Grand Départ Covid Countdown: General Chat and Info thread.

blazing_saddles

A few months ago, the most common comments to be read upon these boards were: "It will never happen" , "Not a chance" and "Without a vaccine it's impossible due to numbers..."
Yet, here we are, less than two weeks from the Grand Départ and despite infection rates increasing within all the big cycling nations, racing the new UCI calendar is now well and truly underway.

So, I may be tempting fate, but is the thread I saw had been requested a few days back.
Be it team info, local flavour, general discussion, chit chat or idle speculation, pictures, posters tweets or clips, feel free to stick it all here, just so long as it is somehow connected to this:




Map

From Nice to Paris, the course of the 2020 Tour de France will never cross any border of France. A total of 6 regions and 32 departments will be travelled through.

Stages

9 flat stages
3 hilly stages
8 mountain stages with mountain-top finishes (Orcières-Merlette, Puy Mary, Grand Colombier, Méribel Col de la Loze)
1 individual time-trial stage
2 rest days

Novelties

12 new stage cities or sites will appear on the map of the 2020 Tour, that’s over one third out of a total of 35:

Le Teil (start of stage 6)
Mont Aigoual (finish of stage 6)
Cazères-sur-Garonne (start of stage 8)
Île de Ré Saint-Martin-de-Ré (finish of stage 10)
Châtelaillon-Plage (start of stage 11)
Chauvigny (start of stage 12)
Châtel-Guyon (start of stage 13)
Puy Mary Cantal (finish of stage 13)
Grand Colombier (finish of stage 15)
La Roche-sur-Foron (finish of stage 18)
Lure (start of stage 20)
Mantes-la-Jolie (start of stage 21)

Mountains

The five mountain ranges of France will be on the menu of the 107th Tour de France. In the following order of appearance: Alps, Massif central, Pyrenees, Jura and Vosges. There will be four new climbs: Col de la Lusette and Suc au May in the Massif central, Col de la Hourcère in the Pyrenees and Col de la Loze in the Alps as well as the one to the Col de la Madeleine by a sinuous road.

Time-trial

In 2020, there will only be one time-trial that will be covered individually. It will take place on the penultimate stage between Lure La Planche des Belles Filles on a distance of 36 kilometres.

Bonus seconds

They will be distributed at the finish of each normal stage and will offer respectively 10, 6 and 4 seconds to the first three.

Bonus points

They will be given out at the top of the 8 summits of the following climbs at strategic places on the course and will award respectively 8,5 and 2 seconds (subject to the approval of the Union cycliste internationale) to the first three ranked riders:

Stage 2 | Col des Quatre Chemins
Stage 6 | Col de la Lusette
Stage 8 | Col de Peyresourde
Stage 9 | Col de Marie Blanque
Stage 12 | Suc au May
Stage 13 | Col de Neronne
Stage 16 | Montée de Saint-Nizier-du-Moucherotte
Stage 18 | Montée du plateau des Glières

These bonus points will have no influence on the points classification.

DeadCalm

Awesome. Thanks for posting this.

ddraver

I think the problem with Coronavirus may be that once the Big Dog is done and dusted the rest of the season may be less of a priority and more likely to get the chop...

(hopeful exception being the classics cos belgium)

RichN95.

The latest odds (Paddy Power):

6/4 Roglic
2/1 Bernal
5/1 Dumoulin
6/1 Pinot
10/1 Pogacar
17/1 Thomas
20/1 Buchmann
25/1 Froome, Alaphilippe, Quintana, Martinez, Sivakov
33/1 Landa, Yates, Lopez
40/1 Kruijswijk, Mas


Guillaume Martin Each Way at 80/1 and Fuglsang at 70/1 have attracted my interest.

blazing_saddles

RichN95. said:

The latest odds (Paddy Power):

6/4 Roglic
2/1 Bernal
5/1 Dumoulin
6/1 Pinot
10/1 Pogacar
17/1 Thomas
20/1 Buchmann
25/1 Froome, Alaphilippe, Quintana, Martinez, Sivakov
33/1 Landa, Yates, Lopez
40/1 Kruijswijk, Mas


Guillaume Martin Each Way at 80/1 and Fuglsang at 70/1 have attracted my interest.

I'd hang on with respect to Fuglsang, unless you know better.
I've not seen him down on any provisional Tour startlist, but I have seen him on one for the Giro.

40/1 Kruijswijk is about the odds I would give him of making it to the start line.
From a dislocated shoulder, it would be a miracle recovery to rival Contador's broken leg in 2014.

No_Ta_Doctor

blazing_saddles said:

RichN95. said:

The latest odds (Paddy Power):

6/4 Roglic
2/1 Bernal
5/1 Dumoulin
6/1 Pinot
10/1 Pogacar
17/1 Thomas
20/1 Buchmann
25/1 Froome, Alaphilippe, Quintana, Martinez, Sivakov
33/1 Landa, Yates, Lopez
40/1 Kruijswijk, Mas


Guillaume Martin Each Way at 80/1 and Fuglsang at 70/1 have attracted my interest.

I'd hang on with respect to Fuglsang, unless you know better.
I've not seen him down on any provisional Tour startlist, but I have seen him on one for the Giro.

40/1 Kruijswijk is about the odds I would give him of making it to the start line.
From a dislocated shoulder, it would be a miracle recovery to rival Contador's broken leg in 2014.

Fuglsang is definitely riding the Giro.

We've seen riders pop a dislocated shoulder back in and get back on the bike mid race, so I'm not sure Kruijswijk is that much of a write-off. Though as has been pointed out, there's LOT of shoulder to deal with. It's certainly not as nasty as when Contador boke every bone in his body that time but still came back to ride the Vuelta.

rick_chasey

Depends how much HGH he's on tbf.

Amazed at Dumoulin's odds. Thin market methinks.

blazing_saddles

I thought general rule of thumb that a proper dislocation took roughly twice as long as a collarbone fracture.

Anyhow, if he makes it, we already know their team as they tend to announce months in advance.

DUMOULIN Tom
KRUIJSWIJK Steven
MARTIN Tony
GESINK Robert
VAN AERT Wout
BENNETT George
ROGLIČ Primož
KUSS Sepp

Takes deep breath and long exhale.....

pblakeney

If I was going long odds bet then it would be Kuss at 100/1. Worth a pound?
Well down the pecking order but that can change during a GT.
One I'd like to see going by the Dauphine, unlikely however.

Wheelspinner

blazing_saddles said:

Be it team info, local flavour, general discussion, chit chat or idle speculation, pictures, posters tweets or clips, feel free to stick it all here, just so long as it is somehow connected to this:

From that map, a more accurate name might be "Tour de Demi-France"

Route du Sud is already taken, no?

tailwindhome

Have protocols been published as to testing, implications of a positive and what happens if the Tour is cut short?

rick_chasey

tailwindhome said:

Have protocols been published as to testing, implications of a positive and what happens if the Tour is cut short?

No idea about official but I've seen a lot of chat between DSs on twitter and they say that if it gets cut short whoever is in the lead wins it.

blazing_saddles

According to today's Gazzetta, Richard Carapaz may get a late call to lead Ineos at the Tour..........................

Lanterne_Rogue

Seems really weird to be less than a fortnight away and having absolutely no idea who's in the running. I'd love it if we have a Walkowiak-esque tour with someone unexpected getting time somehow, but cycling's changed, hasn't it? Alaphilippe's performance last year is possibly as close as we'll get to that these days.

Can I stick my hat in the ring to cover the Lanterne Rouge again this year?

blazing_saddles

tailwindhome said:

Have protocols been published as to testing, implications of a positive and what happens if the Tour is cut short?

Race protocols were publish about 6 weeks ago.

https://www.uci.org/docs/default-source/medical/guidelines-return-comp-eng-10-aug-wt-wwt.pdf

We have had a rider test positive before Strade Bianche. Isolation for him and the race unaffected.

To be able to race, teams have to test their riders before and during races, and create protective bubbles around them. Even the UCI president is kept on the outside of the bubble, to limit the risk of a rider, or anyone else, catching COVID-19.
Understandably, any national health regulations overrule any team or UCI protocols to protect public health and will decide what happens at races.

"A race will not stop if there's one positive case, even if nobody knows if the race will go on to the end,"
Lappartient

Dorset_Boy

Bernal's place at the start in doubt!
https://cyclist.co.uk/news/8605/team-ineos-could-replace-egan-bernal-with-richard-carapaz-at-tour-de-france?fbclid=IwAR1XVCRO6xTULILSQ52X95WPM4ZJHDGRsTtzfFWnVSsxUTSjvDoiT73R6LM://

mididoctors

I am a little concerned about covid . They should push on masks and social distancing a bit more for crowds I think . The wear a mask off the bike policy for the riders is nice and clear on messaging. But a tad surprised at some finishes this year. I do get a sense of too soon . Hope to be wrong . Really enjoying the racing it must be said . God what a year .

rick_chasey

Friebe putting his balls on the line and basically confirming Bernal out and Carapaz in as per above.

TheBigBean

It feels like every GT winner recently is on one of two teams.

fenix

They definitely need to push masks for spectators this year.

Watching the 2018 highlights and seeing Sky riders getting spat at wasn't nice to see.

blazing_saddles

Well, I suggested Carapaz might be getting a tour call up during the Dauphine, but not for this reason.

Presumably it will be a straight swap with Bernal heading to the Giro, if he's fit.

tailwindhome

rick_chasey said:

Friebe putting his balls on the line and basically confirming Bernal out and Carapaz in as per above.

in or in as leader?

phreak

If Carapaz is being called up, it's not a ringing endorsement for the GC aspirations of the other Ineos riders. Froome I can kinda get, but Thomas is surprisingly off the pace, and by a huge margin.

blazing_saddles

phreak said:

If Carapaz is being called up, it's not a ringing endorsement for the GC aspirations of the other Ineos riders. Froome I can kinda get, but Thomas is surprisingly off the pace, and by a huge margin.

A lot of people are saying this about Thomas, but on the big climbs on day 2 and 3 of the Dauphine, I didn't think he looked that far off.
Certainly not when compared to last year, where he hadn't raced since Spring, then crashed out early in Switzerland.

rick_chasey

blazing_saddles said:

phreak said:

If Carapaz is being called up, it's not a ringing endorsement for the GC aspirations of the other Ineos riders. Froome I can kinda get, but Thomas is surprisingly off the pace, and by a huge margin.

A lot of people are saying this about Thomas, but on the big climbs on day 2 and 3 of the Dauphine, I didn't think he looked that far off.
Certainly not when compared to last year, where he hadn't raced since Spring, then crashed out early in Switzerland.

Thought Dumoulin looked better than him, mind (and they're comparable GT riders).

DeadCalm

blazing_saddles said:

phreak said:

If Carapaz is being called up, it's not a ringing endorsement for the GC aspirations of the other Ineos riders. Froome I can kinda get, but Thomas is surprisingly off the pace, and by a huge margin.

A lot of people are saying this about Thomas, but on the big climbs on day 2 and 3 of the Dauphine, I didn't think he looked that far off.
Certainly not when compared to last year, where he hadn't raced since Spring, then crashed out early in Switzerland.

Last year Thomas had barely ridden so we had no clue as to his form. I'm not writing him off but, this year, he has looked off the pace and I wonder if there is enough time between the Dauphine and the Tour to not only put in the work required but also the necessary recovery time to see any significant progress?

david37

the best thing about this (and every other GT this year) is the sudden death possibility of an early finish. Every team will hopefully be smashing it to be in yellow each and every day, we might be treated to much more aggressive racing and completely different tactics. Cant wait.

blazing_saddles

DeadCalm said:

blazing_saddles said:

phreak said:

If Carapaz is being called up, it's not a ringing endorsement for the GC aspirations of the other Ineos riders. Froome I can kinda get, but Thomas is surprisingly off the pace, and by a huge margin.

A lot of people are saying this about Thomas, but on the big climbs on day 2 and 3 of the Dauphine, I didn't think he looked that far off.
Certainly not when compared to last year, where he hadn't raced since Spring, then crashed out early in Switzerland.

Last year Thomas had barely ridden so we had no clue as to his form. I'm not writing him off but, this year, he has looked off the pace and I wonder if there is enough time between the Dauphine and the Tour to not only put in the work required but also the necessary recovery time to see any significant progress?

I think you will find you have that the wrong way around.

13 days racing so far this season, with 8 days in this block.

23 days racing before the Tour last year, with 9 days from the start of Romandie.

Of course it may be he's just past his prime, which is even more likely in the case of Froome.

As Rick says, Dumoulin is looking in far better nick, with just those same 8 days, since last May.

darkhairedlord

Unless If they can keep spectators under control, they will be lucky to see out the first week.

50x11

darkhairedlord said:

Unless If they can keep spectators under control, they will be lucky to see out the first week.

Based on what?

DeadCalm

blazing_saddles said:

DeadCalm said:

blazing_saddles said:

phreak said:

If Carapaz is being called up, it's not a ringing endorsement for the GC aspirations of the other Ineos riders. Froome I can kinda get, but Thomas is surprisingly off the pace, and by a huge margin.

A lot of people are saying this about Thomas, but on the big climbs on day 2 and 3 of the Dauphine, I didn't think he looked that far off.
Certainly not when compared to last year, where he hadn't raced since Spring, then crashed out early in Switzerland.

Last year Thomas had barely ridden so we had no clue as to his form. I'm not writing him off but, this year, he has looked off the pace and I wonder if there is enough time between the Dauphine and the Tour to not only put in the work required but also the necessary recovery time to see any significant progress?

I think you will find you have that the wrong way around.

13 days racing so far this season, with 8 days in this block.

23 days racing before the Tour last year, with 9 days from the start of Romandie.

Of course it may be he's just past his prime, which is even more likely in the case of Froome.

As Rick says, Dumoulin is looking in far better nick, with just those same 8 days, since last May.

In the two months before last year's Tour, Thomas finished 3 stages. He was 13th in the opening TT of the Tour de Suisse (6 seconds ahead of the eventual GC winner), came in on the same time as the winner on stage 3 and in the bunch 6 seconds behind LLS on stage 2.

This year, he has had 8 days of racing within a month of the start of the Tour. In those 8 stages combined, he has shipped, in total, almost an hour and a quarter to the winner of GC.

Edit: I don't think it's that he's past his prime necessarily. This year is just weird ad some riders will have responded to lockdown better than others.