2021 PRO thread

[flying]

Wow Wout

That is a incredible win given his previous days work
Overall just super impressive

As for Cav & the record...Personally I rather like seeing him share it with EM rather than see Merckx lose it

Lastly it did not go unnoticed that it was a Belgian that saved Merckx's record

[ave]

He had no chance today, wasn't even boxed in, like some think.

Did you even watch the overhead?

Yes. What do you see? I see a clear path to at least 2nd place...

[ave]

By the way, did anybody saw the full sprint footage from the moto on the other side of the barriers?
Usually that's a very good angle, but they didn't show it in replay.

[Dan Gerous]

Very glad he didn't take the record..

Don't forget Wva was saving his legs for the first two weeks and not nearly as aggressive in sprints. He could of easily cut Cav off on his wins.

Wait whaaaaaat? Have you watched the race at all? Wout worked a lot more than Cav in those two weeks, going hard to try to get yellow until well into the Alps, then helping Vingegaard, going in breaks... oh and he was saving his legs in that double Ventoux stage? He only contested a sprint or two in those two weeks but saving his legs he did not!

[sychen]

Very glad he didn't take the record..

Don't forget Wva was saving his legs for the first two weeks and not nearly as aggressive in sprints. He could of easily cut Cav off on his wins.

Wait whaaaaaat? Have you watched the race at all? Wout worked a lot more than Cav in those two weeks, going hard to try to get yellow until well into the Alps, then helping Vingegaard, going in breaks... oh and he was saving his legs in that double Ventoux stage? He only contested a sprint or two in those two weeks but saving his legs he did not!

You missed my point.. Wva wasn't just going for sprint wins only, Not resting his skinny arse. He wasn't doing sprints or for green every flat stage and gruppetto it in others. He could of gotten green easily with this competition this year.

His divided attention and efforts.. Could of just been used for sprint wins if he didn't go all out on TT or Ventoux or support Vinegaasrd/Roglic.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

[ichobi]

I am glad he didnt go for the green. Would have been a much less interesting rider. Who in the world won 3 types of Tour stage these days and in a single edition no less? That’s the stuff for history books.

[sychen]

I am glad he didnt go for the green. Would have been a much less interesting rider. Who in the world won 3 types of Tour stage these days and in a single edition no less? That’s the stuff for history books.

Absolutely... Never seen anyone do the triple. Amazing stuff.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

[TobinHatesYou]

So the question becomes whether he could drop ~7kg and become a GT GC contender…and whether we want that as fans.

[Hawkwood]

He had no chance today, wasn't even boxed in, like some think.

Did you even watch the overhead?

Yes. What do you see? I see a clear path to at least 2nd place...

I saw him stop pedalling momentarily as he was boxed in and then start his sprint again.

[TobinHatesYou]

100%, he had to stop his wind up and coast. That’s not a death sentence, but he clearly lost a few meters because it.

The overhead still image is from after that point.

[jlok]

The coasting / bad positioning is probably due to the derailing of the DQS train.

On the other hand, respect to JV. They did a very good job of gaining a great position from the right turn into the final straight. I'm surprised that DQS failed this.

[Karvalo]

Today I was hoping it wasn't Q/S leading the sprint out, because that's the only way cav won this year.

Lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRkPSjKmFEY

He had no chance today, wasn't even boxed in, like some think.

He was boxed in for most of the sprint. There was a moment when Philipsen swung wide that opened the door to come off Van Aert's wheel, he didn't take it and then was trapped again when Philipsen came back in.

[Karvalo]

I think the green jersey competition and sprint stages would've looked a lot different this year if we had Sam Bennett, or if Caleb Ewan, Tim Merlier, or Arnaud Demare were able to carry on to the end of the Tour on top form. If even MvdP would've stayed to the end Cav would've had more competition on sprints.

Bennet and Ewan sure, but the others? Merlier abandoned because he couldn't keep up. That's not bad luck, that is the form he had at this race. Worse for Demare, he didn't look like getting anywhere near a stage win then missed the cut. Think he was suddenly going to come good after the rest day?

I didn't say they would be shutting Cav out. I'm saying they would've been active and that would've changed the sprint points race.

They'd have increased his margin over Matthews, I guess.

[aeroisnteverything]

So the question becomes whether he could drop ~7kg and become a GT GC contender…and whether we want that as fans.

I am going with "very likely yes" and "no, thanks". GC riders are mostly pretty boring. What Wout does is highly entertaining.

[Karvalo]

So the question becomes whether he could drop ~7kg and become a GT GC contender…and whether we want that as fans.

I am going with "very likely yes" and "no, thanks". GC riders are mostly pretty boring. What Wout does is highly entertaining.