2023 Tour de France

[99 Problems]

Who wins the ITT? Kung obviously the big favourite, maybe Bissegger?

Kung and Bissegger can’t win, too much climbing for them. Barring something crazy happening with the weather during the stage can only see Pog or Jonas winning, and personally would have Pog the slight favourite. The only non GC rider who could threaten is Wout but think it’s even too tough for him, and he’s coming of some big effort days.

I expect Yates will go all out trying to get on the podium but it’s not ideal for UAE if he does given how brutal the following stage is. Rodriguez is more than capable in the TT as well.

 

[yaco55]

Nope. Simon regularly struggles in the heat. Adam does as well. That's where he lost the Giro in 21.

We're talking about the Olympics dude...

Disagree. It was good up until that point

So Groenwegen being third wheel with 350 metres is poorly positioned - You have no idea !

Yates lost the Giro in 2021 because he had a bad day in cold and rainy conditions in the Cortina D'Ampezzo stage.

 

[yaco55]

I'd like to hear what is going on with O'Connor.

I think it's just about 100% Jumbo have a plan for this stage with the last descent supposedly technical. But the tried on Tourmelet and couldn't drop him. UAE need to get a rider in the break.

He's underperformed if we take into account his performance at the Dauphine but at the same time he's not in the same class as Hindley.

 

[yaco55]

I suspect that both Pogacar and Vingegaard were both too tired to attack in stage 15 and the ITT may decide the winner. S.Yates did have a minor setback in his preparation, hence he missed Slovenia, but he should be riding better, especially seeing he is fine after his crash in stage five - After all, he's won a GT and 10 GT stages.

 

[eth-dog]

So Groenwegen being third wheel with 350 metres is poorly positioned - You have no idea !

Yates lost the Giro in 2021 because he had a bad day in cold and rainy conditions in the Cortina D'Ampezzo stage.

Seriously, * off. I said it could have been better, Mezgec could have delivered him out with 100 metres to go easily.

Wrong! He lost most of his time in the first week when the weather was hot. He mostly gained time in the third week. He struggles in the heat. It's a well known thing.

 

[Over The Post]

The only time trial of the 2023 race is characterised by its short distance and a profile that will suit those climbers who feel comfortable in this solo discipline. The famous Domancy climb is on the programme. At the same time, it provides an opportunity for the rider who’s in yellow to assert his superiority or for his rivals to begin a fightback that could last a whole week

 

[Orange Agent]

Who wins the ITT? Kung obviously the big favourite, maybe Bissegger?

Pogi. 880 metres of vertical gain rules out the specialist TT guys. The tactics of the teams will be interesting with bike swaps/setups. SRAM would have instructed Jumbo to run some weird setup no doubt and Jonas likes a single chainring on his TT bike but whether he can get over the first climb with that will be a test. Would be a tragedy if a mechanical decided the Tour but the team chose to go in this direction.

 

[eth-dog]

Pogi. 880 metres of vertical gain rules out the specialist TT guys. The tactics of the teams will be interesting with bike swaps/setups. SRAM would have instructed Jumbo to run some weird setup no doubt and Jonas likes a single chainring on his TT bike but whether he can get over the first climb with that will be a test. Would be a tragedy if a mechanical decided the Tour but the team chose to go in this direction.

I'm not sure it does. Someone like Craddock is a specialist who is also a very good climber. I think Kung can get it as the best time trialist on course.

 

[My_Username]

Does the cat 2 climb come with King of the Mountain points?

If so, how are they awarded...fastest time to that point?

 

[Over The Post]

I'm trying to find out, thats a good question, in the meantime here's an article on today's stage:

Tour de France Stage 16 Preview: Bring On the Crucial Time Trial

A 22.4-kilometer time trial after a rest day could prove to be decisive in the epic GC battle.

www.bicycling.com

 

[eth-dog]

Does the cat 2 climb come with King of the Mountain points?

If so, how are they awarded...fastest time to that point?

Yep, 5, 3, 2, 1.

So they'll have the bottom of the climb as a checkpoint and the top as another, and they'll use that as to who gets the KOM points.

 

[eth-dog]

Is it me or is Durbridge nowhere near as good in the ITT as he used to be?

Did Jayco make a deal with the devil to give Durbo's ITT skills to Yates?

 

[Over The Post]

https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1681238545099259905/pu/vid/480x768/jJXxchFD544wHTPh.mp4

 

[eth-dog]

Ciccone hard to beat for KOM at this point you'd think

 

[eth-dog]

Okay. What the *?

 

[Drummond]

Okay. What the *?

Vingegaard winning the tour right here.

 

[Drummond]

Well, goodbye Pog.

 

[Orange Agent]

This is insane.

 

[eth-dog]

This is a ridiculous ITT from both. Like Pog is destroying this ITT. But Jonas is just insane.

 

[Drummond]

I haven’t seen an ITT performance like that ever just utterly ridiculous.

 

[Sleezy]

If you told Pog he would take 1.12 off van aert, he would be ecstatic. Imagine them telling him you'll still lose 1.40 to vingegaard.

 

[eth-dog]

So... Can we get Evenepoel in Le TDF next year?

 

[99 Problems]

One of the best rides we’ll ever see. Almost 3 minutes on 3rd place who is one of the best TT riders of this generation.

The margin is so big he just needs to survive tomorrow now. I don’t think Saturday is tough enough to drop that sort of time.

 

[Orange Agent]

I don't know how many TT's Pog has beaten WVA by over a minute in, this is probably the only one, but to then get beaten by a bigger margin again is just unbelievable.

 

[99 Problems]

Not sure Yates getting on the podium has done much to help UAE actually win the tour. He’s too far back to be any risk to Jonas, but will he really want to throw it away to help Pog claw time back.