Le Tour 2020

[jonny777]

2 hours ago, Classsix T said:

The reason Sky/Ineos worked so well previously is because they worked laser focused as a team, they only shone this time once Bernal (and therefore GC) had released the remaining members from their responsibilities. 

 

Only JumboV seemed to have had an actual gameplan, the individual TT as opposed to a team TT was arguably their downfall. 

 

If Sunweb had demanded the towing of one man around France, we the audience would have been denied one of the best Tours ever imo.

 

C6T. 

 

This is my cynicism, but I wonder if Jumbo Visma took their eye off the ball once Bernal had dropped out of the race? Perhaps they thought the overall win was in the bag once their main rivals had abandoned?

 

The strange feature is that with Pinot, Alaphillippe, Bardet, and Coquard (amongst others) in the line-up at Nice, it looked as if the French might finally put up a big push for their first win in decades; and yet for various reasons they ended up with very little again. 

 

 

[Classsix T]

10 minutes ago, jonny777 said:

 

This is my cynicism, but I wonder if Jumbo Visma took their eye off the ball once Bernal had dropped out of the race? Perhaps they thought the overall win was in the bag once their main rivals had abandoned?

 

The strange feature is that with Pinot, Alaphillippe, Bardet, and Coquard (amongst others) in the line-up at Nice, it looked as if the French might finally put up a big push for their first win in decades; and yet for various reasons they ended up with very little again. 

 

 

I think you're absolutely right Jon. JumVis were all "whose this kid anyway, we got this right?"

 

What I do fear is that GC in the Premier classic of the year is automatically going to nullify any creative tactics. But I guess that's essentially what escorting one man to yellow in Paris is all about. And don't get me wrong I adore the chess match of team GC as much as watching supreme athletes and the best advert for France too! 

 

C6T. 

[Classsix T]

It occurred to me last year and this that France as a nation are as desperate for a native winner as us English are for another World Cup victory. Yearly mind you, not every four years with a pan Europe qualifier in between. 

 

And I think, to some extent hope, watching Bardet, Allaphillippe et al they'll do it before an Englishman lifts that footie trophy.

 

C6T. 

[Joseph_Pestell]

23 minutes ago, Classsix T said:

It occurred to me last year and this that France as a nation are as desperate for a native winner as us English are for another World Cup victory. Yearly mind you, not every four years with a pan Europe qualifier in between. 

 

And I think, to some extent hope, watching Bardet, Allaphillippe et al they'll do it before an Englishman lifts that footie trophy.

 

C6T. 

 

You may well be right about a Frenchman winning the Tour GC before an England football team win the World Cup.

 

I'm not at all sure that it will be any of the current generation though. The French teams don't seem strong enough and I can't see a team from another country choosing a French rider to be their leader on the Tour. There are too many better candidates.

[EddieB]

Gratuitous bumping of this thread to acknowledge this is indeed the year that the established order for the Grand Tours has been stood on its head.

 

Congratulations to Tao Geoghegan Hart, a lad from Hackney, for coming from relative obscurity to win the Giro D’Italia.

 

Meanwhile, La Vuelta shapes up towards a fascinating second and third week. 

[Butler Henderson]

Its a pity the Vuelta and the Giro do not get more coverage as IMO both are better than TdF, although this years TdF did seek to include some crazy gradients more accustom to those other Grand Tours. The absence of the TdF hype is probably more surprising with the Vuelta which has IIRC the same organisers and probably explains why the highlights are also on ITV4 rather than just Discovery Channels (Eurosport/Quest) .

Edited October 26, 2020 by Butler Henderson

[Classsix T]

1 hour ago, Butler Henderson said:

Its a pity the Vuelta and the Giro do not get more coverage as IMO both are better than TdF, although this years TdF did seek to include some crazy gradients more accustom to those other Grand Tours. The absence of the TdF hype is probably more surprising with the Vuelta which has IIRC the same organisers and probably explains why the highlights are also on ITV4 rather than Discovery Channels (Eurosport/Quest) .

I'm quietly thrilled that La Tour as the (arguably) premier cycling event of the year is still, in the UK at least, relatively ignored by big money TV interests. Three hours of watching the French countryside roll by whilst supermen pedal and Ned gets the team name wrong for the umpteenth time. Wonderful.

Like Blur before they went "commercial" and yer Mum tells you she likes the Lifepark one.

 

I can't speak for the Spanish and Italian GT's but TdF is something I've followed since Ch4 aired it, and let's not be coy, it is the prestige event for the teams and riders.

 

C6T. 

[Kylestrome]

6 hours ago, EddieB said:

Congratulations to Tao Geoghegan Hart

 

Yes indeed, but can anyone please help me with the pronunciation of his name? Having only seen it in print, I have no idea how you say it.

 

David

[Butler Henderson]

1 hour ago, Kylestrome said:

can anyone please help me with the pronunciation of his name

Tay-O Gay-gan Hart

[EddieB]

21 hours ago, Kylestrome said:

 

Yes indeed, but can anyone please help me with the pronunciation of his name? Having only seen it in print, I have no idea how you say it.

 

David

Should be ‘Art - he comes from ‘Ackney!

Edited October 27, 2020 by EddieB