Morning all, TT day today, possibly the first big GC day of the tour. CycleStages, what's going on?
Stage 13 on the Tour de France is an out-and-back ITT in Pau. It is the only chance for time trialists to shine this edition. The distance is limited though - only 27.2 kilometres.
Pau and La Grande Boucle belong to each other like a dog to its boss. It is the most visited location in Tour de France history. In the past nine editions, the race visited the town in the Pyrenees foothills nine times. The last two arrivals both boiled down to a bunch sprint with Arnaud Démare (2018) and Marcel Kittel (2017) storming to victory.
No bunch sprint this time though. The Tour de France serves its only ITT on a course of 27.2 kilometres that’s characterized by a number of gently rolling uphills, while the more punchy Côte d’Esquillot is the biggest hurdle. The 1.1 kilometres ramp slopes at almost 8%. The Esquillot may be the biggest hurdle, the finale holds a steep surprise up its sleeves. In the last few hundred metres the riders hit a 17% ramp. Short but hard, especially since the kick up begins right after a tight turn onto the Rue Mulot and the speed will be relatively low.
Pau was home to an ITT on the Tour de France only once. In 1981, Bernard Hinault took the 6th stage and the yellow jersey in a race against the clock. He retained in yellow all the way to Paris.
Intermediate time checks are at kilometre 7.1 (after a rolling uphill), at kilometre 15.5 (atop the Esquillot), and at kilometre 21.9 (in the vineyards of Jurançon).
The profile?
Who's in the mix? Inrng?
The Contenders: Wout van Aert won the time trial in the Critérium du Dauphiné and by some margin. Jumbo-Visma have had a great Tour so far and he’s a contender to win again today but how tired is he, he’s never done a stage race this long and race over mountains yesterday that aren’t his thing. Tony Martin used to be a certain pick but a reminder that he hasn’t won a World Tour level time trial since 2015.
Geraint Thomas is one of several contenders from Team Ineos. We’ve only had glimpses at his form so far, be it his jump atop the Planche des Belles Filles or chasing back to the peloton on the stage to Saint-Etienne but each time he’s looked convincing to the point where he should take time on GC rivals today and also has a shot at the stage win. It’ll depend on tactics and ambition but Michał Kwiatkowski could also have a shot today.
Of the other GC contenders perhaps only Richie Porte has the pedigree to win the stage today, this seems unlikely as his form’s still in doubt but this is his day to move up the GC.
Deceuninck-Quickstep have three goes to today in Yves Lampaert, Kasper Asgreen and Julian Alaphilippe. Lampaert is strong but his challenge is the hilly, technical first half while Asgreen’s was second to Lampaert in the Tour de Suisse TT in Goms but has been toiling all week. Alaphilippe’s won time trials before and be roared on by the crowds.
Now for a few outside specialists. Movistar’s Nelson Oliveira has won some time trials before but never at this level. Mitchelton-Scott’s Luke Durbridge could try but will Durbo want to deploy the turbo or his he 100% in for Adam Yates. Katusha-Alpecin’s Alex Dowsett is an infrequent winner but seems in good form and Nils Politt almost won in Paris-Nice but both could find the first part of the course ruinous. Groupama-FDJ’s Stefan Küng is also a big rider who could find the course too hilly. Team Sunweb have two picks in Giro TT stage winner Chag Haga and Søren Kragh Andersen ahead of Wilco Kelderman.
Yesterday?
Rohan Dennis out? - 😵
I'll go with Thomas second and Kwiatkowski on the top step.
Hmm..
Groenewegen Or Van Aert, with Ineos filling the top 5.
Thats about it.
Another dull stage.
Them Yates lad really need to change their eye wear, it looks poor.
Why is Dennis out?
No idea who'll win, but this ITT is interesting more to see how it shuffles the GC contenders heading into the next 2 mountain days with summit finishes, and who will - or will not - be keeping a good balance between not losing too much time and keeping plenty in the tank. I'd expect key mountain domestiques who are not GC contenders to be not trying too hard. Pressure is on Alaphilippe as he has the pressure of the yellow jersey and will be more likely to go all out today, which would risk his mountain performance.
Still, ITTs are never as interesting, and for me it's better to watch the highlights 🙂
Tough to judge. G is the obvious pick but there's a huge day in store tomorrow and I'm not sure he'll want to empty the tank before it. I suspect the rest of Ineos will also take it easy.
Van Aert isn't a bad shout, Tony Marton maybe?
Hope Alex Dowsett does well - 6-times national champion and he'll be emptying the tank for a certainty, riding like the there is no tomorrow, fk the Tourmalet.
Isolated TT he'd be in the mix for sure, but he's not all that seasoned a GT rider so mid-tour it's a different game I guess.
@mt - no idea about Rohan Dennis. From the post-ride interviews yesterday neither has his team manager. Nothing physical apparently, he just stopped and got off his bike.
(A bit) more here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/49039055
Suggestion in some reports is he has strugled mentally recently... hopefully he is ok
Lad ITK on another forum reckoned it was more of a toys pram based issue, been arguing with the team over TT equipment for a while, wanted to go in the break yesterday and was told to chill etc.
tbh if he's had to pull out to get his head together then that is much more serious, but a very good reason for stopping. If he's just rage-quit then that is something he'll regret. I guess the most likely thing is that it is a bit of both - hope he is OK like you say.
Them Yates lad really need to change their eye wear, it looks poor.
Their helmets are odd too, especially the TT ones.
TT is usually really dull to watch but with Rohan Dennis out, it's actually opened things up a bit more.
Hopefully a good showing from Dowsett in his National Champs stripes and from Thomas.
sponsor kit, not the best looking stuff but if it works who gives a shit they don't wear it on the podium 😀 , don't think they are complaining about the bikes.
Tony Martin "soft pedaling" round, what is with these TT specialists ?
WvA out - big crash looks to be out of the tour as well 🙁
🙁🙁🙁🙁🙁
Didn’t look happy did he..😵
That crash of WvA looked nasty. Still on the deck.
What happened?
What happened?
got caught up on a barrier at high speed and went down hard. No spectators involved, just seemed to catch the barrier.
ooof
Sharp RH bend near the end. Looks like he caught the inside barrier on the crown of the bend, no spectators there so not someone leaning out to catch a glimpse, not sure if he caught his shoulder or pedal.
Someone tweeted (then deleted) a close up - his knee jammed in a gap in the barrier.
'career ending' might not be over stating the extent of the injury to his leg
How Alex Dowsett continues to get WT contracts absolutely amazes me!
Very nasty for WvA.....read that he may have a nasty puncture wound on Twitter.
he may have a nasty puncture wound
it could be bone sticking out from what I saw 🙁
Sagan!!!!
How Alex Dowsett continues to get WT contracts absolutely amazes me!
He's a domestqiue with a good engine.
Solid TTer, useful for a TTT, very good leadout man for the early part of it, good engine to chase breaks.
it could be bone sticking out from what I saw 🙁
That's what I was wondering. It looked like they were trying to keep him covered - from cameras I guess 🙁
I get that he's an absolute monster engine. But he hardly ever even rides! This is only his fourth ever GT and he didn't finish in one of his others!
From guardian
3m ago
15:31
Wout van Aert update: “ Belgian TV talked to Van Aert’s girlfriend,” writes Franky Vlaeminck. “Apparently no broken bones but a deep cut in the upper thigh is the worry.”
Some pics of a VERY nasty flesh wound on WVA's thigh, huge gash. Hope that's all it is.
His team are suggesting no broken bones too. That rider Schachmann does not look in good shape (both literally and figuratively) collarbone?
It wasn’t a fast corner, he’d dropped from a flat’ish section into the corner and clipped the barriers..
Looked quite a simple corner, about 90deg, but caught the barrier mid bend and came down.
Hope he heals well, without complications 😘😘🥇
I read that his thigh was literally cut to the bone on the barrier.
Tony Martin was about 6.5 minutes down on de Gendt at the finish. I'm thinking that Thomas will beat de Gendt but unless he has the ride of his life he'll probably not quite go fast enough to put Martin outside the time limit. How crazy would it be if he did though!
Tony Martin was about 6.5 minutes down on de Gendt
That is a man who was soft pedaling all the way round.
I read that his thigh was literally cut to the bone on the barrier.
Could be, either way it was nasty.
🤐🤒🙏
That is a man who was soft pedaling all the way round.
There's rules about that - not trying hard enough, disrespecting the sport etc. Be interesting to know his reasoning behind just cruising around.
I cannot fathom the rationale of Bardet in changing bikes on such a short TT! He didnt even seem to be switching with any urgency!
I know that Martin was soft pedalling, just wondering if he misjudged just how easy he could take it?
G and Alaphillipe are flying!
Bardet, oh dear.
Adam Yates has had a poor one really.
Did he just take nearly 10 seconds out of Thomas in the last km?!?!
****ing WOW!
Now we have a race!
What a ride by JA. Amazing.
Amazing !!!!!!
Shitting buggers! 😳
It's rare that a TT is such great viewing. Such an awesome ride
Did he just take nearly 10 seconds out of Thomas in the last km?!?!
Thomas looked quite ragged towards the end, and wasn't that quick up the ramp where as Alaphillipe was almost overshooting the corner at the top...
Now we have a real GC race, great for the sport to see Team Sky's mega bucks buying the top riders and top technology possibly not buying the championship.
Great performance by Alaphillipe!
Looked fresh as a daisy (comparatively) at the end too.
I can't see him winning it but that was really bloody good. Maybe if he can live with the climbers and Quick Step can shut everything down Ineos style it'd be his!
It was scary how fresh Ala looked at the end
Was on the phone at the time but ... did I see Alaphilippe pull a broadside skid after the line?
splendid
I guess his hope is he sits on Thomas, let other teams do the attacking and let Deepwater Horizon do the chasing.
Holy shit balls batman just seen the result. Team Fracking are going to need to attack him now, not sure he has the team to survive but he appears to have the legs currently!!
Hmmmmm... extraordinary performance! 🤔
https://mobile.twitter.com/LaurentVignasse/status/1152260612560424961
Check out how fast he was going with 400m to go 😳
I would love to know how much power he was putting out as he climbed that last ramp. He was absolutely smashing it.
Also..did I see sagan pull a wheelie up a 17% incline, on a tt bike, one handed, and still come home within 2 min of the winner??!
the skid at the end was class. Pierron-esque.
Don't think I've ever seen someone win a TT with panache before.
He deserves to win the Tour with a performance like that.
Update on WvA, he’s been in hospital and had the wound cleaned and stitched and will be in hospital for the next few days.
(source: JVroad insta vlog)
No more details on the wound, just that he’s comfortable.
Get well soon Wout!
👍🥇
Julan A. Amazing talent.
Just have to hope alaphillipe hasn't gone all in on the tt and won't blow up tomorrow in the big mountains
grahamt1980
Just have to hope alaphillipe hasn’t gone all in on the tt and won’t blow up tomorrow in the big mountains
This. Can't help but assume that Ineos were giving G the timechecks and told him not to knock himself out in the TT - just 'sit on' and let JA destroy his legs for the stage win so they can hit him tomorrow.
Much as I like G, can't help but hope that JA holds on for as long as possible.
So, all of a sudden he's taking 14 seconds out of one of the best TT riders around?
If anyone else did it, there'd be questions asked...
Juiced
Phenomenal to watch though
To be fair CFH, he’s had a few decent TTs this year and he seemed to get most of the time on that last little climb at the end - something he’s better at than Gee T is.
Hopefully.
True, igm, but I'd say that TT performance (and how fresh he looked afterwards) was atypical.
I bloody well hope he isn't, but if a Skyneos rider had put in such a performance, there'd be questions asked and booing from the barriers.
CFH - please be wrong. Although he does kind of remind me of Pantani in a way.
JA put 18 seconds into GT on an 11k TT in April - but was GT trying?
JA’s CdD TT in June less impressive - still 7th but shipped a minute.
But if I were in yellow and thought I had half a chance (two things that won’t happen) I’d ride out of my skin. Even if I knew it was a last hurrah (a French hurrah obviously)
Juiced
Sauce?
Juiced
Phenomenal to watch though
No.1 ranked cyclist in the world by a long way, in the form of his life puts in a fabulous performance!!! Who would think its possible 🙄🙄
https://www.procyclingstats.com/rankings/me/pcs/individual
I was just waiting for the usual suspects to come up with the doping bollocks, and this thread to sink into the mire. Maybe he is, but untill some "actuall evidence" comes up why not enjoy his performances for what they are, pure brilliance.
FFS this place just stinks sometime 🙁🙁🙁🙁
The bigger story is that Thomas has put so much time into Egan Bernal. So the team will now unite around Thomas to win. Thomas is in a much stronger position than he was. He is part of a team that knows how to win stage races whilst JA has expended too much energy in the first part to be a contender in the second part.
@taxi25, I’m somewhat surprised by your reaction given the sports’ dalliance with ‘helpers’ for a number of generations... Rose tinted Oakley’s?
It is now my first thought when seeing an extraordinary individual performance, I’ll still watch and take an above average interest in the sport, but I have a healthy spoonful of reality with me when I do.
I'm ok with how he's done in that context, it's not like he's come from nowhere is it? He's been a contender for ages. I still think the big hills will find him out.
I reckon he'll scrape today in yellow after losing a minute to Thomas and the others in GC.
He's already shown a strong ability to put time into world class rivals on similar parcours and is the number one ranked rider in the world and a classics winner, realistically he may well have thought there's little to conserve his energy for, unlike some of the other riders, given that he said his team aren't strong enough for him to win the tour. So an above average tt'er to start off with, the worlds number one, a relatively short tt on a course that suits him, in yellow, with a crowd screaming for him to win on possibly his last day to really shine in yellow. If he starts battering his rivals in yellow in the high mountains I'd be more concerned.
It is now my first thought when seeing an extraordinary individual performance, I’ll still watch and take an above average interest in the sport, but I have a healthy spoonful of reality with me when I do
Was it extraordinary or just very, very good? He was 14 sec (0.66%) faster than Thomas and 36 sec (1.7%) faster than De Gendt. One thing for sure, he's attacking each stage very hard, even harder than Yates in last year's Giro. Look what happened there in the third week.
As for your "spoonful of reality", some of us would call that a "spoonful of cynicism".