diphthong

nice win for aa and team astana today.

diphthong

itzulia stage three looks like another gigglefest in the last twenty kms. do i dare de say de gendt or guillaume martin or tgh in a breakaway since all three are far down the standings? let’s go with de gendt for wth purposes. it’s not like the predictions can get any worse.

slcbob

I'll go with Woods.

MinnMan

Woods on the steep finish.

Or Yates

diphthong

like the predictions. so many are reticent to create their own, personal pantheon of horrible predictions. i say embrace the suck. misery loves company.
let's do this for decent giro/tdf/vuelta practice...

slcbob

Speaking of embracing the suck, Schelderprijs is going to be a cold, blustery suckfest with a lot of DNFs.

I'll go out on a limb with that old man of the north Kristoff to suck the least.

diphthong

oops...missed that race entirely.

diphthong

interesting article on ef education and how road cycling teams may be eventually morphing into cycling "lifestyle" teams vs strictly road racing.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/features...-their-weight/

diphthong

horrible predictions cont...stage four itzulia...mollema.

GrainBrain

Just read that, interesting to learn Vaughters chose Hugh over Dani. I like how eclectic EF has been, I enjoy the European races but sponsorship wise I'm more influenced by Lachlan riding an mtb or gravel bike on a self supported race.

GrainBrain

Bauke didn't seem to into it on stage three yesterday, was he just waiting? It's a stage just punctuated by climbs today, but looking at GC you have 20 riders within two minutes, hmm...

... I'm kind of thinking Ion Izagirre will attack on that final cat 1 after the breakaway is caught...

GrainBrain

Oh yeah, also Tadej is incredible. Everytime I've seen him cross the line or podium this year he's been all smiles. He's not even close to emptying the tank. He's smart too, I really think he'll be the decades next grand tour champion like Froome or Mercx or the one that shalt not be named.

diphthong

nice choice of mollema (eye roll)...

this is turning out to be a fun little weeklong escapade in the basque country.

saturday’s final stage is shaping up to be epic.

GrainBrain

Replayed the last 30km of stage 3, what I thought was an interesting bit of racing. Couldn't believe I watched mcnulty just slip away. Chavez doing a ton of work, Hugh doing a ton of work then pointedly waving Higuita onto valverde, Gaudu did not look happy to miss the final selection of six. That group of six putting in 49"

slcbob

Friday's stage is tough to pick. I'll guess wrong with Cattaneo.

MinnMan

I just saw a clip of about the last 8 km, and it was kind of hard to follow what was going on. Chaotic racing in the chase group. I don't think I've ever seen a bunch spend so much time looking over their shoulders.

But bully for young Brandon. He not only got into that 6 man break, but he then drove it hard. He has a chance to win it all on Saturday in a field with the today's best GC riders. And if he doesn't, he still has raised his stature this week. It's the first time we've seen him shine in a world tour stage race beyond an ITT.

diphthong

seem to remember him doing semi-decently in the last giro for a spell beyond an itt...i could be wrong as usual tho.

diphthong

thinking ineos has to salvage something here since it's been mostly uae and team jv (and astana). yatesie hasta go at some point.
perhaps on the gontzagaraigana (gawd that was fun!) about 45 kms from the finish or a little later but he's gotta put in a respectable
dig to stay fear-worthy. these snot-nosed, 25 yo punks show zero respect. picking carapaz to purloin stage cinco to restore the
ineos gang street cred pre-gt's.

slcbob

Today's stage to Arrate looks like a hot mess, hard to predict, and I didn't watch Wednesday. All the more reason that I can confidently say Yates for the stage win. Though Roglic probably keeps GC.

P.S. by "keeps" I mean regains. Sorry, Brandon. But a helluva ride.

GrainBrain

Ouch. You know I had suspicions that McNulty would be the protected rider this race. Everyone's eyeing Pogacar, but what does a Tour winner care about a week long stage race? (No offence this has been hard racing, I love spanish races). What a wonderful tactic this would be if Tadej drags his feet until Roglic gets that uneasy feeling half way through the stage.

Brandon looked SO good pulling away on Wednesdays stage 3. Wait though, maybe Vingegaard will be the chosen one up Arrate? Will be a good race.

-- I'm going to say Astana let's Omar Fraile do his mind boggling descending to nab a stage win --

GrainBrain

^^Ahhh if only that had worked out.


Anyway Simon Yates looks awesome

MinnMan

How can Valverde stay in the top echelon? Has he found the fountain of youth?

GrainBrain

Plus he led out the sprint! Pretty wild that Ineos didn't come close in the finale after being so active, but there's Valverde!

Gaudu is looking really good this year also.

I wonder if we'll here the story about Matteo Fabro from Bora? He kept puncturing in the middle of the peloton and nearly had a couple crashes from it. I wonder if he was running "new tech" aka clinchers?

MinnMan

Yeah, I noticed that. They brought a strong team to the race, but didn't manage to get anybody into that final break.