TDF 2024:- Stage 9: Troyes – Troyes, 199km ***Spoilers***

The top guys are just good at riding bikes, despite what Internet forum people say.

Disagree, the race was in pieces multiple times. It kept coming back together because there was never a constellation that worked.

If Vingegaard does come into third week form then there could be some big bills to pay for today's efforts by Pog and Remco. Not sure quite how much Roglic was put to work after that first secteur, he was pretty invisible, but whether that was canny hiding or inability to stay anywhere near the front I don't know

Not sure that I buy into the idea that Vingegaard had a free ride today.

needed to use his team well, though I suspect Pog’s aggressiveness was really to counter his missing team tbh.

Incidentally, Wout - what a rider. Must have died ten times and still came back to the front. That's in spite of being clearly under par. Pog will be looking for a wooden stake.

Visma strategy has been to keep the pace high to blunt Pog's attack - they wanted Jorgensen to do that on Galibier but he didn't have the legs, but Van Aert and the others pretty much had it today

I like that from Remco.

I was out cycling myself today, but have just finished watching the recording I made, so some thoughts related to the stage and what others have posted:

Re Roglic having to do the work to close himself after he fell behind, I wondered if Vlasov is a bit ill (and that before he ditched, or maybe even partly why he did ditch).

Evenepoel with his attacks was surely hoping Pogacar and Vingegaard would join him, so that Roglic was out-distanced, but I think P and V only regard each other as competition, so weren't interested. Thus why Evenepoel's head-shaking, later looking dispirited., and then his post-stage remark. Anyway I think at the time Pogacar had no team-mates nearby, if he needed any support, so maybe he was reluctant. Someone above wrote "there's already an informal alliance between Remco and Pog" but I haven't noticed any evidence of this - just checked the author of this quote, he (No_Ta_Doctor) is a Vingegaard fan - perhaps explains the theory!

I don't think Pogacar was wasting (much) energy in his attacks, as some above mention, I think he was playing psychological games.

Re Vingegaard on Tratnik's bike, I heard Tratnik's bike dimensions were the most suitable if Vingegaard needed a substitute, and I can imagine such is all arranged in advance in all teams, maybe riders paired together. If I rode professional, Alaphilippe could manage with my bike.

mididoctors wrote that Turgis was 'sitting in all day' and then later wrote 'Turgis ... told yer'. I like mididoctors cheek in claiming his first remark indicated the possibility of the latter, however I think 'sitting in all day' unfair. Turgis did his regular turns at the front, just not extravagantly = didn't try to pick up the pace, etc. He may have benefited when it came to the run-in, in that some younger riders didn't know his palmares - never a winner of a big event, but having had some high placings in a couple of the 'monuments'.

Oh I'm definitely a Vingegaard fan, though I'm also a Pog and Remco fan sometimes 😅

The point was that Pog and Remco have been conducting a very public bromance this Tour (see stage two: "did you get yellow?" "No I got your jersey [white]" "I left a gap"). Remco is riding for a podium and Pog doesn't regard him as a proper threat - so neither is really racing against the other. For Jonas to go up the road with them would be very risky, it would open him up to a Granon '22 style tag-team head kicking. He'd have to be a right idiot to ride straight into that

lol in the race I sort of imagine Wout as this sort of braindead monster who just churns the pedals mindlessly. Tactics not really his strength.

This explains why he keeps coming back. You literally have to chop his head off to stop him

I suspect Vingegaard will be making Remco chow down on those words in week 3.