tour de france 2021-straight...no fantasy chaser
#51
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All other aspects aside, I thought it was pretty remarkable to see MVDP in yellow, doing leadout for his teammate.
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#52
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Merlier did exactly what was expected - took the short line inside his teammate. It's pretty standard practice that the leadout rider continues to go flat-out until he gets passed by his sprinter on one side or another. Ewen put his front wheel in jeopardy in his battle to get the advantage on Sagan, and had no place to go when Merlier made his move to go around the leadout. I doubt anyone beats Ewan if he stays upright, but he cost himself the chance to win today. Unfortunately, it also cost Sagan chance, and the rest of Ewan's Tour.
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It had to be a wheel touch. There's no other way that Ewan's front wheel would have kicked to the left so hard.
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It's not clear if they actually touched, but Ewan definitely got trapped because of the overlap when Merlier moved. Totally Ewan's mistake, IMO.
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that stage three pick of ewan worked out well...it's after (business) hours. let's double down, cautiously/hopefully avoid the kod (kiss of death) and go with démare for the stage four dubya.
thinking that was more of a scylla attack on ewan vs a charybdis maelstrom. same end result tho.
thinking that was more of a scylla attack on ewan vs a charybdis maelstrom. same end result tho.
Last edited by diphthong; 06-29-21 at 12:49 AM.
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^^ On Ewan, Horner thinks he was miss placed on the inside, with that curve approaching there was no where to go and he had to dangerously overlap merlier's wheel. Grand tours are brutal affairs.
I agree on Demare for stage four, the French aren't fooling around this year. I'm also thinking Gaudu is making a real GC challenge.
Seems like there's a bit of anger over yesterdays route?
I agree on Demare for stage four, the French aren't fooling around this year. I'm also thinking Gaudu is making a real GC challenge.
Seems like there's a bit of anger over yesterdays route?
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I'm late to the party this morning. I missed the Go Slow event. https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tou...stage-3-route/
That was a wacky thing with Merlier and Ewan. A move across the road like that by Merlier in the final 200m of a straight sprint would have relegated him for sure. He changed his line and took Ewan out.
I was thinking that rule would have impact, but there hasn't been a peep about it. I guess the turn in the final 160m (great idea!) and acceptable outside-inside path took precedence.
As for Colbrelli, from what I understand, Roglic was passing and hooked handlebars with him. I think his hand wave was one of righteous indignation rather than innocence. Though watching the event with Mrs. Slcbob, she said it was him protesting being on one of the early drafts of my VG team.
That was a wacky thing with Merlier and Ewan. A move across the road like that by Merlier in the final 200m of a straight sprint would have relegated him for sure. He changed his line and took Ewan out.
I was thinking that rule would have impact, but there hasn't been a peep about it. I guess the turn in the final 160m (great idea!) and acceptable outside-inside path took precedence.
As for Colbrelli, from what I understand, Roglic was passing and hooked handlebars with him. I think his hand wave was one of righteous indignation rather than innocence. Though watching the event with Mrs. Slcbob, she said it was him protesting being on one of the early drafts of my VG team.
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I'm late to the party this morning. I missed the Go Slow event. https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tou...stage-3-route/
That was a wacky thing with Merlier and Ewan. A move across the road like that by Merlier in the final 200m of a straight sprint would have relegated him for sure. He changed his line and took Ewan out.
I was thinking that rule would have impact, but there hasn't been a peep about it. I guess the turn in the final 160m (great idea!) and acceptable outside-inside path took precedence.
As for Colbrelli, from what I understand, Roglic was passing and hooked handlebars with him. I think his hand wave was one of righteous indignation rather than innocence. Though watching the event with Mrs. Slcbob, she said it was him protesting being on one of the early drafts of my VG team.
That was a wacky thing with Merlier and Ewan. A move across the road like that by Merlier in the final 200m of a straight sprint would have relegated him for sure. He changed his line and took Ewan out.
I was thinking that rule would have impact, but there hasn't been a peep about it. I guess the turn in the final 160m (great idea!) and acceptable outside-inside path took precedence.
As for Colbrelli, from what I understand, Roglic was passing and hooked handlebars with him. I think his hand wave was one of righteous indignation rather than innocence. Though watching the event with Mrs. Slcbob, she said it was him protesting being on one of the early drafts of my VG team.
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I'm juggling the USAC and UCI rules and the proposals (CPA, et al?) and my gaps of understanding of theory and practice. Bottom line: that's bike racing.
P.S. the UCI "hold your line" rule isn't for a straight sprint. It's for a sprint.
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When I posted about this earlier, I didn't realize that they were coming into a right hand turn. There's no way Ewan could have reasonably thought that he could pass the Fenix guys on the inside corner of a turn. Nobody who's ever seen or raced a crit would think that. The best he could have hoped for was to take Merlier's wheel and pass as they came out of the turn. The wheel touch is totally Ewan's misjudgment. "Hold your line" has nothing to do with it.
Edit: Also, this might make your geometry teacher cry, but the "line" in "hold your line" does not mean go straight. A bike racer's line can be a curve, and in fact, it is a curve going through a turn.
Edit: Also, this might make your geometry teacher cry, but the "line" in "hold your line" does not mean go straight. A bike racer's line can be a curve, and in fact, it is a curve going through a turn.
Last edited by MinnMan; 06-29-21 at 09:55 AM.
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Cav!
When he took those intermediate sprint points I thought he was looking good and thought how cool it would be if he could get another great lead out at the end.
Crashes aside, there has been some compelling racing so far.
When he took those intermediate sprint points I thought he was looking good and thought how cool it would be if he could get another great lead out at the end.
Crashes aside, there has been some compelling racing so far.
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Yay for the old guy!!
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let's go with the beat-up and downtrodden roglic to gain back some lost time vs some rivals and to put others farther back with a win on stage five.
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#65
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mostly agreed. the last stage tt's in last year's giro and tour were the recent exceptions.
haven't seen a ttt in quite some time...anyone? last grand tour team time trial? *edit...looks like 2019 tdf*
would you rather have one long (40km+) tt or two shorter ones? or maybe a flattish one of 20km or less
combined with an uphill/mountain tt of 10 km or less. they've done the prologues of just a few km's which
seem to have to fallen into disfavor recently. what about an uphill tt on a banging climb of 3-4 kms?
haven't seen a ttt in quite some time...anyone? last grand tour team time trial? *edit...looks like 2019 tdf*
would you rather have one long (40km+) tt or two shorter ones? or maybe a flattish one of 20km or less
combined with an uphill/mountain tt of 10 km or less. they've done the prologues of just a few km's which
seem to have to fallen into disfavor recently. what about an uphill tt on a banging climb of 3-4 kms?
Last edited by diphthong; 06-29-21 at 11:43 PM.
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I am not opposed to uphill TTs but I almost don't count them as filling the role of TTs. There is already vertical aplenty in a GT (except perhaps this one). IMHO the TT is supposed to test out another dimension of the all-around rider and/or throw a bone to another type of rider. Lumpy and technical OK.
This one is lumpier than it looked to me at first glance so a bit more of a tilt to Pogacar. I'm not sure I buy the Ahlaphilippe / WVA predictions but we'll see. Stealth Kelderman near but not at the top of GC at the end of the day and we'll still not be talking about him.
There's going to be a whole lot of hurt for G and Roglic. Both of whom would normally be challenging for the stage but I don't expect to see either in the top 10 today.
This one is lumpier than it looked to me at first glance so a bit more of a tilt to Pogacar. I'm not sure I buy the Ahlaphilippe / WVA predictions but we'll see. Stealth Kelderman near but not at the top of GC at the end of the day and we'll still not be talking about him.
There's going to be a whole lot of hurt for G and Roglic. Both of whom would normally be challenging for the stage but I don't expect to see either in the top 10 today.
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So crazy that Cav won stage four! Stage five I'll be interested to see if Geraint goes well. I listen to the tour with headphones while working so the TTs are nice in that you get some commentary on every rider as they leave the block. I had picked Küng over Bisseger for the TT win here.
I was thinking about stage three and how once again they should've extended the 3km timing to 6k or 10k. I think it will lead to more exciting racing. You'll have only motivated sprint teams pulling at the front, instead of all the GC teams as well. More chance for a successful breakaway like the scenario yesterday. I haven't seen a team so aggressive in placing riders to snub the chase like Lotto did.
I was thinking about stage three and how once again they should've extended the 3km timing to 6k or 10k. I think it will lead to more exciting racing. You'll have only motivated sprint teams pulling at the front, instead of all the GC teams as well. More chance for a successful breakaway like the scenario yesterday. I haven't seen a team so aggressive in placing riders to snub the chase like Lotto did.
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This one is lumpier than it looked to me at first glance so a bit more of a tilt to Pogacar. I'm not sure I buy the Ahlaphilippe / WVA predictions but we'll see. Stealth Kelderman near but not at the top of GC at the end of the day and we'll still not be talking about him.
There's going to be a whole lot of hurt for G and Roglic. Both of whom would normally be challenging for the stage but I don't expect to see either in the top 10 today.
There's going to be a whole lot of hurt for G and Roglic. Both of whom would normally be challenging for the stage but I don't expect to see either in the top 10 today.
Think Roglic and Thomas are satisfied with their times given all their damage? Having the podium still possible is about as good as anyone other than Pogacar can hope for if nothing disastrous happens to any of the GC contenders. They both did better than what most were expecting.
So much for the "Carapaz isn't as bad at time trialing" hope to have a legit threat to Pogacar. At least he wasn't as bad as Keldermann, who I'm relieved to not have given serious chances to in the other thread although I whiffed on every other Stage 5 prognostication.
I think ITTs in most stage races are boring, but with serious GC implications in the mix due to the type of contenders (i.e., many who aren't pure climbers) they can be quite the opposite like at this year's TdF. Especially when more conservative team tactics take the fireworks out of many mountainous stages.
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What happened to McNulty? Dead last. Did he crash?
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Spot on with Pogacar's performance and WvA/Alaphilippe hype deflation. The commentators said there were issues with his radio, but that didn't seem to throw him off at all. He's making a habit out of jaw-dropping TdF ITTs. The only superlatives that fit his rides ("incredible," "unbelievable," "otherworldly") can equally be taken at face value or not. He's clearly on a different level.
Think Roglic and Thomas are satisfied with their times given all their damage? Having the podium still possible is about as good as anyone other than Pogacar can hope for if nothing disastrous happens to any of the GC contenders. They both did better than what most were expecting.
So much for the "Carapaz isn't as bad at time trialing" hope to have a legit threat to Pogacar. At least he wasn't as bad as Keldermann, who I'm relieved to not have given serious chances to in the other thread although I whiffed on every other Stage 5 prognostication.
I think ITTs in most stage races are boring, but with serious GC implications in the mix due to the type of contenders (i.e., many who aren't pure climbers) they can be quite the opposite like at this year's TdF. Especially when more conservative team tactics take the fireworks out of many mountainous stages.
Think Roglic and Thomas are satisfied with their times given all their damage? Having the podium still possible is about as good as anyone other than Pogacar can hope for if nothing disastrous happens to any of the GC contenders. They both did better than what most were expecting.
So much for the "Carapaz isn't as bad at time trialing" hope to have a legit threat to Pogacar. At least he wasn't as bad as Keldermann, who I'm relieved to not have given serious chances to in the other thread although I whiffed on every other Stage 5 prognostication.
I think ITTs in most stage races are boring, but with serious GC implications in the mix due to the type of contenders (i.e., many who aren't pure climbers) they can be quite the opposite like at this year's TdF. Especially when more conservative team tactics take the fireworks out of many mountainous stages.
The Pogacar happened. Beating Kung by 19 seconds is incredible. He looks virtually invincible.
Turns out MVDP is also pretty good at time trials. Nice to see him stay in yellow, and I'm sure TP is fine with that since he isn't a GC threat.
One nice thing, Ineos isn't going to be able to just ride tempo up the climbs. We're going to see lots of attacks coming up.
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And once again, he didn't look that tired after crossing the finish line.
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Unlike last year, he mentioned in an interview yesterday that he hadn't even reconned today's stage much or spend much time on the TT bike leading up to it (both reasons UAE gave out last year to explain his seemingly out of nowhere shocking performance). Coupled with the radio malfunction, just madness that he can destroy the competition at will, almost entirely on feel alone if he either didn't ride with a powermeter or look at his numbers, which he didn't last year.
And once again, he didn't look that tired after crossing the finish line.
And once again, he didn't look that tired after crossing the finish line.