Road Cycling
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@gt12 Only been following the reports.
Sounds like Del Toro and Carapaz played a crazy game and gift wrapped it for Yates.
Spend three weeks grinding your way around Italy and then run some sort of medieval vendetta - "don't care if I lose as long as you don't win!"
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I've followed all of the Giro stages (using SBS and a VPN). It started as boring and ended quite phenomenally.
I think Del Toro was just blown, rather than out-played. There were lots of riders able to keep up with him at the end, which should not be happening on a final mountain stage like that if you are a grand tour winner.
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@Chris-B said in Road Cycling:
@gt12 Only been following the reports.
Sounds like Del Toro and Carapaz played a crazy game and gift wrapped it for Yates.
Spend three weeks grinding your way around Italy and then run some sort of medieval vendetta - "don't care if I lose as long as you don't win!"
Good learning for the youngster. He got dragged up the hill by Carapaz (refusing to help) then still expected Carapaz to help him make up 2 minutes.
I’m not sure he could go, but once Yates got ahead that far Del Toro didn’t seem to realize that for Carapaz there isn’t much difference between 2nd and 3rd.
It was really up to Del Toro to close it down and he either couldn’t (I guess) and wouldn’t try as he was on the verge of cracking. Those are the same thing I guess.
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TDF fun to watch but no one can get near Pog, and following that no one can challenge Jonas for 2nd (yet at least), so the fun is really seeing who’ll get third.
When Almeida went down I thought it might be interesting to see what would happen to Pog either way less help, but he doesn’t need it. And, when Visma had the numbers they couldn’t use them, especially Yates didn’t have the legs to help Jonas which questions whether they should have set him free to get the stage last week (I think they had already given up tbh). If all were fit and supporting Jonas maybe he wouldn’t be 4 minutes behind. Can’t see him getting closer so it’ll be interesting to see how the fight for the podium shakes out.
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No discussion of the TDF really sums up cycling right now - Pog is just at another level.
Bora signs Remco, so now there will be questions about whether Roglic stays; have to think if he'd stayed at Visma that he'd have been closer to more grand tour podiums / wins even if he wouldn't have been no. 1 for the TDF. With Roglic, Visma would have likely put up a better fight against Pog too...
In Kiwi news, Strong is leading the Arctic Race of Norway after 3 stages and just stuck with Pidcock up a pretty good climb to stay in the lead. That's cool.
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TDF was kinda bullshit. Pog got 4 minutes in front and just maintained it.
I'm calling shenanigans as well. No way he should be that much better than everyone at everything. And able to do it day after day. It's not.like.he had a train towing him around this year either.
If he was an American narcissist...
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I enjoyed a few stages (the last stage with the hill in Paris was cool), but yeah it would be good if any team could challenge him.
I think Visma gave up pretty early - Yates cooked himself winning a stage and was fucking useless as a domestique after that, and then later on Visma could never get Pog isolated with enough help for Jonas once they got to the mountains.
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@scribe said in Road Cycling:
And Niamh Fisher-Black second in the elite women’s race; an outstanding effort!
She sounded a bit pissed that she couldn't get over the line. She admitted that the other girl rode away from her on the cobbles, but was clearly on a very good day and had her chance and probably feels that she missed it.
I actually missed this race completely and for whatever reason Lantern Rouge didn't have the footage so no highlights from them, sadly.
