Tour de France Stage 11: Albertville - Col de Granon (151.7km)

Squidgy Black

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119332599#Comment_119332599

The one day of the week I had to go into the office, I am absolutely raging.

It’ll be interesting to see how Pog and UAE respond, even in yesterday’s stage it was Pog who was giving food to his domestiques, they just don’t have the quality to support him properly.

retalivity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119331934#Comment_119331934

Kruiswijk the current KOM, did it in 48'04s today. Pog hasnt uploaded to strava yet, Jonas doesnt appear to use it.

https://www.strava.com/segments/5211636

breezy1985

We were talking recently about what this Tour needed and this is it.

Pogs human and Bardet is 2nd. The only worry is JV will Skytrain it from here on in but that might also suit Pog.

With Bardet and Nairoman in the top 5 I have what I need from the Tour every year which is someone to desperately get my hopes up for.

Dodge

jumbo can’t sky train it. They know that’s what caused them to lose it in 2020

Brilliant by Jumbo today (despite all the lads in here saying they’d messed it up too)

Im not sure they’ll get away with using Roglic like that again (as Pog won’t follow) but he’ll still have a part to play.

dastardly00

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119332674#Comment_119332674

It very well could be because he bonked, because he looked in great condition right up until Vingegaard attacked on the final climb

Richard Hillman

Magnificent stage today. Absolutely everything and anything happened. Can't believe they ended up with a group of about 20 odd going into the last climb after everything that happened.

The Jumbo 1-2 attacks early on seem to have tired Pogacar out. Thomas just kept chugging away, riding to pace.

At one stage there 5 jumbo riders with Pogacar, Thomas and Bardet with Van Aert up the riad. Then there were 1 Jumbo with 2 UAE and others. Unbelievable comeback from Majka. But Vingegaard went out and did it himself in the end with early team work doing the damage.

It was a great day for Jumbo, near perfect. Although they would have wanted Roglic closer.

The difference tomorrow now is that a Roglic attack won't mean much. Pog will likely let him go. It will have to be a collaborative effort with maybe Bardet and Vingegaard. Or could Pogacar team up with Bardet and do what Jumbo did to them? Or will Jumbo the riders to do the chasing for Vingegaard.

A total flip today. One of the most momentous stages in the tour in recent history. And as much as I like Pogacar, today has stemmed our fears of a one man dominant generation.

dastardly00

WvA had a puncture after the race when he was going down the final climb to the team bus. He borrowed a pump from a spectator and as a thanks he gave the spectator his green jersey from the stage presentation (the one with the zip on the back)

https://twitter.com/sporza_koers/status/1547262774795030531?s=20&t=e-nm0IRndqf2dyYLCVMiew

Probably glad to be rid of it, he gets a fresh one every day.

AxleAddict

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119333005#Comment_119333005

Saw that right enough when he posted his descent ride back to the bus on Strava - nice gesture!

G1032

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119333398#Comment_119333398

Think it was the podium one. Brand new.

https://twitter.com/OutOfCycling/status/1547278533818556417?t=mF3XJ7geOcznc_ydhP5QUQ&s=19

Squidgy Black

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119333398#Comment_119333398

Usually they give them to the team, mechanics, masseurs etc as a thank you

eagle eye

I just had this feeling watching today that Pog wasn't willing to go all in. He wasn't broken at any stage just unwilling to chase.

Tomorrow is tougher again and doing too much today might hurt tomorrow.

I just wouldn't be surprised to see him win tomorrow and reclaim the yellow jersey.

Dodge

He couldn’t hold Majka’s wheel and let people like Gaudu catch and pass him. It defo wasn’t a choice

retalivity

He bonked, thought it was mentioned on comms he was lookimg for a gel or bottle 6-7k out?

CramCycle

I'll wait until today is over but the skeptic in me wants to see it happen again before I believe it wasn't an act.

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119332922#Comment_119332922

Ah, they dragged Pog around in 2020, and Rog was less than a minute ahead going into the TT. I fully expect a JV train.

gmacww

What a stage. Lots to unpack.

Was it an act from Pog? No. I was saying to the brother a couple of days ago he was doing a lot of un-necessary sprints and efforts to create gaps and pick up seconds. I wonder if that will come back to bite him in the mountains. Anyone convinced the tour was over when he got yellow has never watched a GT. We've been here many times.

TJV did a great 1-2 job on him today. The constant reaction drains the legs big time. That's done now as Rog is too far back to be used again like that as has been previously said. For TJV it's all in now with JV but this is where the rest come to play. I'd say Pog's head dropped when constant attacks resulted in him tired then suddenly there were 4 JV riders in the group. Insane.

Will he come back? He could do and he could still win it. The curve ball here is the illness ripping through the UAE team. I wouldn't be surprised to see Pog withdraw or DNS in the coming day or two. Todays stage will tell everything. We've also plenty of more climbing left in this tour and how much that took out of JV we'll find out soon.

Dodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119335273#Comment_119335273

I just meant they underestimated Pog in 2020. They let him attack one day and he got 40s. rog didn’t attack at all really in the last week and he might have if he believed he needed the time.

They may well try and control it now but they certainly won’t be taking it easy knowing that Pog is still within striking distance

Macy0161

Definitely not easy, I'd expect the JV train to be specifically trying to put Pog under pressure/ set up another Jonas attack while it's still so hot.

FrankGrimes

Possible Pog bonked due to lack of nutrition. Likely more plausible is it was the simple impact of high altitude: I didn’t check it exactly but where he got dropped must have been near 2000m elevation. Plenty of elite riders who are different animals above 1800m vs below (Bardet being a rare one who seems to do better up high), so it’ll be interesting to see how the Galibier goes today to see if that’s a once off or not.

retalivity

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119335857#Comment_119335857

He went over the Galibier at 2600m earlier in yesterday's stage with no apparent issues, dropping nearly everyone and only having Vingegaard for company? Granon 'only' went up to 2400m.

Macy0161

While it could still have been too late, the cycling tips podcast mentioned Pog got 3 bottles in the valley before the final climb. But even if he did bonk, I'd have that as consequence of the JV tactics - isolating him (limiting his supply), making him go deep early (depleting glycogen), keeping the pressure on (maybe meaning he didn't eat enough)