Tour de l'Avenir 2022 - SPOILERS
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TTT seems bizarre in this race, let alone as the fifth stage.
Did the French think they were good at the TTT or someat?0 -
Denmark had a mare. Hindsgaul dns and then a puncture for Sebastian Changizi saw him droppedWarning No formatter is installed for the format0
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According to Sticky Bottle they limited the amount of time teams could lose on the stage to 2 minutes.0
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Which makes it even more bizarre.webboo said:According to Sticky Bottle they limited the amount of time teams could lose on the stage to 2 minutes.
Tacitly acknowledges that holding a TTT on the middle stage of a 10 day race may well be a mistake."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Yep, it's nuts. They've had one each year since I first started watching in 2018 when Rwanda were forced to ride it with just 2 riders, despite the time supposedly being that of the 3rd rider over the line. I don't think anyone has won the race due to the TTT in that time. At least, nobody from the team that has won the TTT has gone on to win the GC. I wonder how many riders have had their GC ambitions crushed as a result of it, though.0
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Given the final three stages, I don't think the TTT will have any significant impact on the final GC.0
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Hard to get a profile of the Avenir stages. I have downloaded today's because it's quite tasty.
Unfortunately the ASO have made it virtually impossible to post anywhere, so it remains a mystery to most following this race.
PCS have finally got a FR profile, though.
"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
>andyp said:Given the final three stages, I don't think the TTT will have any significant impact on the final GC.
Which makes its inclusion all the more pointless.
Isn’t the point of the race to allow the stars of the future to shine and gain big race experience rather than seeing who has the strongest team?
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Roman Gregoire takes the win today, winning a sprint from a group of twenty riders or so, despite going clear over the top of the final climb and getting caught in the closing kilometres. He's been the standout u23 rider this season.
Hessman retained the GC lead from Thomas Gloag.
There was a crash in the final sprint and Leo Hayter and one of the German riders were taken out by a flying bike that travelled from one side of the road to the other. According to his dad, Hayter has had stitches to a cut on his chest from the incident.
Rest day tomorrow, then three big days in the Alps to conclude.1 -
That's a pretty rare cycling injury!andyp said:Roman Gregoire takes the win today, winning a sprint from a group of twenty riders or so, despite going clear over the top of the final climb and getting caught in the closing kilometres. He's been the standout u23 rider this season.
Hessman retained the GC lead from Thomas Gloag.
There was a crash in the final sprint and Leo Hayter and one of the German riders were taken out by a flying bike that travelled from one side of the road to the other. According to his dad, Hayter has had stitches to a cut on his chest from the incident.
Rest day tomorrow, then three big days in the Alps to conclude.0 -
Thanks.andyp said:Roman Gregoire takes the win today, winning a sprint from a group of twenty riders or so, despite going clear over the top of the final climb and getting caught in the closing kilometres. He's been the standout u23 rider this season.
Hessman retained the GC lead from Thomas Gloag.
There was a crash in the final sprint and Leo Hayter and one of the German riders were taken out by a flying bike that travelled from one side of the road to the other. According to his dad, Hayter has had stitches to a cut on his chest from the incident.
Rest day tomorrow, then three big days in the Alps to conclude.
I was watching it in my local bar without sound. I'd seen Gregoire go on the attack and be caught and was trying to figure out which of the other French riders had won. It took me several minutes to realise that it was Gregoire. That was an incredible effort.
I hadn't clocked that Hayter had been one of the two riders taken out by the rogue bike. It was a spectacular crash with one rider hitting a falling rider, somersaulting over the line and launching his bike into the two riders on the other side of the road. I hope all are okay.0 -
From hitting the barriers according to his Instagram update.Pross said:
That's a pretty rare cycling injury!andyp said:Roman Gregoire takes the win today, winning a sprint from a group of twenty riders or so, despite going clear over the top of the final climb and getting caught in the closing kilometres. He's been the standout u23 rider this season.
Hessman retained the GC lead from Thomas Gloag.
There was a crash in the final sprint and Leo Hayter and one of the German riders were taken out by a flying bike that travelled from one side of the road to the other. According to his dad, Hayter has had stitches to a cut on his chest from the incident.
Rest day tomorrow, then three big days in the Alps to conclude.0 -
Cian Uijtdebroeks6 (BORA - hansgrohe) comfortably won the stage. He now trails Michel Hessmann (Jumbo-Visma) by 11 seconds. Johannes Staune-Mittet of the JV development squad is in third.
I'm not a fan of WT riders taking part in this race. It's all a bit 'meh' really. I may not even bother with the final two stages.0 -
That was not the route up the Madeleine I was expecting. Rookie mistake by the winner, carrying 2 bidons all the way to the finish.
Hessmann climbs remarkably well for someone who makes Jan Ullrich look small.
Gloag was disappointing but not as much as Hayter junior."Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
Yep, disappointing from the Brits. The French won't have been feeling super happy either.
Half of the top 10 and all of the top 3 have WT contracts already. Four JV riders (either WT or development) in the top 10.1 -
I often think we expect too much of riders who are a long way from the finished article. Gloag has won a stage, so his race is a success, and Hayter has had a very successful season, so any result he gets here is a bonus.blazing_saddles said:That was not the route up the Madeleine I was expecting. Rookie mistake by the winner, carrying 2 bidons all the way to the finish.
Hessmann climbs remarkably well for someone who makes Jan Ullrich look small.
Gloag was disappointing but not as much as Hayter junior.
They've both got WT contracts for next season, as has Sam Watson, so they've achieved their main goals for the year.0 -
Update: Thomas Gloag has Covid so has had to withdraw from the race.
https://instagram.com/stories/tomgloag/2913495931082146939?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=0 -
Just put it on catch up.
Jose Been (wrong stat in the first minute) and a new Dutch bloke.
Better with the French commentary we have had all week,"Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.0 -
I thought they were okay. They both admitted they weren't experts on U23 racing, but still brought a decent level of insight, especially the new Dutch bloke (Jens?). The race was rather dull though. The peloton was whittled down gradually and eventually the Bora pro, the JV soon-to-be pro and an Irishman (who is in the JV dev team) were left. The JV Pro was dropped with a couple of kms to go and then the Bora pro won the virtually non-existent sprint ahead of the Irishman, who was clearly outclassed. Meh!blazing_saddles said:Just put it on catch up.
Jose Been (wrong stat in the first minute) and a new Dutch bloke.
Better with the French commentary we have had all week,0 -
I have only just now realised that avenir is the French word for future, rather than a region where a lot of young racers are competing.0
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Don't worry. I was in my late 30s when I learnt that lamb was actually from young sheep rather than a generic term for sheep meat.Mad_Malx said:I have only just now realised that avenir is the French word for future, rather than a region where a lot of young racers are competing.
Twitter: @RichN950
