TDF 2019, Stage 20: Albertville > Val Thorens 27/07/2019 - 130 km *Spoilers*

davidof

Pauv' Pinot

https://www.france.tv/france-2/tour-de- ... naire.html

blazing_saddles

tommasi wrote:

They would have backed Thomas if his attacks didn't have less power than my farts.

Agreed.
Your farts have obviously blown your brains clean out of your head.

mamil314

G said in the interview that he'd wanted to attack Nibali for the stage win but didn't fancy dragging Kruiswijk in and risk things.
Also, the French hate Bennet and de Plus for this weird Sky trick.

ocdupalais

As I said before, GT just needs to smash the Vuelta (36km TT + 18km TTT), and he will have had a champion season. Easy peasy. Leaving Team Innit well and truly ON for the 3 GT wins 2020. To make them even more loved.

DeVlaeminck

Great Nibali win.
Great Tour and Bernal win.
Thomas did well, 2018 was his peak and he wasnt far off it. I don't believe all his "I was about to attack" stuff though.
Why didn't Movistar sacrifice a rider to bring Nibali back - given he's acted as a domestique all race if I were Valverde I would not be happy.

No_Ta_Doctor

Thomas clearly had more in the tank-engine.

I think he was probably the strongest rider overall in the tour, though not the most lethal in the mountains.

The cutoff stage yesterday really hurt his chances, but I'm impressed with how he's handled it.

shipley

Shirley Basso wrote:

davidof wrote:

Shirley Basso wrote:

Bit of a damp squib at the very end but a great stage.

Terrified about the future of Bernal vs Froome when on the same team.

Epic ride by JA. Big shame for JA and TP.

Ineos will back whoever has the most chance of winning in 2020.

Agree but it’s a shame not to see them race against each other.

I know people are sick of ‘what ifs’ but Froome would have cruised this tour.

And wouldn’t that have been a pile of sh1te.

Froome not here made this Tour the best one for ages.....Alaphillipe was fabulous, as was the atmosphere in the crowd....positive, happy and excited and not bored and resentful. Pity about the last couple of stages being impacted by the weather but they were all knackered.

webboo

I for one are glad it’s all over. I can’t buy anymore funeral plans or sign up for more online bingo and now I don’t have choose between Zwift or Peleton.
Maybe there might be some new adverts by the time of the Tour of Spain.

above_the_cows

Shipley wrote:

Shirley Basso wrote:

davidof wrote:

Shirley Basso wrote:

Bit of a damp squib at the very end but a great stage.

Terrified about the future of Bernal vs Froome when on the same team.

Epic ride by JA. Big shame for JA and TP.

Ineos will back whoever has the most chance of winning in 2020.

Agree but it’s a shame not to see them race against each other.

I know people are sick of ‘what ifs’ but Froome would have cruised this tour.

And wouldn’t that have been a pile of sh1te.

Froome not here made this Tour the best one for ages.....Alaphillipe was fabulous, as was the atmosphere in the crowd....positive, happy and excited and not bored and resentful. Pity about the last couple of stages being impacted by the weather but they were all knackered.

I witnessed firsthand lots of booing and swearing at Ineos riders and team cars, as well as a smoke bomb targeting of Thomas. I don't get why you'd climb 2,500m to boo (and set off smoke bombs) at cyclists and some people doing their jobs in a car but then I'm not a d1ckhead.

I wouldn't even boo riders from Bahrain Merida, I'd question their decision to ride for a country that just executed three members of its political opposition after forcing confessions from them through torture, but I wouldn't actually boo the riders. It's boorish stupidity that says infinitely more about the characters of the so-called 'fans' than it does about the targets of their ire.

RichN95.

Shipley wrote:

Froome not here made this Tour the best one for ages.....Alaphillipe was fabulous, as was the atmosphere in the crowd....positive, happy and excited and not bored and resentful. Pity about the last couple of stages being impacted by the weather but they were all knackered.

Was it really the best one for ages? There was very little GC action. The race was won by Bernal attacking largely unchallenged as the others watched Thomas. I'm not sure it will age well

ShutupJens

itboffin wrote:

Blazing Saddles wrote:

itboffin wrote:

An Ineos 1 2 is obvs. the ideal outcome for the team but surely being the reigning champ should give you team priority unless you're clearly not up to placing in a top GC position.

That's how it always used to work wasn't it?

Hinault would be punching folks right now. Geraint is smiling.
You can be too nice you know....

When Froome went a few years back Brad threw all his toys out of the pram and he had to come back do his job even though he was clearly in better shape, he's even said so much in his book.

Team orders for Brad but not for G

It was clear as day that barring an accident Wiggins was going to win that though and he did with minutes to spare

Are you saying you would put all your eggs in a basket marked "Geraint Thomas not crashing"? That would be the sort of tactic that only a Movistar DS would come up with

Alejandrosdog

I’m going to miss the Israel hotties

iainf72

Shipley wrote:

And wouldn’t that have been a pile of sh1te.

Froome not here made this Tour the best one for ages.....Alaphillipe was fabulous, as was the atmosphere in the crowd....positive, happy and excited and not bored and resentful. Pity about the last couple of stages being impacted by the weather but they were all knackered.

I think when people reflect on this Tour over time, they'll realise it wasn't quite as good as they think it was.

If you had Froome there, and he did the same ride as Alaphilippe but everything else remained the same, would it have been as great?

john1967

Above The Cows wrote:

Shipley wrote:

Shirley Basso wrote:

davidof wrote:

Shirley Basso wrote:

Bit of a damp squib at the very end but a great stage.

Terrified about the future of Bernal vs Froome when on the same team.

Epic ride by JA. Big shame for JA and TP.

Ineos will back whoever has the most chance of winning in 2020.

Agree but it’s a shame not to see them race against each other.

I know people are sick of ‘what ifs’ but Froome would have cruised this tour.

And wouldn’t that have been a pile of sh1te.

Froome not here made this Tour the best one for ages.....Alaphillipe was fabulous, as was the atmosphere in the crowd....positive, happy and excited and not bored and resentful. Pity about the last couple of stages being impacted by the weather but they were all knackered.

I witnessed firsthand lots of booing and swearing at Ineos riders and team cars, as well as a smoke bomb targeting of Thomas. I don't get why you'd climb 2,500m to boo (and set off smoke bombs) at cyclists and some people doing their jobs in a car but then I'm not a d1ckhead.

I wouldn't even boo riders from Bahrain Merida, I'd question their decision to ride for a country that just executed three members of its political opposition after forcing confessions from them through torture, but I wouldn't actually boo the riders. It's boorish stupidity that says infinitely more about the characters of the so-called 'fans' than it does about the targets of their ire.

It's a sport and fans are entitled to boo who they want.Agree about the smoke bombs,flares and worse being thrown. That should be policed better.

iainf72

RichN95 wrote:

Shipley wrote:

Froome not here made this Tour the best one for ages.....Alaphillipe was fabulous, as was the atmosphere in the crowd....positive, happy and excited and not bored and resentful. Pity about the last couple of stages being impacted by the weather but they were all knackered.

Was it really the best one for ages? There was very little GC action. The race was won by Bernal attacking largely unchallenged as the others watched Thomas. I'm not sure it will age well

We just wrote the same post with different words

rick_chasey

iainf72 wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

Shipley wrote:

Froome not here made this Tour the best one for ages.....Alaphillipe was fabulous, as was the atmosphere in the crowd....positive, happy and excited and not bored and resentful. Pity about the last couple of stages being impacted by the weather but they were all knackered.

Was it really the best one for ages? There was very little GC action. The race was won by Bernal attacking largely unchallenged as the others watched Thomas. I'm not sure it will age well

We just wrote the same post with different words

It was poised to be a belter until yday.

iainf72

Rick Chasey wrote:

It was poised to be a belter until yday.

Do you think so? I never saw it.

How? What would've made it a "belter"?

DeVlaeminck

Yes and I think Allaphilippe being 1:30 ahead is more exciting than say Froome being 1:30 ahead. With JA you never thought this was over - if Froome got ahead and extended his lead in the TT you feel it would take misfortune to dislodge him. Plus 2nd to 5th was so close.

DeVlaeminck

No tA Doctor wrote:

Thomas clearly had more in the tank-engine.

I think he was probably the strongest rider overall in the tour, though not the most lethal in the mountains.

The cutoff stage yesterday really hurt his chances, but I'm impressed with how he's handled it.

Did he have more to give? Hard to say - I didn't see any evidence he was as strong as Pinot or Bernal or any stronger than Landa - the cut off may have hurt his chances or maybe saved his podium. He seemed good in the first week or so but after that if he did attack it went nowhere.

Lanterne_Rogue

RichN95 wrote:

Shipley wrote:

Froome not here made this Tour the best one for ages.....Alaphillipe was fabulous, as was the atmosphere in the crowd....positive, happy and excited and not bored and resentful. Pity about the last couple of stages being impacted by the weather but they were all knackered.

Was it really the best one for ages? There was very little GC action. The race was won by Bernal attacking largely unchallenged as the others watched Thomas. I'm not sure it will age well

People didn't start getting ridiculously shirty with each other, making obnoxious 'bantz', or declaring it the worst tour/stage outcome ever until the middle of the third week, so there's at least some objective evidence it wasn't that bad. Tommy 2.0 seemed to genuinely have a chance of keeping the jersey until the end, taking time when expected to fall, and if the pre-tour favourite won it wasn't necessarily a done deal until today. There was also some decent racing in the first week and the LR was (like budget accommodation) tense until today's collapse.

Every tour feels like it was underwhelming at the time. Possibly because I'm following the third week remotely, and so didn't feel the loss of the last two days so keenly, this edition has seemed pretty decent. The final verdict of posterity probably depends on what happens next with the main protagonists.

Interested to know what recent editions are seen as better though?

iainf72

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Yes and I think Allaphilippe being 1:30 ahead is more exciting than say Froome being 1:30 ahead. With JA you never thought this was over - if Froome got ahead and extended his lead in the TT you feel it would take misfortune to dislodge him. Plus 2nd to 5th was so close.

So did you believe that JA might be able to do it?

I never did so in my head I never really factored him as an actual GC threat.

RichN95.

underlayunderlay wrote:

Interested to know what recent editions are seen as better though?

Of the last decade, 2011 and 2015. Probably 2010 too.

I'm not saying it was bad, but people claiming it was the best for 30 years, as many have, is just daft.

above_the_cows

john1967 wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

Shipley wrote:

Shirley Basso wrote:

davidof wrote:

Shirley Basso wrote:

Bit of a damp squib at the very end but a great stage.

Terrified about the future of Bernal vs Froome when on the same team.

Epic ride by JA. Big shame for JA and TP.

Ineos will back whoever has the most chance of winning in 2020.

Agree but it’s a shame not to see them race against each other.

I know people are sick of ‘what ifs’ but Froome would have cruised this tour.

And wouldn’t that have been a pile of sh1te.

Froome not here made this Tour the best one for ages.....Alaphillipe was fabulous, as was the atmosphere in the crowd....positive, happy and excited and not bored and resentful. Pity about the last couple of stages being impacted by the weather but they were all knackered.

I witnessed firsthand lots of booing and swearing at Ineos riders and team cars, as well as a smoke bomb targeting of Thomas. I don't get why you'd climb 2,500m to boo (and set off smoke bombs) at cyclists and some people doing their jobs in a car but then I'm not a d1ckhead.

I wouldn't even boo riders from Bahrain Merida, I'd question their decision to ride for a country that just executed three members of its political opposition after forcing confessions from them through torture, but I wouldn't actually boo the riders. It's boorish stupidity that says infinitely more about the characters of the so-called 'fans' than it does about the targets of their ire.

It's a sport and fans are entitled to boo who they want.Agree about the smoke bombs,flares and worse being thrown. That should be policed better.

Sure they're entitled to boo, I just think people who do are d1ckheads, especially going to all the effort to climb to 2,500+m to do so. I mean why? Why would you boo sports people turning themselves inside out for your entertainment? What possible reason would you have for that? If you don't like the sport and don't admire the sportspersonship, why go to all the effort to go to the roadside, especially climbing to 2,500+m? Why would you put that effort in for something you don't like? I just don't understand the mentality. But as I said I'm not a d1ckhead so maybe I will never understand the mentality.

RichN95.

This will be the first time since 1956 that none of the podium won a stage.

Alan Ha Ha

It was the best edition since 1989 until yesterday, when:

1. Peanut got off his bike - there was a real sense of anticipation for him and France. He was the strongest attacking rider in the Pyrenees

2. G attacked, then Bernal attacked - Patriotic hope for G disintegrated as soon as Bernal broke the elastic to GC group

3. JA slid off the back - we hoped he would get back on teh long descent, but it was obvious he wouldn't get help to get Yates & Bernal

4. The hail, the flood, the mud - As soon as we found out times were being taken at top of Isereran it was obvious the great French dream was over, that G's defence was over, that Yates wasn't getting a hat trick

5. News of shortened stage - Maybe just maybe JA could have pulled something out the bag on the planned long technical descent with 27 or 29 hairpins. We would have loved to watch him attack that downhill... but it was not to be.

So yes... for 19 of the 21 stages it has been (in my opinion and many others) the best edition of Le Tour I can remember. 7 riders were in with a shout of winning yesterday morning. Last night at 10pm it was clear there was only going to be one winner and the opportunity to win a stage was robbed from him.

shirley_basso

Also the individual stages were awesome.

Mad_Malx

DeVlaeminck wrote:

No tA Doctor wrote:

Thomas clearly had more in the tank-engine.

I think he was probably the strongest rider overall in the tour, though not the most lethal in the mountains.

The cutoff stage yesterday really hurt his chances, but I'm impressed with how he's handled it.

Did he have more to give? Hard to say - I didn't see any evidence he was as strong as Pinot or Bernal or any stronger than Landa - the cut off may have hurt his chances or maybe saved his podium. He seemed good in the first week or so but after that if he did attack it went nowhere.

I’m with DeVkaeminck on this. Thomas had a stab on the latter stages but couldn’t hold a gap, Bernal’s efforts stuck, and that’s why he became ineos’ leader.

ocdupalais

Above The Cows wrote:

john1967 wrote:

Above The Cows wrote:

Shipley wrote:

Shirley Basso wrote:

davidof wrote:

Shirley Basso wrote:

Bit of a damp squib at the very end but a great stage.

Terrified about the future of Bernal vs Froome when on the same team.

Epic ride by JA. Big shame for JA and TP.

Ineos will back whoever has the most chance of winning in 2020.

Agree but it’s a shame not to see them race against each other.

I know people are sick of ‘what ifs’ but Froome would have cruised this tour.

And wouldn’t that have been a pile of sh1te.

Froome not here made this Tour the best one for ages.....Alaphillipe was fabulous, as was the atmosphere in the crowd....positive, happy and excited and not bored and resentful. Pity about the last couple of stages being impacted by the weather but they were all knackered.

I witnessed firsthand lots of booing and swearing at Ineos riders and team cars, as well as a smoke bomb targeting of Thomas. I don't get why you'd climb 2,500m to boo (and set off smoke bombs) at cyclists and some people doing their jobs in a car but then I'm not a d1ckhead.

I wouldn't even boo riders from Bahrain Merida, I'd question their decision to ride for a country that just executed three members of its political opposition after forcing confessions from them through torture, but I wouldn't actually boo the riders. It's boorish stupidity that says infinitely more about the characters of the so-called 'fans' than it does about the targets of their ire.

It's a sport and fans are entitled to boo who they want.Agree about the smoke bombs,flares and worse being thrown. That should be policed better.

Sure they're entitled to boo, I just think people who do are d1ckheads, especially going to all the effort to climb to 2,500+m to do so. I mean why? Why would you boo sports people turning themselves inside out for your entertainment? What possible reason would you have for that? If you don't like the sport and don't admire the sportspersonship, why go to all the effort to go to the roadside, especially climbing to 2,500+m? Why would you put that effort in for something you don't like? I just don't understand the mentality. But as I said I'm not a d1ckhead so maybe I will never understand the mentality.

With all due respect, you don’t have to be a card carrying d1ckhead to occasionally (or even regularly) display d1ckheadedness. Even more confusing is when said card carrier does something of profound intelligence.

Lanterne_Rogue

RichN95 wrote:

underlayunderlay wrote:

Interested to know what recent editions are seen as better though?

Of the last decade, 2011 and 2015. Probably 2010 too.

I'm not saying it was bad, but people claiming it was the best for 30 years, as many have, is just daft.

Top three or four in the last decade sounds fair - better than average, at least.

iainf72

Alan Ha Ha wrote:

So yes... for 19 of the 21 stages it has been (in my opinion and many others) the best edition of Le Tour I can remember. 7 riders were in with a shout of winning yesterday morning. Last night at 10pm it was clear there was only going to be one winner and the opportunity to win a stage was robbed from him.

And that's fine. People are entitled to an opinion. Pinot was a big loss but it was clear on Thursday he wasn't right.

I do disagree about 7 riders being in with a shout. 3 were (Thomas, Bernal and Pinot) and the other 4 were close but were never going to trouble the top spot

How would you rank it as a whole then, taking into account 19 and 20?

Also, just to state my bias for people who don't know. I cannot stand Alaphilippe. I don't know why and when I see him interviewed he seems like a lovely man. But as a rider, no.