Tour de France 2024 - this time it’s personal

Raoul Duke

It'll be interesting to see if Pogacar starts to ride a little bit more defensively. It is up to Visma to drop him and get that time back. It won't be easy, unless Pogacar blows. So priority number one from now on should be to not explode on the climbs and if Vingegaard can't do it, then easy peasy win.

retalivity

3k rule applies today, Rog might get the same time as evenapoel

Macy0161

Also I only managed to catch a small bit (just around the time of Pog's lock up, which really could've changed things), and then they were mentioning him looking down at the bike talking about his gearing and chain. I just assumed he was checking he hadn't punctured, or was seeing for the effects of flat spotting. Don't know was anything more said on that?

Mefistofelino

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363603#Comment_122363603

I dunno - I think he needs to decide what he's after. He's inclined to spaff a lot of energy when he's racing for stages which isn't really compatible with GC. Even today when the break was almost caught, Lazkano just sat up and drifted back while Healy drove hard for another few minutes for absolutely no gain whatsoever.

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363509#Comment_122363509

Hayman won Paris Roubaix after having fractured his arm just 6 weeks earlier. I don't remember any insinuations at the time. It's not like they drop from peak fitness to zero, and it's not like their off the bike/ doing zero training at all. Unfortunately I think Vingo will have these questions follow him permanently through his career. He's just not as charismatic as Pog.

Paddigol

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363575#Comment_122363575

Interesting. In all the armchair analysis we do, it's easy to forget the multitude of dull, small things that can impact any given rider's performance on any given day.

Macy0161

If it was that or some mechanical issue, it's quite ironic given that so much of some people's problem with the gravel stage (and cobbles before) is that rider and team car can be so far apart if something goes wrong. No one has an issue with stages like today!

dahat

Remco put in a sterling performance today when at one point he could have lost alot of time. A podium at the end will be a huge result for him.

Mefistofelino

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363864#Comment_122363864

Agreed - he never looked like losing the head or panicking. Don't know whether he's matured or just got some calming influence at the other end of the race radio, but he just rode to his own strengths.

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363532#Comment_122363532

They just have not learned anything from previous years. Didn't really look to ever be a stage that would take big gaps on for gc, yet they did loads of work and let him then go off an be explosive as if it was ending about 20km earlier than it did

Dodge

just seeing that Fred Wright finished 8 minutes over the limit today. Illness you’d assume.

CantGetNoSleep

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363632#Comment_122363632

Might fear that could end up like Roglic in 2020. Especially if Vingegaard can do a time trial like he did last year

Morris Garren

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122364071#Comment_122364071

I was just about to check this- thanks. Poor Fred was off the back from very early, not sure how he managed to solo TT for over 200km over 4300m climbing without giving up. Quite an effort to finish at all.

And despite half my velogames team being in the break of the day, I'm now even further behind as Lanterne Rouge. Chapeau to Roglic who managed to complete 10 stages without falling off his bike; he did the inevitable today of course..

Dcully

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363575#Comment_122363575

The excuses starting early :)

We hard that numerous times the last two years.

Mefistofelino

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363632#Comment_122363632

Today would have been the day to start doing that. I thought Pog worked too much with Vingo - there was no benefit for Pog ( assuming he doesn't get sick or injured, he's under no threat from Remco or Roglic) but it closed the gap to Remco for Vingo, forced a tired / bonking Pog to expend even more energy and gave Vingo the psychological boost of being able to dominate the last 15km.

If the roles were reversed, I don't think Vingo would have worked as much, if at all.

Mefistofelino

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122364174#Comment_122364174

Pog is lucky there are now two flat stages. My recollection is that the past two years, a slight crack in Pogs armour was usually followed the next day or so by Vingo crushing him in the mountains.

Weepsie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122364764#Comment_122364764

Last year, he lost time on stage 5 and then routinely finished ahead and got all that time back pretty much. It was the TT and the day after he tt that did it for him.

Year before he burned too many matches trying to constantly attack.

He has a super strong team with him there and they're not racing smart. Like they are sure Jonas is impacted by his injury as much as pogacar was by his.

Jonas had his a few weeks earlier so maybe recovery was better, even if it seemed more serious, and Pogacar has a 3 week grand tour in him already.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122364913#Comment_122364913

Yeah, I think Pog will pay for the Giro next week.

Thud

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122363688#Comment_122363688

I think bar the main GC contenders Ben has been one of the most visible riders in the race. Whatever about this year I think he's made a great case for being the EF GC man next year.

retalivity

The uae 1+3 leader strategy has been a disaster, when sivakov/soler is done, the 3 are looking at each other and not pulling 100%. Yates did the job the best a few stages back, almeida seems to do his share, but ayuso is constantly hiding. He was dropped early today, they need to get the hierarchy sorted and working for pog to have any hope tbh

MangleBadger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122365286#Comment_122365286

Yates knows his job. And did a great job last year. But agree on Almeida and Ayuso. Ayuso is 7 minutes down now so maybe he will give up on any GC hopes he had.

I think Almeida would make the perfect domestic with his constant tempo style.

Mefistofelino

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122365203#Comment_122365203

I think Ben would want to show he can reliably stick with the top 10 -15 GC contenders on several successive mountain stages before you could say he should be considered as EF's GC man. I know he's a few years older and is having a 'mare of a 2024, but Neilson Powless has at least won a stage race - Ben has never finished higher than third on a stage race ( yet). If Powless can get sorted, he'd more likely be EFs next GC choice. It might just be that like Dan Martin, Healys strengths like in stage hunting, one day races and one week races.

There's definitely a Monument in him. IMO that would be a far better result than being something like ninth in La Vuelta

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122365691#Comment_122365691

I'm interested to see could he keep up but I don't think he should become a GC rider at least not in the stacked TdF field. Has a much better chance at a monument.

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122364174#Comment_122364174

Yep - is it the big kj days or fueling, or both. Along with UAE repeating the same tactics.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122365319#Comment_122365319

That's the team management though? From the outside, Visma hoover up talent but are explicit in what their role is. UAE hoover up talent, and they all think they're a protected rider.

On a different topic, nuts that the 3km rule was in play on this stage. Rodriguez should've just faked a mechanical and got same time as the group he was in until the kicker to the line.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122366385#Comment_122366385

Except last year's Vuelta where Visma spent the tour attacking each other or the TdF two years ago when WvA was off doing his own thing.

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122366483#Comment_122366483

Don't really agree about the Vuelta, I mean ultimately that's why Rog left as he wouldn't follow the orders. And WvA did his fair share of pulling for Vingo that Tour too imo. Only for Yates losing time, UAE would be trying to keep 4 up there!

retalivity

Iirc, soler & sivakov were promised gc tilts as well upon signing for UAE, although they seem far happier/more realistic to fold into domestique roles

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122366385#Comment_122366385

I didn't realise until after it was in play, if it was me, I'd have "slipped" a gear and rolled into the grass at the side of the road

Mefistofelino

So for today..

Morkov out with Covid

Total Energies had all their bikes stolen last night

I suspect the riders will be very lucky if the can skirt around the thunderstorms and downpours in the area, but it doesn't look like there'll be much wind

mewso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122365691#Comment_122365691

I don't think Powless has the climbing ability to compete in a Grand Tour. Not to suggest Ben could either but I remember Powless being the Abrahamson of last years tour. i.e. being in the KOM jersey until they hit the big climbs then falling away.