Im glad they are doing ok
Chaves looked really good, until he nearly wrecked on a descent and needed to bail off on a side road. He did tail off a bit at the end, likely because he attacked more than 15k from the finish. Pleased to see him on good form again.
Pogacar pulled a Remco today and went on a 22k solo. Looked well but there was no real competition tbh. Mostly team mates, Sobrero and Mohoric. The latter is a great rider but not really a contender in a mountaineous stage.
Great TT showing by Rigo!!!
Great win by Cav in the final stage of Tour of Belgium today, against strong sprint opposition ā¦ really pleased for him, even if the fairytale return to the Tour de France doesnāt end up happening this year
I think Cav did a great interview afterwards too - essentially saying that Sam Bennett should still be ahead of him for TdF inclusion as reigning green jersey winner.
No offence to Sam but I would love to see Cav at the tour - itās a shame they canāt both go.
He looked really happy in that interview - winning really does agree with him!
I strongly suspect that Lefevre is playing his usual balancing act. He has all the cards to play.
Bennett is probably faster than Cav, and the best bet for the green jersey ā¦ if heās not injured ā¦ but heās leaving DQS next year.
Cav is riding well, and probably wants to race next year too, probably with DQS, but heās not really being paid enough to be main sprinter at the Tour. If he goes to the Tour then the press will be on him non-stop talking about Merckxās record.
Lefevre canāt really lose
- if Bennettās fit he can take him and look like an honest guy for selecting a rider whoās leaving.
- if Bennettās really injured then he can pressure Cavās personal sponsors for more money either for DCS or direct to Cav and take him (and I think pretty much everyone would love to see Cav at the tour again), which would get a lot of press for DQS and their sponsors, which would help a lot with next years budget
- if he manages to get big money for Cav at the Tour, then he can send him anyway, and justify not selecting Bennett due to doubts about his knee (no repercussions because heās leaving the team anyway)
Worse case scenario, that I really donāt want to happen, is that he takes Bennett but then his knee flares up and we donāt get to see either of them.
Obviously I hope that if Bennett gets the nod (i think he will) he makes it all the way to Paris
Just wondering if there is room for both. Cav has always been a pretty decent team mate when his head is in the right place, back in 2012 he was on bottle carrying duties for Sky on stages where he didnāt have a chance. Everything Iāve heard from DQS is that heās gone in with a lot of humility and just wanted to work hard to earn his place again. And from the interview he clearly respects that Bennett should be first choice. Seems to me heād happily go to the Tour as Bennettās lead out man, with the possibility of ending up as the main man if Bennettās knee flares up.
Guess thereās still the question of whether DQS can accommodate 2 out and out sprinters who arenāt going to contribute much on non-sprint stages. But they donāt really need to worry about GC (that already looks like a Rog, Pog and Ineos show), so maybe they could.
They might not be looking to win the race, but Alaphillippe sounds like heās going for a good few days in yellow.
Alaphillipe wonāt win the Tour.
Maybe the Vuelta one day.
Heās like Valverde (or Jalabert or Kelly). Doing the work to be better for the key mountain days in the Tour would take away his sprint and his explosiveness on short classics climbs. Heād turn into a guy who could get 2nd or 3rd in a lot of classics and 2nd or 3rd in the Tour, but not win much.
He knows what side his bread is buttered on ā the Tour might get him a stage win, and it will get Quick Step good publicity while heās up in the top 5, but the Wolfpack will always be a classics joint.
He may well be, but Iām not sure DQS would need to structure the team differently to allow for that. I.e. they donāt need to pack the team with climbing domestiques in order to control the front of the peloton and protect GC on the big mountain days in the way that Jumbo Visma, Ineos and UAE will. Theyāll pack the team with guys who can win stages or help to win stages, and if JA gets into yellow theyāll hang onto it as best they can with that team, in the knowledge that if heās still in yellow in the mountains heāll be largely on his own!
Cavendish in - Bennett out
Damn, I hope he can snatch a bunch of stages. Would be really so amazing.
Itās pretty amazing heās going at all! I really hope heāll get a stage winā¦ being on a team thatās not 100% built round him might actually help - a lot of his wins seems to come when it gets chaotic in the finale and he follows the right wheels.
Donāt think heāll get 4 though
Some Awesome racing! great for the trainer.
Always a reminder that Belgium has the best riders in the world.
Just want to relive this predictionā¦
Alvarito Hodeg wins a sprint (finally) in first stage of Tour del Ain !! ā¦ He might be out of Quickstep for next year tho.
Nice race tomorrow in San Sebastian. Love that town.
And + Juan Ayuso, which is the next wonder boy.
Also, Martinez and Landa are back.
Molano wins the stage in Burgos !!!