The Pre-Tour de France thread v2.0
Comments
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Was my thinking when I asked myself the question before I initially posted.andyp said:
Castroviejo. He did a *lot* of work at the Giro and could be very tired by the third week. Give him a decent break instead and have him form part of your core team for the Vuelta.blazing_saddles said:
OK, so here's the obvious hypothetical: who would you leave out to put Van Baarle in?Pross said:
Thought Van Baarle would be in there. He's did a good job in 2019 and looked OK last year but lost his leader and role early.blazing_saddles said:Sounds about right to me:
CARAPAZ Richard
CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS Jonathan
DENNIS Rohan
GEOGHEGAN HART Tao
KWIATKOWSKI Michal
PORTE Richie
ROWE Luke
THOMAS Geraint
Reserve.
DE PLUS Laurens
It's almost too strong a squad with so many riders that could lead teams elsewhere that finding room for an excellent all-round domestique is difficult.0 -
For a rider of his pedigree it's surely not been a great year? He's had 7 top 10 GT finishes in his career, but a best finish this year of 15th. If you're going man for man you'd probably put him behind TGH, who is probably Ineos' 4th man. Unless there's a decent improvement from riders like him and Kuss, Roglic could find himself pretty isolated.RichN95. said:mididoctors said:What are we thinking about jumbo and it's odd prep stratergy . Kuss has looked a bit under
They're certainly not the team of last year. WVA's been ill, Dumoulin absent, Bennett average at the Giro. Only Kruijswijk seems to be OK (Roglic aside)0 -
And you have riders like Yates, Dunbar and de Plus who haven't made either the Tour or Giro squad.Pross said:
Was my thinking when I asked myself the question before I initially posted.andyp said:
Castroviejo. He did a *lot* of work at the Giro and could be very tired by the third week. Give him a decent break instead and have him form part of your core team for the Vuelta.blazing_saddles said:
OK, so here's the obvious hypothetical: who would you leave out to put Van Baarle in?Pross said:
Thought Van Baarle would be in there. He's did a good job in 2019 and looked OK last year but lost his leader and role early.blazing_saddles said:Sounds about right to me:
CARAPAZ Richard
CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS Jonathan
DENNIS Rohan
GEOGHEGAN HART Tao
KWIATKOWSKI Michal
PORTE Richie
ROWE Luke
THOMAS Geraint
Reserve.
DE PLUS Laurens
It's almost too strong a squad with so many riders that could lead teams elsewhere that finding room for an excellent all-round domestique is difficult.0 -
I assume Dunbar and Yates will be going to the Vuelta.phreak said:
And you have riders like Yates, Dunbar and de Plus who haven't made either the Tour or Giro squad.Pross said:
Was my thinking when I asked myself the question before I initially posted.andyp said:
Castroviejo. He did a *lot* of work at the Giro and could be very tired by the third week. Give him a decent break instead and have him form part of your core team for the Vuelta.blazing_saddles said:
OK, so here's the obvious hypothetical: who would you leave out to put Van Baarle in?Pross said:
Thought Van Baarle would be in there. He's did a good job in 2019 and looked OK last year but lost his leader and role early.blazing_saddles said:Sounds about right to me:
CARAPAZ Richard
CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS Jonathan
DENNIS Rohan
GEOGHEGAN HART Tao
KWIATKOWSKI Michal
PORTE Richie
ROWE Luke
THOMAS Geraint
Reserve.
DE PLUS Laurens
It's almost too strong a squad with so many riders that could lead teams elsewhere that finding room for an excellent all-round domestique is difficult.
The irony is that despite having an embarassingly strong squad they probably won't win the Tour. They should do a Movistar and go all in for the team competition.0 -
I suppose it depends. Carapaz looks in much better form this season than he did before the Tour last year and he wasn't really a factor at all until Bernal left the race. With Sivakov crashing out early Bernal was often isolated while Jumbo had van Aert still ploughing up the climb.Pross said:
I assume Dunbar and Yates will be going to the Vuelta.phreak said:
And you have riders like Yates, Dunbar and de Plus who haven't made either the Tour or Giro squad.Pross said:
Was my thinking when I asked myself the question before I initially posted.andyp said:
Castroviejo. He did a *lot* of work at the Giro and could be very tired by the third week. Give him a decent break instead and have him form part of your core team for the Vuelta.blazing_saddles said:
OK, so here's the obvious hypothetical: who would you leave out to put Van Baarle in?Pross said:
Thought Van Baarle would be in there. He's did a good job in 2019 and looked OK last year but lost his leader and role early.blazing_saddles said:Sounds about right to me:
CARAPAZ Richard
CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS Jonathan
DENNIS Rohan
GEOGHEGAN HART Tao
KWIATKOWSKI Michal
PORTE Richie
ROWE Luke
THOMAS Geraint
Reserve.
DE PLUS Laurens
It's almost too strong a squad with so many riders that could lead teams elsewhere that finding room for an excellent all-round domestique is difficult.
The irony is that despite having an embarassingly strong squad they probably won't win the Tour. They should do a Movistar and go all in for the team competition.
This year Carapaz looks in great form, with Porte also looking pretty good in Dauphine and Thomas coming into the race off the back of a 3rd, 1st, and 3rd in his last three stage races. We could argue that none of those three are better than Roglic or Pogacar, but they do seem quite comfortably ahead of everyone else, which you'd imagine is perhaps the aim, especially as all three have shown themselves to be reasonable time trialists so should be able to hold their own against the clock.
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The Roadbook for downloading:
https://wetransfer.com/downloads/3b3782f4d7c4db37117a99a143759c1120210614132634/e6a210ca45f3d31700d213693246ad4520210614132701/5fa7faTwitter: @RichN952 -
That was the thinking when it was discussed during the TdS.RichN95. said:Is Van der Poel even going to finish? There be must a good chance of dropping out early. And what’s the deal with Olympic COVID bubbles?
Second rest day he waves bye bye.
No green love for Michael Matthews?"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Matthews didn't seem in great form at the Tour de Suisse with quite a few stages that suited him.blazing_saddles said:
That was the thinking when it was discussed during the TdS.RichN95. said:Is Van der Poel even going to finish? There be must a good chance of dropping out early. And what’s the deal with Olympic COVID bubbles?
Second rest day he waves bye bye.
No green love for Michael Matthews?0 -
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Cherrs for the roadbook link @RichN95. Shared it with my TdF fantasy league group, they need to do their homework if it's going to be fun.Warning No formatter is installed for the format0
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davidof said:
How do we rate Froome's chances
of starting.
I’d say they’re high. Israel aren’t overloaded with options. He was their second highest rider on GC at the Dauphine. Impetus, Hagen, Neilands and De Marchi are all injured
Woods, Martin, Hermans and Goldstein are certainties. I don’t think there’s anyone that good beyond them.Twitter: @RichN950 -
PCS has these 8 atm.RichN95. said:davidof said:How do we rate Froome's chances
of starting.
I’d say they’re high. Israel aren’t overloaded with options. He was their second highest rider on GC at the Dauphine. Impetus, Hagen, Neilands and De Marchi are all injured
Woods, Martin, Hermans and Goldstein are certainties. I don’t think there’s anyone that good beyond them.
FROOME Chris
DOWSETT Alex
HOFSTETTER Hugo
GREIPEL André
NEILANDS Krists
ZABEL Rick
MARTIN Dan
WOODS Michael
CyclingFever has these so far.
BEVIN Patrick
FROOME Christopher
MARTIN Daniel
NEILANDS Krists
WOODS Michael
FirstCycling has only one rider named so far: Chris Froome.
However, perhaps your 2 certainties maybe not so certain?
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
I personally think the impetus is with Froome.....RichN95. said:davidof said:How do we rate Froome's chances
of starting.
I’d say they’re high. Israel aren’t overloaded with options. He was their second highest rider on GC at the Dauphine. Impetus, Hagen, Neilands and De Marchi are all injured
Woods, Martin, Hermans and Goldstein are certainties. I don’t think there’s anyone that good beyond them.
I'll get my coat..The camera down the willy isn't anything like as bad as it sounds.
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I can see the logic in taking Ben Hermans. He would certainly be in my squad, but Goldstein?RichN95. said:Do you think Israel Start Up are going to ride without an Israeli? I don’t.
And I don’t see what you are going to do with Greipel, Zabel and Hofstetter. One C list sprinter is enough top get 8th place in a sprint.
His only qualification to ride the Tour is the fact he's Israeli.
It's certainly not his stage racing record. It's quite an achievement when he breaks into the top 50 of a chipper stage race."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Maybe Chris can get a fasttrack passport?RichN95. said:ISN have taken an Israeli to every Grand Tour they’ve entered. I don’t expect them to change that.
BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
Instagramme0 -
“New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!0
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tailwindhome said:
Although in GT terms, it's two where their leader crashed out, one where their leader was Wout Poels and one where Roglic needed Movistar to bail him out.
Pogacar is the one they need to worry about. I don't think Roglic will ever win the Tour or Giro. He had his shot.Twitter: @RichN950 -
I think Dennis is building to come good in the third ... CV for first week then Dennis thirdandyp said:
Castroviejo. He did a *lot* of work at the Giro and could be very tired by the third week. Give him a decent break instead and have him form part of your core team for the Vuelta.blazing_saddles said:
OK, so here's the obvious hypothetical: who would you leave out to put Van Baarle in?Pross said:
Thought Van Baarle would be in there. He's did a good job in 2019 and looked OK last year but lost his leader and role early.blazing_saddles said:Sounds about right to me:
CARAPAZ Richard
CASTROVIEJO NICOLAS Jonathan
DENNIS Rohan
GEOGHEGAN HART Tao
KWIATKOWSKI Michal
PORTE Richie
ROWE Luke
THOMAS Geraint
Reserve.
DE PLUS Laurens"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 pm0 -
I could add it as an addendum to my Vikings Are Coming thread if you like, but tbh British cycling looks quite healthy to me.phreak said:
Do we need a "Is British cycling finished?" thread?RichN95. said:British riders
Definite: Thomas, G-Hart
Likely: Rowe, Froome, C.Swift
Possibles: Cavendish
Anyone else?
Danish riders so far, not all confirmed:
Asgreen, Fuglsang, Cort, Mørkøv, Kragh, Vingegaard, Berg, Mads P.
Think Rich may have missed S. Yates off the list of GB, and maybe Dowsett?Warning No formatter is installed for the format0 -
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A shocker isn't it?rick_chasey said:Just looked at the route.
What a snooze week one is.
First weekend is OK but the mid week stages are coma inducing.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Some teams get to ride on the basis that they're French tbfblazing_saddles said:
I can see the logic in taking Ben Hermans. He would certainly be in my squad, but Goldstein?RichN95. said:Do you think Israel Start Up are going to ride without an Israeli? I don’t.
And I don’t see what you are going to do with Greipel, Zabel and Hofstetter. One C list sprinter is enough top get 8th place in a sprint.
His only qualification to ride the Tour is the fact he's Israeli.
It's certainly not his stage racing record. It's quite an achievement when he breaks into the top 50 of a chipper stage race.
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