Something I hadn't even considered: since van Aert won the final 2 stages of last year's edition, he's now on a run of 5 consecutive top 2 finishes at the Tour.
I'm really not sure about that sprint finish, or at least not that all the big sprinters will be there. There's a cat 4 hill just 10 km from the finish. It's 1 km at about 7% average, containing some 800m at a roughly 8-9%. I can see a couple of teams being interested in putting a tempo up that hill to drop the likes of Groenewegen and Jakobsen. Guys like van Aert (of course), Sagan, Pedersen and perhaps Kristoff would benefit from that. Of the faster sprinters I can see Ewan and Philipsen as the most likely to join that group, they'd have a great chance here.
I would've been very surprised if a break was allowed to carry that far and now that we have a two man breakaway, you can pretty much rule it out. This is going to be another easy day to control for the peloton.
Yeah the lesser teams seem very disinterested so far, sad to see. Sure, these aren't the stages where a breakaway can get a victory but I imagine there will be some unhappy sponsors out there.
Yeah but the wind hasn't cooperated. Having said that, it seems they're currently trying to pull echelons in the peloton, which is slightly unexpected. Not watching as I'm at work, so I don't know if the gaps are significant. That could really spice things up though!
It's ridiculous, they're not going to catch him are they? This is one for the history books, incredible stuff.Holy mother feck WVA, that is absolutely insane
It's one we're going to see over and over again, magical stuff doing this in the yellow jersey. Especially after 3 fecking second places finsihes! His last 6 Tour stages: 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 1st.
Amazing interview by Mads Pedersen to Danish tv. Asked why it was hard to organize the chase, he literally just said “Cyclists are too stupid” with a straight face
So relaxed all of these stars. Big contrast compared to the Armstrong or Froome days.It's one we're going to see over and over again, magical stuff doing this in the yellow jersey. Especially after 3 fecking second places finsihes! His last 6 Tour stages: 1st, 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 1st.
His been in ridiculous form this year and this just highlights what a damn shame it was to miss De Ronde after the most badly timed covid infection.
"for some reason" is a funny framing given that he is the big favorite today
"for some reason" is a funny framing given that he is the big favorite today
Gonna be interesting how it works out for him. I have a feeling he will regret being so passive these last couple of days. Could've easily gotten the polka dot jersey or attempt to go for the stage yesterday instead of working for Philipsen.
That's a ridiculous statement. He doesn't want to participate in bunch sprints and isn't fast enough to win them anyway. Not to mention that Philipsen has looked like the fastest sprinter out there yesterday and on Sunday but has had little to no help from his team.
Still not sure of that. Van der Poel and the others will have to make it a hard stage early on if they want that to happen. If they wait until the last few sections and Roglic/Vingegaard are still accompanied by Van Hooydonck, Benoot and Laporte, it'd be overkill to keep him with the team imo. And Roglic has proven he has the skills to ride the cobblestones as well earlier this year.
He said beforehand that he won't do anything before stage 5 and work for Philipsen - which I think was okay to do on stage 2 and 3 but not even to consider going for it yesterday was a big waste in my eyes.
WVA and Jumbo have said before that he'll be purely on domestique duties today so I think he'll stick to that. Obviously if he (and one of Vingegaard or Roglic) is in the top group he'll contest the sprint but he won't go on his own.
"for some reason" is a funny framing given that he is the big favorite today
I've not seen any odds, I just looked at the stage & his form so far and thought he's his type of stage.Reading van Aert's comments on Sporza, I'm definitely not so sure he's going to stick to team duty today anymore. Says it depends on the race, his role would only be deep in the final and with this team he should be able to ride his own race. I think he realizes you need to take maximum advantage when you're in this kind of form. Feck it, I hope he goes for it.
Wonder if they have something new up their sleeve. Will be hard to gain time on Pogacar if you look at his Ronde performance, the guy can do everything, but they could put some other GC riders in the defensive today with another coup.
I mean great for him and I'm also half on the "Feck it, just go for it side" but if he really goes rouge today than JV will have a decision to make in the future regarding his priorities or GC. Yesterday was a prime opportunity to gain time on Pogacar, if they waste another one today they should definitely look at themselves...Reading van Aert's comments on Sporza, I'm definitely not so sure he's going to stick to team duty today anymore. Says it depends on the race, his role would only be deep in the final and with this team he should be able to ride his own race. I think he realizes you need to take maximum advantage when you're in this kind of form. Feck it, I hope he goes for it.
Ronde is all about punchy hills, yes on cobbles but I'd argue they're kinda overrated in Flanders (blasphemy to say I know
). This like Roubaix is all about rougher cobbles on flat passages, something which should suit Pogacar less. A superior team (lets face it, UAE is shit) is definitely capable of making a difference but like always many other factors play a role. Given that many teams will also looking for a stage win today I think even when Pogacar is isolated he'll be able to join chasing groups. And I trust his abilities and tactical awareness more than Roglic.Agreed. And also agree that De Ronde isn't necessarily a nice blueprint for a Roubaix stage but he was kinda awesome there and I think he could also easily hold his own in Roubaix tbh. Maybe not contend like in De Ronde, but well enough to survive something like today.I mean great for him and I'm also half on the "Feck it, just go for it side" but if he really goes rouge today than JV will have a decision to make in the future regarding his priorities or GC. Yesterday was a prime opportunity to gain time on Pogacar, if they waste another one today they should definitely look at themselves...
Ronde is all about punchy hills, yes on cobbles but I'd argue they're kinda overrated in Flanders (blasphemy to say I know
He was only 2 seconds ahead at the top and I reckon both will have worked with him. Which GC team was there to chase? UAE was toast and Ineos and JV wouldn't have contributed with guys ahead. We saw how annoyed Pedersen was at the finish, the chase was very disorganized.
The chase was disorganized because none of the GC teams were interested and some sprinters were dropped completely so their teams didn't contribute either. It would be a completely different matter if suddenly UAE need to chase, Küng needs to pull for Gaudu, teams like AG2R for O'Connor, Movistar for Mas, Bora for Vlasov, etc. Everything changes and the GC domestiques would've been riding hard straight after the top. Even with the three of them, they could never hold against all of that.
