Time trials are good for when you are on the trainer because you know they are suffering too.
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Here we go. Ineos are starting to drill it at the front. Bernal might try to take some time today.
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tough for Martinez with a leech on his back. H
Hmmmm… Bernal
Nice win up front though !!!
wow Martinez…that was serious climb sprint…of course, another Colombian representing. H
Ineos might be regretting that strong effort at the beginning of the climb lol
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Gotta go for it. Bernal sure dug deep to keep from losing too much after he came off the wheels. Many KMs left :-]
Good stage…entertaining battle for the stage and a big GC battle behind.
Bernal was weaker than I expected…Pogacar is obviously the biggest threat right now to Roglic.
Big day for EF…stage win and, based on the lack of Movistar riders in the top 10, they may have taken the team lead, as well.
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Sunday!! Sunday!! Sunday!!
Looking forward to spending 5 hours in front of the TV and watching some big time racing.
I don’t really have a favorite, but enjoying the race.
Bernal could have used Thomas today, he was a critical piece of the Ineos puzzle
Bernal is going to pull a Giro Froome in the last week!
Wouldn’t have made any difference. A strong team helps you to stay safe, conserve energy, stay the right side of any crashes or splits (or help you chase back on if you do get caught out) and so deliver you to the race-deciding climbs in the best shape possible. But you’ve still got to have the legs to finish it off. The years Ineos has won, they’ve had the best climber-TT rider over the 3 weeks.
Bernal right now isn’t as strong as his rivals, and there is nothing that Thomas or anybody else could do to change that. Pogacar has no team support to speak of in the latter stage of these races, but he’s lighting it up anyway because he’s in great form. Roglic has a great team, but it wouldn’t help him if he didn’t also have the legs to drop his rivals once the team has delivered him to the closing stages.
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Bernal said in interview after that he was putting out great numbers on the final climb, it was just that the Slovenians were stronger than him. Could just be putting on a brave face of course. One thing I noticed - is it just Bernal’s style, or was he pushing a pretty big gear at the end?
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Another day for the break tomorrow…while there is a lot of climbing, it all happens too far out for the GC guys to burn matches. Expect the “battle” for the maillot pois to take center stage early. I’m sure you’ll see Cosnefroy getting in the action early…and I would expect Nans Peters to try and challenge him. AG2R needs something now that Bardet is out of the race.
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I think the person coming from behind into a personal spot has more responsibility for an accident.
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Agreed. Like I said Cavendish at fault last time. Sagan at fault this time.
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Here’s the quote from AG2R after the race:
"Romain suffers from a concussion, the intensity and signs of which he presented after the stage required our medical team to have him undergo a brain scan at the Clermont Ferrand University Hospital”
This is BS. He was showing clear signs of concussion right after the crash. He should have been pulled from the race right there and then.
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Looks to me like it will be a Bora train to drop all sprinters. I give the break no chance in this one. Sagan vs WvA in this one.
Could be…I was basing my assessment on most of the riders having tired legs today after all the climbing yesterday. Bora had two guys in the break so asking them to pull all day to keep things close could be a big ask.
J-V would be crazy to let WVA try and contest the stage, IMO…especially after the other day. Their goal is now yellow and losing Wout to a silly and unnecessary crash would be a massive blow to that objective.
ETA - I have no idea WTH Sunweb is trying to do. Had Bol in the break, Petersen chasing up to it. Bol sits up out of nowhere, so I assumed he was waiting to help Pedersen bridge, but when they joined up, they both soft-pedaled. Bizarre.