Sagan in yellow! Kidding aside, Iād like to see G take it again, heās just such a class act, but heās more likely on the bubble. I lean toward RogliÄ without knowing if he will be coming in ready to rip his legs off or too fresh with no racing in the past several months. I canāt wait for a ānormalā tour!
These are the odds:
- Pog is the stronger individual rider, but his team is weaker (relatively) and he lost that Slovenian TT championship.
- Rog is consistently good, but nobody knows his form and Jumbo will be good but not the powerhouse of 2020.
- Thomas, this is entirely subjective, but imo his best days are behind him
- Carapaz, I think if Ineos wins it is with him.
All the others are long shots. Of course, of those Uran and Lopez are my picks.
Cheers
In the old USENET newsgroups days there was an acronym for Tour Time: TIOOYK āThere is only one you knowā. Love this time of year.
Iāll take Pog. Looking forward to seeing how Ineos shakes things up and seeing if Rog can get it done. Hoping Sepp shows great form again and that Cav takes advantage and nabs a stage.
Regardless of who you like, or donāt like, it will be good fun and entertainment.
Pog for yellow, Sagan for green, Failed GC contender takes polka-dot in quest for redemption.
Rog crashes out in first week (just a WAG).
Carapaz makes the podium along with Lopez (?).
Maybe he should have a heart to heart with Froome!
Holy schitt did Alpecin-Fenix hit it out of the damn park with these kits and the video.
Even down to the team car!
Outstanding.
Waitā¦they arenāt gonna actually race in those kits!! They did it just for the team presentation!!!
WTF?!?!? They spend all that cash on the kits, the bikes and even the car and they arenāt gonna race in them?
Booooooo.
I have to believe that if Van Der Poel wins the first stage, which is the one that he is calling his shot on, that the purple jersey is going to be underneath
If I were him, it would be worth getting ejected or paying an enormous fine to honor a family member like that.
Sadly, , but fairā¦Nairo is only capable of maybe trying to win a mountain stage at this point. He will be down 20 min at some point so they donāt chase him down.
Cheers.
No schittā¦pay the damn UCI fine and rock those kits in the race this weekend (at least).
The UCI fine means even more publicity. Itās probably part of the plan.
The UCI fine for Jumbo riders not having rainbow bands completely around the sleeves in TT was 1000 Swiss francs (Ā£800) per rider. So every tt that Tom and Tony had their skinsuits they raced they got fined that much.
I assume it to be much more for a completely different kit. 21 stages and 8 riders and its quite the bill for a kit they could just apply for and use freely for the tour.
The kit will apprently be available to buy to support a new charity in memory of Raymond Poulidor āMerci Pou Pouā (Iām not making this up). Just a shame it has Alpecin across the front! https://www.mercipoupou.com/
Reminds me of Bigringriding from a few years back⦠the site URL has gone but all the sweary content is still on tumblr
Like this NSFW Pou pou
The UCI fined EF 4500 CHF for their duck jersey at the Giro (because they missed the deadline at which new jerseys have to be registered).
So thatās probably what Alpecin would need to pay. Although, obviously if they would want to race in that jersey, they just could have registered it properly and then use it (In case of EF I have to assume the fine was part of the plan to seem extra āedgyā).
I donāt really understand the purpose of unveiling this kit and then not use it. Itās very strange.
Just have MvDP wear it until he gets yellow to honor his grandpa. Heāll probably end up in yellow on Saturday or Sunday given the stage profiles, so that would keep fine costs in line. And if he doesnāt win it after a few stages, they can just switch back whenever they want.
Not sure if that would be such a great idea. Itās fines not a price list. The UCI can be a bit⦠uhm vengeful. If they get the feeling people dance on their nose, they sometimes just grab the hammer.
Stages profiles for reference:
I would have liked a bit more mountain and mountain finishes. That said all the mountain stages look sick: 8, 9, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18
Primoz when seeing the final ITT profile
Alpecin Fenix have requested and been given permission to wear the jersey for stage 1!
Enjoying the le grand depart. C.200km +3000m stage and weeks of cycling ahead, youāve got to be confident to go hard in the first 10km! Campenaerts