaphilippe got back on the descent, clearly he has no idea about both Alalphilippe and Pinot's differening DH skills.
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roturn |
Posted on 26-07-2019 09:31
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They might not ride hard enough to drop Alaphilippe, who mainly struggles whenever someone is attacking.
Then again, the pace might still have been too high for anyone to really be able to attack.
So question rather is why Alaphilippe can still climb with the best even if Froome, Nibali (not in GT form), Quintana (not in GT form), Landa (with Giro in legs) might be not at their best.
Pinot is in form, Buchmann in form, Bernal/Thomas at least in decent form, Kruisjwijk in okay form.
For me the performance of Alaphilippe is highly questionable and while not coming out of nothing as Vuelta Froome it is still a too big difference to normal Alaphilippe, in especially as he did not specially prepare for the Tour but had the same season run as usual being on top form basically from the start of the year. |
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Gustavovskiy |
Posted on 26-07-2019 09:37
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Not sure what to expect really. While Alaphilippe is hurting, the climbs up ahead don't look that menacing. He was never close to lose more than 30'' to anyone in this so-called queen stage, so even if he loses that amount today, tomorrow will be a "Die Hard" sort of situation for him, with the motivation of the yellow jersey and the hopes of his countrymen working in his favour. However, despite his 1'30 advantage, as we approach the end of the race, fatigue tends to widen the gaps, which favours third-weekers like the colombians.
Exciting couple of days up ahead
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Tafiolmo |
Posted on 26-07-2019 10:41
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Yes Alaphilippe is something of an enigma where he has amazingly kept his form from March to the Tour but I think it's maybe a question of the regular GT riders underestimating him and now realizing that they need to put this fire out quickly. Personally I think he will crack but only if he is attacked on an uphill finish which the next two stages are and they need to attack early and none of this attacking just in the final few kms.
More interesting is the Bernal and Thomas situation and overall I see Bernal or Pinot winning but more likely Bernal of the two.
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df_Trek |
Posted on 26-07-2019 11:09
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What happened on Galibier climb about a push on Alaphilippe? Unfortunately I had no way to see the stage yesterday but I found this article on Cyclingnews...
https://www.cyclin...bier-push/
If true I'm anything but surprised by Tour interpretating rules as comfortable as they want...in particular for French riders
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Tafiolmo |
Posted on 26-07-2019 11:19
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df_Trek wrote:
What happened on Galibier climb about a push on Alaphilippe? Unfortunately I had no way to see the stage yesterday but I found this article on Cyclingnews...
https://www.cyclin...bier-push/
If true I'm anything but surprised by Tour interpretating rules as comfortable as they want...in particular for French riders
Nothing really which was a total shock as they only started to push Alaphilippe in the final kms which was a waste of time because he easily made it back on the descent. The descent was a joke as well by the attackers, as they let Pinot lead the descending! I can't believe none of the favs didn't have the legs to attack earlier. The only tactical move was made by Ineos sending Bernal on an attack on the Galibier and supposedly Thomas was then going to bridge across to him which he couldn't and the other favs soon caught upto Thomas, this was where Alaphilippe was briefly dropped but then as said got back on the descent. The only rider to gain was Bernal in the end.
To crack Alaphilippe they need to do much better than this!
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df_Trek |
Posted on 26-07-2019 11:29
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Ah ok ok, imo they can drop Alaphilippe next two stages...or maybe I need to revise my knowledge about cycling
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Shonak |
Posted on 26-07-2019 11:37
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roturn wrote:
They might not ride hard enough to drop Alaphilippe, who mainly struggles whenever someone is attacking.
Then again, the pace might still have been too high for anyone to really be able to attack.
So question rather is why Alaphilippe can still climb with the best even if Froome, Nibali (not in GT form), Quintana (not in GT form), Landa (with Giro in legs) might be not at their best.
Pinot is in form, Buchmann in form, Bernal/Thomas at least in decent form, Kruisjwijk in okay form.
For me the performance of Alaphilippe is highly questionable and while not coming out of nothing as Vuelta Froome it is still a too big difference to normal Alaphilippe, in especially as he did not specially prepare for the Tour but had the same season run as usual being on top form basically from the start of the year.
Dunno, Alaphilippe is clearly a generational talent on the level of Sagan and few others. Whilst it is surprising that he can hang on for so long, he lost time in the high altitude stages and likely will lose buckets of time on Saturday. Other than that, he has made a major step forward in climbing but since he is 27 that is nothing that should surprise anyone. Those are the beginning of the traditional peak years for many cyclists after all. He has also won a MSR. Clearly, he stepped up his level significantly since last TdF where he already was one of the best riders, just not in GC contention.
Other than that, not sure that Pinot and Buchmann are unreachable for him. Pinot has won Giro and has been roundabout for the past few years. Buchmann clearly has not been a major GC contender for Grand Tours before this year as well, so you could well argue that he has made a major leap forward as well. Thomas didn't have an ideal build up, far from it. Bernal is stil only 22. Kruisiwijisisk is not Giro 2015/16 insanity levels where he could climb with peak Contador and Nibali.
I think Alaphilippe faltered heavily in LBL and then took a long break. I don't see how that is different from the build up of other tour winnres have had in the past.
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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Shonak |
Posted on 26-07-2019 12:55
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After this Tour Wellens will be just known as the guy who squeezes the water over his helmet. Every single time he's on camera he does it
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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ringo182 |
Posted on 26-07-2019 13:01
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Shonak wrote:
After this Tour Wellens will be just known as the guy who squeezes the water over his helmet. Every single time he's on camera he does it
Maybe he's signed an advertising deal with a shampoo company to rival Alpacin. The cringy TV advert will follow shortly.
"Ringo is exactly right", Shonak - 8 September 2016
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roturn |
Posted on 26-07-2019 13:23
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Shonak wrote:
roturn wrote:
They might not ride hard enough to drop Alaphilippe, who mainly struggles whenever someone is attacking.
Then again, the pace might still have been too high for anyone to really be able to attack.
So question rather is why Alaphilippe can still climb with the best even if Froome, Nibali (not in GT form), Quintana (not in GT form), Landa (with Giro in legs) might be not at their best.
Pinot is in form, Buchmann in form, Bernal/Thomas at least in decent form, Kruisjwijk in okay form.
For me the performance of Alaphilippe is highly questionable and while not coming out of nothing as Vuelta Froome it is still a too big difference to normal Alaphilippe, in especially as he did not specially prepare for the Tour but had the same season run as usual being on top form basically from the start of the year.
Dunno, Alaphilippe is clearly a generational talent on the level of Sagan and few others. Whilst it is surprising that he can hang on for so long, he lost time in the high altitude stages and likely will lose buckets of time on Saturday. Other than that, he has made a major step forward in climbing but since he is 27 that is nothing that should surprise anyone. Those are the beginning of the traditional peak years for many cyclists after all. He has also won a MSR. Clearly, he stepped up his level significantly since last TdF where he already was one of the best riders, just not in GC contention.
Other than that, not sure that Pinot and Buchmann are unreachable for him. Pinot has won Giro and has been roundabout for the past few years. Buchmann clearly has not been a major GC contender for Grand Tours before this year as well, so you could well argue that he has made a major leap forward as well. Thomas didn't have an ideal build up, far from it. Bernal is stil only 22. Kruisiwijisisk is not Giro 2015/16 insanity levels where he could climb with peak Contador and Nibali.
I think Alaphilippe faltered heavily in LBL and then took a long break. I don't see how that is different from the build up of other tour winnres have had in the past.
In parts I agree as Alaphilippe clearly is a huge talent, win only comes every 25 years.
But it's not like he changed schedule towards the Tour. He is up there all year and still being strong. The time he is losing at times is small. With others not in the prime surely helps him as also Buchmann and others.
Regarding Buchmann. He is around for 4 years clearly stepping up year for year in mountain stage races. Last year was 12th already, then in Vuelta was on for a top10 but had problems with his eating schedule, which didn't suit him over 3 weeks.
So I wouldn't say, he is comparable to Alaphilippe. Imo the exact opposite even with slow but steady improvement, while Alaphilippe made it all within one year now.
Yes, he was a decent climber. But what he shows this Tour is imo too much. At least in my eyes. |
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Guido Mukk |
Posted on 26-07-2019 13:45
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Pinot is done |
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SSJ2Luigi |
Posted on 26-07-2019 13:46
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welp Pinot does a Giro
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Miguel98 |
Posted on 26-07-2019 13:46
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PINOT
What happened? |
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BB95 |
Posted on 26-07-2019 13:46
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what a shame with Pinots injury. That man is one of the most unlucky people in cycling. |
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Shonak |
Posted on 26-07-2019 13:46
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Pinot in major trouble. Out of GC fight for sure, out of the race as well?
What a shame...
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
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StevenGreen |
Posted on 26-07-2019 13:47
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FFS
"He made a bigger comeback than Easter Sunday."
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