Grand Départ Covid Countdown: General Chat and Info thread.

rick_chasey

ddraver said:

https://twitter.com/lequipe/status/1298211353744867330?s=20

????

(wouldn't be unlike Equipe to over-egg that pudding though...)

So Jumbo are saying the opposite in the Dutch paper...

blazing_saddles

rick_chasey said:

ddraver said:

https://twitter.com/lequipe/status/1298211353744867330?s=20

????

(wouldn't be unlike Equipe to over-egg that pudding though...)

So Jumbo are saying the opposite in the Dutch paper...

Spread confusion among your enemies innit.

ddraver

Flip side

https://twitter.com/inrng/status/1298216991438897152?s=19

rick_chasey

Best line in that "Thomas not being included was not a surprise".

Savage.

RichN95.

rick_chasey said:

Best line in that "Thomas not being included was not a surprise".

Savage.

But it was though. I don't think anyone suggested that he wouldn't be picked. With Froome plenty did.

daniel_b

https://cyclingnews.com/news/primoz-roglics-tour-de-france-remains-in-doubt-despite-return-to-training/

gsk82

daniel_b said:

https://cyclingnews.com/news/primoz-roglics-tour-de-france-remains-in-doubt-despite-return-to-training/

His missus is promoting a book

darkhairedlord

How are hotels organised this year?

blazing_saddles

darkhairedlord said:

How are hotels organised this year?

Secretly. Not published in the roadbook this year.

poweredbyidris

darkhairedlord said:

How are hotels organised this year?

Usually with a reception and a restaurant/bar on the ground floor, and bedrooms on the floors above. But that's not important right now...

focuszing723

Bianchi (Jumbo-Visma)
BMC (NTT Pro Cycling)
Cannondale (EF Pro Cycling)
Canyon (Movistar; Team Arkea-Samsic)
Cervélo (Team Sunweb)
Colnago (UAE Team Emirates)
De Rosa (Cofidis)
Eddy Merckx (AG2R La Mondiale)
Factor (Israel Start-Up Nation)
Giant (CCC)
KTM (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept p/b KTM)
Lapierre (Groupama-FDJ)
Merida (Bahrain-McLaren)
Pinarello (Ineos Grenadiers)
Specialized (Bora-Hansgrohe; Deceuninck-QuickStep)
Ridley (Lotto-Soudal)
Scott (Mitchelton-Scott)
Trek (Trek-Segafredo)
Wilier (Astana; Total Direct Energie)

https://www.bikeradar.com/features/pro-bike/tour-de-france-bikes/

Nice to see a KTM in there, something new and of course Factor bikes.

blazing_saddles

Here we go again.
Bora forced out of the Bretagne Classic and a few hours later it's sorry, but it was a mistake.

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/bora-hansgrohe-rider-tests-negative-for-covid-19-hours-after-positive-test/

They need to sort this quick to avoid turning the Tour into a farce.
Seems the ASO have made the right call with initially only pulling single infections.

fenix

Tricky either way isn't it ? You don't want a positive rider mingling with others ?

DeadCalm

Looking at the profile of Stage 1, does anyone know how technical the final 11 kilometre descent is? I know the bottom is 30 kilometres from the finish but Thomas de Gendt has said he'd be targeting the stage which suggests it isn't the shoe-in for a sprint I'd imagined it to be.

dish_dash

Movistar can't help themselves. Soler drafted in to join Valverde and Mas at the Tour.

RichN95.

dish_dash said:

Movistar can't help themselves. Soler drafted in to join Valverde and Mas at the Tour.

It looks like a team selected to win the team competition

blazing_saddles

DeadCalm said:

Looking at the profile of Stage 1, does anyone know how technical the final 11 kilometre descent is? I know the bottom is 30 kilometres from the finish but Thomas de Gendt has said he'd be targeting the stage which suggests it isn't the shoe-in for a sprint I'd imagined it to be.

Here you go:

https://www.la-flamme-rouge.eu/maps/viewtrack/263443

One twisty section but the rest looks fairly straightforward.
A couple of pitches of 9% in there but mostly it goes downhill at just a few %.

DeadCalm

blazing_saddles said:

DeadCalm said:

Looking at the profile of Stage 1, does anyone know how technical the final 11 kilometre descent is? I know the bottom is 30 kilometres from the finish but Thomas de Gendt has said he'd be targeting the stage which suggests it isn't the shoe-in for a sprint I'd imagined it to be.

Here you go:

https://www.la-flamme-rouge.eu/maps/viewtrack/263443

One twisty section but the rest looks fairly straightforward.
A couple of pitches of 9% in there but mostly it goes downhill at just a few %.

Thanks.

Looks straightforward enough that it ought to be one for the sprinters who can get over a climb. I guess the doubt might spring from there not being many teams with much of an incentive to chase?

amrushton

RichN95. said:

dish_dash said:

Movistar can't help themselves. Soler drafted in to join Valverde and Mas at the Tour.

It looks like a team selected to win the team competition

that's always their goal. It does apparently generate a lot of publicity for them. Anything else is a bonus

DeadCalm

amrushton said:

RichN95. said:

dish_dash said:

Movistar can't help themselves. Soler drafted in to join Valverde and Mas at the Tour.

It looks like a team selected to win the team competition

that's always their goal. It does apparently generate a lot of publicity for them. Anything else is a bonus

Fancy EF Education may be giving the team competition a bit of a go this year but I find it difficult to look beyond Jumbo-Visma.

takethehighroad

DeadCalm said:

blazing_saddles said:

DeadCalm said:

Looking at the profile of Stage 1, does anyone know how technical the final 11 kilometre descent is? I know the bottom is 30 kilometres from the finish but Thomas de Gendt has said he'd be targeting the stage which suggests it isn't the shoe-in for a sprint I'd imagined it to be.

Here you go:

https://www.la-flamme-rouge.eu/maps/viewtrack/263443

One twisty section but the rest looks fairly straightforward.
A couple of pitches of 9% in there but mostly it goes downhill at just a few %.

Thanks.

Looks straightforward enough that it ought to be one for the sprinters who can get over a climb. I guess the doubt might spring from there not being many teams with much of an incentive to chase?

Is a Yellow Jersey in the Tour de France not incentive enough? Especially a Tour where being in Yellow could see you winning a truncated race

DeadCalm

takethehighroad said:

DeadCalm said:

blazing_saddles said:

DeadCalm said:

Looking at the profile of Stage 1, does anyone know how technical the final 11 kilometre descent is? I know the bottom is 30 kilometres from the finish but Thomas de Gendt has said he'd be targeting the stage which suggests it isn't the shoe-in for a sprint I'd imagined it to be.

Here you go:

https://www.la-flamme-rouge.eu/maps/viewtrack/263443

One twisty section but the rest looks fairly straightforward.
A couple of pitches of 9% in there but mostly it goes downhill at just a few %.

Thanks.

Looks straightforward enough that it ought to be one for the sprinters who can get over a climb. I guess the doubt might spring from there not being many teams with much of an incentive to chase?

Is a Yellow Jersey in the Tour de France not incentive enough? Especially a Tour where being in Yellow could see you winning a truncated race

Yes, but you're only going to work for a sprint stage if you've got a realistic chance of winning a sprint. I make that NTT, Cofidis, B&B Hotels and Deceunik. Anyone else? If Cofidis and B&B get someone in the break (which I'd expect them to try to do) you only have two teams chasing and the possibility of a strong break staying away. I'm not saying it's likely, just trying to make sense of why de Gendt is saying that he's targeting the stage.

m.r.m.

DeadCalm said:

amrushton said:

RichN95. said:

dish_dash said:

Movistar can't help themselves. Soler drafted in to join Valverde and Mas at the Tour.

It looks like a team selected to win the team competition

that's always their goal. It does apparently generate a lot of publicity for them. Anything else is a bonus

Fancy EF Education may be giving the team competition a bit of a go this year but I find it difficult to look beyond Jumbo-Visma.

Don't really think so. The almost mentally handicapped American podcasts keep blathering on about "Rigo" Uran being a GC contender etc.
I'd expect EF to play a two horse race with Uran and Martinez for a GC placing (5-8).

DeadCalm

m.r.m. said:

DeadCalm said:

amrushton said:

RichN95. said:

dish_dash said:

Movistar can't help themselves. Soler drafted in to join Valverde and Mas at the Tour.

It looks like a team selected to win the team competition

that's always their goal. It does apparently generate a lot of publicity for them. Anything else is a bonus

Fancy EF Education may be giving the team competition a bit of a go this year but I find it difficult to look beyond Jumbo-Visma.

Don't really think so. The almost mentally handicapped American podcasts keep blathering on about "Rigo" Uran being a GC contender etc.
I'd expect EF to play a two horse race with Uran and Martinez for a GC placing (5-8).

Higuita and Carthy won't win either but I'd imagine they'll place okay on most mountain stages giving EF a decent showing. As I say, I don't expect them to win but they have a history of going for it.

blazing_saddles

Cavagna replaces Stybar who has a knee injury.

ddraver

blazing_saddles said:

has a knee injury.

I sympathise 🙄

DeadCalm

DeadCalm said:

takethehighroad said:

DeadCalm said:

blazing_saddles said:

DeadCalm said:

Looking at the profile of Stage 1, does anyone know how technical the final 11 kilometre descent is? I know the bottom is 30 kilometres from the finish but Thomas de Gendt has said he'd be targeting the stage which suggests it isn't the shoe-in for a sprint I'd imagined it to be.

Here you go:

https://www.la-flamme-rouge.eu/maps/viewtrack/263443

One twisty section but the rest looks fairly straightforward.
A couple of pitches of 9% in there but mostly it goes downhill at just a few %.

Thanks.

Looks straightforward enough that it ought to be one for the sprinters who can get over a climb. I guess the doubt might spring from there not being many teams with much of an incentive to chase?

Is a Yellow Jersey in the Tour de France not incentive enough? Especially a Tour where being in Yellow could see you winning a truncated race

Yes, but you're only going to work for a sprint stage if you've got a realistic chance of winning a sprint. I make that NTT, Cofidis, B&B Hotels and Deceunik. Anyone else? If Cofidis and B&B get someone in the break (which I'd expect them to try to do) you only have two teams chasing and the possibility of a strong break staying away. I'm not saying it's likely, just trying to make sense of why de Gendt is saying that he's targeting the stage.

Lotto Soudal, of course, but if de Gendt is up the road, they aren't going to chase.

mididoctors

Covid surge in France not looking good ....bu66er

ddraver

It is VERY localised though...

I'm starting to think 1 or two odd stages may not happen. Unfortunately the first stage is a prime candidate for that...

RichN95.

ddraver said:

It is VERY localised though...

I'm starting to think 1 or two odd stages may not happen. Unfortunately the first stage is a prime candidate for that...

The media are the weak link. They'll not isolate and will mingle the general public without precautions in bars and restaurants. They'll try and break into team bubbles. And then if it all goes pear shaped they'll blame anyone but themselves.