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Cycling Thread: Bernal wins the TDF


kempus

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3 hours ago, kempus said:

Chris Froome. Oh my word. That was absolutely outrageous. This may well be his greatest GT triumph if he finishes it off today.

Just watched it. That was just stupid impressive. And pretty much all on his own. So much for needing his team to do it for him. 

But still Yates losing 39 minutes is staggering for an actual GC contender.

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1 minute ago, mse326 said:

Just watched it. That was just stupid impressive. And pretty much all on his own. So much for needing his team to do it for him. 

But still Yates losing 39 minutes is staggering for an actual GC contender.

Yates completely gassed. Such a shame, I think he put too much into the TT. If Froome wins the Giro, he is the undisputed second greatest cycler ever, in my opinion. This is also the most impressive of his GT wins, if he survives today.

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2 hours ago, kempus said:

Yates completely gassed. Such a shame, I think he put too much into the TT. If Froome wins the Giro, he is the undisputed second greatest cycler ever, in my opinion. This is also the most impressive of his GT wins, if he survives today.

Suspiciously good perhaps...

Seriously though it was fantastic but I do have thoughts in the back of my head. It was only the third stage I was able to catch as the Giro is much harder to find for me than the tour or vuelta for whatever reason. 

I will try and watch today’s stage. I wonder if he has anything left? TD still has a shot as this remains a two person race with a different person in Froome. It is certainly doable but it would be easy. I am excited for this finish. 

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51 minutes ago, kyle21121 said:

Suspiciously good perhaps...

Seriously though it was fantastic but I do have thoughts in the back of my head. It was only the third stage I was able to catch as the Giro is much harder to find for me than the tour or vuelta for whatever reason. 

I will try and watch today’s stage. I wonder if he has anything left? TD still has a shot as this remains a two person race with a different person in Froome. It is certainly doable but it would be easy. I am excited for this finish. 

I try to presume innocence when I'm watching, makes it more enjoyable. You could question every rider in the race, otherwise. Like how Dumoulin is suddenly able to outride the best climbers in the world. At least Froome has a long standing pedigree of doing it.

On the race, I find the same. The Giro is really hard to find streams for, for whatever reason. I'll also try to watch the stage tonight. Another mountain one, so will probably be eventful again. 

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7 hours ago, kyle21121 said:

Suspiciously good perhaps...

Seriously though it was fantastic but I do have thoughts in the back of my head. It was only the third stage I was able to catch as the Giro is much harder to find for me than the tour or vuelta for whatever reason. 

I will try and watch today’s stage. I wonder if he has anything left? TD still has a shot as this remains a two person race with a different person in Froome. It is certainly doable but it would be easy. I am excited for this finish. 

I don't know that would take some pair to dope while under investigation. I'd actually say the more likely reason, at least imo, is 1. he is healthier now. I think the fall in the lead up took a bit out of him earlier and 2. while everyone else mostly came into the Giro in GT fitness and the Froome intentionally came in weaker so he could peak later so he'd still have in the tank for the TDF. So as the others fade a bit he is just now reaching peak fitness. I may be rationalizing but doping given his current circumstance just seems remote. And we have seen massive attacks from him before so it isn't like this is way out of character.

The Tour and Vuelta were both simply on NBCSN for me. The Giro is on some Italian station that needs a subscription. I'm mostly paying attention through live texts and then looking for streams later. I don't know why it's treated is the ugly stepchild. Hell even the Criterium du Dauphine is going to show on NBCSN. Not live it'll be at 2 am. I don't see why they couldn't at least do that for the Giro.

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Another great ride from Froome. He covered everything up that final climb. This is by far his most impressive GT win. He did it without the team. This win is all on him. Hats off. What a rider. By far the greatest rider I've ever seen.

 

Shout out to Poels, though. He's by far the best Superdomestique in the sport.

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7 minutes ago, kempus said:

Another great ride from Froome. He covered everything up that final climb. This is by far his most impressive GT win. He did it without the team. This win is all on him. Hats off. What a rider. By far the greatest rider I've ever seen.

 

Shout out to Poels, though. He's by far the best Superdomestique in the sport.

You'd take Poels over Thomas? Poels is certainly stronger on climbs which possibly makes him more valuable but Thomas gives more versatility since he can do it on any stage with any terrain. I can certainly see Poels over him and if pressed may even agree because of extra value on climbing, but I don't think it is "by far".

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33 minutes ago, mse326 said:

You'd take Poels over Thomas? Poels is certainly stronger on climbs which possibly makes him more valuable but Thomas gives more versatility since he can do it on any stage with any terrain. I can certainly see Poels over him and if pressed may even agree because of extra value on climbing, but I don't think it is "by far".

I would take Poels for a number of reasons. Thomas gets injured in the big moments. Whether this is random luck or not, I'm not sure. But, he has a history of not finishing the big tours. Second, I think Thomas sees himself as more than a Superdomestique. He is arguably good enough to be a team leader and perhaps that effects his riding style. The most important thinh for a Superdomestique is the ability to lay it all out on the climbs. I don't think there's any non leader who does it better than Poels. He's been there for a lot of Froomes successes.

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Froome is undisputably the second greatest GT cyclist of all time, in my eyes. Holding all 3 GTs at the same time is an unbelivable achievment. 

He will be tough to stop going for his 5th TDF, too. 

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20 hours ago, kempus said:

Froome is undisputably the second greatest GT cyclist of all time, in my eyes. Holding all 3 GTs at the same time is an unbelivable achievment. 

He will be tough to stop going for his 5th TDF, too. 

Bernard Hinault? Similar GT success and adds classics success. I know different times and I don't know enough about it to have an opinion just wondering.

EDIT: Also not saying he's better than Froome but where does someone like Nibali rank given GT success (has won all 3) and monument success in this era. That seems pretty damn impressive.

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1 hour ago, mse326 said:

Bernard Hinault? Similar GT success and adds classics success. I know different times and I don't know enough about it to have an opinion just wondering.

EDIT: Also not saying he's better than Froome but where does someone like Nibali rank given GT success (has won all 3) and monument success in this era. That seems pretty damn impressive.

Yeah, my argument is biased. If you're looking at it objectively, then Hinault is probably the guy you point to as the second. To dominate in this era is what is so spectacular for me.

Nibali is definitely in the top 10, imo.

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