DoctorNurse71

+154

Laatste reacties

+29

DoctorNurse71

It's professional sport and Pogacar is being paid millions of Euros to win, not to be nice or to make us spectators feel good. Also, the man has what? 20? 50? riders, soigneurs, mechanics, chefs, sports scientists, team staff, drivers, coaches and other people who spend their lives, busting their asses and sacrificing their personal palmares (Except for YOU Ayuso!) and time with their families to follow him around to races, altitude camps, training camps all over the World to be ready for these races... Personally, I'm not sure that Tadej could look Mr Pollit in the face at Dinner after that Godzilla-level pull he made up the Bonnette if he didn't at least try for the win... It's far more important that he honour their incredibly hard work and huge sacrifices they all make on his behalf with an emphatic win than it is for him to ride to make us feel good. The man also does a superb job as an Ambassador for the sport- his wonderful gift of his race worn Pink jersey off his back and sunnies to that young rider in the Giro and his consistent gifts of bidons and a champion's encouragement he consistently and very genuinely gives to kids he meets when riding is a reminder that he is a really good representative of the sport... But... He is also a stone cold killer on the bike and arguably the best professional road cyclist in history... Froome, Wiggins, Bernal, Jonas, Our man VICTOR CAMPANAERTS, Mohoric last year and Gino Mader also reminds us, that pro cycling wins that seemed easy yesterday, might vanish tomorrow. Top form is fleeting and the life of a professional cyclist is hard, dangerous, unpredictable, unguaranteed and short. Such a man doing such a job shares no gifts with fellow professionals during a race... Nor should he... To paraphrase Ayrton Senna **Pogacar is here to win, not to be 2nd or 3th or 5th. If he no longer goes for a possible win, then he is no longer a professional racing cyclist*

19-07-2024 20:23

+3

DoctorNurse71

Nonsense, there were lots of options they could have tried, and certainly much smarter options at their disposal... The strength of that breakaway was a GIFT given how capable it was and how far back on GC they all were. Visma should have showed that they are very happy to lose the stage because their focus should have been only on beating Tadej. Visma is so used to having the MJ, they forgot how to race when you have to come from behind. So putting UAE in a fast sheltered caravan works when you have WvA who can pull up Hautacam like a climber, and Kuss who is an elite climber. WvA's form is nowhere, Kuss is sick and only Matteo has the form or capacity of the Visma team from 2023 and 2022... So they burned up all their men before the final climb to win the stage... A huge mistake. What they did today was not the best use of their limited resources and lacked imagination. They should have had the humility and realism to know that the objective today was to take back 30-60 seconds of time on Tadej, not win the stage... If they were more realistic Jonas would have said, "Look, I have 4-5k at max effort in me today" and then Visma could have done what they needed to set him up to give that max effort by forcing UAE to chase and staying in the draft to max their odds of beating Tadej, NOT to win the stage. Its not until AFTER their hubris got their man smoked by 1 minute in 4k and smashed the small confidence he had after stage 11 into a million pieces that they admitted to themselves that Tadej is just better... Shame. Terrible race management by a team that was obviously in panic and focused on putting on a show, and/or proving a point on social media that they race with "Balls". They lost their focus on trying to win the race, and lost the TdF today

14-07-2024 20:02

+5

DoctorNurse71

I give Jonas credit for trying- Visma trying to make the race hard was a knucklehead desperation tactic that we normally see from Tadej when he is not as confident in his ability. There was no reason for Visma to take on the race responsibility given the compromised level of the team, Jonas' Disney-like return from injury, and the massive deficit in Jonas' favour to every man in the breakaway. All Visma needed to do was beat Tadej, not win the stage. They should have been more realistic and accept earlier that they do not have the team to drop Tadej this year...Save Kelderman and Matteo until the final climb, make UAE chase if they wanted the stage win and launch with say 6k to go as opposed to 10. That said, Jonas probably used multiple TUEs to help him heal faster to get to his Granon and Loze climbing level- The man DID empty the tank to drop the entire peloton, and looked really good.... For 6k on a 10k climb. As soon as he looked back for help from Tadej, it was over. The man a lost a minute in 4k on steeper terrain in hotter weather- Checkmate... Jonas needs a prime Kuss, Van Aert, Stevie Kruiseship and at least one other dude in peak form to make today's tactic work and Kelderman and Jorgenson are not enough.... Jonas' probable use of multiple TUEs did an amazing job to get him ready for this Tour, but could not compensate for 6+ weeks off the bike and recovering from serious injury... My confidence in the integrity of the cycling in this Tour has been restored... Barring illness, injury, crash, COVID or stupidity, this Tour is over...

14-07-2024 17:51