Its odd how so many equality actions end up benefiting men.
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Itās easy to think Bernel is not going to get close to Roglic based on CdD, however itās amazing how these top athletes peak at the right time. It would not surprise me if Bernel found his legs in week 2 of the tour and came good.
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Well that is a big part of the equation for this yearā¦do you come into the Tour on boil, or on a low simmer?
The mountains start the very first weekend, so you need to be ready to go from the startā¦but can you then sustain that across 3 weeks? Are you better off on a high-simmer, conceded a handful of seconds and look to peak later in the race?
You can also make an argument that since no one has raced much, you could sustain your peak longer right nowā¦so maybe coming in at full-boil is the right strategy.
Weāll know for sure which was right in about 4 weeks!!
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I wouldnāt object to seeing a race where there is no dominant team or rider and we get to watch fireworks over and over until a surprise winner emerges. Itād be good entertainment.
That said, Iāll put a $1 bet on Bernal to be there in the end.
Glad we are talking about the tour.
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I wouldnāt count on Froome and Thomas winning anything in 2020.
Thatās one less female on the payrollā¦I guess that helps equality.
Agree.
I donāt think Bernal was pulled to train more as someone said, I reckon heās over trainned, needs to fresh up. I dont buy the bad back story. Pre these warm up races his training load was crazy.
Kind of. Thereās Col de Turini on Stage 2 which is a decent climb but itās in the middle of the stage and itās likely to all come back together well before the end unless somebody is having a shocker. Canāt really see any stages in the first half of the race that look likely to open up big gaps in GC. Theyāre all either rolling, or if there are big climbs then thereās enough flat before the finish that any gaps are likely to be minimal.
First stages which look like forcing big selections in GC are 13 which is pretty lumpy, and 15 which has a mountain top finish on Grand Colombier. And with no TTs until the end I think that could mean GC top 10 stays pretty close together until the 3rd week. Also think itās the sort of race where a rider with good early form could easily be tempted into burning a lot of matches to make gains of 10s of seconds, then have losses in the minutes in week 3. A la Simon Yates in the 2018 Giro. And if GC does stay close for a long time, that also usually means a pretty fraught race with all the GC teams fighting for position and quite a lot of contact (vs the years where the contenders get thinned out early on and teams start thinking about stage wins).
On Stage 2, you have the Col dāEze, which summits ~30km from the finish, with another climb that tops out 9k from the finish (and then a descent to the line). It will definitely break upā¦
Iām not saying you are going to have a Roglic or Bernal winning solo on that stage, but you are going to drastically whittle down the field to a select groupā¦and at least one GC favorite will be out of it the first weekend.
Also, Stage 4 finishes on top of a Cat. 1 climb after a day of unrelenting rolling, slightly uphill route.
Agree. The whole squad was riding like something didnāt go according to plan in the run up preparation.
Obvious, but given the way 2020 has gone, a lot of guys are going to be missing elements of their programs which could cost them the few percentage points off the top end. That means a lot at the pointy end of a GT and could make for entertainment.
Not a huge Froome fan, but props to him for coming back at all. That wreck was awful.
Iāve ridden up Eze a few times, canāt see anybody getting over the top of it with a big enough gap to not get caught in the last 30km. Yes Iām sure there will be a few early casualties (probably literally given the frenetic racing weāve seen in the last few weeks), there always are in the first week, but I still think it will be pretty tight in the top 10 and all to play for in the third week.
Weāll seeā¦the finale in Paris-Nice with the Col dāEze has always produced suspensful finishes. But I would not expect someone to go solo over the Eze and to the finishā¦but a select group almost certainly willā¦toss in the final climb and you may find a few guys gaining a decent chuck of time (~20" maybe?)
Overall, I really like the route profile this year and should keep things suspensful. Also, REALLY like two flat stages after the first Rest Day. I always hate it when they have a Mountains day after the rest day. Someone GC guy invariably has a jour sans, which robs the remainder of the race of some suspense. the two flat stages will give everyone a chance to wake their legs back up.
I agree, I just hope that they give him free reign on a stage or two to go for a win like the last stage of the Dauphine. Obviously that only happened because Roglic dropped out and they may not want to tire him out for when they need him. But I would love to see him really go for it.
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Iām actually good friends with him and he said it was cool if everyone in this thread calls him G.
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Could you also ask him about his new team mate called Adam?
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oh wow. didnāt expect that. Especially since his brother just extended for 2 more years at MTS.
It has been rumored for a few weeks nowā¦
I donāt understand itā¦unless he has entirely given up on any personal ambitions for GTās. INEOS doesnāt need any more potential winners, or even stage hunters. They are over-loaded with GC talent right now and there is little opportunity for Yates there.
Yeah I had the same thoughts. The only explanationI have is that Yates maybe thinks Ineos tremendous training infrastructure can get him into much better shape. He was performing well below expectations the past few years at MTS.
Maybe he thinks if he gets fit enough theyāll give him a shot at the Giro or Vuelta. 