Well, Saturday was CROSSWINDS!, today it's COBBLES!
Beginning to wonder after yesterday if I should just write "probably a Wout van Aert stage today" and just leave it at that... 😉
[img] https://img.aso.fr/core_app/img-cycling-tdf-jpg/arrivee/39980/0:0,1200:800-1000-0-70/9697b [/img]
Anyway...
Today's stage is a short but violent one, 153.7km with the latter half of it featuring 11 cobbled sectors totaling 18km. It's likely to be a race of two halves - the first for the actual winner of the stage, the second for the GC riders to simply get through it unscathed - it was around here in the 2014 Tour that defending champion Chris Froome crashed out.
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Pan flat (as per Paris-Roubaix) and although the race finishes at Arenberg it doesn't do the famous Arenberg Trench, instead sparing the riders by finishing at the old mine building. Weather today looks dry and warm so less chance of complete chaos but possibly some nice pics of the dust flying as they charge into the [i]pave[/i] sectors.
Riders for today? The obvious one of [b]Wout van Aert[/b] although there's the chance he may have to play super-domestique to [b]Primoz Roglic[/b]. Roglic however did a semi-classic around here in mid-March as preparation for today's stage and fared pretty well.
The other "van" - [b]Mathieu van der Poel[/b] is known to be targeting this stage and there's always the possibility that [b]Tom Pidcock[/b] will be let loose for the day.
[b]Peter Sagan[/b] has shown consistency if not outright brilliance so far and he knows what it takes to win on cobbles. That said, today is over 100km shorter than Paris-Roubaix.
Today starts at 12.35 with the first cobbles coming at about 2.30pm (both UK time)
https://twitter.com/millarmind/status/1544584051574587392?t=J3qiPlMzIdx38uEFyOk0XA&s=19
David Millar and Ned Boulting out on a little recce. On thoroughly unsuitable bikes...
Gonna be fast from the flag I reckon.
Can see this being a stoater. I've MvdP in my dream team but everyone seems so good at marking him these days. Hopefully Wout is given the nod to go but how much would yesterday have taken out of him. I've Kung and Mohric who I'm hoping also have a dog.
I'm going Mvp who has been conspicuously absent so far and is obviously saving it for this stage
Looking forward to this. I think several small groups at the finish line today, all (including the first) named on the tv screen after the GC contender they contain.
Going to be watching this one.
I think the chances of a big name having a bad one today are really high
I wonder how tired MvDP is after 3weeks hooning around Italy fuelled only on pizza with pineapple and pasta and ketchup.
I wonder if MvdP has got the legs for the Tour - he did give it everything on the Giro, and that was his first full grand tour? I'd love to see a great WvA / MvdP /Pidcock battle though.. with a bit of Sagan mixed in...
WvA averaged 62km/h for the last 10.8km yesterday.....and thats after having to recover from ripping apart the others on the climb.
WvA averaged 62km/h for the last 10.8km yesterday…..and thats after having to recover from ripping apart the others on the climb.
Tailwind and slight downhill finish though which is why (or at least partly why) the bunch weren't able to go any faster than that.
If it has been a headwind finish, I think he'd have been caught.
See what he manages today!
I’ve Kung and Mohric who I’m hoping also have a dog.
Whilst I'm hoping they do have dogs, what I thought I'd typed was 'go'.
I wonder if WVA will be on baby sitting duty today? Hence the big dig yesterday. MVD is surely going to attack early to see if Wout is allowed to follow. Pidcock seems to be all in as a domestique, he is playing the part of the injured Kwiato
Definitely going to be an interesting one tactics wise, JV team look so strong though, it is almost a whole team in JV versus Podagar as an individual... but do Jumbo have too many stars and the yellow/ green jersey conflict may cause trouble..
MvdP saying he hasn't quite got the legs yet but a quick look at his bike, special paint job and cobble sections detailed on the stem suggest he might be up for it. Is he being coy about his chances.
MAgnus Cort attacking again !!!! what a loony !
MvdP to smash off the front with 60k to go and go absolutely shit or bust.
Pidcock seems to be all in as a domestique, he is playing the part of the injured Kwiato
I wouldn't be too certain about that one, given he's put in a highly respectable TT on the opening stage and been up at the front on all the subsequent stages, I can see him as being a back up for when G inevitably crashes
Geraint isn't too bad at riding the cobbles.
Come on Taco VdH I need some points in my velogames, currently sitting bottom on the STW game.
It's been quick so far today, over 50kph average!
Hilarious that Magnus Cort is in the break again - is he going for overall Combativity Award?!
Holy shit, WvA down!
Team-mate clipped the central reservation and took him down.
He's back up and riding...
looked like he went down quite hard.
Are the peloton actually going to ease up and wait for him?! Approaching the first cobbled sector, positioning critical and the leader out the back....?!
commissaires are not going to be happy, bloody close
Looks like he is trying to play bumper cars.
Will he get pinged for drafting the team car?
Peloton are speeding up if anything. Time gap to the front dropping slightly to the peloton, but not from front to yellow Jersey
Will he get pinged for drafting the team car?
Almost certainly but whether it'll be financial or a time penalty as well, I'm not sure.
Edit - he's back in the peloton
mental pace
Sagan crashed now! Just went into the corner too hot and slid out.
Back up immediately but right at the back.
Pog second wheel in the peleton !
I think 2nd or 3rd place to be, just with nose out of the window, but as near the front as possible.
I'd like to see Magnus Cort do well today, purely for the entertainment value he's given us since start
amazing shot!
MvdP spat out... that was an awesome shot with all the dust behind the cars...
MvdP out the back
MvdP dropped.
Blowing to pieces now, this is insanely fast. Some epic photography too with the dust clouds!
Vingegarrd mechanical
Vinegard needed a new bike too, going to be hard to get back
Ben O'connor stuffed. This is brutal
Pog is a class rider!
Vinegard needed a new bike too, going to be hard to get back
PMSL at the Jumbo bike changes and them all ending up on bikes the wrong size! Looked like a game of musical chairs - all get off and swap bikes.
WvA going to lose the yellow today
Bora are really piling it on now!
WvA falling back to do domestique duties.. not often you see a yellow jersey do that..
now that's domestique.... going back to help out and likely losing a yellow jersey... wow.
Don't know why but i have a feeling something big is going to happen in the next sector.
