General race thread 2021 **spoilers**

Dr. Bre

I liked when Alaphilippe was hanging onto yellow a few years ago . I think the first week is set up for him to be in yellow

Inquitus

Inquitus wrote: »

Yep poor Dan is our solo representative, I would imagine he has free reign to go for stages, and that is probably the best way to spend his energy after the Giro. Hopefully he can deliver something!

I saw Chris Juul-Jensen there for bike exchange at the presentation. Hadn't realised he was down to start. Rides under the Danish flag but will always be worthy of a cheer from us.

breezy1985

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I saw Chris Juul-Jensen there for bike exchange at the presentation. Hadn't realised he was down to start. Rides under the Danish flag but will always be worthy of a cheer from us.

I don't mean this as an insult to any party but he is as probably as or more than Irish as Martin, Healy or Dunne and both Roche and Bennett have European connections too

dastardly00

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/koen-de-kort-has-three-fingers-amputated-in-emergency-surgery/

retalivity

Looking at the finalised start lists and reading the interviews with different teams, this Tour appears to have a smaller number of GC people than usual.
You have Pog & Rog, the 4 Ineos guys, Uran, Lopez, Woods? And thats it.
Don't think Alaphillipe will make a concerted effort for yellow for the 3 weeks.

Yates, Dan, DSM, Astana, Nibali all targeting stage victories. Other teams like Bora, Lotto, Alpecin Felix targeting sprints, French teams a mix of breakaways, sprints, KOM and half-hearted GC attempts (Gaudu, O'Connor, G Martin etc.).

If all of Ineos stay upright, Movistar could have real competition in the Movistar classification this year

Dodge

Don’t think it’s any less GC lads than usual? It’s just that Ineos keep signing them

breezy1985

A bunch of teams have special TdF kits for the race. Total and Bahrain are both in white and Assos have a white and blue kit

CrowdedHouse

breezy1985 wrote: »

A bunch of teams have special TdF kits for the race. Total and Bahrain are both in white and Assos have a white and blue kit

Jumbo have a blue tyre apparently...

https://twitter.com/procycletrumps/status/1408314300318601219?s=20

retalivity

Dodge wrote: »

Don’t think it’s any less GC lads than usual? It’s just that Ineos keep signing them

Yeah, seems like more have come out this time and said straight up "We're stage hunting" rather than waiting til get found out on the first climb.

Inquitus

Deleted User wrote: »

I saw Chris Juul-Jensen there for bike exchange at the presentation. Hadn't realised he was down to start. Rides under the Danish flag but will always be worthy of a cheer from us.

Agreed, he has more of an Irish accent then the like of Dan as well, given he was schooled over here, I always cheer for him though he rarely gets many stage chances due to being such a good domestique! There was some great footage of him greeting Gaybo Howard (RIP) at the end of one of the tour stages!

dastardly00

5 km left in La Course. Live on GCN

NamelessPhil

Class finish on La Course.

I'm really looking forward to next year when it's a multi-stage race.

Brian?

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

Jumbo have a blue tyre apparently...

https://twitter.com/procycletrumps/status/1408314300318601219?s=20

Swapfiets are huge here. You rent a bike by the month and they repair it asap when something is broken or you get a puncture. They all have a blue front tyre.

harringtonp

Brian? wrote: »

Swapfiets are huge here. You rent a bike by the month and they repair it asap when something is broken or you get a puncture. They all have a blue front tyre.

Do they do high end race bikes or just the functional Dutch gates ?

CantGetNoSleep

harringtonp wrote: »

Do they do high end race bikes or just the functional Dutch gates ?

Just city type bikes. Think they have one normal model and one electric one.

Brian?

harringtonp wrote: »

Do they do high end race bikes or just the functional Dutch gates ?

E Bikes and standard city bikes. Nothing I'd want.

MPFGLB

So Eddie Dunbar, Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche for the Olympics

Only issue is Dan Martin will be knackered with back to back GTs

Roche for the TT too it's been announced.

Details for track riders https://olympics.ie/team-ireland-track-cycling-team-officially-selected-for-tokyo-2020/

Dodge

Strongest team possible for the hilly course.

He might be tired but I think it suits Dan perfectly

breezy1985

MPFGLB wrote: »

So Eddie Dunbar, Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche for the Olympics

Only issue is Dan Martin will be knackered with back to back GTs

Doesn't really matter as our national team is a joke and always seem to have no plan other than sit in the bunch and come 50+ places down

YakerK

Dan Martin looking a bit different. https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/dan-martin-roche-and-dunbar-confirmed-for-tokyo-2020-1.4607749

MPFGLB

breezy1985 wrote: »

Doesn't really matter as our national team is a joke and always seem to have no plan other than sit in the bunch and come 50+ places down

That is just cynical rubbish

The team is good and every year we have had people in the break and giving it their best shot which is not easy against big teams from the big countries

I would rather sup[port them than snipe from my couch

deise08

I'll finally know something about the riders in the Olympics!
Really Looking forward to them.
Delighted to have the lads representing us.

Mefistofelino

YakerK wrote: »

Dan Martin looking a bit different. https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/other-sports/dan-martin-roche-and-dunbar-confirmed-for-tokyo-2020-1.4607749

Probably got the photo from RTE's Sportsperson of the Year department

breezy1985

MPFGLB wrote: »

That is just cynical rubbish

The team is good and every year we have had people in the break and giving it their best shot which is not easy against big teams from the big countries

I would rather sup[port them than snipe from my couch

I do support them every race but it doesn't mean I can't also admit there rarely ever seems to be a plan or much joined up tactics

Macy0161

Mefistofelino wrote: »

Probably got the photo from RTE's Sportsperson of the Year department

Lifted from the CI story - only CI had the right name on it.

Dodge

breezy1985 wrote: »

I do support them every race but it doesn't mean I can't also admit there rarely ever seems to be a plan or much joined up tactics

Hard to have tactics when you’ve a 2 or 3 man team. Off the top of my head Brammeier, Conor Dunne and Dave McCann have all been in breakaways at the world champs

Dan was in a decent group the last Olympics but missed the right break. Roche tried to get in at least one world champs break but the counter attack went on to win

And they’re on courses that wouldn’t really suit them too. I think the one in Austria 3/4 years ago suited Dan but he went in injured. It’s tough to get things aligned. London designed the course in 2012 for Cavendish to win but a break won it

breezy1985

Dodge wrote: »

Hard to have tactics when you’ve a 2 or 3 man team. Off the top of my head Brammeier, Conor Dunne and Dave McCann have all been in breakaways at the world champs

Dan was in a decent group the last Olympics but missed the right break. Roche tried to get in at least one world champs break but the counter attack went on to win

And they’re on courses that wouldn’t really suit them too. I think the one in Austria 3/4 years ago suited Dan but he went in injured. It’s tough to get things aligned. London designed the course in 2012 for Cavendish to win but a break won it

Dan was unlucky with crashes the year Rui Costa won but other than that we haven't been anywhere near a placing never mind a win. Dunne went on the attack off his own back for a contract hope the year he was in the break. Speaking of Dunne I remember in 2019 when he had to practically get dressed in front of the public due to Irelands tiny full camper van. Now we are not the only team that has to use a little camper but it was telling the miserable faces on the riders going to the start compared to others despite Sam being touted as a favorite.
Do we even have a DS ?

Denmark, Poland, Kazakhstan and Portugal have all won major tournaments and others have podium places and we haven't even had a single moment where we can even get excited about a rider competing or going long for a win.

I do have tremendous respect for Roche in particular though for his dedication in showing up at practically every race for Ireland even if it doesn't suit him

Mefistofelino

https://twitter.com/DeGendtThomas/status/1410277980157403142?s=19

deise08

https://www.rouleur.cc/blogs/the-rouleur-journal/the-eraser-men?fbclid=IwAR3egmCAyHiPpnm9ervs--O48Gi8mCpEyebwf-_NlLrb5ohIvQU6gqUID7A

Why are there never any rude messages painted on the roads?
These men are why.