TDF 2018, Stage 19: Lourdes > Laruns 27/07/2018 - 200,5 km *Spoilers*

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  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 8,746
    Yes, although I did think Thomas might have chipped in earlier to cut the gap down but more for Froome's position re. Roglic rather than to do Dumoulin a favour. Thomas also showed that he had the finish to compete for the stage if they had pulled it back too.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 13,340
    Thomas was 2 minutes ahead of Dumoulin, and 2'47" ahead of Roglic going into the stage.
    There's never going to be any other winner than Thomas in "who blinks first" there.
    Yes, Thomas could have ridden for Froome's 3rd place, but when Sky have the top step of the podium they were never going to risk it. It also suited Thomas that the 10" bonus went to Roglic not Dumoulin (which would have been a risk if they'd caught him - though I'd have fancied Thomas for it and said as much before Roglic escaped).
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  • onyourright
    onyourright Posts: 509
    Blazing Saddles wrote:
    Not according to Thomas.
    He said it was hard, but never felt like he couldn't follow the moves.
    And he’ll keep saying that until the day he gets dropped. That’s just how he talks. He’s also called other big days quite hard, and today he reckoned they were going “quite fast” on the final descent. These are statements designed to reveal little. He’s a guy who looks like everything’s going well until he suddenly pops.

    Dumoulin takes a different approach. For him every stage was tough, he’s always on the limit, the others are looking strong, tomorrow they’ll beat him, etc. The goal is the same: to not reveal much.
    DeVlaeminck wrote:
    Yes, although I did think Thomas might have chipped in earlier to cut the gap down but more for Froome's position re. Roglic rather than to do Dumoulin a favour. Thomas also showed that he had the finish to compete for the stage if they had pulled it back too.
    On the other hand, Bardet wasn’t far off in the sprint. If Thomas had worked for Froome, Bardet might have pipped them at the line. And let’s remember Thomas still needs a solid time trial tomorrow, so overexertion today is risky. Even if the time trial is safe, a fatter time margin will be welcome in case of a puncture or crash on the Paris laps.

    Quick question for anyone who knows. Which gives a better tow: a television bike or a BMW Mini?
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,940
    Geraint Thomas hasn't stuck his face into the wind save from outsprinting everyone at the end of the stages.

    he has yet to demonstrate what he has under the bonnet.

    I think he is going to thump everyone in the tt
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • the article don
    the article don Posts: 578
    As a minor aside, I found Nico Roche to be an excellent pundit on Eurosport. Plus he’s just dreamy
    Giant Trance X 2010
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    My Dad's old racer
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  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 13,340
    mididoctors wrote:
    Geraint Thomas hasn't stuck his face into the wind save from outsprinting everyone at the end of the stages.

    he has yet to demonstrate what he has under the bonnet.

    I think he is going to thump everyone in the tt

    I think you can pretty much count on one hand the times he's had to accelerate to chase an attack in the mountains. And each mountain stage, he's outsprinted everyone he was with. I think you're right that he's got plenty in the tank and he's confident in his TT. He's been pretty conservative so far, where Froome might have been more aggressive if he'd been in yellow and had the legs.

    But I reckon he'll do just as much as he needs to in the TT. It's a fairly tricky course with a lot of potential for mishap. The three behind him, with 32" between them, will push hard and take risks - one of them will win it.
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  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,196
    DeadCalm wrote:
    DeadCalm wrote:
    jam1e wrote:
    In reality TD has only won one GT and it wasn’t the Tour, I’m not sure at what point a stage racer’s palmares is strong enough that they can get all Johnny Big **** and say it’s victory or nothing but I’m pretty sure a single Giro victory isn’t it.

    I could see Froome rolling the dice because in all honesty what’s a Tour podium to him but there’s nobody else in the race likely to be thinking like that.
    Yeah. Probably this.
    And of course, I'm looking at it from the point of view of a fan who wants excitement, rather than the point of view of a DS who maybe has a performance related bonus to think about. Would love to see how Quickstep would approach a Grand Tour if they had a rider with the potential of Dumoulin or Roglic in their ranks though.
    Quickstep had Dan Martin for a while.

    They're just not that kind of team.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,940
    my take is G is under-represented by his time gap. if he had carte blanche earlier in the race we would have seen a solo attack from further out.
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,940
    dan martin is class. class class class. why? he is never going to get on a gt podium but you are looking at a guy who gets everything out of himself. pretty much maxed out what he can be.

    fair play to the guy. if he develops more endurance he may either be good kom material(dont think he is interested another plus) or squeeze another few spots on gc.
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 8,746
    the article don wrote:
    As a minor aside, I found Nico Roche to be an excellent pundit on Eurosport. Plus he’s just dreamy


    Agreed...the pundit bit anyway.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • RonB
    RonB Posts: 3,984
    DjJTre4XsAAeo-q.jpg:large

    DjI2cINXgAE84jL.jpg:large
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,940
    RonB wrote:
    DjJTre4XsAAeo-q.jpg:large

    podium...:)

    quite the snap.
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 13,340
    Not from today, but...eeeugh.

    220-140123_PIC538157375.jpg
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,817
    mididoctors wrote:
    dan martin is class. class class class. why? he is never going to get on a gt podium but you are looking at a guy who gets everything out of himself. pretty much maxed out what he can be.

    fair play to the guy. if he develops more endurance he may either be good kom material(dont think he is interested another plus) or squeeze another few spots on gc.

    Tend to agree.

    He is nails.

    I prefer him in one day mode because he’s one of the few hilly one day guys who can time an attack.

    You’d call this Tour a success for him. Decent effort overall and a stage win.
    _
  • shirley_basso
    shirley_basso Posts: 6,195
    What if prize money for first was increased and prize money for all spots from 2-10 was the same?
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    No tA Doctor wrote:
    Not from today, but...eeeugh.

    220-140123_PIC538157375.jpg

    His centre of gravity is all kinds of wrong in that photo.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Shirley Basso wrote:
    What if prize money for first was increased and prize money for all spots from 2-10 was the same?

    Prize money is not a motivator for anyone in cycling races I'd suggest.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 40,714
    iainf72 wrote:
    Shirley Basso wrote:
    What if prize money for first was increased and prize money for all spots from 2-10 was the same?

    Prize money is not a motivator for anyone in cycling races I'd suggest.

    Points are though unfortunately, that’s what needs looking at.
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 18,952
    Rewatched the descent last night and I'm not sure what the issue is.
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • pblakeney
    pblakeney Posts: 25,864
    TailWindHome wrote:
    Rewatched the descent last night and I'm not sure what the issue is.
    There's an issue?
    The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
    I am not sure. You have no chance.
    Veronese68 wrote:
    PB is the most sensible person on here.
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 13,340
    Pross wrote:
    iainf72 wrote:
    Shirley Basso wrote:
    What if prize money for first was increased and prize money for all spots from 2-10 was the same?

    Prize money is not a motivator for anyone in cycling races I'd suggest.

    Points are though unfortunately, that’s what needs looking at.

    The main racing yesterday was Katusha, Movistar, AG2R, Lotto-Jumbo and Sunweb.

    Only Katusha look significantly short on points (rank 17 out of 18) Sunweb and Lotto Jumbo are 10 and 11.

    I don't think there's a lot of pressure from below of pro-conti teams that want to be WT, is there? Though the WT is supposed to be slimmed down a bit soon I think.

    Obviously individual riders can count points in wage negotiations, but I'm not sure that's decisive.
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  • dolan_driver
    dolan_driver Posts: 831
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    mididoctors wrote:
    dan martin is class. class class class. why? he is never going to get on a gt podium but you are looking at a guy who gets everything out of himself. pretty much maxed out what he can be.

    fair play to the guy. if he develops more endurance he may either be good kom material(dont think he is interested another plus) or squeeze another few spots on gc.

    Tend to agree.

    He is nails.

    I prefer him in one day mode because he’s one of the few hilly one day guys who can time an attack.

    You’d call this Tour a success for him. Decent effort overall and a stage win.

    He has also been awarded the super-combativity prize for most combative/attacking (etc) rider of the Tour. That means a trip to the podium tomorrow! :D

    DD.

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