Cycling thread

[Black Belt Jones]

The more I think about it the more this is becoming a farce.

UCI rule essentially say the organisers can choose what they want to do here - void the whole race if they want.

So many unanswered questions:
- How much time would Alaphilippe have made back on the descent?
- Would he have blown on the final climb or not? Bear in mind it's not the toughest of climbs.
- Were any team holding back for the final climb? Jumbo are already suggesting this.
- Would Yates have got the stage win?
- Or would Bernal have an unassailable lead.

I've also heard there was no electronic timing at the top, which is why it's taking so long.....

Yeah it's such a shame for the GC race, was shaping up to be an absolute belter of a last climb with Bernal up front and Jumbo having to work with G in the wheel. But there was no choice.

FWIW my what if / gut feeling is that Alaphilippe would have crushed the descent, and not completely blown on the climb but would have gotten dropped again and lost a couple more minutes. So the ending was prob good for him.
G did not look to me like a man ready to unleash hell on the GC group on the final climb, attacking like a savage with dead bodies strewn left and right all over the road. Rather I reckon he would have sat on canny like and possibly capitalised on Bernal getting reeled back in to take yellow by a few seconds. Ending thus bad for G.
Simon Yates would have won the stage IMHO - Bernal went super deep over the Iseran. So the ending was terrible for Yates, and good for Bernal (although I think it's fair to say he deserves yellow, he's looked the strongest in the mountains at the sharp end of the race).

 

[lichfieldblue]

Yeah it's such a shame for the GC race, was shaping up to be an absolute belter of a last climb with Bernal up front and Jumbo having to work with G in the wheel. But there was no choice.

FWIW my what if / gut feeling is that Alaphilippe would have crushed the descent, and not completely blown on the climb but would have gotten dropped again and lost a couple more minutes. So the ending was prob good for him.
G did not look to me like a man ready to unleash hell on the GC group on the final climb, attacking like a savage with dead bodies strewn left and right all over the road. Rather I reckon he would have sat on canny like and possibly capitalised on Bernal getting reeled back in to take yellow by a few seconds. Ending thus bad for G.
Simon Yates would have won the stage IMHO - Bernal went super deep over the Iseran. So the ending was terrible for Yates, and good for Bernal (although I think it's fair to say he deserves yellow, he's looked the strongest in the mountains at the sharp end of the race).

Steven Kruijswijk was over 5 minutes ahead on the penultimate climb of the Alpe d'Huez stage last year. Fair chance he would have won the Tour last year had it stopped then.

I agree this is the least bad decision. But this shows just how wrong this could be. So so frustrating.

 

[lichfieldblue]

One climb, 59km tomorrow. What a sad end to the best TDF in years.

 

[DaChunk]

One climb, 59km tomorrow. What a sad end to the best TDF in years.

Super underwhelming

 

[spectateur]

One climb, 59km tomorrow. What a sad end to the best TDF in years.

A great pity but there's nothing to be done about capricious alpine weather. They can't race over blocked roads.

 

[sbbefc]

One climb, 59km tomorrow. What a sad end to the best TDF in years.

It wont be the best tdf in years. Unfortunately

 

[Mozza1987]

Totally agreed with them yesterday stopping the race but what they have done today is an absolute farce. They should have had back up plans for all these stages at high altitude in case of issues with the weather. What a poor way to end an excellent tour. They should change the rules tomorrow so people can attack.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Totally agreed with them yesterday stopping the race but what they have done today is an absolute farce. They should have had back up plans for all these stages at high altitude in case of issues with the weather. What a poor way to end an excellent tour. They should change the rules tomorrow so people can attack.

Really? What could they realistically do?

 

[spectateur]

Totally agreed with them yesterday stopping the race but what they have done today is an absolute farce. They should have had back up plans for all these stages at high altitude in case of issues with the weather. What a poor way to end an excellent tour. They should change the rules tomorrow so people can attack.

A race from the start tomorrow would still end in a mass sprint. Nobody would be allowed to gain time.

 

[Mozza1987]

Really? What could they realistically do?

Like I just said have back up plans for all the stages that have high altitude and weather that can change dramatically. Poor organisation. Now we end up with stage that is so short they are unlikely to take enough time off each other and show who was the strongest.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Like I just said have back up plans for all the stages that have high altitude and weather that can change dramatically. Poor organisation. Now we end up with stage that is so short they are unlikely to take enough time off each other and show who was the strongest.

Not sure how many other mountains are in a similar way. Sure they're not doing this for the fun of it.

 

[Disgruntledgoat]

Totally agreed with them yesterday stopping the race but what they have done today is an absolute farce. They should have had back up plans for all these stages at high altitude in case of issues with the weather. What a poor way to end an excellent tour. They should change the rules tomorrow so people can attack.

Theres no rule that says you cant. Only convention. Hinault did it once.

Quick Step could finally deploy their team of rouleurs in a way that helps Alaphilippe... Lefevre is enough of a bustard to do it too.

 

[Disgruntledgoat]

Like I just said have back up plans for all the stages that have high altitude and weather that can change dramatically. Poor organisation. Now we end up with stage that is so short they are unlikely to take enough time off each other and show who was the strongest.

The problem is that you can either take the valley road or the passes. If you cant get over one pass, there's no road big enough to get a race over to get to the second one. Have a look on the map.

 

[Mozza1987]

Not sure how many other mountains are in a similar way. Sure they're not doing this for the fun of it.

I have no issues with them not doing the 2 climbs today as it is unsafe to do so but they should have known that mountains with high altitude will have adverse weather conditions. They should have had plans in place for this very reason on a crucial stage of the tour. It's just very poor planning on their part.

 

[Disgruntledgoat]

I have no issues with them not doing the 2 climbs today as it is unsafe to do so but they should have known that mountains with high altitude will have adverse weather conditions. They should have had plans in place for this very reason on a crucial stage of the tour. It's just very poor planning on their part.

There;s literally no other way to get to Val Thorens from Albertville. You go down the N90 or you go over the Cormet de Roseland into Bourg Saint Maurice. At the op of the Cormet there is another tiny road to take you back to the D90 but if you can't get to the top then that's not so important.