diphthong

this is the 2022 tour de france thread for all things le grande boucle-except for those tawdry, fantasy cycling related things. keep that dirty, fantasy laundry in the other, applicable hamper...er...thread. race starts on july 1st!!

semroc

It's so mean and thoughtless that Cav isn't there. He's riding good too. Glad Alaphilippe is back. Hoping Powless has a good tour. Looks like Pinot is back on form. Can't wait for it to start!!

slcbob

Alaphilippe is not back.

Jakobsen doesn't think the Cav thing is so mean and thoughtless. Neither does Lefevre. I wondered if he might drop Cattaneo and forego the futile GC ambition for a bipolar sprint approach. But he did not.

semroc

Oh dang, I thought for sure Alaphilipe would be there after riding in French Championship. My bad.
Yes, I'm sure Jakobsen and Lefevre do not think it's mean and thoughtless.

HeyItsSara

If Cav wanted to ride, he'd have to do what Chris Froome did.

Eric F 

Is there any expectation that it won't be a Slovenian show-down?

slcbob

He will.

Wait. He's already crashed a couple of times and come down with an unusual illness, just like Froomey. We're talking about switching teams for next year, right?

BTW, that sort of solves the Cav as an Assistant DS thing for Lefevre, too.

diphthong

really hoping the whole endeavor can avoid the pandemic-related abandons that plagued the recent tour de suisse.

diphthong

the two top faves would lead you to believe it's already determined but there are plenty of podium-quality riders like vingegaard, yatesie, gthomas,
vlasov, mas, bardet, uran, pinot, caruso, dani martinez, woods and schachmann that could be in contention if pogacar or roglic abandon.

diphthong

regardless of what happens in denmark/france in the next few weeks...already looking forwards to la vuelta.

semroc

Too bad Declerq is out. I like watching The Tractor on the front of the peloton. Hope he recovers well. Thought that might open the door for Cav, but they went with Senechal. Hope Van Aerts knee is good to go.

goose70

Over and over, pro cycling shows how indifferent it is about the wishes of its fans and, by extension, sponsors. Cav is riding very well and would be extra motivated for The Tour. He had a chance to beat E.M.'s record. What a compelling storyline to bring in more viewers. No wonder UCI pro cycling remains on life support year after year.

slcbob

The schizophrenia of the revenue streams across race organizers, UCI, and teams means that the guy making the Cav / No Cav decision has very little incentive from viewership.

sincos

A few random things I'll be looking for:

AG2R: If everyone is in form and avoids misfortune, 4th place is really the best anyone else can hope for, so it's hard to see how O'Connor can improve on his result last year. Still, that's a big if, and it will surely be interesting to see if he can best everyone else even if everyone stays healthy. He looked good in the Dauphine. But if he was a bit opportunistic last year, as a serious contender he now has pressure and has to take initiative. Curious to see how he handles that.

AD: Philipsen is younger and has more GT experience; 2 months ago it wasn't clear that MvDP was going to finish the Giro. I suspect that was why Philipsen got the nod for the Tour and MvDP the Giro. But while Philipsen is a beast on his day, he's no MvDP. There are a number of reasons for tapping one rider to be team leader and surely Philipsen can deliver, but strictly from a results POV, I wonder if AD aren't backing the wrong horse here.

Bora: much the same questions for Vlasov as for O'Connor.

EF: they've been mighty picky and choosy for a team facing the drop, so they must be desperate for stage wins and good GC placings, so looking for them to liven up the race.

Israel: see EF, though recently not nearly as choosy.

IWG: they were stepping up in the Giro, but without Girmay as their core can they do the same here? Wouldn't mind seeing Kristoff bag a stage here.

JV: really impressive run-in to the Tour, but several questions remain. Are there too many chiefs, not enough Indians for an assault on Green as well as Yellow? The Calais and especially Arenberg stages are interesting. These clearly have van Aert written all over them (at least from a JV perspective) and he'll get the protection. Who'll be tasked to protect Roglic and Vingegaard in those stages, since WvA will surely get help against Alpecin, Quick-Step, Groenewegen and Matthews on a desperate BEX squad, maybe even UAE as Pogacar on the hills and cobbles is WvA/MvDP level while Roglic and Vingegaard are not (or they haven't shown that they are, to be more precise). Pogacar won't be targeting that stage but he will want to stay of trouble up front, and sometimes he just goes for the hell of it. Pogacar, Roglic and Vingegaard on the one hand and the relegation fight on the other mean that a number of squads will be frantic for stage wins and good GC placings, making the fight for green particularly competitive. But JV only has so many riders to help WvA. Also, Roglic is likely the stronger in the first week so will probably get the early nod over Vingegaard (and may even be stronger in the mountains, but he does have that end-of-GT question hanging over him). If Vingegaard proves stronger in the mountains will he be held back to protect Roglic until Roglic either succeeds or it's too late to make a difference? JV may be the most interesting team in the race.

Lotto: another squad fighting to stay up. Ewan is seriously quick, obviously, but in his last 2 GTs he's crashed by running into the guy in front of him. Also, that doesn't look like a very healthy squad: in the Giro, they left their team leader high and dry to limp home dead last without any help on one stage, a stage they didn't come close to winning.

UAE: Pogacar must be the heavy favorite, but he still has to answer the question can he handle heat in the high mountains. Everyone looks to last year at Mont Ventoux to find a weakness (grnated he was 5'+ at that point and didn't lose any time) and it promises to be a hot one. If he can, and can avoid Covid/crashes, whatnot, 3 on the trot does look likely. He can gain time on the GC contenders that first week, though it's not clear he will.

GrainBrain

I hope they put in Girmay!

Oh same here on Declerq but at least the French national champion got a spot.

Lol it's raining on today's stage!? Pog!!?? Pog's incredible. Posting now before seeing how Ùran will finish. Didn't put him on the fantasy team because I don't want any of my bad juju on him.

gpsblake

Is it me or was the bridge stage on stage 2 very dangerous especially with that crash? All it would take is a crash and someone going over that small barrier, and almost certainly dying falling in the ocean from the height of the bridge.

GrainBrain

Ewan can't catch a break can he?

slcbob

I don't think so. Look at the barriers in the pic here. Not easy to go over or through.
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/exp...our-de-france/

Since this is the "no fantasy" thread, it may be inappropriate to observe that in both Christian Prudhomme's and my fantasies there were ripping crosswinds and devastation of other sorts on the bridge. But not any plummeting.

Shadco 

He did seem a little bullied.

Wonder if Kung gets dinged for grabbing that EF riders helmet. Edit so fine and docked uci points.


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GrainBrain

Magnus Cort looks to be having the time of his life right now huh? Crowds just screaming his name on home roads, going for the first KOM points and jersey. So special - great advertising for the sponsor's.

Great to see all the pats on his back as he was re-absorbed after his solo breakaway just now.

I would kind of like to see Powless all in for GC placing and Rigo get a stage win -- probably the reverse of how they'll do it eventually. Though Rigo had a lack luster TT with Powless being 32s from Primoz so maybe?

Yeah I can't believe how little support Ewan receives? Can you imagine him with a half decent train? The Giro he was abit over shadowed by degendt (understandably) but here he looks to be number one for the team, right?

Shadco 

Poor Caleb, the boys keep picking on him. Doesn’t seem to have a lot of McEwen in him.

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AlgarveCycling

Fabio also has a huge following where there are more cyclists than American and English fans. Cav is my cycling hero as a sprinter but...

Cav is riding well, yes, but he is not the fastest this year in his team. Fabio is. Fabio has earned his place. He has proven himself and how selfish are we to deny him his opportunity? This isn't about favouritism and armchair expertise, this is about the very livelihood of professionals at stake and the better chances for success for the team. Fabio has the chance to make his mark, to establish himself in the greatest race, it will have a massive impact on him personally and his family and fans if he can realise his dreams the way Cav did when he was emerging. Hw wanted this, he has earned this. Over to him to prove himself.

Also, Eddies record in this regard is nothing compared to his overall Palmares - it would be embarrassing for any fans and Cav, to make anything out of that record other than a stat should he one day take it. He was given the opportunity last year, and this year, he knew Fabio was in the mix given he is Quick Step's immediate future for the no.1 sprinter and Cav hasn't produced the same number of wins. The choice to send Fabio was logical - and his comeback from a serious injury is a fairy-tale the Sponsors are lapping up.

I'm a huge cycling fan as are all my racing friends and much of my family; none deny Fabio his shot. The choice not to take Cav doesn't diminish the sport in any way. He is a legend, his sprinting palmare's second-to-none, but he is in the twilight of his career, despite his own resurgence and he is no.2 in a very strong team at the moment.

GrainBrain

Thinking it should be an entertaining stage tomorrow -- most certainly a bunch sprint considering you have MvdP, Wout, Sagan + more in the mix. Or are they looking ahead to stage five cobbles? I think Ewan is very capable of making it to the line in the bunch? Maybe Groenewegen will make it over that final climb?
Hoping it's a powerful breakaway to catch.

MinnMan

Sagan hasn't made it to the podium as yet, but he is much more of a factor than I expected.

sincos

That was a fantastic reception he got. The polka dot shirt and hat are a perfect match for that cartoon candy paint job too (not surprising, maybe, given the shirt's origins). Speaking of strips, that aqua on red thing on Lotto is painful on the eyes. Though not as bad as JV's dog vomit.

Another one who'd have bagged a stage by now if he had a decent leadout is Sagan. Good to see him back. And really hinky move from WvA to cut him off like that.

But the next couple look more like MvdP stages, maybe Philipsen or Asgreen. Or, on the outside, Kristoff or Walscheid. Wonder how hard JV will push, given their multiple priorities. And expect B&B and Arkea in the early break, now that they're back in France, particularly NW France..