Rest day discussion & observations

phreak

Not sure Sky have really got it right across the board again this year in the Giro. Froome is obviously below par, but the domestiques have been poor too. Poels, Henao, de la Cruz and Ellisonde have all scored a top ten in a GT and yet have seldom been seen at the sharp end. You'd think if Froome was a bit under-cooked then they'd make sure the rest would be firing on all cylinders.

Vino'sGhost

phreak wrote:

Not sure Sky have really got it right across the board again this year in the Giro. Froome is obviously below par, but the domestiques have been poor too. Poels, Henao, de la Cruz and Ellisonde have all scored a top ten in a GT and yet have seldom been seen at the sharp end. You'd think if Froome was a bit under-cooked then they'd make sure the rest would be firing on all cylinders.

I suspect the form and mindset of the domestiques is heavily influenced by the performance of the team leader.

See the excellent support offered to yates so far by what could be considered a less star studded team. (no insult intended)

twotoebenny

What's everyone saying thought on the team numbers? Has having one less team mate made a difference?

larkim

I find it hard to believe that you can really do something to a potential GC contending rider that suddenly makes them worse on one day than the final pick domestique from the worst team on the GT that year. The only logical explanation for Chavez drop in form is a genuine illness / infection / allergy surely (howsoever caused).

ridgerider

It's been said before but the quality and consistency of the thread starters from the bake bean man is going to be difficult to better!

ShutupJens

This giro has been cracking so far. Really enjoying it actually, the route has been much better than usual and sticking the TT in after the second rest day is a good shout.. but the riders are making the race. I do think the absence of that one extra team mate is helping too.

Looking forward to seeing what the next week brings

above_the_cows

dish_dash wrote:

Movistar got some of stick for sending a "a low key team from Movistar. A bloke from fat camp, someone's brother, a couple of kids and four Movistar customers who won a competition."

That made me laugh.

reborn2

My thoughts on Yates are based on listening to his last few post ride interviews.

I get the impression he’s really psyching himself out about the TT and TD’s chances and it’s clearly been on his mind for a while. He’s never really been in this position before and I can honestly see him losing it mentally. He talks himself down a hell of a lot and judging from his body language it’s not an act. I hope he keeps it together but if I was his team director I’d be flying an a shrink to get his head in a good place....

cougie

Unless he's trying to make Dumoulin think he's not confident...

blazing_saddles

reborn2 wrote:

My thoughts on Yates are based on listening to his last few post ride interviews.

I get the impression he’s really psyching himself out about the TT and TD’s chances and it’s clearly been on his mind for a while. He’s never really been in this position before and I can honestly see him losing it mentally. He talks himself down a hell of a lot and judging from his body language it’s not an act. I hope he keeps it together but if I was his team director I’d be flying an a shrink to get his head in a good place....

The same could be said about Tom D, but for pretty much the whole of the last week's racing.
Every post stage interview he talks about going so deep or being totally f*cked.
Is anybody going to suggest he's psyched out, losing it and in need of a shrink?

No_Ta_Doctor

My opinion of Yates is the opposite.
No, he's never been in this position before, he's in the best form of his life and hugely improved as a rider, but doesn't know yet quite what he's capable of and doesn't want to get carried away. He seems pretty well grounded to me. He'd rather be a touch pessimistic and get a nice surprise than be overly optimistic and be disappointed.

reborn2

I just get the impression when I listen to TD interviews he’s a lot calmer inside. You can almost see the fear in Yates eyes when he checks behind him and TD is still in view like a terminator on a bike. I hope your right and Yates keeps on believing. I’d still be getting a head shrink over there though...

Mad_Malx

No tA Doctor wrote:

My opinion of Yates is the opposite.
No, he's never been in this position before, he's in the best form of his life and hugely improved as a rider, but doesn't know yet quite what he's capable of and doesn't want to get carried away. He seems pretty well grounded to me. He'd rather be a touch pessimistic and get a nice surprise than be overly optimistic and be disappointed.

+1

rick_chasey

mididoctors wrote:

the number of position wrecking malfunctions by electronic shifting is not nothing.

Say that over on “road buying” section and a lot of middle aged dentists will string you out for it.

No_Ta_Doctor

Rick Chasey wrote:

mididoctors wrote:

the number of position wrecking malfunctions by electronic shifting is not nothing.

Say that over on “road buying” section and a lot of middle aged dentists will floss you out for it.

rick_chasey

TwoToeBenny wrote:

What's everyone saying thought on the team numbers? Has having one less team mate made a difference?

Mildly.

It counts more when there are big crashes. This Giro has fewer than usual drop outs.

rick_chasey

Maybe you lot are reading TD translations but in Dutch he’s pretty downbeat.

rick_chasey

dish_dash wrote:

Movistar got some of stick for sending a "a low key team from Movistar. A bloke from fat camp, someone's brother, a couple of kids and four Movistar customers who won a competition."

But they don't seem to have done too badly thus far. Carapaz sixth on GC, a stage win, and even Bentacur animated the race.

They’re the biggest GC team behind sky.

But then sky have sent their Marshall to the Giro and Movistar are Spanish, so why wouldn’t they neglect the Giro?

bobmcstuff

reborn2 wrote:

My thoughts on Yates are based on listening to his last few post ride interviews.

I get the impression he’s really psyching himself out about the TT and TD’s chances and it’s clearly been on his mind for a while. He’s never really been in this position before and I can honestly see him losing it mentally. He talks himself down a hell of a lot and judging from his body language it’s not an act. I hope he keeps it together but if I was his team director I’d be flying an a shrink to get his head in a good place....

He's always talked like that. Quite unassuming, doesn't tend to talk a lot and is always measured.

ddraver

What's making me nervous for young Master Yates is Gee Thomas's experience at the tour a few years back where he was riding in ?third with ease for most of the tour until an epic collapse on one of the final stages.

One another note, despite Tom Dumolins negativity he is second on the Giro and we havent even had his party piece yet. Without Yates's explosion onto the GC scene, he'd be comfortably ahead. Dare I say Froome-esque levels of dominance

above_the_cows

reborn2 wrote:

I just get the impression when I listen to TD interviews he’s a lot calmer inside. You can almost see the fear in Yates eyes when he checks behind him and TD is still in view like a terminator on a bike. I hope your right and Yates keeps on believing. I’d still be getting a head shrink over there though...

Tom's interviews in English and Dutch are not the same. He's not Mr Happy in his Dutch language interviews.

rick_chasey

No he’s really not happy.

Lanterne_Rogue

reborn2 wrote:

I just get the impression when I listen to TD interviews he’s a lot calmer inside. You can almost see the fear in Yates eyes when he checks behind him and TD is still in view like a terminator on a bike. I hope your right and Yates keeps on believing. I’d still be getting a head shrink over there though...

He might seem calmer in interviews, but he was going ape in the last stage when nobody else was working with him. He was later complaining that he might as well have worked on his own, but the reason everyone else sat on was because they knew if he wanted to win he'd have to chase. That he didn't understand this on the road suggests that he's not thinking clearly under pressure.

blazing_saddles

Rick Chasey wrote:

No he’s really not happy.

I think he's missing Bauke and Steve.

above_the_cows

Rick Chasey wrote:

No he’s really not happy.

Arme Tom. I wonder if he's really got his digestive problems sorted? And even if not they did impact his build up.

rick_chasey

He reckons tailwind = no pink
Headwind = pink.

larkim

Judge Yates by what he does on the bike surely? None of his rides so far have betrayed a lack of confidence in what he can do. It’s too easy to read stuff into what they do in interviews, but the important stuff is what they do with their legs surely - and that’s the bit they’re trained to do.

On the bike yesterday Yates exuded confidence, and TD did not. That said enough for me.

blazing_saddles

Rick Chasey wrote:

He reckons tailwind = no pink
Headwind = pink.

What does he reckon on no wind, cos that's what is forecast.

https://www.3bmeteo.com/meteo/trento/1

2-3km/h direction variable.

rick_chasey

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

ocdupalais

Rick Chasey wrote:

He reckons tailwind = no pink
Headwind = pink.

To use a rude snooker analogy, isn’t Dumoulin more of a pink or brown guy, shurely?