Pro-cycling thread

Is that on today’s stage?

Despondent. I'm very despondent. I don't even want to eat my jam croissant. I will, but I will do it glumly.

What an anticlimax this stands to be for THE BEST TOUR IN YEARS.

Totally within the remit. Unless Bernal turns out to be a walking juice bar, in which case this will be delayed until the tests come back from WADA.

Would have been, but the Roselend was taken out due to that landslide. This is the updated profile which may or may not get ridden depending on the weather:
https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-de-france/2019/stage-20/today/situation

The Roselend has sightly traumatic memories for me - I got up it OK, then we had some snow issues...

Full gas racing!

Wellens vs Bardet
Alaphilippe vs Thomas
Quintana vs Movistar

Post of this year's TdF. Excellent

It's a shame for whoever does win it.

It will always be the tour with an asterisk (not that kind) where the commentators say "of course, we'll never know what might have happened, if..."

Probably why Brailsford was so keen to emphasise that Bernal deserved his "win" yesterday and that it wasn't down to fortune.

If the stage goes ahead, all Phillip TTs it all the way, drops Bernal and makes up that 48 seconds I don't think anyone would say that.

And then crawls all the way to Paris at 30km/hr on Sunday

Well, Quintana won a similarly short stage a couple of years ago but he didn't seem to have the legs yesterday so don't know if it's going to wash.

Would be great to see Gaudu pick up the mantle and win a stage for Pinot...

Get in!

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Unfortunately the 14 second margin in the ITT when he was less tired doesn't bode well for that, so maybe I need to add Bernal puncturing into the narrative?

Still gutted for Pinot, if he had stayed fit I think he would have matched Bernal. I read somewhere that his team were so concerned about his tendency to get sick the soigneurs were wiping everything with anti-bacterial...wipes. And boom he gets a muscle tear.

And now even this stage might be cancelled. What a sorry end to the race.

Thank God for that.

What time does the actual racing start today?

130uk

I'm really really hoping Alaphillipe focusses on 'becoming' a GC rider now. And slays everyone next year (with a flail) in his loveable French swashbuckling style.

🤲🙏🙌

When he gets out the saddle on the climbs there's echoes of Contador, but doesn't seem to have the extra kick (or blood cells) of the infamous steak water...

Looks like they took a quote from Alan for the title of ITV4's coverage today

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Publicity caravan cancelled. No freebies for the youf.

Yeah, it's the aggression. It's beautiful. It's just those longer climbs. He'll almost need to change (suppress) his style a little bit just for those epic mountains.

Looking at DQS's team for next two years, they are actually starting to build a little GC team. James Knox, Remco Evenpoel, Kasper Asgreen doing a Luke Rowe type job. Shame they look like losing Enric Mas, but one or two good signings - in the Poels or Castroviejo style - could make them really strong for GC.

Rumours of Rohan Dennis to CCC to work with Ochowitz again...

Alaphilippe has more kick, but fewer blood cells I think.

Next year, expect the Tour de France to be 21 stages of attritional stages finished by hill sprints, with a couple of TT designed for Alaphillipe.

Of course, MVdP will suddenly decide to take part and win the yellow jersey by 11 minutes.

Yeah I dunno... Was going to say that if he had that genuine GC edge he'd have been at it before now with obvious comparison is with Voekler who has a few dynamic seasons as the plucky underdog at a slightly suspect Europcar and wore yellow for 10(?) Stages. But on reflection if a dedicated mountain train a la Sky can turn Wiggins and Thomas into a GC rider so why not Alaphillipe who has a good TT in him too. I don't really see that being Quickstep though, their bread and butter is playing to a home crowd at the classics.

Giant > merida?