Shuggie_Murray7 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 I think Vingegaard has to be the favourite now. He's hung in there on mostly Pog terrain and is only 1.14 behind. He's clearly got the form and the legs and when the race moves in to more of Vingegaard's preferred stages and that 1.14 could disappear quickly. I absolutely love watching Pog race, but part of me always questions the tactic. He goes all out attack that I always feel he weakens himself up to attacks in the high mountains. Either way, the race is shaping up nicely and poised to be one of the most exciting last weeks in recent Tour memory. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvo Montalbano Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 47 minutes ago, Shuggie_Murray7 said: I think Vingegaard has to be the favourite now. He's hung in there on mostly Pog terrain and is only 1.14 behind. He's clearly got the form and the legs and when the race moves in to more of Vingegaard's preferred stages and that 1.14 could disappear quickly. I absolutely love watching Pog race, but part of me always questions the tactic. He goes all out attack that I always feel he weakens himself up to attacks in the high mountains. Either way, the race is shaping up nicely and poised to be one of the most exciting last weeks in recent Tour memory. Think tactically there have been two possible errors - the first one when he, Remco and Jonas were together on the gravel stage. Remco wanted to work, but Jonas didn't, presumably because he had no teammates around. I think if Remco and Tadej attacked, Jonas would have been in a tricky spot - keep up with them and solidify the podium, but run the risk of bonking and losing time or waiting for his teammates but possibly losing another minute, maybe more. By sitting up and going back into the Peloton, that chance was gone. The second was the attack 2 days ago with 30 odd km left. He already isolated Vinegaard, he had teammates left, he could have stayed in the wheels longer and ground Jonas down some more. Having said that, if Pogacar had a gel with him at the foot of the climb where Vinegaard got back on terms with him, everyone would have been saying what a masterclass it was. It certainly seems like he didn't fuel up properly and his recovery time let Vinegaard back in. Van Aert looks to be getting back into form, so that will only help Vinegaard, while the UAE team while looking strong don't seem to have the same discipline? I don't know. Going to be a great few days in the Pyrenees and then the Alps and the ITT to finish in week 3. Cracking stuff. Shame about yesterday though - Roglic being taken out by a stray Astana rider who didn't see the massive central reservation and then relegations galore for Demare (justified) and Cavendish (a bit harsh as he had to swerve to avoid a lead out man who stopped pedalling). Girmay looks unstoppable at the moment though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 Think Roglic hopes remain with the third week & Vingegaard & Pogacar fading. Regards Girmay, brilliant to see him finally back to the form he was showing before his eye injury, at the Giro a couple of years back. Just keep the Champagne away from him. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvo Montalbano Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 (edited) 5 minutes ago, kiddy said: Think Roglic hopes remain with the third week & Vingegaard & Pogacar fading. Regards Girmay, brilliant to see him finally back to the form he was showing before his eye injury, at the Giro a couple of years back. Just keep the Champagne away from him. Roglic has abandoned. Link Edited July 12 by Salvo Montalbano Added Twitter link 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuggie_Murray7 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 1 hour ago, Salvo Montalbano said: The second was the attack 2 days ago with 30 odd km left. He already isolated Vinegaard, he had teammates left, he could have stayed in the wheels longer and ground Jonas down some more. Having said that, if Pogacar had a gel with him at the foot of the climb where Vinegaard got back on terms with him, everyone would have been saying what a masterclass it was. It certainly seems like he didn't fuel up properly and his recovery time let Vinegaard back in. Van Aert looks to be getting back into form, so that will only help Vinegaard, while the UAE team while looking strong don't seem to have the same discipline? I don't know. Going to be a great few days in the Pyrenees and then the Alps and the ITT to finish in week 3. Cracking stuff. I think his error there was attacking on the second to last time. The parcours was almost perfect for him to attack on the final climb and really put time into his rivals. I think he jumped too early. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 2 hours ago, Salvo Montalbano said: Roglic has abandoned. Link It was a fair old clatter and he looked to be suffering after it. Amazing how often he seems to get caught up in crashes, seems to end up on the deck more than any of the other top guys. Completely out of his hands yesterday tbf. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 (edited) Pidcock out wi covid. I see Ayuso also abandoned yesterday. Can Pogi keep a lid on it & ride defensively the next two days? Think Visma have to hammer him relentlessly to try breaking him & take back time. *Thomas not feeling great, & a Remco team mate arriving separately to sign in. Edited July 13 by kiddy 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 Arkea’s Capiot straight out the back from the off. Think he was in yesterday’s crash. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 Just now, kiddy said: Arkea’s Capiot straight out the back from the off. Think he was in yesterday’s crash. & abandons 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 Thomas riding, on doctor’s advice apparently, having tested +ve for covid. Now out the back on the Tourmalet! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 3 hours ago, kiddy said: Pidcock out wi covid. I see Ayuso also abandoned yesterday. Can Pogi keep a lid on it & ride defensively the next two days? Think Visma have to hammer him relentlessly to try breaking him & take back time. *Thomas not feeling great, & a Remco team mate arriving separately to sign in. Remco’s teammate Vervarke abandons 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Brightside Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 Incredible from Pog, think that was a response to him making an arse of it the other day. Also very impressed by Remco, he's hanging in there better than I thought. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuggie_Murray7 Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 That was a bot of a tactical masterclass from UAE - and all decided in chat on the road with Pog and Yates. The final climb did seem to suit Pog an paper. Tomorrow looks like it might suit Vingegaard a bit better, but he has virtually no team to speak of. UAE have been looking exceptionally strong so I think Yates will have a big job on his hands to just help Pog put out any fires. It should be a cracker of a stage. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 (edited) Surely, if there’s a time to defend, tomorrow is it? Vingegards lack of prep, has been exposed & now he has to attack the Slovenian. The stars have aligned to provide Pogi with the best chance of a Tour/Giro double. Remco’s development has definite echoes of Big Mig; can’t respond to explosive attacks, but his engine will get you in the end. Too early for this year, but makes for future years challenges between the three of them. Can’t wait for tomorrow. Edited July 13 by kiddy 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 What about the Bam throwing crisps in the face of Pogi & Jonas? Twats like that should expect the Gendarmerie to give them a good leathering. Mind you, could have been worse; when you think of Froome having cups of pish thrown at him! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuggie_Murray7 Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 10 hours ago, kiddy said: Surely, if there’s a time to defend, tomorrow is it? Vingegards lack of prep, has been exposed & now he has to attack the Slovenian. The stars have aligned to provide Pogi with the best chance of a Tour/Giro double. Remco’s development has definite echoes of Big Mig; can’t respond to explosive attacks, but his engine will get you in the end. Too early for this year, but makes for future years challenges between the three of them. Can’t wait for tomorrow. You’d think Pog would just stick to the wheels and just cover off any attacks from Vingegaard and Remco, and he has strong mountain donestiques to help him out. But with Pog you just know he’s still going to look to attack at some point, he may be nervous about that final tome trial and want as big an advantage as possible by that point. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvo Montalbano Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 The third week looks mental as well - the penultimate stage I think looks pretty brutal but you also need to leave something in the tank for the ITT. I'm always surprised at how much grief Remco gets - maybe it was the Belgian press building him up as the new Mercxx? - but he seems to be coping well in a tram that's nowhere near as strong as UAE or Visma (albeit they looked good yesterday), he likes to attack and the wee conversations he has with Tadej in the warm down area show both the humour and the respect between them. It's a shame Bernal had that massive crash as those four could have been slogging it out for around a decade. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 Girmay gets himself into a break if about 20, coming up to the intermediate sprint. No sign of Philipson. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 Takes the 20points, Michael Mathews moaning about getting cut up in the sprint. Just why, as he was only on 12 points? I didn’t think it was that bad as the Eritrean took the racing line. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiddy Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 (edited) Girmay penalised & demoted to third; a group of three contested the points, Girmay, his team mate Mentjes & Mathews. Can only assume there was a cash prize associated with it too? Edited July 14 by kiddy 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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