Quote:
Originally Posted by galgal
Yup. The team and DS are not helping much. I'm rooting for JA as it's been a while since I've seen somebody race the TdF this way, with heart. I guess I can understand the skeptics, but you could point the finger at everyone. How did Dumoulin become a mountain goat in the Giro, Thomas a TdF winner at 32yrs with no great record, to say nothing of the other Skineos winners.
Alaphilippe won the yellow jersey by attacking and riding to a skill set that by now are fairly well documented through his steady progress through the Classics, and on stages that favored his skills. So he won the time trial by picking up 9 secs on the last steep ramp, which is exactly how he has won Flèche Wallone the last two years.
Question is whether he can hold on through the high mountains. Probably not, as he is the first to say, while also saying that he hoped Pinot would pick up the torch when he faltered. Honestly, if we can't appreciate a rider pushing his limits and giving it all he has, why do we watch
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Love this summary.
You could see the young Alaphillipe ride on heart in his first TDF, and I thought he was a flash in the pan. But he has that pretty rare win or die mentality--he's all in, like the end of today's stage.
He's still young enough that he may come out of the rest day able to give it his all again--for the pleasure of watching, i hope that is the case. He does have to learn to race more with his head though...