“I’ll say to the people who don’t believe, the cynics and the sceptics: I’m sorry for you. I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles.“

I can’t recall it ever happening and realise it’s totally against precedent…but with such a strong team could JV attack on the final stage. Wait for the moment when the Champers starts chinking, Pog a few sips down then BAM…Team Time Trial off the front Martin, Dumoulin, WVA may just have the firepower to hold off a chasing Peleton. Can’t see UAE reeling them in so it depends how much the sprinters teams want the stage…which they will, a lot. It probably won’t happen, but if it did that’ll end one of the best Tours in a long time…uncanny given the circumstances.

JV just lost over €400k today and that’s not even considering the potential loss of sponsorship. Ouch.

but with such a strong team could JV attack on the final stage.

Nope as he’s a minute down. I did wonder what would have happened if the gap had been a couple of seconds however.

You can accuse roglic of choking, but he still came fifth in the stage. Imo pog won it more than rog lost it. That ride was phenomenal. Would be Interested to see the power he put out for that hours worth of effort. Must be 450 odd watts..

Would be Interested to see the power he put out for that hours worth of effort. Must be 450 odd watts

6.9w/kg for the last 16 minutes

Did not see that coming

It has been brewing for at least the past week. Pogacar has looked stronger on every mountain stage.

Ritchie on the podium is my hilight. A retirement back at Sky/Ineos towing GC riders, followed by a DS position in the car.

I reckon Richie is the best GC rider never to win a GT.

Would be Interested to see the power he put out for that hours worth of effort. Must be 450 odd watts

6.9w/kg for the last 16 minutes

Good guess, he’s 66kg so thats 460w.   And in the press already, is an examination of stage 8, where his numbers and attack are very much the same – a pretty high pull on the flat section, then sitting at 6.7wkg.

Did they plan this… its seems as though Stage 8 may have been a practise of what was to come.  Look familiar?

“The post-attack moment is where the Slovenian really did the damage. This section lasted 10 minutes and 25 seconds, throughout which the power was essentially a time trial effort, a very linear execution of 447 watts (6.77 W/kg). “

“I’ll say to the people who don’t believe, the cynics and the sceptics: I’m sorry for you. I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles.“

OOF!

but with such a strong team could JV attack on the final stage. Wait for the moment when the Champers starts chinking, Pog a few sips down then BAM…Team Time Trial off the front

In a word….no

but with such a strong team could JV attack on the final stage. Wait for the moment when the Champers starts chinking, Pog a few sips down then BAM…Team Time Trial off the front

I’d never get away. It isn’t just UAE that would chase, every team with a sprinter would too. And I suspect even teams without would contribute.

I’ve said on these threads before, the last stage is a pan flat sprint stage. It may be a procession, but even if it wasn’t it’s still all come together, it’s just be another day when the break doesn’t stick.

**** me. That was astonishing

What a ride

He gets 3 out of 4 jerseys too I think

I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles

Where was the miracle?

I watched till Rog left the gate then decided that it was a TT and they are always dull, the race was a forgone conclusion and went for a long walk with my mate and his dog.

FFS. I am an idiot.

FFS. I am an idiot.

yeah you missed Brad Calling it midway for Roglic based on his and Pogacar’s cadence.

Lol that was funny, what about when he was telling us how professional Roglic was warming up and Pogacar was mostly messing about with his fashion sunglasses on.

Miller called it fairly early, said the Roglic wasn’t looking comfortable and that he seemed to be trying too hard.

Looks like the ketones don’t work 😀

I thought it would be close but Roglic’s collapse was a shock. Pogacar has looked stronger all week so maybe it was inevitable. As a Dumoulin, Kuss and WvA superfan I’m more gutted for the team than the leader. Collective mastery foiled by individual vulnerability.

Apparently he rode that climb solo faster than a full Sky train. With a bike change.

Having smoked full bore TT specialists like of Dumoulin on the flat(ter) earlier parts of the course.

Right.

Nothing to see here.

Obviously he didnt have the previous 150km beforehand though…

yeah you missed Brad Calling it midway for Roglic based on his and Pogacar’s cadence.

Yeah – I know he used to be quite good at sustained efforts but spouting utter shite continuously for that length of time, possibly on a single breath. Remarkable. Performance of the day for me

@flash – let’s face it, they’re all off their tits, innit

Two points…..firstly:

EVERY year there is always a “what if they do a TTT effort off the front” post with regards to the final stage. 😳 It’s never ever ever happening!!! It just isn’t. It didn’t with a gap of a handful of seconds and it won’t with a near minute gap.

Secondly, for those quoting Armstrong (I’m a skeptical as the next man). Given that at best, Pogacar has looked marginally better than Roglic overall, and at times even looked like he was struggling to hang on (Maribel stage) Are we saying that he just doped to the gills last night then in order to win the TT by such a margin? Does doping work that way? I was under the impression that it was a much longer term undertaking? Especially in the era of the biological passport.

Are we saying that he just doped to the gills last night then in order to win the TT by such a margin? Does doping work that way?

Who truly knows.
Unless he got a bag’o’blood overnight, maybe, but then surely haematocrit is part of the daily testing (though he’s not been race leader and hadn’t taken a stage for 4-5 days, unless they test KoM/white as well as overall every day)

And it’s defintely true that PART of today was Roglic cracking.

I know he used to be quite good at sustained efforts but spouting utter shite continuously for that length of time, possibly on a single breath. Remarkable. Performance of the day for me

I thought he sounds particularly wheezy during his little insights especially today, perhaps a special package got lost in the post.

The biological passport should map an athlete across a large period of time (much larger than a 3 week GT) so any doping big enough to see him all of a sudden put over a minute into the next best at a GT should show up pretty obviously.

Just seen the alleged 6.9 watts per kg for the last 16 minutes. That does unfortunately put him in the Armstrong/ 2009 Contador ‘level’ 😳

It’s all part of being a cycling fan I guess…..you can’t argue against it being an awesome sporting spectacle I guess.

The colour of Roglic’s face as he crossed the line. Looked like a corpse fished out of a canal.

Considering I picked Pogacar as a possible podium before the tour started I am feeling a bit pleased with myself now. Mind you I didn’t expect him to actually win the whole thing! What a ride…..and still 21 just I think. What sort of future awaits this man. You are only supposed to get in your prime in your late 20s!

Apparently he rode that climb solo faster than a full Sky train

Obviously he didnt have the previous 150km beforehand though…

The speed they rode the climb at was hardly in major slipstreaming benefit territory either, and the Sky train only rode at the pace the train and their leader could sustain, not necessarily as fast as they could.

As a long time follower of course your instinct is ‘Really?’ and maybe I’m trying to believe, but I can see reasons why it was possible as well as why not.

Had to watch that ride again. Pogacar climbed exactly as he has on every stage. He’s basically stamped on those pedals in a medium metronomic cadence on every stage. The power part is ridiculously impressive, but the overall margin is 2.3% for speed – about 5-6% for power, and the climbing margin will be higher. I suspect Roglic was the unwell. He overcooked the flat to hang on well, and had nothing for the climb.

I expect The Clinic (Cycling news forum) is in meltdown.

I can’t recall it ever happening and realise it’s totally against precedent…but with such a strong team could JV attack on the final stage.

Virtually impossible. Unless there was a mechanical or crash of course. But even if they could and did, I suspect they would be crucified afterwards. Possibly actually crucified on the podium in front of baying crowds and set fire to, before returning the Jersey to Pogacar.

with such a strong team could JV attack on the final stage.

Not a chance. There is a reason why the ITT is not held in Paris any more. Anyway, every sprinting team would just chase them down. How strong do you think JV really are after yesterday’s efforts against the rest of the peloton?

Sub 10 seconds and there may have been a discussion within the teams due to time bonuses on the line. but a minute is a proper loss.

Final climbing times (unofficial) pic.twitter.com/nWCzCCitru

— Velofacts (@velofacts) September 19, 2020

Carapaz going easy on the flat (+8 mins overall) but full gas on the climb for the KOM points he needed. Richie Porte 50 seconds quicker just on the climb despite having to attack the whole thing for GC. Pretty good effort for a 35-year-old.

I had a bit of inside information from his DS that Pogacar was super strong and was likely to win the time trial. Roglic on top form would have been much closer but he had a bad day. You’ve also got to take into account all the pressure on Roglic. You could see him quite relaxed at the start staying seated and spinning in a high cadence. As soon as he started getting time checks over his radio ear piece telling him he was losing time he started trying too hard. Pushing too big a gear and pedalling squares. The bike changes were interesting Roglic was thrown in the road Pogacar placed his leaning against the team car.

Just wander whether headlines in 2023 will read “Porte named winner of 2020 TDF”?

Roglic looked awful at the end, elbows out, hunched over the bike, but I do feel a lot of the reason he looked so ragged was the body language of desperation, knowing what he was about to lose. It wasn’t his best performance yet neither was it THAT bad. On another day it might still have been enough to win. Pogacar however was phenomenal – he very much won The Tour as opposed to Roglic using it.

still 21 just I think. What sort of future awaits this man. You are only supposed to get in your prime in your late 20s!

I agree, but remember that those precise words were used about Bernal last year.

Bernal was apparently suffering heavily from the back injury that caused him to pull out from Dauphine. Plenty of time for him yet.

Richie Porte 50 seconds quicker just on the climb despite having to attack the whole thing for GC. Pretty good effort for a 35-year-old.

ride of his career

Apparently he rode that climb solo faster than a full Sky train. With a bike change.

Having smoked full bore TT specialists like of Dumoulin on the flat(ter) earlier parts of the course.

Right.

Nothing to see here.

C’mon.

The boy has a great engine, he’s probably just lost a little weight y’know…

Wonder how is asthma is com8n on?