Pro Cycling 2021

JPRouve

can't stop thinking about balls - NOT deflategate
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Isn't there a lot of money ties to your final position? (and whatever prestige it gets) I assumed they didn't care because they're expecting Martin to fall off again once they get back into the heavy mountain stages.
It can't be the mountain because Martin is a climber. On the other end, he isn't a TT specialist and will lose time there.
 

Cheimoon

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Well, I guess they're just being nice to the French then. Can't have a tour without a Frenchman in the top 10. ;)
 

F-Red

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That would be a risky assumption, as Martin is a climber who's won the Mountain jersey in the Vuelta last year and finished 12th and 11th in the GC of the Tour in the last two years. It has to be said that today's breakaway was fiercely contested for almost 100 km.
Martin emptied the tank today, I expect him to lose a bag of time tomorrow. He'll be on the cusp of top 10 by the end I think.
 

Ainu

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Martin emptied the tank today, I expect him to lose a bag of time tomorrow. He'll be on the cusp of top 10 by the end I think.
Good call, lost a decent amount of time today.

Valverde close to a stage win again at the age of 41. Better watch out for him in Tokyo. Wouldn't that be something?
 

Kasper

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Vingegaard and especially Carapaz (great banter pulling faces all the way then dropping that attack at the end) can really be grateful that Pogacar was bored enough to pull most of the time, basically secured them podium with these time gaps over other contenders.
 

Mike Smalling

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Vingegaard and especially Carapaz (great banter pulling faces all the way then dropping that attack at the end) can really be grateful that Pogacar was bored enough to pull most of the time, basically secured them podium with these time gaps over other contenders.
Vingegaard and Carapaz definitely profited, but it was clear Pogacar wanted that stage win. And with Gaudu catching up maybe he thought it was better to keep that gap.

Vingegaard’s podium spot should be secured if he does well today. His TT should be better than Carapaz and Uran. Quite crazy considering he entered the race as a domestique for Rogliz. Could be a GC contender in the future.
 

giorno

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Pogacar just decided he was going to win the stage, and then he did

Absolute monster
 

Eendracht maakt macht

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I wonder how this Tour went with a fully fit Roglic. Think he might be closer to Pogacar than people might think. Especially when you see how good Van Aert, Vingegaard en Kuss are.
 

giorno

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I wonder how this Tour went with a fully fit Roglic. Think he might be closer to Pogacar than people might think. Especially when you see how good Van Aert, Vingegaard en Kuss are.
Vingegaard is over 5 minutes and a half from Pogacar...

Roglic definitely would have been much closer, but he couldn't beat Pogacar last year, i don't see him beating him this year either...


In other news, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, police raided the hotel of bahrein victorious
 

utdalltheway

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Not that I look for things like this :nervous:but the furtive way that Pogacar’s team guy handed him his little drink at the end of the stage today was a bit weird. He kept it in the bag until the last minute, almost like he was hiding it, but he was right in front of the cameras.
 

Kasper

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In other news, to the surprise of absolutely nobody, police raided the hotel of bahrein victorious
French police still thinking it's 1998, if there's doping surely it's more elaborate than just keeping all the juice in the team rooms:wenger:

Meanwhile (stolen from reddit):lol:
 

Ainu

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Brilliant time trial win for van Aert, he's hit top form just at the right moment with regards to the Olympic races. Legitimate candidate in both disciplines in Tokyo with this form.
 

Ainu

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Holy shit, van Aert now wins the sprint on the Champs Elysees! What powerful sprint. A double Ventoux stage, a time trial and the final sprint all in one Tour, surely that has to be a first?
 

Eendracht maakt macht

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Winning a stage with two times Mont Ventoux and in Paris. That’s just insane. What a freaking legend this guy is. Absolutely amazing. Great leadout from Teunissen too. Van de Poel en Van Aert man I don’t even care any more about countries i just want to tune in and enjoy. Absolute legend.
 

Dan

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Think Cav left that too late and stuck behind someone.
 

Ainu

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Winning a stage with two times Mont Ventoux and in Paris. That’s just insane. What a freaking legend this guy is. Absolutely amazing. Great leadout from Teunissen too. Van de Poel en Van Aert man I don’t even care any more about countries i just want to tune in and enjoy. Absolute legend.
The comparisons will never end of course, they're stuck with eachother. Just imagine you had one without the other. Wouldn't feel the same.
 

Eendracht maakt macht

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The comparisons will never end of course, they're stuck with eachother. Just imagine you had one without the other. Wouldn't feel the same.
And I think they wouldn’t be this good.
 

Zen

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Holy shit, van Aert now wins the sprint on the Champs Elysees! What powerful sprint. A double Ventoux stage, a time trial and the final sprint all in one Tour, surely that has to be a first?
Believe it or not, but Eddy Merckx did it in 1970. If it's not exclusive to Ventoux, Hinault too.

It's good to see cycling shift away from ultra specialism again, everyone being specialist can be a tad bit boring.
 

Ainu

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Believe it or not, but Eddy Merckx did it in 1970. If it's not exclusive to Ventoux, Hinault too.

It's good to see cycling shift away from ultra specialism again, everyone being specialist can be a tad bit boring.
Yeah I looked it up after my post as well, not exactly terrible company to be in. Of course, those guys had the overall win as well, but let's not get greedy.
 

Donut

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Roglic showing he’s still one of the best. Too bad about the injury at the tour, would have been an amazing battle with Pogacar.
 

RobinLFC

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Fecking hell Küng, beats Ganna in Italy for the European title TT. Very impressive.

Yet another medal for Evenepoel as well, class.
 

Mike Smalling

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:(
Came to post this. So, so sad. Never a spectacular rider, but nonetheless extremely popular among Danish fans for his ability as a domestique in the mountains, and not least for his great personality. He had already transitioned into a great commentator, as well, which he could have continued for many years.

37 years old. Two kids. Incredibly tragic :(
 

Red Stone

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Never a spectacular rider
Very eye-catching style of riding, though. Anyone who saw him suffering on a bike noticed him easily. One of the worst pokerfaces of all time. Definitely one of the real workhorses of the peloton, and a rider that I'll always remember watching.

Rest in peace.
 

Mike Smalling

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Very eye-catching style of riding, though. Anyone who saw him suffering on a bike noticed him easily. One of the worst pokerfaces of all time. Definitely one of the real workhorses of the peloton, and a rider that I'll always remember watching.

Rest in peace.
Definitely! He also spent an inordinate amount of time at the head of the peloton - always a very visible rider, when the going got tough. Will be sorely missed in the Danish cycling community.
 

Ainu

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Ganna defends his ITT world title. Van Aert once again silver, this time just 5 seconds behind, as a home rider. Gutted, but Ganna is just too good. Evenepoel completes the podium.
 

Kasper

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PR start already looking absolutely disgusting in the rain. I watched the women's race yesterday and it was already carnage despite being a bit less wet but still various sectors super muddy.
@Ainu and @RobinLFC probably at home with a satisfied smile on their face fondling a cobblestone placed next to them on the couch.
 

Ainu

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PR start already looking absolutely disgusting in the rain. I watched the women's race yesterday and it was already carnage despite being a bit less wet but still various sectors super muddy.
@Ainu and @RobinLFC probably at home with a satisfied smile on their face fondling a cobblestone placed next to them on the couch.
It's absolute madness, the riders will need to say a prayer or two going into the 5 star sectors. I always enjoy an epic race but I hope everyone gets through this unscathed. Luck will be a big factor today, although I do expect the more skillful riders (i.e. cyclo crossers) to make the difference.
 

RobinLFC

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PR start already looking absolutely disgusting in the rain. I watched the women's race yesterday and it was already carnage despite being a bit less wet but still various sectors super muddy.
@Ainu and @RobinLFC probably at home with a satisfied smile on their face fondling a cobblestone placed next to them on the couch.
:lol:

Absolute warriors the lot of them. I’ve got quite some money on VDP so hoping he goes the distance, but Moscon is no rookie himself.

Van Aert simply not good enough just like last week at the Worlds.
 

Ainu

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What can you say? Epic race, one of the greatest I've ever seen. Well done Colbrelli, but they're all heroes. The emotion said it all.
 

Mike Smalling

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Colbrelli well chuffed :D what an iconic image of him lifting the bike completely covered in mud. What a race!
 

madzo2007

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What a race that was. Cobrelli lying on the grass sobbing his heart out in sheer happiness shows what it means.

Hard as nails to ride that race today.
 

Suedesi

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“I realize that many people listening to this might think that they have their mind made up about Lance, and that’s understandable, but I do suggest that it might be worth spending the time to listen to this episode” – Peter Attia