one4smoke

Might be the minority here, but glad Cav didn't get the record. Not a fan of Van Aert (but respect his ability immensely), but glad he beat him.

Will be interesting to see if he comes back next year trying to get it. But lets be real, in most of the sprints, with the exception of the last one, Cavendish didn't have much serious competition. Would he have tied the record if he had of? I really doubt it.

slcbob

Wout singlehandedly defended the pride of Belgium, like he said he would.

I was stunned to see Cav stutter. From the overhead, he had a chance to go right into open space earlier and didn't take it. On the inside, I wonder if WVA's elbows looked anything like Sagan's.

Philipsen did a mad swing to the right around Theunisen's pull off. That took someone from Bike Exchange pretty wide, too - I think Mezgec.

I'm not sure, but I think I like the new finish.

slcbob

P.S. I'm not buying the whole "Pogacar should be more generous" thing. It is a bike race.

He absolutely must hold to his word if he ever gets in a position to strike one of those drug deals (pardon the phrasing) on an escape or change in a SMALL!!!! group. But with his GC rivals? C'mon. Be serious. No one loves a sucker or an arrogant git, and it would be hard to not come off as one or the other if he just sat up and spread the wealth. And how will he ever get to 35 if he does that?

MinnMan

I want credit for getting this right, even though I wrote it about Stage 19.

MinnMan

And how about WvA? He took a mountain stage, an ITT, and a sprint stage. Beast.

GrainBrain

Bah ha ha, yes that was my thoughts also but this time Cav had no ability to launch past and get squeezed. It's very clear that Mørkøv is probably responsible for a good majority of Cav's and Bennett's wins and teams took advantage today.
Kwiakowskikwiatkowski ft. Geraint duet was pretty great. The last 16km were good frenetic racing.

Thoughts of Frank Bonnamour make me think we need a combativety jersey and competition. Something for the French teams to take home.


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GrainBrain

100% my pick for Olympic gold, he progressed really well through the tour and seems to be peaking.

GrainBrain

Agree - also I was surprised by the lack of overall sprint quality. It was surprising to see teams like DSM ride for Bol instead of allowing riders into the break. If Ewan had stayed in and Lotto had avoided crashes they would've swept every sprint stage.

GlennR

"IF" is the key.

We all have "IF's" in out past that "if" we could redo could of changed out lives... but we don't.

My son pointed out that part of the reason that the Grand Tours are 21 stages is not the strongest or the smartest.. its for survivors. Those that can survive, stay out of trouble, away from crashes and with luck make it to the end in the least amount of time.

Let's face it you can win the Tour and never win a stage.

Cav's comeback is amazing given that he didn't have a team and wasn't chosen to be at the TdF.

BTW.. IF I bought Google when I first heard about it i'd be worth $$$$$$$$$$$$. BUT I didn't and i'm OK with it.

MinnMan

If you were DQS, dedicated to bringing the best sprint train to the TdF every year, would you bet on Cav in 2022?

And if he's not leading the DQS team next year, does he have much of a chance of winning a stage?

No, and unlikely.

slcbob

I'd certainly consider giving him a run at Schelderprijs and see how the next few months play out.

LeFevre has sort of already cemented the "I'm an alchemist" thing he mentioned in passing in his winter interviews. But yeah, you're right, it's not "what have you done for me lately" it's "what can you do for me next," "what's my other option(s)," and "are they better?"

Off the top of my head, other than Jakobsen and his unproven potential, I don't know who else is in the stable for the pure sprints. Or what sort of horse trading is coming.

MinnMan

You have some well-known company.

MinnMan

Philippsen has one more year in his Alpecin-Fenix contract, but I'll bet they are eying him. He's what, 23?

slcbob

Let's resume this speculation in a few weeks when the transfer window opens up.

And talk 2023 a year after that. When 25 yo Philippsen may be a hot commodity.

Heck, WVA is only on a three year deal with TJV (2019-2022, I think) and he has moved on from contracts in the past. Could there be a match more made in Belgian heaven than that?

MinnMan

Granted, WvA has proved he's a great sprinter, but he's not a sprint specialist. And wouldn't DQS want him to play that role? is that what he wants?

slcbob

I assume Quick Step will take wins of all flavors. Too early to tell what Wout will become. I'm not trying to pigeon hole and I don't LeFevre would either. But that's still further out than next year.

diphthong

it's been a pleasant surprise to see them contesting the gc/defending the leader's jersey in stage races vs stage wins on breakaways, sprints, tt's and classics the last few years.
team has so much talent. the silver linings this year for team jv was wout unleashed and jonas finishing second after recalibrating roglic's departure. ineos had a similar
development last year. nice to see these mega teams shift on the fly when they are forced to.