I think it’s the opposite, he always looks to me like he’s suffering and grimacing with legs and elbows all over the place even when he’s about to launch a stage winning attack! Bernal and Quintana are the ones that are impossible to read.
I don’t think he can improve enough to be a contender at the Tour, particularly as at best he’ll be the third rider in the Ineos pecking order (behind Bernal and either Thomas or Sivakov, maybe both) which with the way Ineos ride means that he’ll have to burn some matches on domestique duties. They’ve been able to protect 2 riders pretty deep into the race a few times including having 2 guys on the podium, but they’ve never managed it with 3. And the strength of JV means they’ll likely have to use up their whole team like they did yesterday in order to try and thin out the group.
I guess Ineos could always switch tactics and use Froome as bait to try and make JV work. Get him launching some attacks, since the other GC teams can’t risk letting a 4 time Tour winner get up the road. But that would be a pretty massive radical change from the way they normally ride, and given that their normal tactics have won them 7 of the last 8 Tours it would be a shock to see. Press would also have a field day as I’m sure even if Froome was attacking on team orders it would be portrayed as him selfishly riding for himself.
Agreed 100%…I can’t stand watching him ride. Looks like a frog on a skateboard…but you can’t argue with the results.
As for today, Wout is doing a monster turn at the front to bring back Formolo…pulling across the flats and staying at the front through the beginning of the final climb.
Wow…Bernal cracked at the end and lost more time. Even his teammates didn’t wait for him.
Props to Formolo…Roglic looks like he is in complete control. Now he just needs to measure his efforts over the last two days. let everyone else do the work and just surf wheels.
Maybe looks too good, given that the first Tour mountain finish is still 3 weeks away and the last week of the Tour is stacked with mountain finishes and is still 5 weeks away. He’s riding away at will from the best climbers in the sport. If he’s already peaking I don’t think he can hold it. If he’s still building and on course to peak for the Tour then we’re in for something spectacular!
Yeah, I think that needs to be a major concern for J-V…hence the reason why I said he just needs to surf wheels the next two days. There is zero reason for him to stick his nose in the wind at any point now…let others do the work or try to attack and just cover them when he needs to.
He obviously came into the Giro last year having peaked too soon and a repeat should be be high on the list of worries right now.
But remember the Tour starts with mountains on the first weekend, which is only two weeks away now…contenders will need to be on-form or damn close to it form the get-go. Do you come into this years Tour, raring to go or do you come at 98%, willing to concede a little time early and look to gain it back at the end.
Given that all the riders should be fresh since no one has been racing, I’d argue that coming in at peak form is a better option…less overall fatigue should mean you can hold your form longer.
Apparently all the crashes today were because of a 2-3 km section of the first downhill, which was covered in gravel and potholes, all while going downhill at 15% in places. This is pretty unacceptable for a bike race of any kind.
Maybe they need to use one of those smart materials for road surfacing - I drive to Megeve most winters and the roads are always suffering from the seasonal temperatures.
Great to be watching racing again - I caught the highlights yesterday .
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