Tour de France Stage 16 - Carcassonne to Foix (178.5km)

mewso

Race underway so won't say much. Start of 3 big days where Pog has to attack and he is the kind of guy who I think is willing to lose a podium to win it so I expect all 3 days to provide plenty of action but I'm not sure if todays stage can really produce very large gaps with the long descent after the last climb.

4 DNS today - Cherel, Paret-Peintre, Fuglsang and Kamna.

JV playing a dangerous game with 2 in the break no?

Max Walscheid was also a DNS for Cofidis.

mewso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119358543#Comment_119358543

Possibly but they are not really going to be much help on the big climbs. Maybe Wout. Always a chance they are there as satellite riders? Doing a Kamna as we should call it these days.

neris

looks like UAE could be about to loose another rider

Here we go !!!!!

GandhiwasfromBallyfermot

Pogacar is some rider, no fear, attacking the yellow jersey at the start of the descent. Even if he doesn't win this tour he's been very exciting.

Squidgy Black

Whoever sponsor Intermarché Wanty for helmets needs to send the lads vented helmets instead of those aero ones, I’d say they’re suffering big time

Macy0161

WvA getting hammered all day for being upfront, when zero chance he'd have made it over these climbs with the GC group.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119359595#Comment_119359595

Force, they do actually have a vented option. No idea why they would choose the wear the ones they do.

https://www.trikotexpress.de/en/Professional-Cycling-Teams/Intermarch-Wanty-Gobert-Mat-riaux/Intermarch-Wanty-Gobert-Mat-riaux-2022-LYNX-cycling-helmet-fluo-yellow-blue-Force-professional-cycling-team-90287701-02.html

Squidgy Black

Delighted for Houle to get the win given his story.

There's obviously two massive stages to come, but Pog must be sweating it a little bit now, he'll need to chew up at least a minute and a half of the gap before the TT and even then hope that Jonas has a stinker

odyssey06

big wins for IPT in the relegation battle or is that still a thing?

dahat

Going out on a limb here but I don’t see Pog getting the yellow jersey back. He looked to be suffering on the last climb to me.

Squidgy Black

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119359934#Comment_119359934

When Sepp Kuss took to the front and stepped the pace up he couldn't hack it. Sticking Wout up ahead as a satellite rider worked out well too.

UAE just don't have the squad to help Pog out tactically, and there's only so much he can do himself. If it was Pog with the Jumbo team around him, you'd have to imagine it'd be unbeatable

dahat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119360001#Comment_119360001

And meanwhile Almedia sits at home watching on TV.

Macy0161

I'd have had Jonas the better climber coming into the Tour? I guess the main surprise was Pog cracking, and that was maybe the JV team tactic (WvA up the road meaning he couldn't risk letting Rog go). But Pog has also wasted a lot of unnecessary energy all by himself, sprinting for seconds - even going up the road on the Roubaix stage. Even in Mende he sprinted for zero reason.

dahat

A road captain with experience & authority could rein him in a little in those crazy moments.

Soler OTL today.

the 12 th man

Great stage and result,not a dry eye in the house.

With Ving at 2/5 and Pog at 3/1 to win it overall it's not looking great for Pog.

dastardly00

Bardet lost a bucket load of time today... good chance that he won't start tomorrow based on his quote at the finish line.

Google Translation - "I was super feverish, with headaches, it was one of the worst days in a while. It was a nightmare. Without my teammates, I may not have finished the stage. I really didn't feel well, with chills. I didn't see it coming."

https://twitter.com/LeGruppetto/status/1549420215733198848?s=20&t=uMhbXi_EqPy2KoyjkdBieA

dastardly00

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119359928#Comment_119359928

Yeah it's still ongoing. IPT are still in the relegation zone despite winning two stages so far. A stage win in the Tour isn't worth as much points as you'd think (compared to other races). IPT could win three more Tour stages and still in be in the relegation zone. The likes of Cofidis, Movistar and Lotto-Soudal are having nightmare so far in this Tour.

The full rankings on PCS are here - https://www.procyclingstats.com/rankings/me/uci-teams-2020-2022

Squidgy Black

Soler officially gone OTL, so UAE are down to McNulty, Majka, Bjerg and Hirschi.

dastardly00

Similar to Morkov, chapeau to Soler for finishing the stage when he and his team probably knew with a good way to go that he would be OTL and out of the race. He was seemingly vomiting during the stage whilst on the bike 🤢

The team gave him something at one point and he immediately threw it up.

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119360189#Comment_119360189

Missing Peiper in the car.

I'm finding the TV pundits pretty disrespectful to Jonas tbh. Or rather the Pog w*nkfest a bit irritating tbh. Jonas and JV have played a blinder so far, but they're too busy praising Pog for a nonsense attacks that are going no where to question his tactics. Attacking on the descent - "wow"; JV having a Rouleur waiting meaning it was never going to work - "no comment".

Also, I really think we should move on from letting riders "bravely" carry on. Time the UCI let the Race Doctor have the ability to make the call. Pinot wasted two years, perhaps the rest of his career, riding on with an injury. I love a neymar comparison meme as much as the next cycling fan, but it is 2022...

CramCycle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119360134#Comment_119360134

He did indeed, maybe youthful exuberance but his team should have known better and told him to keep it in his pants.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119362569#Comment_119362569

100% Jona has been playing a blinder. Even with all their bad luck he has matched Pog with ease ever since he lost all that time. Jumbo are making mistakes too but all pretty minor and most of them I imagine to keep WVA on side, who also has played a phenomenal role as a team player, as soon as he is told to drop back, he lets it go and follows his DSs instructions. No ifs, no buts, just part of the team.

GandhiwasfromBallyfermot

You would assume the deal is that Wout has to work for the team for the rest of the Pyrenees but will then be allowed off the leash to have his own chances on the last three stages (semi-flat sprint stage, ITT, Paris sprinters world championship).

Macy0161

WvA has been there whenever needed by the team. About the only thing you could criticise WvA/ JV for is perhaps wasted energy. The main issue seems to be in the heads of the old school pundits who think he should be beside Jonas as long as he can, rather than when he was really useful - which both Van Hooydonck and WvA were. There was more chance of Jonas being isolated at the end, than the start yesterday, at least in terms of losing serious time.