The professional cycling thread
Discussion
Scabutz said:
It's just a gentleman's agreement. I wonder what would happen if someone thought f
k it and went for it. It's not a hard stage so would require someone to go on a solo attack on the flat which isn't easy and presumably the peloton would shut it down. But if it did work they would have to honour it. Although i imagine the person doing it would be very un-popular.
Not sure anyone who was in GC contention could gain much more than a few seconds if they decided to race on the last day. Their rivals would go with them, and sit on their wheel until they cracked.k it and went for it. It's not a hard stage so would require someone to go on a solo attack on the flat which isn't easy and presumably the peloton would shut it down. But if it did work they would have to honour it. Although i imagine the person doing it would be very un-popular.mstrbkr said:
Scabutz said:
It's just a gentleman's agreement. I wonder what would happen if someone thought fk it and went for it. It's not a hard stage so would require someone to go on a solo attack on the flat which isn't easy and presumably the peloton would shut it down. But if it did work they would have to honour it. Although i imagine the person doing it would be very un-popular.
Not sure anyone who was in GC contention could gain much more than a few seconds if they decided to race on the last day. Their rivals would go with them, and sit on their wheel until they cracked.k it and went for it. It's not a hard stage so would require someone to go on a solo attack on the flat which isn't easy and presumably the peloton would shut it down. But if it did work they would have to honour it. Although i imagine the person doing it would be very un-popular.It wouldn't just be your GC rivals and their teams that you'd have to outrun. You'd have pretty much the whole field flat out behind you, as all the sprinters' teams would be trying to bring it back to a sprint finish for the final, prestigious stage win. We often see small breakaways trying it on around the streets of Paris, but they rarely get very far before being swallowed up again by the hunting pack. The long straights of the Champs-Elysees make it very hard to get out of sight of the poursuivants.
SydneyBridge said:
I would assume the winner would win, whatever happened. The only thing of relevence is the sprint winner of the final stage
GC leader still needs to finish the race and maintain the time gap otherwise they’d most definitely lose!Hence why we just saw G and the rest of Ineos guiding Bernal through the craziness of the last few laps.
toastyhamster said:
Well what a superb tour. Worked at home quite a lot in the last fortnight, so despite missing most of the first week I've been lucky enough to be able to have the coverage on in the background more often than not. Gutted it's coming to an end.
Indeed, it's going to be odd for the next three days having no cricket or cycling to watch.K50 DEL said:
So what happens if the leader has a bad crash or bike failure and can't continue or lose a bunch of time.
I assume they no longer win the race, the gentleman's agreement can't go that far surely?
I assume they no longer win the race, the gentleman's agreement can't go that far surely?
Matt_N said:
SydneyBridge said:
I would assume the winner would win, whatever happened. The only thing of relevence is the sprint winner of the final stage
GC leader still needs to finish the race and maintain the time gap otherwise they’d most definitely lose!Hence why we just saw G and the rest of Ineos guiding Bernal through the craziness of the last few laps.
Once inside the final 3k you get the same time as the group you were with in the event of a crash or mechanical - hence the collective sigh of relief at 3k to go.
If a crash was caused by another rider and it brought down the leader then their cycling career may well be shorter than anticipated, so no one would take risks around the GC leader.
Was it just me or was the ITV4 love-in over Bernal and Columbia a bit too cringeworthy (not taking anything away from his performance though)
Just caught up with ITV’s highlights show for the final stage.
Great interview with Geraint Thomas post race, where he jokingly said when he’s 45yo and fat, sitting in a pub watching Egan Bernal winning his 10th Tour, ‘I taught him everything he knows’.
For 2020, unless the TdF organiser decides to ‘gift’ Froome his fifth win, perhaps by designing a Tour with two (long) TTs etc, Bernal will be hard to stop.
Great interview with Geraint Thomas post race, where he jokingly said when he’s 45yo and fat, sitting in a pub watching Egan Bernal winning his 10th Tour, ‘I taught him everything he knows’.
For 2020, unless the TdF organiser decides to ‘gift’ Froome his fifth win, perhaps by designing a Tour with two (long) TTs etc, Bernal will be hard to stop.
Bernal is actually a pretty good TT-er; he just had an 'off day'; he beat Roglic in the ITT at Romandie last year, and has been National TT Champ.
I have to admit, I don't like them designing routes to favour/ stop teams/ riders. The lack of TT kms in recent Tours is poor; and mainly because Bardet & Pinot are lacking in this skill.
However, roll on the weekend and the Classica San Sebastian, plus Ride London, and the MTB World Cup in Val de Sole.
I have to admit, I don't like them designing routes to favour/ stop teams/ riders. The lack of TT kms in recent Tours is poor; and mainly because Bardet & Pinot are lacking in this skill.
However, roll on the weekend and the Classica San Sebastian, plus Ride London, and the MTB World Cup in Val de Sole.
over_the_hill said:
Was it just me or was the ITV4 love-in over Bernal and Columbia a bit too cringeworthy (not taking anything away from his performance though)
It was an unexpected story, so I can understand the level of coverage of it. Especially given he's the youngest for 110 years and he's the first Columbian.What I find more grating on ITV4s coverage is Matt Rendellls fawning over Peter Sagan. You an see even Sagan is embarrassed by it
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