Tour de France *LIVE* *SPOILERS*

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by redir

I was thinking it would have been nice to see a Frenchman win the tour again but I'm real happy for Bernal and Columbia too. It's a first and a first is always good and Colombian cyclists are a through back to the working man days of the sport.

White and yellow, I'd say this kid's got a future.

They said the same thing about Andy Schleck not too long ago. The future's never guaranteed sadly, so kudos to the win for this one. Let's hope its the first of more for him.

[nooneline]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

They said the same thing about Andy Schleck not too long ago. The future's never guaranteed sadly, so kudos to the win for this one. Let's hope its the first of more for him.

yeah, there are a lot of things that can happen. i think it's crazy that Wout Poels is predicting that Bernal will be dominant: "We're going to see Bernal like this for the next ten years," he said.

But what happens if he gets injured and struggles to come back? What happens when Ineos decides that oh actually Ivan Sosa is a hotter prospect, and there's a power struggle? What happens if Bernal leaves Ineos and can't quite find success somewhere else? What if he just Quintanas out? What if he decides he likes smoking weed and playing video games?

He's definitely a hot prospect but it takes more than one great year to crown him the GT rider of the future. how people handle success, how they handle fluctuating form, and how they hand all the crazy variables that can be thrown into a long career winds up saying a lot more about character and staying power than how somebody handles being a young, brilliant golden boy.

[FlashUNC]

Agreed. See it in the NBA all the time with would-be dynasties that should have been around for a long, long time that collapsed for one reason or another -- Shaq and Penny's Magic, the Durant and Westbrook Thunder, etc etc.

The future is unpredictable and nothing's a given. Does Bernal even sniff a win if Chris Froome doesn't have to snot rocket during a recon ride?

[paredown]

Originally Posted by rustychisel

Anyone know the last time - if ever - a Tour de France debutante took three stage wins?

Go Caleb!!

That was some sprint to win--cut to the gutter side, and wound it out.

In slo-mo you can see his back wheel skipping around--including over one of the metal grates, but man oh man, that was some kind of win!

[82Picchio]

So, next year, Ineos will go into the Tour with a three-headed monster of leaders in Froome, Thomas, and Bernal? How will that work out? About as well as it has for Movistar over the last couple of years?

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by 82Picchio

So, next year, Ineos will go into the Tour with a three-headed monster of leaders in Froome, Thomas, and Bernal? How will that work out? About as well as it has for Movistar over the last couple of years?

They've also got Carapaz... is it possible that they split off one of the Froome/Thomas/Bernal trio to target the Giro and Vuelta along with Carapaz. Whoever this is might also come the Tour but be understood to be in a support role after having just finished the Giro or preparing for the Vuelta. Here's my completely speculative guess, which assumes that Froome is ready to ride a grand tour next July:

Giro: Carapaz and Thomas
Tour: Bernal and Froome, Thomas in support
Vuelta: Froome and Carapaz, Bernal in support.

They are remarkably stacked. Kinda seems like Thomas gets a raw deal in this scenario, since the Tour is the race where his particular skill set works the best. Whatever they do, they will do it better than Movistar. You can dislike them, but you can't deny that they are organized and competent at putting people on the top step of a stage race podium.

[denapista]

GT came into fruition, as Froome crashed out the year he won the TDF. I think he's the best support for Froome, as he can drive the front on climbs, but he was looking off form this tour. Probably from his crash before the TDF and the couple of spills during the race. He just didn't seem to have the same punch as everyone else.

I felt like this was a good tour with so many "What if" scenarios.

[nooneline]

Originally Posted by denapista

GT came into fruition, as Froome crashed out the year he won the TDF. I think he's the best support for Froome, as he can drive the front on climbs, but he was looking off form this tour. Probably from his crash before the TDF and the couple of spills during the race. He just didn't seem to have the same punch as everyone else.

I felt like this was a good tour with so many "What if" scenarios.

no, Froome finished 3rd the year Thomas won.

[Jaybee]

Originally Posted by nooneline

no, Froome finished 3rd the year Thomas won.

Correct. 2018: Froome crashed in stage 1, immediately putting him 50ish seconds behind Thomas. He never really gained much of that back, and by Stage 11 or 12, it was clear that Thomas was on better form.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

They said the same thing about Andy Schleck not too long ago. The future's never guaranteed sadly, so kudos to the win for this one. Let's hope its the first of more for him.

As long as Bernal stays off teams that are sponsored by sram, he’ll be fine.....

Lighten up Francis!! It’s a joke!!

[denapista]

Originally Posted by Jaybee

Correct. 2018: Froome crashed in stage 1, immediately putting him 50ish seconds behind Thomas. He never really gained much of that back, and by Stage 11 or 12, it was clear that Thomas was on better form.

This is what I meant. Froome crashed and Thomas became the default leader to win the race. Froome was then supporting Thomas. The year before Froome crashed out, like literally was forced to abandon the race.

[Elefantino]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

As long as Bernal stays off teams that are sponsored by sram, he’ll be fine.....

Lighten up Francis!! It’s a joke!!

It was actually a Dura-Ace 9150 rear derailleur that broke on Matthews' Cervelo on the Champs d'Elysees.

Would have made for a better story if it were SRAM, though.

[82Picchio]

Carapaz is at Movistar, not Ineos.

Originally Posted by Jaybee

They've also got Carapaz... is it possible that they split off one of the Froome/Thomas/Bernal trio to target the Giro and Vuelta along with Carapaz. Whoever this is might also come the Tour but be understood to be in a support role after having just finished the Giro or preparing for the Vuelta. Here's my completely speculative guess, which assumes that Froome is ready to ride a grand tour next July:

Giro: Carapaz and Thomas
Tour: Bernal and Froome, Thomas in support
Vuelta: Froome and Carapaz, Bernal in support.

They are remarkably stacked. Kinda seems like Thomas gets a raw deal in this scenario, since the Tour is the race where his particular skill set works the best. Whatever they do, they will do it better than Movistar. You can dislike them, but you can't deny that they are organized and competent at putting people on the top step of a stage race podium.

[82Picchio]

Originally Posted by denapista

This is what I meant. Froome crashed and Thomas became the default leader to win the race. Froome was then supporting Thomas. The year before Froome crashed out, like literally was forced to abandon the race.

And this year, Thomas crashed three times, likely affecting his racing, no?

[yinzerniner]

Originally Posted by 82Picchio

Carapaz is at Movistar, not Ineos.

Next year, NOT this year......
https://www.velonews.com/2019/07/new...or-2020_497892