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Fattest BQ on record--- *allegedly
2016 (and last) Rev3 Cedar Point champ- don't google the time though
Fattest BQ on record--- *allegedly
2016 (and last) Rev3 Cedar Point champ- don't google the time though
Phinney crashed on one of the early descents in the stage and hit a tree. He broke his nose and the Tour’s doctor had to re-set it out on the road. Phinney was allowed to continue and soldiered on.
At the Dauphine, Thomas averaged over 50 km/h over 6.6 km and lost only 20 seconds to Kwitkowski despite this happening:
(Funny how similar this wipe-out is to Froome's Giro TT crash...)
This has been a good Tour so far, Fantasy aside. It would have been amazing had Nibali and Uran hung around, but a bit of attrition at the top is part of the game at this event. The Bahrain squad looked like they would have been solid in the hills. (Damn, imagine Nibbles and Roglic taking that downhill today...)
Lotto was the revelation for me. I had high hopes for Roglic and he did not disappoint. Kruijswijk carried his good form from Switzerland through to the Tour. They offered a stronger one-two than Movistar. The Roglic-Bernal showdown at the 2020 Tour is going to be amazing. And they brought a sprinter to the Tour, so they take home a couple additional wins along with a possible podium.
I'm also impressed with Dumoulin. He lost a road captain in Matthews early, and with all due credit to Geschke (a vegan!), this is not Sunweb's strongest squad. Add Oomen and Kelderman to the mix, assuming they can learn to grind, and that's a badass squad for the hills. I'm not sure it matters though. The guy just rides comfortably in his zone. He can follow the Sky train and when he feels good he takes a dig. When they take off on him, he puts his head down and raises his watts by the minimum number it will take to catch them before the finish line. I'm sure he would appreciate having a lieutenant to fetch him water and help him if he flats, but he has managed just fine so far.
Curious to see what happens tomorrow, before Demare's win in Paris. Side note: This will be the lowest number of finishers since 2008 when Astana was excluded just before the race started, and Sastre won the Tour on a breakaway up the Alpe d'Huez.
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Overall GC
Six Sky riders in the top 25 of the last TT, including positions 2-3-4, with the lowest of the six being Bernal who was on the same time as Majka and Bardet despite being just 21 years old and a climber. New. York. Yankees. Want to win the Tour de France? Find a sponsor with unlimited resources.
(Landa rumoured to be headed back to Astana next year. Hope he signed his papers before losing 3:11 in the TT today. I don't expect him to be within 30 seconds of the specialists, but this was hardly a flat course, and he gave up a bucket of time to Bardet. How much better is the Argon 18 than the Canyon?)
So does GT go for the Grand Slam now? He hasn't raced all that much this year. The Vuelta is a climber's paradise, with 9 hilltop finishes, an 8k TT , and a 32k TT. The World Championship's course is in Innsbruck, so it's not one for the sprinters, either. You can bet Nibali is eyeing that. Lots of options...
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W
The chart shows the GC standings of the top-5 over the three weeks. As you can see the others fell away from Thomas quickly, Chris Froome lost 51 seconds on the opening day; Primož Roglič and Steven Kruijswijk suffered in the team time trial and then Tom Dumoulin’s losses add up on Stage 6 at Mûr-de-Bretagne. Dumoulin rode into Romain Bardet just before the crucial finish at Mûr-de-Bretagne, forcing him to stop for a new wheel and chase back, this cost him 53 seconds plus a 20 second time penalty for a blatant draft behind the car. This accounts for two thirds of Dumoulin’s time losses to Thomas, then come 30 seconds in time bonuses taken by Thomas, against 12 for Dumoulin, the net 18 seconds equate to one fifth of the lead to leave just 17 seconds in straight racing of which the 20 second gap between Thomas and Dumoulin at La Rosière was the biggest gap between them. It’s a marked change from recent editions where we’ve seen riders more or less match each other until a time trial stage when suddenly they fall away from Froome. Here the lesson here isn’t one of addition and subtraction, more one of equality between the first two. Thomas looked the strongest and the most assured, he even never had to attack.
And more from INRNG - How the 2018 Tour was Won
Cyclocosm's 2018 Video Recap - How the Race Was Won
"Geraint Thomas wins Tour de France: What does victory mean for Team Sky?"
Fattest BQ on record--- *allegedly
2016 (and last) Rev3 Cedar Point champ- don't google the time though
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