Pro Cycling 2020 **Giro d'Italia 2020 **
- Thread starter RedFish
- Start date
TDF 2020
Stage 1 of the TdF in progress.
Haven't been this excited for a GT for some time. Should be an almighty battle between Jumbo-Visma and Ineos for the GC.
Some nice previews:
Haven't been this excited for a GT for some time. Should be an almighty battle between Jumbo-Visma and Ineos for the GC.
Some nice previews:
This is a farce. Terrible advertisement for the sport.
looks like a sunday cruise with the family
They are faster than the train!!
Comical if Ewan wins. Over 6 mins behind the peloton at one stage and had in-play odds of 200.
KRISTOFF!!
That was a pretty terrible opening stage. I don't blame the riders for pretty much shutting down the race, it looked like they were riding on ice. I lost count of how many crashes there were. It's a miracle we didn't lose any GC contenders, though it didn't look great for Pinot.
A bit late to the party, but I was supposed to be in the South of France now, and they have the first stage in Nice.
Don’t blame the riders on the first stage, it’s been a tough year and last thing anyone would want is to lose a ton of riders on the first stage.
Nice win from Alaphillipe today, a wonderful rider who celebrates each win as if it was his first!
Nice win from Alaphillipe today, a wonderful rider who celebrates each win as if it was his first!
It was a great win, he's a class act. A generational talent and an instinctive attacker, he's a joy to watch. I still think he's more of a classics rider than a GC contender though. Anyway, expecting a boring stage today. I'm going for a Nizzolo win.
Oh Lahwd
Sorry?
"Generational talent" is such an overused term. Sorry, pet peeve of mine.
Holy shit I totally didn't realize this had actually started.
Oh. Perhaps it is, I don't know, but it's surely no exaggeration for Alaphilippe. He will go down as one of the best all round riders of his era in my opinion.
Absolutely right. I can't stand QS , even their kit, but oh I love Alaphilippe. How can you not? He has it all.
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Fair enough, he caught my eye last year during TDF. Seems like a very talented rider.
Nice win by roglic but honestly, this high speed train up a mountain style with no separation up until the end is so boring. 7km first category climb with mountain top finish and they're all staying together till the last 500m.
I'm probably just a grumpy nostalgic, hope the later mountain stages will be more entertaining.
I'm probably just a grumpy nostalgic, hope the later mountain stages will be more entertaining.
What do people reckon, is this going to be another win for team Ineos or can Jumbo Visma challenge?
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Ineos don't impress me this year. That's not just based on the current Tour but earlier races as well. Jumbo Visma look stronger as a team and Roglic has looked the strongest contender so far this year. The question is whether they can maintain that for three weeks. If they can, well, there won't be much excitement to be found. It'd just be a procession until the end, a bit like when Thomas won it. The only interesting thing from a personal point of view is Van Aert's performance. He is in exceptional form and I can only pray he can bring that form to the cobblestone classics later this year.
Agreed, but the climb wasn't long enough today.come 3rd week, it will be a different story.
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Two climbs per lap, 3 km total with 10 % average. That'll be interesting, not sure what to make of it. A week after the Tour as well.
Van Aert's tempo was too fast to try something earlier imo. If someone went a few kilometres from the top he would've just sprinted to the attacker and then let himself go with Kuss taking over. The pace by Jumbo-Visma was frightening and it was an ideal climbing profile to make it a long, fast sprint to the top. Things will be different once we have different mountains, I expect fireworks Saturday on the Port de Balès and then the Peyresourde for example.
I hope Ineos fails spectacularly, even though I like Bernal. Don't think he's good enough on his own to overcome Jumbo-Visma though.
Van Aert, easy. 
Is there anything he can't do? In a slightly uphill sprint, he is simply unbeatable.
Is there anything he can't do? In a slightly uphill sprint, he is simply unbeatable.Tweet
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Very odd stage altogether.
One of the most boring stages in a long time.
I don't believe for a second that Lefevre and Quick-Step were willing to give up the yellow jersey at all. For what? They don't have anything to gain from giving it up, it's all publicity and it's a Frenchman in le maillot jaune during the most important race of the year. That's some bullshit if you ask me. It's actually laughable. "So as not to defend too early" 
As if they have anything left to defend later on in the Tour. Alaphilippe made it very clear beforehand that he's not there for the overall ranking but for stage victories.
I was very surprised that the jury even penalized him for that, given the French' reputation of protecting their own.
Van Aert though. What a phenomenon.
As if they have anything left to defend later on in the Tour. Alaphilippe made it very clear beforehand that he's not there for the overall ranking but for stage victories. I was very surprised that the jury even penalized him for that, given the French' reputation of protecting their own.
Van Aert though. What a phenomenon.
I don't buy it either. Alaphilippe would never give up the jersey willingly, nor would Lefevere. I'm sick of these ridiculous arguments about teams presumably not wanting the yellow jersey so they wouldn't have to defend it. As if Roglic for example wouldn't gladly put 10-20 seconds on his opponents if it meant he'd wear the yellow early.
Juno Visma can absolutely challenge, and Roglic is in tip top shape right now. Can he maintain his form right into the third week?? A phenomenal support cast too but they will miss Kruiswick badly.
I still think Ineos will have the last laugh though and in Carapaz, Sivakov and Kwiatokowski supporting Bernal in the mountains, they will be very hard to beat.
Ultimately I think Bernal will outride Roglic in the high mountains and take the overall.
Ineos is not stronger than Jumbo, not a chance. I do think that Bernal is the better climber out of him and Roglic, and the third week will indeed be crucial.
Have a sneaky feeling that Dumoulin will grow stronger during the race and will be Bernal's main challenger instead of Roglic. Such a pity that the ASO are such pussies and crying out for an Alaphilippe or Pinot victory that they once again decided against a true time trial.
Have a sneaky feeling that Dumoulin will grow stronger during the race and will be Bernal's main challenger instead of Roglic. Such a pity that the ASO are such pussies and crying out for an Alaphilippe or Pinot victory that they once again decided against a true time trial.
I have the same feeling Dumoulin will slowly but surely end up as de facto leader of J-V by virtue of being more consistent than Roglic and being there or there abouts every mountain stage.
Any excuse to watch the great man give his opinions (Alberto of course)
Genuine question, is Bradley Wiggins a bit of a knob? How is viewed/perceived in Europe/the UK?
Any excuse to watch the great man give his opinions (Alberto of course)
Most cycling-interested people I know, love him. I know I certainly do.
No idea how he's viewed in the UK, but can imagine he's underappreciated. I don't think the likes of Cavendish and Millar got much love over there either.