Tour de France 2021 stage 10 > Albertville – Valence – Page 3 – Bike Forum

lunge · 2021-07-06T08:36:32Z

Morning folks, seems slightly odd to be looking at a relatively flat day starting in Albertville, but here we are. Lets see what's in store. The Tour de France heads south in stage 10. The race sets off from Albertville to move through the valleys of the Isère and Rhône and finish in Valence. Flat route of 190.7 kilometers. Virtually every year Albertville hosts a peloton of pro-riders. With the exception of Covid-19 year 2020 the Tour de France or Critérium du Dauphiné visited the town in the foothills of the Alps. Usually for a race into the high mountains, which is not the case in 2021. In the contrary, the riders head in southwesterly direction to finish in Valence. The only KOM points are available on the Col de Couz, which is an extended viaduct of 7.4 kilometers at 2.8%. The rest of the route is flat with some Col de Couz'ish undulations here and there. It's the fourth time that the Tour de France finishes in Valence. The first occasion was 25 years ago (Chepe González win), but in recent years the love seems to grow stronger. André Greipel sprinted to triumph in 2015, while Peter Sagan took the spoils in 2018. Charly Mottet was born in Valence. The victor in the 1988 Tour de Lombardy also won stages in all Grand Tours. Axel Domont is a currently active pro-cyclist who hails from Valence. The first three riders on the line gain time bonuses of 10, 6 and 4 seconds. WHo to look out for? The Contenders: a sprint stage but with fewer sprinters’ teams to chase now. Alpecin-Fenix are without their two fastest sprinters so Jasper Philipsen is their obvious pick but has less of a leadout to help. We know Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quickstep) can get the better of Philipsen, even when he had a royal Alpecin train. We’ll see how he’s coped with the Alps, whether they have blunted his legs or not. So far he’s passing every test, the next one is the Ventoux tomorrow in searing heat. Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic) has placed several times but often because he’s been behind and surfed the slipstreams rather than striking out on his own, it’s a big deal to come out and around the others but he’s got train to help. Jumbo-Visma’s Tour has gone off the rails but Wout van Aert can still salvage a stage win. Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) could feature but probably would prefer a howling wind today. Otherwise Cees Bol (DSM) should be close which gives him a shot. With Cavendish up for the win and in green Deceuninck will be chasing but there’s a chance for the breakaway, for example if Arkéa-Samsic and DSM send a rider up the road then they need not chase which in turn boosts the chances of staying away. But still a small chance. Not to many pics today, rest days are not that interesting.

butcher

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I also wonder what effect his green jersey comment would have? Whether deliberate or not, is he inviting the others to fight for GJ points as that’s the scraps he’s prepared to let them have, just don’t think you’re getting a look in for stages?

Or to ASO that they can take the points off him if they like, him winning stages as the GOAT is pure box office.

He's always said the same, he doesn't go full gas in intermediate sprints for fear of compromising his final sprint. His focus has always been stage wins. Don't think there's anything more to read into it than that.

Posted : 06/07/2021 7:37 pm

theotherjonv

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Here’s a question, would Bennet have performed any better? Arguably he couldn’t have done much better, but would he have won more convincingly.

Do we think Cav would beat him in a straight sprint off?

Probably not. In fact all other things equal he probably wouldn't beat most of his rivals in a straight sprint nowadays. But things aren't equal, he has the power of the wolf pack to deliver him there and that 8 man bromance has had me welling up a few times already.

Which brings me to another point. They're all pros and there's a fantastic DQS team ethic, but whether it's the WC squeezing another 200m out of dying legs, or hiding him from the wind, or towing him up a mountain to beat the cut off, DQS are giving everything for him. Bennett was already leaving the team, was starting to fall out a bit with them - would he have commanded the total devotion that Cav seems to have. Not saying they wouldn't work for him, but can you find those extra 200m of pull for someone you don't respect in the same way?

33 wins is amazing, but I think he'd be the first to say that he owes a lot of them to his lead out teams and none more so than this year.

Posted : 06/07/2021 7:50 pm

thegeneralist

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@klunk

Can we have a third indulgent, happy, bromance tinged video to watch 🙂

Posted : 06/07/2021 8:38 pm

Klunk

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nothing up yet. though there is a recap

Posted : 06/07/2021 8:49 pm

Klunk

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Posted : 06/07/2021 11:12 pm

Superficial

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ITV highlights on catchup once again a mess. Nothing up until 10pm, and at that point available on my Xbox app but not on iPad app or web. Guess I won’t be watching that, then.

Posted : 06/07/2021 11:46 pm

nbt

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it's usually repeated just after midnight on the main ITV channel, then again on ITV4 just prior to the live coverage the next day

Posted : 07/07/2021 9:32 am

Klunk

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Class is permanent

Posted : 07/07/2021 1:19 pm

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[Closed] Tour de France 2021 stage 10 > Albertville - Valence