re: Stage 17.

Yes to Woods.  He looked in control the whole way up the mountain, easily following moves, generally slotting into second.  Not only did he put those guys away, but Nibali, too.

One of these days, I'm hoping Pinot can put it together to podium again.  He always keeps races exciting.

Sometimes cycling is everything you want cycling to be. Mostly though, it's cross.

mugwump said:

re: Stage 17.

Yes to Woods.  He looked in control the whole way up the mountain, easily following moves, generally slotting into second.  Not only did he put those guys away, but Nibali, too.

One of these days, I'm hoping Pinot can put it together to podium again.  He always keeps races exciting.

Simon Clarke did some job for him 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThGA-hhJKro

Super finish!!

I know I can just wait until tomorrow and see who is wearing which jersey at the start line - but I thought I would ask this esteemed group first.

The points order now is: Roglic, Pogacar, Valverde, Quintana

Am I correct in thinking that Quintana will be in the green jersey again tomorrow ?
Roglic is overall leader - so will wear Red.
Pogacar is leading the young riders - so he should be in white.
Valverde is World champ and I think wearing the rainbow bands trumps borrowing a classification jersey ??

In theory, yeah but I think Valverde will be in green. Sagan wore green when he had the rainbow bands, so I assume Valverde will have to do the same? 

Unless Pogacar wears the points jersey and then a different young rider wears white. I’m not sure if that’s the pecking order 

Also this clip is so rad 
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B2KCYamnwqY/?igshid=1mh24tzec5kwz

RobertMullen said:

Also this clip is so rad 
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B2KCYamnwqY/?igshid=1mh24tzec5kwz

SO.MUCH.AWESOME!

MEGA HOT

@RobertMullen My guess was correct - Quintana is in Green today. You raise a great point about Sagan though, and I believe the difference is that Sagan was the actual leader of the points competition and so he was expected to wear the jersey. 

the race jersey would take priority over the world champion jersey.

Holy moly, this was supposed to be a snooze fest of a stage. Nothing like crosswinds to liven things up 

Happy for my fantasy team that PhilGil got the win , Bennett really seemed to panic in that finale 

Mark Taylor said:

Happy for my fantasy team that PhilGil got the win , Bennett really seemed to panic in that finale 

Think Bennett had little choice.  Other teams weren't going to close the gap for him and DQS had numbers.


But the question I have on my mind right now is:

Why did Dumoulin want to go to Jumbo Visma so badly?  

He's going to have to split leadership with Roglic, and Kruijswyck is no slouch either.  If he had stayed, the younger climbers were going to be a year better next year, and that's looking pretty good right now.

Sunweb had numbers, Arndt can sprint .
Also , second time Bennett has sprinted on the hoods,

Simple answer Money, Jumbo seem to have some and must of offered Dumoulin plenty of it.
I think it's clear to Kruijswyck and the team that he's not going to win the tour and listening to reports from Dutch journalists, Roglic doesn't generate much public interest with dutch fans /Jumbo supermarket customers ,secondly not guaranteed that the "leader" is always fit for the grand tour , look at Froome and Bernal both injured prior to targeted races
Dumolin was unhappy with the support he was getting at Sunweb ,who now have decided to drop their GC program altogether 

I'm not going to lie; a Froome comeback would be a hell of a story, but I think it's less & less likely as time wears on.

I Wonder what the Israel start up guys are thinking now ?

Mark Taylor said:

I Wonder what the Israel start up guys are thinking now ?

Depends what they paid..

Israel Start-Up Nation have finalised the signing of Chris Froome on a long-term deal said to be worth €15 million.


Bargain !

Mark Taylor said:

Israel Start-Up Nation have finalised the signing of Chris Froome on a long-term deal said to be worth €15 million.


Bargain !

The amount of press he generates on his comeback is more important than winning.

Let's stipulate that he doesn't retire at the end of the 2020 season.  There will be countless articles all around the world about his comeback, speculating if he, at his advanced age, can return to top form.  

I wouldn't be surprised if he generates 15 Euro worth of free media for ISN before the 2021 tour begins.

how would begin to quantify the "free media"

I don’t doubt he’s already made 15 euro worth for them, but I think you meant 15 million worth and *that* I don’t agree with.

There are plenty of valuation models for various media but end of the day that’s like 30% of Sky’s annual budget... ISN paid for a grand tour contender and if he doesn’t get back to that level soon the media he’ll get will be on par with Valverde.

They’re also short a massive doping put as long as he’s on the team, with no way to hedge. 

While those are good points, I bet that if you look at what riders on EF Pro cycling bring to the table, Lachlan Morton's exploits get more press than Ruben Guerrero's stint in the Maglia GPM at the Giro.  I feel the latter is more impressive, but more eyeballs are on Morton.

I think we agree.

@Mark Taylor I don't think Wilco Kelderman got the memo from Sunweb management that they have dropped their GC plans. :-)

mugwump said:

While those are good points, I bet that if you look at what riders on EF Pro cycling bring to the table, Lachlan Morton's exploits get more press than Ruben Guerrero's stint in the Maglia GPM at the Giro.  I feel the latter is more impressive, but more eyeballs are on Morton.

Except Morton’s exploits make great content , Froome dropping off the back is a story today , if it keeps happening,not so sure it’s good media 

It’s surprising to me more riders don’t work harder at their media personas; it’s clearly a wide open field with minimal competition. Perhaps its that only one team seems to value it.

Jeremy Powers was exceptional at it 

Mark Taylor said:

Jeremy Powers was exceptional at it 

Indeed! And the contrast with his successor was stark.