2023 Tour de France

[DraftEligibleOHL]

Heartbreak for Cav. What a ride by Jasper. 3rd stage win of the Tour already.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Phenomenal sprint by Pedersen today! World class!

 

[DraftEligibleOHL]

Sprinter stage this morning, about to depart.

Jasper the heavy favourite but looking for Caleb on a bounceback or possibly Mads (although he favours ramp up finishes).

Half-way through the tour.

 

[DraftEligibleOHL]

Individual time trial is today!

Pogi 10 seconds back from Jonas for the yellow jersey as the Tour heads into its third week.

Depart in 45ish mins.

 

[#37]

Watch out for the first corner... 3 wipe outs already.

 

[DraftEligibleOHL]

Watch out for the first corner... 3 wipe outs already.

Insanity.

Bjerg looked like he was going in slo-mo to avoid the wipeout AND it's supposed to rain later also

 

[#37]

Hmm... Pogacar doing his warmup in an air conditioned bus. I am reminded of a baseball story where the home team, can't recall which, would crank the ac in the visitors clubhouse on really hot days and when it was game time the visitors would be wilting when they were hit by the heat on the field. Should be interesting.

 

[MAHJ71]

What a ride by Jonas!

Going into todays stage I didn’t see enough folks giving him a chance for the stage. I don’t even think it was an off day for Pogi, Jonas was just that much better.

 

[DraftEligibleOHL]

What a ride by Jonas!

Going into todays stage I didn’t see enough folks giving him a chance for the stage. I don’t even think it was an off day for Pogi, Jonas was just that much better.

Jonas is an absolute alien!

Didn't seem like an off-day for Pog tbh. He still beat WvA time by a decent margin. Jonas was just super-human today.

 

[varsaku]

Jonas was unbelievable good.

Jonas is an absolute alien!

Didn't seem like an off-day for Pog tbh. He still beat WvA time by a decent margin. Jonas was just super-human today.

It’s crazy how these two GC riders are better than even the specialists.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

I've seen a lot of cycling.
This is the biggest NOT NORMAL moment I've ever seen in an ITT.

 

[MAHJ71]

I've seen a lot of cycling.
This is the biggest NOT NORMAL moment I've ever seen in an ITT.

From what I read/heard from the media/cycling crowd beforehand there were many underestimating Jonas’s TT ability.

Today’s TT reminded me of what Pogi did to Roglič.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

From what I read/heard from the media/cycling crowd beforehand there were many underestimating Jonas’s TT ability.

Today’s TT reminded me of what Pogi did to Roglič.

By pure statistics this is the craziest shit we've seen in an ITT in modern history.
Indurain, Ullrich, Armstrong... and obviously Pogacar on 2020, forget it all.

Pogi was on the same level in 2020. Vinge almost passed him AND Carlos Rodriguez (8th in the stage) in a 22 km ITT.

It's an unreal performance

 

[QuietContrarian]

I've seen a lot of cycling.
This is the biggest NOT NORMAL moment I've ever seen in an ITT.

Jonas and Jumbo have said several times that this stage was key for them - They have prepared for this stage by riding it many, many times - Even mentioning that Jonas would stop after a corner, and go back to perfect it. He has also been on the defensive for most of this tour to preserve energy.

 

[Live in the Now]

By pure statistics this is the craziest shit we've seen in an ITT in modern history.
Indurain, Ullrich, Armstrong... and obviously Pogacar on 2020, forget it all.

Pogi was on the same level in 2020. Vinge almost passed him AND Carlos Rodriguez (8th in the stage) in a 22 km ITT.

It's an unreal performance

Yeah it was a farce

 

[Vasilevskiy]

Jonas and Jumbo have said several times that this stage was key for them - They have prepared for this stage by riding it many, many times - Even mentioning that Jonas would stop after a corner, and go back to perfect it. He has also been on the defensive for most of this tour to preserve energy.

Jumbo can say all they want. The numbers speak the truth, and the truth is that by any measurable metric this is the most impressive performance since Anquetil and Bahamontes... That was 70 years ago.

Vingegaard has not saved evergy. He had two huge attacks on the first week, and he has had to spend as much energy as Pogaçar on this 2nd week. He barely saves Pogaçar attack on Saturday (not to mention losing time on the whole 2nd week most days) and now all of a sudden he's almost 2 minutes better than him in a 30 minute effort? You know how absurd that advantage is? It is one thing if he gets 20 or 30 seconds. 1m40s? In elite sports? Aberration

 

[PensFan101]

Jumbo can say all they want. The numbers speak the truth, and the truth is that by any measurable metric this is the most impressive performance since Anquetil and Bahamontes... That was 70 years ago.

Vingegaard has not saved evergy. He had two huge attacks on the first week, and he has had to spend as much energy as Pogaçar on this 2nd week. He barely saves Pogaçar attack on Saturday (not to mention losing time on the whole 2nd week most days) and now all of a sudden he's almost 2 minutes better than him in a 30 minute effort? You know how absurd that advantage is? It is one thing if he gets 20 or 30 seconds. 1m40s? In elite sports? Aberration

Not to mention beating Van Aert, probably the best all around rider in the world and on a hilly time trial the best of the big men, by nearly 3 minutes. No previous elite TT performances outside of the tour for Jonas. Taking time off of the best time trialists in the world on the flats despite being maybe 60 kilos...

Was really enjoying this tour and Pogacar while a freak is at least in the realm of plausible. Vingegaard today was channeling the spirits (and maybe a lot more) of Riis and Rasmussen.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Jumbo can say all they want. The numbers speak the truth, and the truth is that by any measurable metric this is the most impressive performance since Anquetil and Bahamontes... That was 70 years ago.

Vingegaard has not saved evergy. He had two huge attacks on the first week, and he has had to spend as much energy as Pogaçar on this 2nd week. He barely saves Pogaçar attack on Saturday (not to mention losing time on the whole 2nd week most days) and now all of a sudden he's almost 2 minutes better than him in a 30 minute effort? You know how absurd that advantage is? It is one thing if he gets 20 or 30 seconds. 1m40s? In elite sports? Aberration

As far as my understanding goes, that is not how performance enhancers work - He would not just become a dominant force overnight.

Im not ruling out doping, but if he is, he is not alone, then I also believe Pog is, among others. - But with netflix crews running around, and more control during the “offseason” I will give JV the benefit of the doubt.

Don’t think we would hear this, if Pog had done it.

With regards to saving energy, I am just repeating what JV has said to Danish TV, when asked why he hasn’t attacked
more.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Not to mention beating Van Aert, probably the best all around rider in the world and on a hilly time trial the best of the big men, by nearly 3 minutes. No previous elite TT performances outside of the tour for Jonas. Taking time off of the best time trialists in the world on the flats despite being maybe 60 kilos...

Was really enjoying this tour and Pogacar while a freak is at least in the realm of plausible. Vingegaard today was channeling the spirits (and maybe a lot more) of Riis and Rasmussen.

WVA has even said himself JV is better at these stages than he is - JV even gave the TT to WVA in 22, again, confirmed by Wout himself.

Also, isn’t JVs watts per Kilo one of, if not the best in the world?

 

[Vasilevskiy]

As far as my understanding goes, that is not how performance enhancers work - He would not just become a dominant force overnight.

Im not ruling out doping, but if he is, he is not alone, then I also believe Pog is, among others. - But with netflix crews running around, and more control during the “offseason” I will give JV the benefit of the doubt.

Don’t think we would hear this, if Pog had done it.

With regards to saving energy, I am just repeating what JV has said to Danish TV, when asked why he hasn’t attacked
more.

Depends what they are taking and how they are taking it.
In any case, they all have stuff, Pogi included of course, this is elite sports we are talking, none of them are clean

However this performance is something truly historic, and in an era where we are seeing records normally being broken, this performance is even more extraordinary, and with the history of the sport and recent years I tend to believe that Jumbo has something better than the rest of peloton. Let's not forget that JV is only one of their incredible bunch of riders. Laporte became a monster when joining Jumbo, to name one example

If Pogi had done it there would be less voices saying it, this is true.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Depends what they are taking and how they are taking it.
In any case, they all have stuff, Pogi included of course, this is elite sports we are talking, none of them are clean

However this performance is something truly historic, and in an era where we are seeing records normally being broken, this performance is even more extraordinary, and with the history of the sport and recent years I tend to believe that Jumbo has something better than the rest of peloton. Let's not forget that JV is only one of their incredible bunch of riders. Laporte became a monster when joining Jumbo, to name one example

If Pogi had done it there would be less voices saying it, this is true.

JV was taking corners and holding his lines like a pro, maybe that couple with insane prep made the difference, doped or not.

Edit: Also wen’t downhill like a madman.

 

[QuietContrarian]

To add, both JV and Pog have adressed the concerns about doping - Both said they understand the concerns, and both also said they are happy questions are being raised.

 

[Vasilevskiy]

JV was taking corners and holding his lines like a pro, maybe that couple with insane prep made the difference, doped or not.

Edit: Also wen’t downhill like a madman.

There's no doubt he took more risks, you could see it from the first two corners he already gained there a couple seconds, and in the downhill he was going faster too.

Even so, he was a minute faster than Pogaçar on a heavier, less appropiate bycicle to go uphill (just talking about the 2nd half of the ITT). We will see what happens tomorrow because normally after this kind of exhibitions some weird stuff happens and I would not be surprised if there's a hail mary from Pogi tomorrow, especially if there's bad weather.

 

[QuietContrarian]

There's no doubt he took more risks, you could see it from the first two corners he already gained there a couple seconds, and in the downhill he was going faster too.

Even so, he was a minute faster than Pogaçar on a heavier, less appropiate bycicle to go uphill (just talking about the 2nd half of the ITT). We will see what happens tomorrow because normally after this kind of exhibitions some weird stuff happens and I would not be surprised if there's a hail mary from Pogi tomorrow, especially if there's bad weather.

Also think Pog gains time tomorrow, maybe as much as a minute - Should be cooler tomorrow with some rain, suits pog well.

 

[#37]

This smells a lot like a fish market, and the stench isn't confined to the guy who used to work in one.

However, I quit rooting for the leading riders years ago because they are all somewhat dodgey. I watch because of stories like Victor Lafay and Waut Poels.