I’ve ridden/boozed with lots of the top cyclists from the period between 2002-2015.I need to know more about this. How and why did you end up in a bike ride with Boonen? He was my cycling hero during his career.
Jumbo Visma have been the better team compared to UAE. UAE had 2 cases of COVID-19, on week 1 - then Marc Hirschi who was a late replacement for Trentin has also been recovering from COVID and has been a non-factor. Add Soler bout of sickness and Majka tearing his hammie after the chainsnap and it's just rotten luck. At some point it starts to add up w.r.t. to the GC fight, don't you agree?What exactly did Pogacar do today compared to Vingegaard? One half-arsed attack at the top of second to last climb, and that was it. He didn't attack even once on Peyragudes, even though he had been carried by his own team the entire stage. Vingegaard and Jumbo-Visma have still been responsible for the most explosive and offensive stage in this Tour by some distance, which led to their solid lead now, and they are quite right to defend it.
As for who the better rider is, that is very debatable based on what we have seen so far. Pogacar is obviously more explosive, but Vingegaard is better on longer, harder climbs and he also showed today that he is superior at descending. Pogacar might be a slightly better time trialist, but not by much.
Fair enough, today he showed he deserves a lot more respectHonestly, that's a pretty ridiculous thing to say after today's stage. Pogacar was almost 2m30 down at the start of the stage and did virtually nothing of note all day, while he's running out of stages. An attack 100m before the top of the penultimate climb and then basically winning a sprint at the finish after a counter-attack from Vingegaard. Regardless, it's not Vingegaard's job to attack from this position. This might be his only chance at winning the Tour, you never know. He needs to get this over the line, everything else is secondary.
How can you even say that? It doesn't matter what happened before this Tour, Vingegaard has clearly been the superior rider. He's answered every single attack by Pogacar with ease, only losing sprints as Pog is clearly the more explosive rider. You can say about their respective teams whatever you want, the point is that Pogacar hasn't been able to drop Vingegaard a single time, while it did happen the other way around, in spectacular and comprehensive fashion.
Yes, Pogacar is the better rider overall, that's not even up for debate; he might be the best rider ever. He will end up with far more grand tour wins than Vingegaard at the end of their respective careers. But this Tour, at least so far, Vingegaard has been the better rider without a doubt. Should he manage to get it over the line, it will be well deserved.
I feel he gets far too little respect by some posters on here. He's a hell of a climber.
Of course, Jumbo-Visma have been the better team - I don't think anybody would deny that. They have had the strongest riders throughout, and arguably superior tactics as well. They have had a bit of bad luck as well with Roglic and Kruijswijk crashing out, but not anything really comparable to UAE.Jumbo Visma have been the better team compared to UAE. UAE had 2 cases of COVID-19, on week 1 - then Marc Hirschi who was a late replacement for Trentin has also been recovering from COVID and has been a non-factor. Add Soler bout of sickness and Majka tearing his hammie after the chainsnap and it's just rotten luck. At some point it starts to add up w.r.t. to the GC fight, don't you agree?
Jonas has been a worthy winner. And Wout has been incredible throughout. But to mirror someone else's comments on the thread, Jonas just leaves me cold - dull personality and annoying face/voice/mannerisms. I understand Danes might not share that view
Lots of other teams would make him the captain and build a team to ride to his strengths. Don’t think it would do him any harm in classics. I just don’t get why a guy of his immense talent is content with spending half his time being a domestique.I think he's good where he is. The support they've given him in classics and some of the stages is great. How many other teams could give him a rider as strong as Laporte in support?
Still, he will leave this Tour with at least two stage wins and the green jersey, while playing a massive role in his team winning the yellow jersey as well. Quite possibly, he will win at least one more stage. That's still a very good haul. Also, the Tour is just one race in the calendar, even if it is the biggest. There are plenty of other opportunities for race wins.Lots of other teams would make him the captain and build a team to ride to his strengths. Don’t think it would do him any harm in classics. I just don’t get why a guy of his immense talent is content with spending half his time being a domestique.
Sounds awesome!I’ve ridden/boozed with lots of the top cyclists from the period between 2002-2015.
I worked on The Tour itself a good few times, and went to other classics too. Spent time around some of the training villages.
It’s a huge time period and it wasn’t my day job. I just took time off to work and ride in the sunshine for a few weeks of the year. Some of the best experiences of my life and there are hundreds of them.
That Boonen story is oversold, but accurate. It’s not like he and I went out for a ride. The day started with 20-30 folks. In the Alps, some stopped for food and drink somewhere. A few of us cracked on and filled up bidons further up the hill. We rode for a couple of hours. Four of us finished the ride together and smashed back beers. I can’t remember the other lads name but he was riding for FDJ at the time.
The Tour and cycling in general is the most welcoming sport on the planet. I love it so much. Up at 7am. Breakfast in Provence, ride up Ventoux, eat some sweets, fly back down the hill racing crazy Belgians, eat, shower. Nap. Then party with the Madeleine girls from the tour caravan until the wee hours. Never lived as well and probably never will again.
Where did you find the time to dope??!I’ve ridden/boozed with lots of the top cyclists from the period between 2002-2015.
I worked on The Tour itself a good few times, and went to other classics too. Spent time around some of the training villages.
It’s a huge time period and it wasn’t my day job. I just took time off to work and ride in the sunshine for a few weeks of the year. Some of the best experiences of my life and there are hundreds of them.
That Boonen story is oversold, but accurate. It’s not like he and I went out for a ride. The day started with 20-30 folks. In the Alps, some stopped for food and drink somewhere. A few of us cracked on and filled up bidons further up the hill. We rode for a couple of hours. Four of us finished the ride together and smashed back beers. I can’t remember the other lads name but he was riding for FDJ at the time.
The Tour and cycling in general is the most welcoming sport on the planet. I love it so much. Up at 7am. Breakfast in Provence, ride up Ventoux, eat some sweets, fly back down the hill racing crazy Belgians, eat, shower. Nap. Then party with the Madeleine girls from the tour caravan until the wee hours. Never lived as well and probably never will again.
The whole tour Caravan is awash with cocaine, sleeping pills and various uppers. Was never a problems.Where did you find the time to dope??!
I once had a night out with Frank Vandenbroucke (RiP) and his entourage, used to work with one of his mates.The whole tour Caravan is awash with cocaine, sleeping pills and various uppers. Was never a problems.
He was in before I got involved really. Tragic story though.I once had a night out with Frank Vandenbroucke (RiP) and his entourage, used to work with one of his mates.
I'm glad the polka dot belongs to the best climber, Jonas. Getschke is not even close to being that
All the jersey winners in the same shot.
Pretty epic "end" to the Tour yesterday. Credit for Pogacar for fighting but Jumbo and Vingegaard just too strong.
Great homage from Jonas to win on the stage over Aubisque to Hautacam where the two previous greatest Danish moments in cycling happened:
and
Feel a bit sorry for the guy with the media banging on about him following in the footsteps of those cnuts.Pretty epic "end" to the Tour yesterday. Credit for Pogacar for fighting but Jumbo and Vingegaard just too strong.
Great homage from Jonas to win on the stage over Aubisque to Hautacam where the two previous greatest Danish moments in cycling happened:
and
Justice for Michael Rasmussen! Should have won that Tour - don’t tell me the other guys weren’t doping.Pretty epic "end" to the Tour yesterday. Credit for Pogacar for fighting but Jumbo and Vingegaard just too strong.
Great homage from Jonas to win on the stage over Aubisque to Hautacam where the two previous greatest Danish moments in cycling happened:
and
This Danish guy is the closest thing to the Kenyan dawg I have seen.
Let's just hope and assume that's where the similarities end!
New Telekom clearly, first team since them to get Green and Yellow with a Danish champion.So is Jumbo-Visma the new Festina or U.S. Postal?
I think Jonas was happy to let Wout win the TT stageGreat performance from Vingegaard today. Just showed what a great TT rider he is as well. Had he not slowed down to enjoy it towards the end, it would have been really tight, but I think he probably lost the chance of winning with his near miss in that turn.
Wout van Aert might not have won the GC, but he is arguably the rider of this Tour. It is absolutely incredible what he has done. Sprint wins, TT win, wild breakaways, saving Vingegaard on the cobble stage, dropping Pogacar on the last climb, etc. Unreal performance. No wonder the emotions bubbled over after today. And he still has a pretty decent chance tomorrow!
Wout certainly indicated that Vingegaard gave him the stage. Vingegaard said himself that it was a 19 second gap anyway, and that he probably wouldn't have won if he had gone flat out. Doesn't really matter in the end - they both got what they really wanted.I think Jonas was happy to let Wout win the TT stage
That's pretty outrageous. She also hit the ground pretty hard herself - lucky not to break a collar bone or something.Tweet
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How the feck has Frain not been DSQ after this? Read the room ffs, the riders in front of you haven't stopped so you can slalom past them at full speed.
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Big day todayDanish TV would fit well in here, live streaming him landing today as well as tracking the plane live on flight tracker. TV coverage started several hours even before he landed in DK