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Le tour 2020

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  • #1

    Le tour 2020

    So I guess it's official, the tour moves to start on the 29th of August. I guess if no races are held this year (other then the few held earlier) this could be very, very interesting. They mentioned on The Move how every year we get a good look at all the competitors in the week long races (Dauphine, swiss, etc.) and not having any real racing up until the start of the tour could make this one to remember. Plus, you typically have the guys that focus on the Giro and skip the tour, but it could be that everyone (at least the heavy GC guys) races the tour this year making for some pretty crazy, powerful teams with some super domestiques.

    Color me intrigued by the thought of the tour being the first main race of the year.
    "Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. Uchtdorf
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  • #2
    Originally posted by Moliere View Post
    So I guess it's official, the tour moves to start on the 29th of August. I guess if no races are held this year (other then the few held earlier) this could be very, very interesting. They mentioned on The Move how every year we get a good look at all the competitors in the week long races (Dauphine, swiss, etc.) and not having any real racing up until the start of the tour could make this one to remember. Plus, you typically have the guys that focus on the Giro and skip the tour, but it could be that everyone (at least the heavy GC guys) races the tour this year making for some pretty crazy, powerful teams with some super domestiques.

    Color me intrigued by the thought of the tour being the first main race of the year.
    That is interesting. I like the idea of a fall tour, but it will still be hot in August and September.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by BigPiney View Post
      That is interesting. I like the idea of a fall tour, but it will still be hot in August and September.
      I'm curious about the overlap between the Tour and the Vuelta, and who will ride each. Definitely no doubling up with them being so close to each other.

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      • #4
        Originally posted by mtnbiker View Post
        I'm curious about the overlap between the Tour and the Vuelta, and who will ride each. Definitely no doubling up with them being so close to each other.
        It seems that the start list is getting more and more finalized and that teams are focusing heavily on the Tour. Ineos is sending its three-headed monster (Froome, Bernal, Thomas) and it'll be interesting to see if they can avoid the team dysfunction we saw from Movistar last year. With Froome already scheduled to leave Ineos after this year and with him getting older I would think if he's in contention in the last week he might just go for it isntead of helping out Bernal. Jumbo-Visma has their own three headed monster with Dumoulin, Roglic, Kruijswijk and Dumoulin hasn't ridden in any races at all since his crash last year that kept him out of the Tour. But Dumoulin did challenge Froome in 2018 at hte Giro and lost by under a minute but I think that was the year Froome tried the Giro/Tour double but Dumoulin did the same and took 2nd in the Tour by beating out Froome.

        Anyway, it'll be an interesting Tour with no prior races leading up to it. I follow a couple of the guys on STrava and they are certainly putting in the work right now. Sepp Kuss is a good follow and he's been logging some crazy rides over the past month.
        "Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. Uchtdorf

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        • #5
          I know this is the tour thread but since no one reads it I'm going to put some CdD thoughts in here.

          Sepp Kuss is a killer. I wonder if given a chance in a couple years he could win a grand tour. He led Roglic up the Col de Porte today and practically finished in the last group but of course he kind of took yesterday off a bit. But he's got to be the best American in road cycling right now.

          Jumbo Visma is obviously trying to dethrone Ineos and they have the horses to do it. Roglic looks incredible and Bernal so far hasn't been able to match him. But we only have two very short races to compare so everything will still be up in the air when the tour starts. Looks like Kruijswijk and Dumoulin finished back a ways but I think they were both in the crash earlier. But wiht Van Aert and Tony Martin coupled with their climbers they are likely to match the Ineos firepower. This tour will be fun.
          "Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. Uchtdorf

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Moliere View Post
            Sepp Kuss is a killer.
            bump

            Dude is in a break away with Alaphilippe, Pogacar and Martinez and he drops them all at around 7km to go and holds on to take the stage victory on the final day all while Martinez is giving it everything he has since he has the opportunity to take the GC by seconds over Pinot. Kuss is a killer and seems to be one of the best climbers out there right now. It's gonna be fun to watch him drag Roglic (if he's not too hurt), Dumoulin and Kruijswijk up the mountain stages in the tour.

            Also, I can't see any way that Ineos brings Froome onto their tour team. They are already limited to eight riders so having someone that is struggling with everything really would drag the team down and Geraint looks in poor form as well. At this point Bernal is going to be isolated a lot and trying to hang with TJV.
            "Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. Uchtdorf

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            • #7
              It looks official now: no Froome and no Thomas at the TdF.
              PLesa excuse the tpyos.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Moliere View Post
                Sepp Kuss is a killer.
                bump
                "Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. Uchtdorf

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                • #9
                  It's kind of crazy to see the riders climb the mountains without a bunch of schlugies (Bob Roll's term for knuckleheads) jumping out of the way at the last second or running alongside the cyclists or bullfighting with flags right in front of the riders.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Originally posted by mtnbiker View Post
                    It's kind of crazy to see the riders climb the mountains without a bunch of schlugies (Bob Roll's term for knuckleheads) jumping out of the way at the last second or running alongside the cyclists or bullfighting with flags right in front of the riders.
                    Yes, that was very different. They were hauling up that climb but it wasn't very steep, we are early in the race and there weren't any obstacles. Looks like all the favorites all finished together. It was fun to see Kuss cover a move (I can't remember who it was) and that was when the non-favorites pretty much all dropped off and then soon after Roglic went ahead and took off. Kuss only lost a couple seconds on the finishing group. I was surprised to see Bernal not go for it but he's likely biding his time since this is a long race and we haven't gotten in to the mountains yet.

                    I'm loving working from home during the tour since I can have it streaming on my ipad while I work. I can't figure out how people watch the whole stage though without something else to distract them.
                    "Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. Uchtdorf

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Moliere View Post
                      Yes, that was very different. They were hauling up that climb but it wasn't very steep, we are early in the race and there weren't any obstacles. Looks like all the favorites all finished together. It was fun to see Kuss cover a move (I can't remember who it was) and that was when the non-favorites pretty much all dropped off and then soon after Roglic went ahead and took off. Kuss only lost a couple seconds on the finishing group. I was surprised to see Bernal not go for it but he's likely biding his time since this is a long race and we haven't gotten in to the mountains yet.

                      I'm loving working from home during the tour since I can have it streaming on my ipad while I work. I can't figure out how people watch the whole stage though without something else to distract them.
                      I can't figure out how people fall asleep regardless of the movie they watch.
                      "I think it was King Benjamin who said 'you sorry ass shitbags who have no skills that the market values also have an obligation to have the attitude that if one day you do in fact win the PowerBall Lottery that you will then impart of your substance to those without.'"
                      - Goatnapper'96

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Pelado View Post
                        I can't figure out how people fall asleep regardless of the movie they watch.
                        This is my battle buddy from Iraq. Sometimes the fam would send out a DVD that I'd play in my laptop. He was gone within 30 minutes every time, even if it was in the afternoon.

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                        • #13
                          There have been some great stages. Todays was very surprising as it seemed like it would be pretty boring but instead got turned into an all out battle when Sagan's team went off. Splits and attacks and recoveries. It was a lot of fun to watch. And, unlike Moliere, I can easily watch an entire stage. It just depends on what you like. I can never fathom how any sentient being watches golf. But they do.

                          Tomorrow and Sunday should be very interesting, although for some reason they lack a mountain top finish. That said, it might result in some good racing, because this week has shown that this course, which I thought looked awful, has turned out to be very engaging.

                          Also, this is the first year I can ever recall so much apprehension and anxiety approaching the Monday rest day. The entire peloton will be tested for Covid on the rest day. Any positives will be disqualified. Any team with two or more positive, including among staff, will be disqualified from the race. It may turn out that there will be much more race carnage in the testing lab than there will be on the slopes of the pyrenees or the alps.
                          PLesa excuse the tpyos.

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                          • #14
                            Changing of the guard. Sagan is NOT in green and it is clear he has been trying. Today he was relegated to 85th place for excessive contact with Wout van Aert during the final sprint. Prior to the relegation he had taken the second place finishers points just ahead of Bennett, which is in green, and so made up some ground on Bennett in the overall. After the relegation, however, he is a very distant second place in the race for green and it looks like he is unable to recover.

                            In Sagans defense, however, it may be that this year's schedule is so odd that he might not be at the top of his game. He may also have been focused on the Gyro, in which he had planned to ride. Even so, it does feel a little different this year. Like when zabel stopped winning. Age eventually comes for all of us.
                            Last edited by creekster; 09-09-2020, 12:09 PM.
                            PLesa excuse the tpyos.

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                            • #15
                              Chris Horner doesn't make any sense half the time.

                              Roglic is the real deal. He not only dropped Bernal but outsprinted Pogacar to the line and still was looking pretty good. Too bad for Bernal who lost a lot of time. It's pretty obvious that Roglic and Pogacar had a sort of truce to help each other but I'm sure they be attaching each other in future mountain top finishes.

                              I still love Kuss, he had a great ride today and is now in 19th place overall. I'm surprise that Dumoulin is actually doing what he said he'd do and ride for Roglic. He did some good work today on the climbs.

                              Tomorrow should be a bit boring but Sunday will be great with a HC mountain finish.
                              "Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. Uchtdorf

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