Pro Cycling 2020 **Giro d'Italia 2020 **

Evenepoel... What a phenomenal talent. With Van Aert and van der Poel we've seen some incredible things but this guy is just 19. That's just insane.
 
Shame that Froome is out, but at least it should open the general classification right up in france
 
Thomas should be ok for the Tour but I'm more interested in how Bernal will perform. He's one of several riders who could win it, as there doesn't seem to be an outright favourite. I could even see someone like Fuglsang up there this year, he's looked in great form this season (but perhaps too early for the Tour). Someone like Bardet will always have the time trial as major weakness, I don't see how he compensates for it. I don't believe in Quintana anymore, he just seemed to regress in recent years.
 
And Dumoulin ruled out of TdF. Meanwhile Bernal keep getting into shape for TdF.
Nibali must be licking his lips for another shot at Tour.
 
Nibali I don’t think has the legs for a serious TdF effort. It’ll be between Thomas and Bernal, with my money on the former given the demands put in from the new sponsors.

National Champs next weekend and the time trial is as wide open as I’ve seen it in many a year. So many pro team British riders out of form and some pro Conti teams have some majorly in form riders.
 
Nibali has contested the Giro this year, that particular combination (at least chasing a GC in both) has proven too much for every single rider since ages ago. I honestly don't believe in a repeat for Thomas, he just doesn't strike me as good enough to be a multiple grand tour winner. I haven't checked the route in detail though, it depends on stage profiles and TT kilometers. If there aren't too many TT kilometers this tour might be a unique chance for French home win with Bardet or Pinot.

I still have Bernal as top favourite.
 
As someone who doesn't follow cycling in general, what are Porte's chances this year in the tour?
 
Dargonk said:
As someone who doesn't follow cycling in general, what are Porte's chances this year in the tour?
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Hasn't really done anything of note this season but that's kind of his modus operandi if he focuses on the Tour. His Dauphiné (general audition before the Tour which ended last week) was solid but nothing spectacular. I would rate him as an outsider but he's so prone to the occasional bad day and by bad I mean absolutely disastrous that it could cost him his entire ranking. Hasn't really had the best of luck in the Tour in recent years so if he just can stay healthy throughout then he has an excellent chance this year to finish top 5, but it's still a big if for me. He was great for Sky but he's never really looked like he's able to lead a team and handle the pressure of being the main man in a team since he left them. Like I said though, at 34 years old and with Froome, Dumoulin, Roglic out of the Tour while Nibali is supposedly still tired from the Giro, he has an excellent outside shot to do some damage this year.

I don't know the stages by heart but I think there are quite some TT kilometers in this one, he's certainly at an advantage compared to the likes of Bardet and Pinot (who should be better climbers in principle). The problem with Porte is that he's an excellent 'follower' but I can't see him attacking in the mountains or gaining time on his opponents there, he's not explosive enough - e.g. the 6th stage ends on the Planche des Belles Filles, a 6km hill with an average ascent of 8.4%, imo he could easily lose 30" to 1' on such arrival.

Bernal is my bet for the yellow jersey, I think he's simply the best climber of the peloton and he has a strong team, it'll depend on how much freedom he gets from Ineos though.
 
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I don't think Porte is good enough to win a grand tour. At his best he probably wasn't too far off but would still need everything to go his way. He's past his best now so it's even more difficult. A top 5 finish would at least equal his best ever result in a grand tour, so he should be over the moon with that.
 
Ainu said:
I don't think Porte is good enough to win a grand tour. At his best he probably wasn't too far off but would still need everything to go his way. He's past his best now so it's even more difficult. A top 5 finish would at least equal his best ever result in a grand tour, so he should be over the moon with that.
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Agreed.

I put €10 on Wout Poels finishing top 3 at 51.00 a month or so ago, so I'll definitely be rooting for him but with Thomas and Bernal there I think it's a bit too much to ask :lol:
 
RobinLFC said:
Agreed.

I put €10 on Wout Poels finishing top 3 at 51.00 a month or so ago, so I'll definitely be rooting for him but with Thomas and Bernal there I think it's a bit too much to ask :lol:
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Poels is invaluable and quite brilliant but he'll be emptying himself in the mountains, just like Kwiato and the rest for Thomas and Bernal with complete disregard for the GC. He'll be more top 30 than top 3.
 
Dargonk said:
As someone who doesn't follow cycling in general, what are Porte's chances this year in the tour?
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Guaranteed non-factor when it comes to the overall GC. Almost always has a huge off day, and likely several. He's more suited to 1 week length stage racing.
 
RedFish said:
Poels is invaluable and quite brilliant but he'll be emptying himself in the mountains, just like Kwiato and the rest for Thomas and Bernal with complete disregard for the GC. He'll be more top 30 than top 3.
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Don’t think he’ll pull it off either tbh.
 
Belgian ITT Championships were crazy today. Deepest field I can ever remember. So deep that last year’s champion and World Championship bronze medalist Victor Campenaerts finished 4th.

Remco had an incredible ride finishing 3rd

Yves Lampaert finished 7 seconds ahead of Remco

Wout Van Aert crushed the field winning by 31 seconds, which came on the heels of him wrecking the Dauphiné field a few weeks back.
 
Tour starts on Saturday. After a disappointing Giro, all eyes are on the Tour to provide some dramatic racing action.

Some preview videos worth checking out.









 
That's why stupid Eurosport had Giro reruns every freakin' day on ES1 instead of more matches from Wimbledon. :mad:

Nevertheless, looking forward to actual live action from France. And wherever else they start or pass through.


Anyone from Bora has any chance? Hope Sagan can win sprint at least.
 
@Mrs Smoker

Green Jersey betting odds (Oddschecker)

Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgohe – 4/9
Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jumbo-Visma – 11/2
Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck – Quick-Step – 5/1
Michael Matthews (Aus) Sunweb – 7/1
Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto-Soudal – 16/1
Wout van Aert (Ned) Jumbo-Visma – 18/1
Alexander Kristoff (Nor) UAE Team Emirates – 22/1
Julian Alaphilippe (Fra) Deceuninck – Quick-Step – 25/1
Matteo Trentin (Ita) Mitchelton-Scott – 50/1
André Greipel (Ger) Arkéa-Samsic – 80/1
 
At least the route looks more attractive than that of the Giro, which was a a complete borefest for the first 12 days or so. The first week has a bit of everything (except an individual TT), with a real tasty stage on day 6. Should be fun.
 
Stage 2 TTT - start times (CET)
# Team Time
1 Team Ineos 14:30:00
2 Team Arkea-Samsic 14:35:00
3 Astana Pro Team 14:40:00
4 Groupama-FDJ 14:45:00
5 AG2R La Mondiale 14:50:00
6 Movistar Team 14:55:00
7 Total Direct Energie 15:00:00
8 CCC Team 15:05:00
9 UAE Emirates 15:10:00
10 Trek-Segafredo 15:15:00
11 Katusha-Alpecin 15:20:00
12 Cofidis Solutions Credits 15:25:00
13 Dimension Data 15:30:00
14 Team Sunweb 15:35:00
15 Bora-Hansgrohe 15:40:00
16 Lotto Soudal 15:45:00
17 Mitchelton-Scott 15:50:00
18 Bahrain-Merida 15:55:00
19 EF Education First 16:00:00
20 Deceuninck-QuickStep 16:05:00
21 Wanty-Gobert Cycling Team 16:10:00
22 Team Jumbo-Visma 16:15:00
 
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You'd think Ineos should win this, looking at the pure quality of individual TT riders they have. But you never know, they've somehow never managed to win a TTT at the Tour or the world championship in this discipline. I'm most excited about what Jumbo-Visma can do here. With Tony Martin, Van Aert, Kruijswijk and De Plus they have a chance. And perhaps most importantly, they seem to be in a very positive flow. Just a shame Groenewegen crashed, he's going to suffer today.
 
Looks like it was a great time by Ineos after all. DQS and Jumbo-Visma the only ones with a chance.
 
Well well, taking the win by 20 seconds. I expected something from them but this is seriously impressive. As I said, they're in an incredible flow. Just watch Van Aert win tomorrow, it wouldn't surprise me.
 
That was a fantastic display by Lotto Jumbo. They're very strong but I'm not sure they'd want to hold onto the yellow this week, it's a bit too early.
 
Crackers said:
That was a fantastic display by Lotto Jumbo. They're very strong but I'm not sure they'd want to hold onto the yellow this week, it's a bit too early.
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Kruijswick is riding for GC (no Roglic of course), but top 5 would be a result for him. They'll relish every day they can get in the yellow, especially given that yesterday's opener was a big surprise.
 
Race heads into France. Hard to see past Alaphillipe today with that uphill finish. Hoping Sagan, et al can at least make it interesting!
 
I'm not sure the uphill finish is tough enough for Alaphilippe to make the difference. I could still see riders like Sagan, Matthews, Colbrelli, Van Avermaert and Van Aert being there.
 
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