TDF 2019, Stage 12: Toulouse > Bagnères-de-Bigorre 18/07/2019 - 209,5 km *Spoilers*

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Comments

  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    underlayunderlay wrote:
    Gweeds wrote:
    40w sounds like absolute **** to me.

    For the record I reckon I've got a pair of wheels that make me 10kg fatter.

    You should give them to Valverde.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • lettingthedaysgoby
    lettingthedaysgoby Posts: 1,732
    Above The Cows wrote:
    underlayunderlay wrote:
    Gweeds wrote:
    40w sounds like absolute **** to me.

    For the record I reckon I've got a pair of wheels that make me 10kg fatter.

    You should give them to Valverde.
    :mrgreen:
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,455
    I'm looking forward to Valverde finally dropping some weight next year and becoming a real contender!
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,325
    M.R.M. wrote:
    I'm looking forward to Valverde finally dropping some weight next year and becoming a real contender!

    The only thing capable of seeing things of such masses is the Large Hadron Collider, and I don't think the world of cycling is ready to handle a particle of pure Valverdiness.

    Opens up a whole world of subatomic cycling though. "We call this particle the Portium. After just two weeks of a grand tour there's no trace left of any podium potential in it."
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    underlayunderlay wrote:
    "We call this particle the Portium. After just two weeks of a grand tour there's no trace left of any podium potential in it."

    Surely it should be called a Quintana.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • Lanterne_Rogue
    Lanterne_Rogue Posts: 4,325
    Above The Cows wrote:
    underlayunderlay wrote:
    "We call this particle the Portium. After just two weeks of a grand tour there's no trace left of any podium potential in it."

    Surely it should be called a Quintana.

    Weirdly this was my first draft, then I remembered he'd actually won two of the sodding things.

    However I do believe scientists have recently discovered a weird quantum superposition amongst leaders of Movistar. Analogous to any other waveform the act of observing them doing anything causes the entire team to collapse.
    Twitter: @canocola @thedreadships
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,625
    Gweeds wrote:
    40w sounds like absolute **** to me.

    Wouldn’t be so sure.

    Rabobank / Belkin boys used to complain of similar four or five years ago.

    Tony Martin originally moved to katusha in order to stay on canyons.

    One of the reasons he’s now happy at Jumbo is their TT rig is one of the fastest around.

    Testers are picky about their kit and someone like Dennis will know what his drag coefficient was in the tunnel last year and what it is now.


    Having said all that he’s known this for 6 months so quitting the day before the Tour ITT seems odd.
    _
  • pat1cp
    pat1cp Posts: 766
    Your one day this tour in the Rainbow jersey starting as favourite, and you lob the towel in ??

    Maybe he knows that the current management will be long gone as soon as Ellingworth starts his new role.
    http://tinyurl.com/332edp
    http://tinyurl.com/2nu7r3
  • FocusZing
    FocusZing Posts: 4,373
    edited July 2019
    pat1cp wrote:
    Your one day this tour in the Rainbow jersey starting as favourite, and you lob the towel in ??

    Maybe he knows that the current management will be long gone as soon as Ellingworth starts his new role.

    Exactly and the chance of a TDF stage win. It's the kit that makes the only sense. The team can't turn around and say he quit because he thinks our kit (sponsors) products are sh1t.

    I would hope he's feeling like a complete idiot today, not channelling his anger correctly.
  • darkhairedlord
    darkhairedlord Posts: 7,180
    pat1cp wrote:
    Your one day this tour in the Rainbow jersey starting as favourite, and you lob the towel in ??

    Maybe he knows that the current management will be long gone as soon as Ellingworth starts his new role.
    Main sponsor didn't want him wearing the w/c jersey.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,701
    darkhairedlord wrote:
    pat1cp wrote:
    Your one day this tour in the Rainbow jersey starting as favourite, and you lob the towel in ??

    Maybe he knows that the current management will be long gone as soon as Ellingworth starts his new role.
    Main sponsor didn't want him wearing the w/c jersey.

    Huh?
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,148
    Very unprofessional if this is even remotely true. You sign a contract with a team, they pay you and you ride the kit they have committed to. It's pretty simple really. If their stuff is that bad you try to work with them and their suppliers to rectify it and if that doesn't work you move on at the end of your contract. Cycling struggles enough for sponsors without this sort of thing. I can't imagine an F1 driver dropping out on the eve of a Grand Prix because his car isn't fast enough (someone will no doubt give me an example of just this now!).
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,535
    darkhairedlord wrote:
    pat1cp wrote:
    Your one day this tour in the Rainbow jersey starting as favourite, and you lob the towel in ??

    Maybe he knows that the current management will be long gone as soon as Ellingworth starts his new role.
    Main sponsor didn't want him wearing the w/c jersey.
    They don't get a choice, do they? It's UCI mandated
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • salsiccia1
    salsiccia1 Posts: 3,725
    I think I read that he wanted to get in the break to go for the win on this stage, thinking that his gear would stop him winning the TT stage, and fell out with the team who wanted him to save himself for the TT.

    Something like that.
    It's only a bit of sport, Mun. Relax and enjoy the racing.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,455
    That sounds like quite a realistic scenario.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • keef_zip
    keef_zip Posts: 295
    Fulcrum wheels have got to be up there with the worst in aero performance. It's highly unlikely anything to do with the frame, but 40W doesn't at all sound like rubbish to me for wheels only (having done a fair bit of aero testing). There are wheel/tyre combinations that I know of that are about 25W faster for a front wheel than others, and that's at the speed I ride (and I've not tested the worst wheels either). Tour riders going so much faster would have a greater wattage penalty.
  • amrushton
    amrushton Posts: 1,307
    hasnt he had big wins on the normal kit anyway? If he feels that badly, then get the team to buy something better and rebrand it. M-Scott have those Autobahn for the TTs but other brands available. No doubt there will be more to it but nice to know he thought about his mates in the team.
  • darkhairedlord
    darkhairedlord Posts: 7,180
    Probably a mental health issue, I can understand it being a very lonely sport at times.
  • lettingthedaysgoby
    lettingthedaysgoby Posts: 1,732
    I guess it’s hard for us to comprehend just what a pressure cooker they’re all in. I’d imagine some of the most insignificant things can easily be blown up to something more in a riders head.

    Just hope he’s OK and that this incident doesn’t harm his career too much.
  • FocusZing
    FocusZing Posts: 4,373
    lettingthedaysgoby wrote:
    I guess it’s hard for us to comprehend just what a pressure cooker they’re all in. I’d imagine some of the most insignificant things can easily be blown up to something more in a riders head.

    Just hope he’s OK and that this incident doesn’t harm his career too much.

    That's a fair point, he is getting paid though.

    This article explains a bit more regarding that side of things.

    https://cyclingtips.com/2019/07/inside- ... an-dennis/
  • orraloon
    orraloon Posts: 13,195
    darkhairedlord wrote:
    pat1cp wrote:
    Your one day this tour in the Rainbow jersey starting as favourite, and you lob the towel in ??

    Maybe he knows that the current management will be long gone as soon as Ellingworth starts his new role.
    Main sponsor didn't want him wearing the w/c jersey.
    :D Is that rainbow connotation, can't be having that sort of stuff in them parts eh?
  • Alan Ha Ha
    Alan Ha Ha Posts: 88
    orraloon wrote:
    darkhairedlord wrote:
    pat1cp wrote:
    Your one day this tour in the Rainbow jersey starting as favourite, and you lob the towel in ??

    Maybe he knows that the current management will be long gone as soon as Ellingworth starts his new role.
    Main sponsor didn't want him wearing the w/c jersey.
    :D Is that rainbow connotation, can't be having that sort of stuff in them parts eh?

    Interesting... Strict Sharia Law country not wanting to be associated with rainbow colours. Well that makes for an media circus whenever RD contract is finished and he is able to go public.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 27,756
    FocusZing wrote:
    lettingthedaysgoby wrote:
    I guess it’s hard for us to comprehend just what a pressure cooker they’re all in. I’d imagine some of the most insignificant things can easily be blown up to something more in a riders head.

    Just hope he’s OK and that this incident doesn’t harm his career too much.

    That's a fair point, he is getting paid though.

    If anything, that is likely to increase the self imposed pressure, surely.
  • awavey
    awavey Posts: 2,368
    Pross wrote:
    Very unprofessional if this is even remotely true. You sign a contract with a team, they pay you and you ride the kit they have committed to. It's pretty simple really. If their stuff is that bad you try to work with them and their suppliers to rectify it and if that doesn't work you move on at the end of your contract. Cycling struggles enough for sponsors without this sort of thing. I can't imagine an F1 driver dropping out on the eve of a Grand Prix because his car isn't fast enough (someone will no doubt give me an example of just this now!).

    "Our Nige" :D '95 quit McLaren just before the Monaco GP claimed he had no confidence in the chassis anymore which made it difficult to drive and resulted in slow lap times, and he didnt want to make up the numbers anymore.

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