At the moment Roglic looks nailed on for TdF win to me. He and the rest of the team look massively strong. Having turned himself inside out for 4 days supporting Roglic, Sepp Kuss shows everyone the way on the last stage. Dumoulin looking very strong too.
too late to edit above: also surely JV just pulled Roglic once they saw that Ineos had pulled Bernal?
Rider safety needs to be addressed. Shocking some the crashes that have happened over the past week.
Don’t know whether Ineos are bluffing or not. But I’m not convinced that they have the cohesion they used too. They seem to be going full Movistar. Also agree with @13thfloormonk comments regarding their commitment and respect.
I don't think Ineos are bluffing just different strategies for different riders (like I said in a previous post).
As for teams forfeiting certain races for a better chance at the tour, this is the norm and has been for as long as I can remember. The tour is where all the money is. Most non-cycling fans are only aware of a couple of cycling events: the Tour de France and the Olympic track racing.
Could be a totally open Tour, maybe a year where the winner will be the most consistent rider not the best. A year where the winner doesn't win a single stage?
I think it's more likely that Ineos were knackered than bluffing. The dauphine is very much a 'B' race for them so they won't have been fresh coming in. That said, they do usually look much better this close to the tour. Perhaps not having Nico Portal behind the scenes is affecting them as well.
Either way, I think the Dauphine has left more questions than answers about the Tour. Ace.
don’t think Ineos are bluffing just different strategies for different riders
This.
Froome and G definitely looked to be training within this race - they know from past experiences that they don’t need to peak now but in about 4 weeks time - I.e. week 3 of the tour, which mean the Dauphiné is the perfect training block to build from. In contrast Roglic looked in absolute stellar form, but can he hold that for the next 4 weeks too?
There
