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Cycling Thread: Bernal wins the TDF


kempus

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  • 4 weeks later...
2 hours ago, kempus said:

Lots of news coming out today. Froome wins the rider of the year award. Aru leaves Astana for UAE Team Emirates and the Tour De France 2018 route is announced. @kyle21121 @mse326

1. That was expected. Don't think you could give it to anyone else. Maybe if Sagan had been able to stay in the TdF and win green, but there was no other option.

2. That was expected too I think. And what I just read the expectation is that Aru concentrates on Giro and Dan Martin is the teams leader for the Tour. Doumoulin and Porte are still Froome's biggest threats but that is one contender down.

3. The combination of a team trial early and the late ITT really seams like it's limiting the contenders to one of the three mentioned. The others don't have the time trial or team and will lose a lot of time there. From what I'm reading it looks like Froome's big time to go will be stage 10-12. That is where he can put some time on Doumoulin and require him to push a little more in the Pyrenees than he may want to make up some time going into the ITT. That will also tire him out though giving Froome a little better chance in the ITT or at least enough to not lose too much time.

Don't know enough about route setups and decision making there to make any statement, but a lot of comments I'm seeing suggest they purposely set up a lot of the course to prevent Froome from winning (like the cobblestones and unpaved roads). Do you think there is any merit to that?

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They said last years Tour was also designed to stop Froome winning, we all know how that went. The cobbles of Paris-Roubaix is the only thing you can point at at a potential weak point for Froome. There's not a crazy stretch of mountains or a really long TT either. 

The double ascent of Alpe D'Huez will be cool. The cobbles will be cool too. I will have to study the route map a bit mlre before commenting on any other stages which should be good. 

I think that the versatility of the race plays into Skys hands. Their roster boasts a number of riders who can do it all. Thomas and Kwiatkowski could be the two key men of the Tour. Both are adept at cobbles, TTs and in the mountains. I think that if Froome can make it out of the cobbles (unlike last time), he will go on to win it.

I hope Froome goes for the Giro, too. I think he will be the first guy to simultaneously hold all three GT wins.

Edited by kempus
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Love the setup of this tour just looked over everything. The only thing I don't like is not having a prologue to begin the race it's just a good setup and I'm much more excited. Week one will be interesting the cobbles 21km of them could be very key for a lot of the contenders. The TTT is fantastic I'm glad it's back. Some intermediate time bonuses spread throughout and tougher transition days. This is a very difficult tour for sprinters which makes it much more likely Sagan will win Green but also more enjoyable days instead of having a 4-5 day stretch to begin the tour that's all flat and sprinters going for it. The final TT looks difficult and if it's a close race could be really fun. I just love this setup and am very excited for next years edition. 

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On 10/17/2017 at 7:11 PM, kempus said:

I hope Froome goes for the Giro, too. I think he will be the first guy to simultaneously hold all three GT wins

Would he really go for the Giro right now though? I asked before and I think even you said no. Maybe if he gets the 5th TDF he'll do it after that?

Unless he times it where he literally reaches his peak fitness at the end of the Giro it would hurt his chances at the tour. And could he really win the Giro if that is what he did?

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5 hours ago, mse326 said:

Would he really go for the Giro right now though? I asked before and I think even you said no. Maybe if he gets the 5th TDF he'll do it after that?

Unless he times it where he literally reaches his peak fitness at the end of the Giro it would hurt his chances at the tour. And could he really win the Giro if that is what he did?

I think its course dependent. The Giro are obviously desperate for Froome to race it, so I expect a pretty much tailor made course for him. It would be risky to ride it, but honestly, he will probably never get the chance to hold all 3 GT wins simultaneously. If he can achieve that, it would be more impressive than a 5th TDF, imo. It would also put him in the fable group of guys who have won all 3 GTs. 

Whether or not he can achieve a Giro and Tour double, I'm not sure. But, he should absolutely try, imo. I don't think the Tour is as tough as it could have been, meaning it's possible for him to expend a bit more energy at the Giro.

If Froome could win the Giro, hold all 3 GTs at the same time, then do a Giro-Tour double, meaning he has won 4 GTs in a row, he would be second in the all time GOAT list, imo. 

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  • 1 month later...
On Thu Nov 30 2017 at 5:35 PM, kyle21121 said:

It appears Froome WILL ride the Giro this year. I thought he'd try and lock up his 5th tour before doing this but it would be an incredible feat if he can pull it off and then attempting his 5th tour. 

I just came in to post about this. I'm so happy he's going for it. Would be an almost unique piece of history if he does achieve it. Hold all 3 GTs at the same time. With 4 in a row, presuming he wins the Giro and Tour double. Would lock him in as the second greatest of all time.

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On 12/3/2017 at 2:12 AM, kempus said:

I just came in to post about this. I'm so happy he's going for it. Would be an almost unique piece of history if he does achieve it. Hold all 3 GTs at the same time. With 4 in a row, presuming he wins the Giro and Tour double. Would lock him in as the second greatest of all time.

The question is how much he schedules with intent to win the Giro. Does he try to reach peak for the start and risk being tired in the Tour, or does he try to time it so that the first half of the race he is just working his way into it so he peaks mid race, hopes to have enough to pull away, and still be relatively fresh going into the Tour.

As for second all time do you even think it's possible to pass Mercx. From what I've learned it just isn't possible to win like he did anymore so is he locked in forever or do we consider the age they are racing in. If so what would Froome, or anyone for that matter, need to do to pass him? Mix in classics wins as well?

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1 hour ago, mse326 said:

The question is how much he schedules with intent to win the Giro. Does he try to reach peak for the start and risk being tired in the Tour, or does he try to time it so that the first half of the race he is just working his way into it so he peaks mid race, hopes to have enough to pull away, and still be relatively fresh going into the Tour.

As for second all time do you even think it's possible to pass Mercx. From what I've learned it just isn't possible to win like he did anymore so is he locked in forever or do we consider the age they are racing in. If so what would Froome, or anyone for that matter, need to do to pass him? Mix in classics wins as well?

Yeah, I was reading that he will have a reasonable block of training for the Giro. I think he will be pretty fit from the start. But, the ideal way is to hit peak form mid race. I think that's what all riders hope for. Honestly, winning the Giro and holding all three GTs at the same time is a bigger achievement than the 5th TDF. He will likely have more chances to win that. He will never have the chance to hold all three again. 

It's a completely different era, but yeah it's next to impossible to surplant Mercx as the top guy. 

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8 hours ago, kyle21121 said:

The Giro-Tour double has seemingly become impossible but if anyone has a shot it's Froome. I could see a lot of guys sitting out the Giro and going for the Tour thinking they'll be able to pounce on Froome. 

If that's true wouldn't it also then have the effect of making the Giro easier for him? Like his mere presence makes the race easier than normal for him to win.

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19 hours ago, kyle21121 said:

The Giro-Tour double has seemingly become impossible but if anyone has a shot it's Froome. I could see a lot of guys sitting out the Giro and going for the Tour thinking they'll be able to pounce on Froome. 

Yeah, I think it may change one or two guys plans for the year. I also read a rumour that the Giro are paying Froome 2 million Euros to ride there. That's crazy. If true, it shows that Froome is in a category of his own when it comes to cycling stardom, at the moment.

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