Edge Posted July 26, 2019 Share Posted July 26, 2019 (edited) It's an interesting tour. I'm really sorry for Pinot. If he hurt himself 2 days ago, which it sounded like, it's impressive that he was able to stay with the majority of favourits yesterday. What a shame, that he wasn't able to finish this tour, as i think he would have been able to follow Bernal and give him a good fight for the yellow jersey. As of now, Bernal seems to be the strongest climber. Besides Pinot obviously, Buchmann was the only one able to stay with him in the pyrenees. In the alps, it looks like Bernal is better than everyone, so if nothing unexpected happens tomorrow, he should be able to keep the yellow jersey. After him it's going to be interesting. Thomas looks stronger than a week ago. I still don't know about Kruijswijk and i'm not sure what to think of Buchmann today. I think he either had some troubles to stay with Thomas and Kruijswijk, or he was the smartest of that group and saved the most energy in that climb, which would have been a shame, since the stage couldn't continue to the final climb. I think Alaphilippe won't be able to keep the podium position. I think he'S going to finish 5th at best, but he's not going to be able to finish better than that, unless they just don't attack at all tomorrow, which i doubt. Buchmann said he wants to attack tomorrow. Kruijswijk certainly needs to attack as well, while Ineos could just try to react. Maybe Movistar will try to do something with Landa, but i don't see him as strong enough to finish ahead of my presumed top 4. He should be able to gain time over Alaphilippe, but we'll see if it's going to be enough. Edited July 26, 2019 by Edge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mse326 Posted July 26, 2019 Share Posted July 26, 2019 I imagine tomorrow will be Ineos leading out until Bernal attacks. If Buchmann and Kruijswijk go with him Thomas will follow. If they don't then he'll stay with them but not pull at all. This way Bernal is in the drivers seat, but if the others manage to stay with him Thomas should have the freshest legs to win at the end the insure either he or Bernal take the yellow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edge Posted July 26, 2019 Share Posted July 26, 2019 Quote Stage 20 route change, landslide blocks the Cormet de Roselend. Route could still start in Albertville but take main valley road to Moûtiers, skipping Cormet and the Col du Tra. The stage will be just 59 km long. That's going to be a different stage than it was supposed to be. Now the teams, especially Jumbo and Bora and maybe even Ineos should push with everything they have into the mountain and keep the speed as high as possible. This should be an advantage for Alaphilippe through, as he basically "just" has to survive the last climb, but i think he still will lose the time to drop out of the podium spot. Bernal should be able to keep the yellow jersey, even if he has a bad day. Thomas probably won't lose the time to drop out of the podium. This is bad news for Kruijswijk and especially Buchmann, since he needs to gain the most time to get to the podium. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TedLavie Posted July 26, 2019 Share Posted July 26, 2019 1 hour ago, Edge said: The stage will be just 59 km long. That's going to be a different stage than it was supposed to be. Now the teams, especially Jumbo and Bora and maybe even Ineos should push with everything they have into the mountain and keep the speed as high as possible. This should be an advantage for Alaphilippe through, as he basically "just" has to survive the last climb, but i think he still will lose the time to drop out of the podium spot. Bernal should be able to keep the yellow jersey, even if he has a bad day. Thomas probably won't lose the time to drop out of the podium. This is bad news for Kruijswijk and especially Buchmann, since he needs to gain the most time to get to the podium. The Val Thorens climb is long, but it's not hard. It would have been hard by 100 degrees because there's no shade whatsoever, but with this temperature I'm not sure there will be big gaps tomorrow. The only question is whether Alaf will be able to ride as he did until now without the yellow jersey. Is a Tour podium enough to motivate him to go beyond his limits. He seemed to care only about the yellow. But if he's as hungry as he was for the mast 3 weeks, I think he holds on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mse326 Posted July 26, 2019 Share Posted July 26, 2019 13 minutes ago, TedLavie said: The Val Thorens climb is long, but it's not hard. It would have been hard by 100 degrees because there's no shade whatsoever, but with this temperature I'm not sure there will be big gaps tomorrow. The only question is whether Alaf will be able to ride as he did until now without the yellow jersey. Is a Tour podium enough to motivate him to go beyond his limits. He seemed to care only about the yellow. But if he's as hungry as he was for the mast 3 weeks, I think he holds on. Just for kicks I'd like to see him go for it right from the start. Try to find a breakaway or even go himself if need be. Make the others think. Do you go with him now? Assume he'll fade? Try to judge and keep him within a certain distance? Obviously a podium would still be huge for him, but I think it would be perfectly fine and admirable to say you know what I want yellow and if it costs me a podium then so be it. Plus from an audience perspective that would make for a really exciting "last" stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted July 27, 2019 Author Share Posted July 27, 2019 I expect this stage to be an all out attack. Basically every team needs to attack at the bottom of val Thorens. Should be an explosive stage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyle21121 Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 I’ve never seen this. Wow. I just watched I’m literally watching like 20 hours after the fact each day so I’ve mostly stayed away from this thread but wow. Now today’s stage is cut to 59.9km? And is basically 35 or so km then just a climb to the finish? No way Bernal doesn’t win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted July 27, 2019 Author Share Posted July 27, 2019 1 hour ago, kyle21121 said: I’ve never seen this. Wow. I just watched I’m literally watching like 20 hours after the fact each day so I’ve mostly stayed away from this thread but wow. Now today’s stage is cut to 59.9km? And is basically 35 or so km then just a climb to the finish? No way Bernal doesn’t win. I think Bernal wins the stage too. He will want to prove he's the strongest and that he didn't win just because the stage was cut short yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TedLavie Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 2 hours ago, kempus said: I think Bernal wins the stage too. He will want to prove he's the strongest and that he didn't win just because the stage was cut short yesterday. That would mean Bernal would end up with the yellow, white and polka jersey. I wonder when is the last time somebody did that. Merckx maybe? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kempus Posted July 28, 2019 Author Share Posted July 28, 2019 Didn't really get the attacks, but after Ala was dropped everyone seemed content with their position. Kind of sad to see Ala fall off the podium, but a top 5 finish is surely beyond anyones wildest expectation of him. Gritty ride from Nibali for the stage win. I don't think there's any doubt that Bernal is a worthy winner. Other than a dodgy TT, he's been the strongest overall rider. In the Alps, he was a class apart. Greatness awaits for Bernal. Whats even more impressive is that Ineos were pretty weak by their usual standards. I'd love to see him go for the Vuelta too, but I doubt Ineos risks him. Thomas will probably ride it, imo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bad Example Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 I'm torn - Bernal is the first Colombian to win (yay for us!) but rides for Ineos (booo, boring!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bad Example Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 My brother is sending pictures from the greeting Bernal is getting on his return to Colombia and it is apparently a BIG F'IN DEAL down there. Even Lemond and Lance got some sizzle but basically a "that's nice" from the general public, I believe. This looks like a SB victory parade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mse326 Posted September 29, 2019 Share Posted September 29, 2019 Great World Championships for the young Americans. There actually a few who could be relevant on the senior tour. Remco Evenpoel is already a senior stud. 2nd in time trial, and I think he did a great job trying to get Gilbert back to the peleton even though it didn't work. How the hell did Pedersen out-sprint Trentin? Where does Rohan Dennis end up next season? He'd be a big get for any team. He'd really help Movistar at least in the TTT. They have three guys going for Yellow jerseys but keep dropping a minute just there. He'd help limit that at least to give them a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bad Example Posted October 3, 2019 Share Posted October 3, 2019 I know BMC was attempting to turn Dennis into a GC rider, not sure what became of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bad Example Posted July 3, 2022 Share Posted July 3, 2022 Shoot, anyone else watching? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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