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Too soon?
Nope, because the route has been announced!
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-2021-route-unveiled/
Highlight has to be Ventoux x two, doesnt it?
More TT as well, which is no bad thing. Still want to see a final day TT again. After the drama of 89, and the Giro this year, and looking at how close races are in the final week these days (La Vuelta for example), surely it's time!
Looking forward to it very much. St Gaudens stage finish and a start in Pau a couple of days later. Had a wonderful night at a fête in St Gaudens town square, we were enjoying the music and dancing when a chap asked us to move - he offered us free beer if we'd dance in front of the stage to encourage every one else to join in. Bloody great night till Helen had a massive asthma attack and I had to carry her home
Ventoux twice could be very interesting, as could the old fashioned summit finish at Tignes.
Nice to see a good amount of TTing too, people often forget it's meant to be the best all round rider, the "general classification", who wins and not just the best climber.
Bah, one of the ascents of Ventoux is the Sault side. Super easy. Real men like me do the Bedoin and Malaucene ascents in the same day for the sole reason of bragging about it on MTB forums 5 years later.
Has the potential to be an amazing Tour with a parcours that should suit riders competing in the different classifications and so we should see races within races. With rider transfers and team makeup (younger riders coming through, changing of the guard) for next year looking quite different I think Jumbo Visma will dominate but won’t be dominant.
Had a wonderful night at a fête in St Gaudens town square
I turned down a job in St Gaudens many, many years ago. Cracking place!
I think I could get round this in 12 - 14 days, including riding between stages too....... why does it take the pro's so long?
Miguel Ángel López to Movistar. As team leader? Valverde must be past it soon, shirley? (Unless the juice keeps flowing...!) Soler shows potential, but don't think he plays well with others.
https://cyclingtips.com/2020/11/miguel-angel-lopez-will-join-movistar-in-2021/
watching the dauphine I can see a call up for Bernal here Odious greenwash were decidedly lacking in numbers at the end of a mediocre stage.
I know it's not definitive and not come across any news confirming it but Froome and WvA are no longer listed on the tdf rosters
WVA is listed. First name on the TJV roster.
No Froome isn’t a huge surprise. His form hasn’t been anyway near good enough, I don’t even think he has the fitness for a stage win or even to last 70kms in a break. Shame really. Wouldn’t be surprised if he contractually has to ride it though.
Tough to watch such a previous great rider struggle so much. Nibali similar, but at least he manages to get to the final climb before being dropped.
No Froome isn’t a huge surprise
Given his taste in music I reckon no-one was willing to room with him:)
Ineos have THREE grand tour winners in their squad (Thomas, Carapaz, Geoghegan-Hart) with support from Porto et al
Jumbo have <strikethrough>Marky Mark</strikethrough> Roglic, WVA, Kuss and Kruijswijk. THe latter two seems just a little off the boil in the Dauphiné - I rate Kuss a GT winner in his own right, but he wasn't quite there. I'm no expert in terms of preparing and tapering but it didn;t seem quite right to me
and yes, no Froome is no surprise. Based on form so far this year, he was only ever going to be going as a domestique and to generate column inches, perhaps to get in breaks, but he's not stroing enough at the moment. I really want him to come back though, just getting to the point where he's riding (he's not racing) World Tour is an aceheivement in itself
That Ineos team looks strong. As do Jumbo.
It looks like the perfect Tour for Roglic. Not sure Jumbo will have the riders to control the race from the first TT on stage 5 onwards. Pogacar looks the most credible challenger to Roglic. I think Thomas and Porte both look capable of reaching the podium, but would need Roglic and Pogacar to both suffer misfortune to take the win. Unfortunately, the INEOS riders are the most likely to end up in a ditch. Carapaz doesn't have a good enough TT to win, but has the best chance of keeping upright. Outside bet would be Gaudu or Kelderman.
What's the deal with that startlist? It seems incomplete. Ineos and UAE have 9 riders listed. I thought they were only allowed 8? Whereas I'm sure EF Education will want more than the 3 they've listed.
EDIT: I really want Richie Porte to win. I just like the guy.
kind of a provisional roster (waiting on the Dauphine, Suisse and Nationals.) (WvA was definitely not listed yesterday, I guess he's got the ok from his appendicitis)
What’s the deal with that startlist? It seems incomplete. Ineos and UAE have 9 riders listed. I thought they were only allowed 8? Whereas I’m sure EF Education will want more than the 3 they’ve listed.
It's still provisional, you don't have to declare the final roster for a while yet.
It's a balancing act - on the one hand the Tour want to know who's riding (especially the big names) for marketing purposes, on the other hand the teams don't want to show their hand too early and a lot depends on things like final races, illness/injury etc.
Makes sense. When does the Roster have to be confirmed, then? Surely until then we won't know about Froome-dog?
If you still get an automatic feed of news when you open up a Chrome tab... now is a good time to turn it off and prevent spoilers. Also customise your news homepage if you can. You're welcome.
I really hope that as with the Critérium du Dauphiné, that ITV have the program available on the ITV hub as soon as the programme is finished. 7pm is kids bed time, then the program goes AWOL for some unknown length of time before being added to the ITV Hub. The result is that we're often fishing around 'til gone 10 (which is too late for SWMBO) waiting for the highlights to be added to the hub as a "watch again".
I can see a call up for Bernal here
No chance, he was fading at the end of the Giro, he would be nothing but baggage, Sivakov however if he's recovered from his fall in the first week of the Giro could be a good shout.
Agreed - he's just won the Giro with his back problems starting to resurface, if he was to race again he'd be best aiming for Lombardia (worlds??) as this is the Monument that so many forget that it's there for the taking and it's not gambling on another 3 weeks
Can't see past Roglic or Pogacar either - regardless of which team bosses the climbs etc all they need is one helper
Sivakov is racing Tour de Suisse this week with Carapaz, Rowe and Rohan, if it goes well I can see him coming in for Laurens De Plus
EDIT: I really want Richie Porte to win. I just like the guy.
Well he's just won the Dauphine but I can't see him being given free rein, he'll be riding in support of Geraint Thomas - and to be fair G helped him win the Dauphine! I'd see him as a Plan B or C for the almost inevitable moment where G hits the deck although that possibility is always there for Richie too since he rarely seems to manage a Grand Tour without at least one major off.
Sort of related - does anyone else think that Ineos are really suffering now on rim-braked bikes compared to the entire rest of the peloton on discs? Saw it with Tao G-H in Paris-Nice where he was descending a hairpin bend within the bunch and everyone else just out-braked him. He ended up on the deck and out of the race - he was really highly placed on GC too.
Agreed – he’s just won the Giro with his back problems starting to resurface
And tested positive for COVID a few days ago.
I'm picking Rog. I don't think Ineos have a clear leader who can challenge him, and TJV will be more wary of Pog this year.
Sort of related – does anyone else think that Ineos are really suffering now on rim-braked bikes compared to the entire rest of the peloton on discs?
It could be tyres or wheel selection as much as disc brakes, not all pro's are fans of discs.
There is a tantalising although far fetched opportunity to have a all British podium this year......
Sort of related – does anyone else think that Ineos are really suffering now on rim-braked bikes compared to the entire rest of the peloton on discs?
Haven't they just won the Giro and a bunch of classics on rim brake bikes? (sort of genuine Q, am too lazy to go back through recent results). Wasn't Hirschi putting in some pretty epic performances on descents last year on rim brakes? Pretty sure Jumbo were winning on rim brakes not so long ago...
I know I'm the resident rim brake apologist but I don't really see any evidence that they're holding anyone back (unavoidable pun definitely not intended...😎)
Edit: I know Hirschi wasn't on Ineos, I just remembered some really exciting footage of him stuck behind a camera motorbike on a descent
nbt
Full Member
Froome confirmed for Le Tour
Pretty pointless really, unless they actually don't have another rider to act as a half arsed domestique. If he makes some kind of miraculous return to form, there will questions that can only be answered one way - I guess it was in his contract afterall.
He's going as road captain. Michael Woods is the GC guy
Watched an interesting wee video, GCN I think, about Ineos and their 4 potential GC winners. Would like to listen in on team radio live for some of the mountain stages! Will it be directed or victory for the fittest? - could lead to some interesting scenarios anyway.
So 2 hopes and one's called Bob
Got to be contractual for Froome, no way he's going on form and I don't see him as a road captain at all.
does anyone else think that Ineos are really suffering now on rim-braked bikes
Yes. Geraint's Dauphine crash was a classic carbon rim brake crash, where the front brake grabs on turn-in and the front wheel goes. It wasn't a lean angle crash, it happened earlier than that, on turn-in. This has happened so many times over the years in the pro peloton.
My punt is that Ineos will lose the tour due to a crash like this. Losing the front on turn-in, due to using rim brakes. You heard it here first.
Got to be contractual for Froome, no way he’s going on form and I don’t see him as a road captain at all.
Publicity for ISN though isn't it. If he does well, it's a great recovery, look what a comeback he's made. If he does badly then "he's still recovering from the effects of the crash but having his experience here is really positive for the team".
He'll get lots of interview time, might be allowed in a breakaway or two, he's a good name for the TV cameras to focus in on. Plus all the pressure is off him as well.
Win, win.
he’s a good name for the TV cameras to focus in on
Dropping out the back on mediocre cat 3 isn't a great look.
Dropping out the back on mediocre cat 3 isn’t a great look.
See previous answer.
I can only see it as a positive thing for him, the team and the Tour.
My word, Ineos have a strong squad
Carapaz
Castroviejo
Geoghegan Hart
Kwiatkowski
Porte
Rowe
Thomas
Van Baarle
https://twitter.com/INEOSGrenadiers/status/1405889107721588738/photo/1
Just spotted that. That's 3 grand tour winners, a former national TT champion, a world champion, the guy who finished 3rd last year and 2 of the best domestiques in the world. That's a serious line-up that is.
4 of them would be in most peoples top 10 guesses as to who will win it.The team politics will be fascinating.
Yep, super strong team. They'll need it to beat Poggy and Roggy though. Can't wait.
4 of them would be in most peoples top 10 guesses as to who will win it.The team politics will be fascinating.
Not sure any one of them will beat Pogacar or Roglic for that matter. INEOS need to try and put someone like Porte ahead early, they need to attack early and often, let Carapaz sit in and follow.
Movistar team also looking strong
Alejandro Valverde
Carlos Verona
Enric Mas
Imanol Erviti
Iván García Cortina
Jorge Arcas
Marc Soler
Miguel Ángel López
Valverde for stage wins, with Mas, Soler and Superman all capable of at least a top ten finish if not challenging for the overall
Other teams being finalised too
Ag2r-Citroën Tour de France
Benoit Cosnefroy 🇫🇷
Greg Van Avermaet 🇧🇪
Aurélien Paret-Peintre 🇫🇷
Ben O’Connor 🇦🇺
Oliver Naesen 🇧🇪
Nans Peters 🇫🇷
Dorian Godon 🇫🇷
Michael Schär 🇨🇭
Astana Tour de France
Alex Aranburu 🇪🇸
Stefan De Bod 🇿🇦
Omar Fraile 🇪🇸
Jakob Fuglsang 🇩🇰
Dimitry Gruzdev 🇰🇿
Hugo Houle 🇨🇦
Ion Izagirre 🇪🇸
Alexey Lutsenko 🇰🇿
Arkea-Samsic Tour de France
Nairo Quintana 🇨🇴
Warren Barguil 🇫🇷
Nacer Bouhanni 🇫🇷
Elie Gesbert 🇫🇷
Connor Swift 🇬🇧
Dan McLay 🇬🇧
Clément Russo 🇫🇷
Anthony Delaplace 🇫🇷
BikeExhange Tour de France
Esteban Chaves 🇨🇴
Luke Durbridge 🇦🇺
Amund Grøndahl Jansen 🇳🇴
Lucas Hamilton 🇦🇺
Chris Juul Jensen 🇩🇰
Michael Matthews 🇦🇺
Luka Mezgec 🇸🇮
Simon Yates 🇬🇧
There's a few british riders - McLay and Swift at Arkea Samsic, Yates at BikeExchange, Fred Wright riding for Bahrain Victorious
I'm sure I saw last night that Astana wil be folding at the end of the season so the riders will want something out of the race to try to find a new team for next year
I’m sure I saw last night that Astana wil be folding at the end of the season so the riders will want something out of the race to try to find a new team for next year
Ah, another couple of those miraculous stage wins, riding solo...
Astana, for me, is one of those teams that will always be dirty. Find it very hard to cheer an Astana victory.
I know what you mean, there are several riders in the peloton who I admire individually but who ride for teams that make me feel less happy...
Yeah it's going to be interesting tactically to see how Ineos, with that array of talent, take on teams with the strongest individual riders. I'd imagine that naturally leads them to want multiple leaders capable of winning, ie if they have 2/3 riders with strong GC positions then Pog and Rog have to try and mark multiple attacks. So the combination of team tactics and politics will hopefully make it fun for those of us not trying to keep pace!
After news 3 days ago that Cav would not be riding the Tour, DQ have just announced him in their line-up! DQ and Cav tweeted it a few minutes ago. 🙂
Deceuninck Quickstep
Julian Alaphilippe
Kasper Asgreen
Davide Ballerini
Mattia Cattaneo
Mark Cavendish
Tim DeClercq
Dries Devenyns
Michael Mørkøv
so, Bennett out thanks to his knee injury, but Cav's form has paid off and someone has made the financial funds available to persuade him to race.
Glad Cav will be there, if he does win a stage that would be mega
The next season of Movistar the team documentary will be more of the same then, trying to win stages and place 3 riders on the podium and generally ballsing up tactically (and if all their best riders are at the tour then what about the Vuelta?)
The next season of Movistar the team documentary will be more of the same then, trying to win stages and place 3 riders on the podium and generally ballsing up tactically (and if all their best riders are at the tour then what about the Vuelta?)
Valverde could do Tour and Vuelta. He didn't do Giro.
It doesn't look like Bennett and Lefevere are best buddies anymore.
So, err, anyone fancy daily update threads again?
As long as we don't mind them not being done until later in the day on a weekend then happy to put the posts out.
So, err, anyone fancy daily update threads again?As long as we don’t mind them not being done until later in the day on a weekend then happy to put the posts out.
We're all expecting them @lunge !
You do a cracking job with them so if you're happy to do them again, I would certainly welcome them. 🙂
It doesn’t look like Bennett and Lefevere are best buddies anymore.
contrast that with what we says about Cav. Roughly Cav’s up for it, nervous like a kid, if he doesn’t come back with a stage fair enough, but if he does that would be spectacular.
I think I’d like the write up from my boss if I were Cav. Underselling the expectations and heavy sell on Cav’s response / attitude. I think DQS want a Cav stage more than you can imagine.
"As far as Mark Cavendish is concerned, the expectations are not too high. He is not 30 years old anymore. It is to his credit that he is nervous as if he has to ride his first race in the juniors. If he does not win, everyone will think that is normal If he does win, everyone will put him on a throne," he said.
@lunge - I'm seconding what @crazy-legs said
Re Bennett, don't we already know he's leaving at the end of the season? I suppose Lefevere has to consider the Vuelta and the rest of this season, but there's no long term gain to keeping Sam sweet. Shame, I do like Sam and want to see him race but if he;'s not 100% then the prospsect of Cav racing TDF again is somewhete exciting
@lunge, I’d appreciate the TdF daily up date, really enjoyed your efforts in the past. Thanks in advance
Who thinks Cav has a good opportunity to win a stage? Both stages 4 and 6 look good for a bunch sprint. Caleb Ewan looks to be the fastest sprinter, but he or his team doesn't always get the final positioning right. I could see Cav beating Colbrelli and Merlier in a straight sprint and the green jersey contenders such as Sagan will have been battling hard on the tough opening stages. I don't see him getting through the second week, Cav struggled to make the time cut when he was at his peak and stages 8 and 9 look brutal.
I reckon Cavendish has a decent chance of a stage win. He beat Merlier, Ewan, Ackermann and Groenewegen in tour of Belgium a couple of weeks ago in what the cycling podcast said was quite a long sprint. Plus he has the best leadout man in the business in Morkov's wheel.
Will still be picking Ewan in my Velogames team though.
So, err, anyone fancy daily update threads again?
Did you think we were going to let you off this year for some reason?!
Who thinks Cav has a good opportunity to win a stage?
Hmm.
In some respects, the pressure is off him, there's no real expectation for him to perform and it's clear that he is a replacement for Sam Bennett rather than the first-choice sprinter.
However, everyone (including us lot on here!) is now going "ooh, will Cav win?!" and he's sure to be in the interview seat at the end of every stage being given the usual shite questions along the lines of "you were in the mix there but then it all went wrong...what happened?" which is unlikely to ease the pressure or go down too well.
For what it's worth, I hope he does well. Have nothing but respect for the guy and it's good to see him in the Tour again. I hope he makes the full distance.
The usual velogames minileague is up and running
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/stw-fantasy-tour-of-france-2021/
Cav's legs may not be what they were but his race craft should stand him in good stead & put him in the mix for 1 or 2 wins possibly, but he'll need some luck..
Who thinks Cav has a good opportunity to win a stage?
QS will be looking to dominate the first week, Alaphilippe first stage plus yellow, then the next stage, Cav for the flat sprints with Morkov dedicated as lead out. Cav likes Morkov and it could be the Renshaw partnership all over again.
Cav getting to Paris? Probably depends more on the GC race and how that is being done and therefore the time cuts.
Aye, I recall that stage (up to Les Deux Alpes I think?) where Cav was last man in, way outside the time cut, but he refused the broom wagon and finished becuase "you respect the race". I liked him already but hw went way up in my estimation for that.
Looking forward to your daily posts already, @lunge 🙂
And what's happened to the thread OP, @CaptainFlashheart ?
Quick plug for Cure Leukaemia who are the first ever official charity for the tdf and they have a cracking prize draw with 21 different cycling prizes including a Pinarello Dogma F12.
edit - I'm also following a guy on Strava doing the organised whole 21 stages 1 week ahead of the real thing. He just did the stage 5 TT and came across the Ineos bus with the back stage crew scoping out the route.
Michelton-Bike Exchange-Orica-Greenedge have a new major sponsor who isn't Gerry Ryan - an arm of the Saudi Government.
Michelton-Bike Exchange-Orica-Greenedge have a new major sponsor who isn’t Gerry Ryan – an arm of the Saudi Government.
This has been raised several times in relation to the way the entire sport is funded - basically teams are so grateful for cash they can rarely justify asking awkward questions about where it's coming from which opens the door to all manner of dodgy deals from billionaires seeking to launder a bit of money to regimes and large corporations trying to sportwash their image.
Do you think, ISN stump up the cash for Cav to ride to give Froome someone to talk to in the Autobus ?
Did anyone watch the Team Presentation? I know it's always dull but that was dreadful. It seems Brittany has just discovered Motherf..... rap.