Well Ineos at least salvaged a dismal TDF with a stage One Two finish with box to wire rides by Michael Kwiatkowski and Richard Carapaz.
However the bigger story was how Jumbo-Visma completely controlled the GC Peleton group and cleverly allowed their best finisher Wout Van Aert to grab the key third place time bonus points from going to Pogacar. It certainly looks like the final Time trial will show a 57 second advantage to Roglic !
However the bigger story was how Jumbo-Visma completely controlled the GC Peleton group and cleverly allowed their best finisher Wout Van Aert to grab the key third place time bonus points from going to Pogacar. It certainly looks like the final Time trial will show a 57 second advantage to Roglic !
agreed, great moment for Michal K!!!
Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), stage 18 winner
"That was some day. I can’t describe how grateful I am to the whole team and to Richard [Carapaz]. It was an incredible day for us and I will never forget that. I’ve had some nice moments in cycling but that was something new. I got goosebumps for the last kilometers because I knew that the gap was so big that we would make it. Both of us really enjoyed the last kilometers. It’s incredible.
"We’re going to celebrate big time tonight because we all deserve it. We put on a show today and we have to enjoy that." (Eurosport)
Mikel Landa (Bahrain-McLaren), up to fifth overall
"It was our last opportunity. We had our team up toward the front but it’s a shame that we couldn’t do any better because Jumbo-Visma’s pace was too high and as a consequence we couldn’t do better. That’s just how it went. It was a good team effort and they worked really hard and I’m proud of what the team have achieved in the last couple of days." (Eurosport)
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma), yellow jersey
"It was two hard days in a row, yesterday and also today. Again the team did a great job - I was there, so one day less. It's always a lot of space to do a lot of things, you had a lot of climbs. We managed it really good with the full team and we bring it to the end here."
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), second overall
"On the profile, it was one of the toughest stages. And it was really hard. Jumbo did great work and had the whole stage under control. I tried on the last climb but it wasn’t possible. I didn’t have better legs than everyone else. It was all together in the end and I tried to sprint for third place. It was a good day for the team and they worked really hard again. I’m happy with their performance."
On the dirt section
"[Primoz] Roglic and I were both happy that nothing happened in the gravel because there was a possibility to puncture. It’s a good day behind us and we look ahead to the time trial. I did not know that Richie [Porte] had a puncture but I knew that he was behind. I’m glad that he came back because it would be unfortunate for him if a puncture caused him to lose his good place [overall]."
Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers), stage 18 winner
"That was some day. I can’t describe how grateful I am to the whole team and to Richard [Carapaz]. It was an incredible day for us and I will never forget that. I’ve had some nice moments in cycling but that was something new. I got goosebumps for the last kilometers because I knew that the gap was so big that we would make it. Both of us really enjoyed the last kilometers. It’s incredible.
"We’re going to celebrate big time tonight because we all deserve it. We put on a show today and we have to enjoy that." (Eurosport)
Mikel Landa (Bahrain-McLaren), up to fifth overall
"It was our last opportunity. We had our team up toward the front but it’s a shame that we couldn’t do any better because Jumbo-Visma’s pace was too high and as a consequence we couldn’t do better. That’s just how it went. It was a good team effort and they worked really hard and I’m proud of what the team have achieved in the last couple of days." (Eurosport)
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma), yellow jersey
"It was two hard days in a row, yesterday and also today. Again the team did a great job - I was there, so one day less. It's always a lot of space to do a lot of things, you had a lot of climbs. We managed it really good with the full team and we bring it to the end here."
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), second overall
"On the profile, it was one of the toughest stages. And it was really hard. Jumbo did great work and had the whole stage under control. I tried on the last climb but it wasn’t possible. I didn’t have better legs than everyone else. It was all together in the end and I tried to sprint for third place. It was a good day for the team and they worked really hard again. I’m happy with their performance."
On the dirt section
"[Primoz] Roglic and I were both happy that nothing happened in the gravel because there was a possibility to puncture. It’s a good day behind us and we look ahead to the time trial. I did not know that Richie [Porte] had a puncture but I knew that he was behind. I’m glad that he came back because it would be unfortunate for him if a puncture caused him to lose his good place [overall]."
Stage 19 is in the books and all the main GC CONTENDERS took the day off more or less in anticipation to tomorrow’s ITT. Only real interesting development was in the Green Jersey race where Sam Bennett has pretty much wrapped up the Title over 7 time champion Peter Sagan.
Today’s stage was won by Soren Kraft Andersen for his second win in this year’s Tour. Luka Mezgec takes second with Jasper Stuyven taking third.
Primoz Roglic goes into tomorrow’s time trial with a 57 second lead which should easily hold up to keep him in yellow ! Only real mystery tomorrow is who will win the time trial and of course can Pogacar wrest the King of Mountain Jersey off Richard Carapaz ! Pogacar is a very good time trialist so I’d guess yes !
Today’s stage was won by Soren Kraft Andersen for his second win in this year’s Tour. Luka Mezgec takes second with Jasper Stuyven taking third.
Primoz Roglic goes into tomorrow’s time trial with a 57 second lead which should easily hold up to keep him in yellow ! Only real mystery tomorrow is who will win the time trial and of course can Pogacar wrest the King of Mountain Jersey off Richard Carapaz ! Pogacar is a very good time trialist so I’d guess yes !
It’s real ! Not only witnessed the whole stage but it was crystal clear to me and the T V Commentary that Roglic was pushed for more than the allowed 5 seconds on his bike exchange ! After Jumbo-Visma so dominates this race, they somehow let it all slip away on this final day of reckoning! What happened to Roglic ? Sick, bad food or wrong bike ?
Thought a ;40 sec lead would be insurmountable, let alone a :57 sec lead. How does Roglic come back from this going forward? Hard not to feel for the guy. I dont think Jumbo-Visma as a team could have had a better TDF, do you? gave their guy a minute in the TT, his specialty !!
with that said, Podagar had a god-like TT, geez...how good is this guy? what is his future going to be? he's 21- yuongest TDF winner post WWW II
..............
[FONT="]Van Aert, who'd put in a spectacular performances in service of his Slovenian team leader and finished fourth in the time trial, couldn't hide his disappointment that the team would not be bringing home the overall Tour de France victory.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"It is very difficult to give this up at the last minute," a dejected Van Aert told NOS.nl. "We are very disappointed. Everything went perfectly, actually, we worked very hard for it and there was nothing to indicate that it would go wrong today."
[/FONT]
[FONT="]"It hurt my eyes how Primož got more and more into difficulty," Van Aert said. "It didn't look as smooth as usual, he missed that cadence.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"And before the start, it all looked so good. But it is a combination of Pogačar that rode really fantastic while Primož did not reach his normal level that ensures this result. We went all out every day. We gave everything and did everything perfectly. We were ready to celebrate, so to speak."
............
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Tom Dumoulin, second to Pogačar in the time trial, was stunned at how fast the UAE Team Emirates rider went up the final ascent.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"What can I say? It happened. I don't know how Pogacar climbed a minute faster than I did," Dumoulin said. "We hadn't taken this into account, this is quite a blow. The Tour win slips from our hands. I rode well again, but that doesn't matter anymore.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"Pogacar was too strong today. He was at a completely different level than we were. Primoz felt good, he knew he had to put down a good time trial. He hasn't ridden his best, but it certainly wasn't bad either. We expected it to be enough[/FONT]
.................................................
[FONT="]Pogačar said that although it was him riding to victory in the time trial, his team had had a huge part to play in his win, one small but vital part of the jigsaw being their ensuring he knew what was coming up on Saturday.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"We did the recon. together, I knew every corner, every pothole, I knew where to accelerate because it was a road that you really needed to know." [/FONT]
[FONT="]He added that after he had caught Lopez he did not bother so much with the time gaps, but while he was listening to his radio on the flat part of the course, he didn't hear anything on the limb because of the fans lining the road.[/FONT]
with that said, Podagar had a god-like TT, geez...how good is this guy? what is his future going to be? he's 21- yuongest TDF winner post WWW II
..............
[FONT="]Van Aert, who'd put in a spectacular performances in service of his Slovenian team leader and finished fourth in the time trial, couldn't hide his disappointment that the team would not be bringing home the overall Tour de France victory.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"It is very difficult to give this up at the last minute," a dejected Van Aert told NOS.nl. "We are very disappointed. Everything went perfectly, actually, we worked very hard for it and there was nothing to indicate that it would go wrong today."
[/FONT]
[FONT="]"It hurt my eyes how Primož got more and more into difficulty," Van Aert said. "It didn't look as smooth as usual, he missed that cadence.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"And before the start, it all looked so good. But it is a combination of Pogačar that rode really fantastic while Primož did not reach his normal level that ensures this result. We went all out every day. We gave everything and did everything perfectly. We were ready to celebrate, so to speak."
............
[/FONT]
[FONT="]Tom Dumoulin, second to Pogačar in the time trial, was stunned at how fast the UAE Team Emirates rider went up the final ascent.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"What can I say? It happened. I don't know how Pogacar climbed a minute faster than I did," Dumoulin said. "We hadn't taken this into account, this is quite a blow. The Tour win slips from our hands. I rode well again, but that doesn't matter anymore.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"Pogacar was too strong today. He was at a completely different level than we were. Primoz felt good, he knew he had to put down a good time trial. He hasn't ridden his best, but it certainly wasn't bad either. We expected it to be enough[/FONT]
.................................................
[FONT="]Pogačar said that although it was him riding to victory in the time trial, his team had had a huge part to play in his win, one small but vital part of the jigsaw being their ensuring he knew what was coming up on Saturday.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"We did the recon. together, I knew every corner, every pothole, I knew where to accelerate because it was a road that you really needed to know." [/FONT]
[FONT="]He added that after he had caught Lopez he did not bother so much with the time gaps, but while he was listening to his radio on the flat part of the course, he didn't hear anything on the limb because of the fans lining the road.[/FONT]
[FONT="][/FONT]
[FONT="]"I just went deep, I knew the climb very well, so I went flat out from bottom to top. My dream was just to be on the Tour de France, and now I've won, it's unbelievable.[/FONT]Stage 21 today and not much excitement or mystery left as Pogacar is the Tour De France Champion in perhaps the biggest surprise ever ! He’s only 21 years old but turning 22 tomorrow as I recall ! Sam Bennett wins green after Peter Sagan reign coming to an end ! Of course the youngster Pogacar will hog 2 more Jerseys in King of the Mountain ( KOM ) and White Jersey for best young rider going to those under 25 years of age. Only thing left today is the Sprint in Paris !
Yesterday’s stage 21 ended in Paris and Sam Bennett easily won the Champs-Elysees sprint with Mads Pedersen taking second and Peter Sagan finishing third. Of course Tadej Pogacar won the Tour De France yellow Jersey in a total shocking Time Trial domination in stage 20.
Nobody expected Primoz Roglic to lose his 57 second lead and 16/1 odds on Pogacar were available in Vegas and offshores ! This guy was 21 years old !
Good luck in all your bets ! I’m done until next year after taking a loss in this year’s Tour wagering ! It’s called gambling !
Nobody expected Primoz Roglic to lose his 57 second lead and 16/1 odds on Pogacar were available in Vegas and offshores ! This guy was 21 years old !
Good luck in all your bets ! I’m done until next year after taking a loss in this year’s Tour wagering ! It’s called gambling !
I’m not doing my daily posts on this year’s Tour mainly because obviously there’s not many here that wager on it or follow it !
So far this has been a very crazy Tour. It started with a stupid woman stretching a huge sign right into the path of a cyclist causing a huge crash !
Secondly is the return to his former greatness by Mark Cavendish who has already won 2 stages to move him with 2 stage wins to tie the all time TOUR record of 34 held by Eddy Merckx ! Third is the fact that Pogacar appears to be in great shape to win a repeat Tour win this year. JMHO
So far this has been a very crazy Tour. It started with a stupid woman stretching a huge sign right into the path of a cyclist causing a huge crash !
Secondly is the return to his former greatness by Mark Cavendish who has already won 2 stages to move him with 2 stage wins to tie the all time TOUR record of 34 held by Eddy Merckx ! Third is the fact that Pogacar appears to be in great shape to win a repeat Tour win this year. JMHO
