Tour de France 2023

[Hollis]

I've managed to catch up the whole 3 weeks in the last 5 days.. As I 'what if' I'm wondering how Pogacar and Vingegaard would have fared against a Froome/Skytrain in their prime?

 

[stavros]

It’s classic “the strongest rider doesn’t always win” as he admitted he struggled to follow Asgreen. Hanging on is how he won it.Respect.

He also appeared to benefit from having bigger wheels:

 

[stavros]

I wonder if someone, or some team, might try an audacious jump in Paris tomorrow, knowing that Philipsen will almost certainly win otherwise. Vinokourov is the only non-sprinter I can remember winning on the Champs, in my thirty years of watching the Tour.

 

[edcraw]

I wonder if someone, or some team, might try an audacious jump in Paris tomorrow, knowing that Philipsen will almost certainly win otherwise. Vinokourov is the only non-sprinter I can remember winning on the Champs, in my thirty years of watching the Tour.

That would be great. Presumably with so few sprinters left there will be fewer teams trying to chase down any breakaway.

 

[twistedAM]

That would be great. Presumably with so few sprinters left there will be fewer teams trying to chase down any breakaway.

I’d love to see Lotto block in Philipsen and somehow see Victor Campenaerts ride to an heroic solo victory but as well as Alpecin there’s at least five other teams (Jayco, DSM, Uni-X, Intermarche and Jumbo who will probably ride for Laporte) who’ll close down a break as winning on the Champs is so prestigious.
Anyone but Philipsen would be a positive result.

 

[hash tag]

It won't happen, but Pinot to win today.
NB. it is a late start and finish today.
returning to amazing, unbelievable; I see the previous bigger win margin was Nibali in 2014 when two of the other favourites, Froome and Contador both crashed out.

 

[DJWrongspeed]

I've managed to catch up the whole 3 weeks in the last 5 days.. As I 'what if' I'm wondering how Pogacar and Vingegaard would have fared against a Froome/Skytrain in their prime?

Every race is different, every stage has it's own strategy so it's pretty hard to compare. Perhaps you could compare the TTs but even then conditions/route are never equal.

 

[Hollis]

Every race is different, every stage has it's own strategy so it's pretty hard to compare. Perhaps you could compare the TTs but even then conditions/route are never equal.

Yeah - I know it's probably a dumb question, but I wonder if they could've done anything different to Nibali or Contador - I figure Pogacar would stand the better chance of disrupting things.. as he did in his first Tour win..

 

[Cid]

Vinge racing the Vuelta - not sure whether that's good? I think on balance yes, but if he's on dominant form may just be boring. Be kind of weird if Roglic is in. And might give Remco a kick up the arse.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Pog vs Vin vs Remco is a decent prospect.

 

[twistedAM]

Pog vs Vin vs Remco is a decent prospect.

Is Pog going too?
Roglic and Kuss are also going for Jumbo - they seem determined to win all three "grand" tours in a calendar year.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Is Pog going too?

According to the rumour mill, yeah. It would make sense for him to go.

 

[twistedAM]

Brilliant and as Dan Lloyd just said they took him there instead of moany Bennett,

 

[1927]

thankfully the green jersey didnt win in paris!

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Cracking finish.

What a fantastic tour this has been.

 

[twistedAM]

Cracking finish.

What a fantastic tour this has been.

Rarely a dull moment. I think this was my favourite bit way back on stage two:

 

[rubbershoes]

Love Marco Haller's full Austrian mullet and moustache combo.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Rarely a dull moment. I think this was my favourite bit way back on stage two:

Mohiric winning stage 19 for me.

 

[rubbershoes]

The Yates 1 and 2 on the first stage was good..

And Asgreen frustrating the sprint teams

 

[Cid]

According to the rumour mill, yeah. It would make sense for him to go.

That would certainly make for a (potentially) fantastic Vuelta.

 

[planetgeli]

This is only my 5th TdF but that route was the best by miles.

Also, Mohoric.

 

[Cid]

Yeah - I know it's probably a dumb question, but I wonder if they could've done anything different to Nibali or Contador - I figure Pogacar would stand the better chance of disrupting things.. as he did in his first Tour win..

I think Sky is a bit right place, right time, large budget. I suspect a lot of the marginal gains stuff was flat out bollocks... Clothes and rider position, yes, ceramic speed bearings, and lightspeed wheels, no. Proper training programmes, creating an environment in which riders could be 100% race focussed, proper nutrition, after race care etc (the Sky/Ineos bus), links to British Cycling absolutely. The modern peloton anyone competitive is doing similar. Better. Of course there's stuff extra budget will buy you (like having a decent roster), but there aren't the fundamental changes in approach their were in the past.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Well, the Vuelta has a lot to live up to. Will be interesting to see how Jumbo manage Roglic and Vinegaard.

 

[stavros]

Probably the best peloton sprint of the whole Tour. I called it for Philipsen from the live head-on shot, but I'm pleased Meeus got it. Groenewegen had his best sprint of the race too, and Bol as the Cav stand-in.

 

[stavros]

Well, the Vuelta has a lot to live up to. Will be interesting to see how Jumbo manage Roglic and Vinegaard.

Vino will ride for Rog, won't he? Only Froome's done the Tour-Vuelta double in my memory.

 

[Cid]

Vino will ride for Rog, won't he? Only Froome's done the Tour-Vuelta double in my memory.

Why would they do that? He's still busy managing Astana and polishing his palmares.

But seriously they'll use Vinge/Ving/Vin/Jonas in whatever role is best for winning. Why would they do anything else? Putting him in the vuelta is not a risk-free proposition, if he's going to be there, they and he need to make the most of it.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Vino will ride for Rog, won't he? Only Froome's done the Tour-Vuelta double in my memory.

I think they’ll be all in for the double…

 

[sleaterkinney]

I think Sky is a bit right place, right time, large budget. I suspect a lot of the marginal gains stuff was flat out bollocks... Clothes and rider position, yes, ceramic speed bearings, and lightspeed wheels, no. Proper training programmes, creating an environment in which riders could be 100% race focussed, proper nutrition, after race care etc (the Sky/Ineos bus), links to British Cycling absolutely. The modern peloton anyone competitive is doing similar. Better. Of course there's stuff extra budget will buy you (like having a decent roster), but there aren't the fundamental changes in approach their were in the past.

It was flat out bollocks as far as sky were concerned - Wiggens had his injections of corticosteroids, the doctor with the missing laptop etc. It does make me angry how that is all glossed over, if it was a foreign cyclist there’d be mare about it.

 

[Cid]

It was flat out bollocks as far as sky were concerned - Wiggens had his injections of corticosteroids, the doctor with the missing laptop etc. It does make me angry how that is all glossed over, if it was a foreign cyclist there’d be mare about it.

Yeah, I won't disagree on that lot. Though I'm sure they were genuine about all the marginal gains stuff. I mean doping and belief in woo isn't exactly an unprecedented combination.

 

[twistedAM]

Ah I forgot about the Wout Poels stage. That was a classic as well especially as I was following the Sporza live ticker for that and they were getting a bit too superfluous in their praise for Van Aert.