Michael Hepburn

Latest comments

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  z2319-05-2025
  Media pundits trying to make a bigger story out of it than it is. Great ride by Del Toro but let's not get carried away. He didn't ride away from Ayuso. Ayuso crashed and in the heat of the dust and the chaos he found himself up ahead so he made the most of the situation. Don't buy the argument he shouldn't have pushed for pink if he wanted to win the stage. He could have backed off and not ridden with WvA but then he might have ended up without pink, without any guarantee WvA wouldn't have out sprinted him for the stage. He rode well and very strongly through a very chaotic stage and came away with a pink jersey to show for it. As for the overall GC that's a whole other story and as others have said may already look very different after tomorrow's TT. For me, still feel Del Toro has a lot to prove in terms of consistency in the mountains to be a real GC contender over the three weeks ....TBC
• awp19-05-2025
  Truth be told, if Carapaz doesn't lose four minutes tomorrow he will be the guy that UAE needs to worry about. He's looking better and better.
• awp19-05-2025
  This is true.
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  santiagobenites19-05-2025
  They have no other option when Tadej is racing, but when he's not, it's a free for all.
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  KerisVroom19-05-2025
  Del Torro was placed in the service of Ayuso during the stage where Ayuso won. It's not like he only worked for himself. What was he supposed to do on stage 9? Due to the dusty road, he thought Ayuso was at the front, but it turned out to be Egan Bernal. Was he supposed to purposely slow down and wait for Ayuso who was further behind and let Egan had a go? So, I'm not sure what's there to puzzle about.
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  KerisVroom19-05-2025
  They (Ayuso excluded) do perform as a team when Tadej is there
• abstractengineer19-05-2025
  There is nothing to be puzzled about. Its everyman for himself at UAE doing their own agendas
• Laszlo19-05-2025
  Roglic crashed(out. of his own fault), had a puncture 40+km from the finish. All the big shots up front and they managed to put 1 minute into him. Chasing basically alone. UAE is pathetic without Pogacar, not a team, just a bunch of people riding in same jerseys. I think even Bernal and Carapaz can beat them. I imagine a podium with no UAE rider on it at the end
• DoctorNurse7119-05-2025
  Let's all just calm down until after the TT tomorrow... If one of them have a bad day, then that's the leadership question solved... If not, then Ayuso will have to explain why IDT needs to work for him when he would not do the same for the world champ last year...
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  DareDevil19-05-2025
  I assume Del Toro will be in pink for a while. Maybe even good for Ayuso that the pressure is off him now for a while. I still think Ayuso is team leader because I do not expect Del Toro to be a serious contender in the high mountainbike. Fun development 😁 I loved the stage also.