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Xupi

Could Alaphilippe have caught Thomas on the descent? Would Alaphilippe have ben dropped on the final ascent? Would Thomas & co have closed/caught Bernal on the final ascent? He had already clawed back 10" when the race was neutralized, but I doubt he'd have come back. I think he would have lost eve...

Xupi

Laurent Jalabert just said on French TV that Alaphilippe told him - off the record - yesterday after the Galibier stage that he had gone beyond his limits and there was no way he could hold on much longer... I doubt Julian will be on the podium in Paris, Ineos will want to make sure Thomas comes sec...

Xupi

I really felt for Pinot enduring his anguish surrounded by some really intrusive photographers. I know it’s their job but, as you say Xupi, poor lad. They just showed footage on French TV, he could not walk down stairs yesterday evening and was in pain the whole stage yesterday. The doc said it's a...

Xupi

Mick Mannock wrote:What is going on with the timing?

Times will be taken on top of Iseran. No stage winner.

Xupi

Incredible scenes, right decision was taken. Weather in France has been crazy those last few days. Alaphilippe was so upset in the car to have lost his jersey, this guy is such a winner it's unbelievable. He held for so long... Superb riding by Ineos, Bernal the top climber. Wished we had seen Pinot...

Xupi

It's incredible how poor the Ineos team have performed. Moscon and Kwiatowski couldn't even stay with the peleton after 50km and Castroviejo does not exactly look comfortable on the first proper climb. It was visible early on this Tour, even guys like Van Baarle and Pouls are much inferior to the T...

Xupi

FDJ director Mauduit just said that Pinot avoided a crash 2 days ago and in doing so, violently hit the handlebar with his left thigh. Pain was bearable yesterday but increased this morning, he could not stand up on his pedals. What a heartbreak. Now watch Ineos tear the Tour apart in Izoard. Julian...

Xupi

Ineos are just not that strong this year - In the pointy end of the mountains they only really have Poels & Kwiatkowski who can keep up with the elite group - and they both seem off form (apart from Poels yesterday). They haven't got the firepower to dominate stages like in previous years - look at...

Xupi

I knew this stage would be brutal. It's been epic. Big kudos to Simon Yates for a second win. He can try a 3rd in the Alps and should have been the leader of his team. Thibault Pinot is such a great champion. We have all known for years he has the engine of a GT winner, we now also know he has fuori...

Xupi

In a recent itw, Barguil said that modern riders will now have a 10 years career and we will see more and more riders retiring in their early 30's like it happens in pro swimming for instance. He says that there were a lot of talks about it among riders. Interesting, never heard about this before. ...

Xupi

I think Thomas is being written off by too many people here - tomorrow will be a big day for him - if he can stay with the rest of the GC guys he’ll still be among the favourites (especially with the rest day to recover on Monday) Mad tactics from Movistar today - drive the pace to crack their own ...

Xupi

But he is right, this is a fact except for 1 or 2 articles. When Froome was dominating or last year when Thomas won, the French press were questionning the integrity of the Sky methods. No such thing when the heroes are Alaphilippe and Pinot. There is already a lot of questioning building up in our...

Xupi

On "French press" and supposed anti-British bias I honestly think it is bullcrap, on same on this forum on which the French community has always been more or less in tune with the rest in that respect. What the French (and most fans) dislike is the utter domination of le Tour by one single team, whi...

Xupi

A human being who has once won le Tour ought to be respected like a semi-God. G Thomas has shown a moment of weakness, but he has not lost a lot of time and Ineos remains the strongest team, albeit not as strong as some of us observers had noticed. This was visible when they fell and struggled to re...

Xupi

Incredible stuff from Julian. He's a good TT rider, he's on fire, he's YJ... but still, what he's done today is gob smacking. I had him at least 30" behind G Thomas. It is the first French TT victory on the Tour since ... 1987. An incredible stat which says a lot about the state of French cycling fo...

Xupi

As said, even Dan Martin made the split (Martin used to miss those even when he was with Quickstep), so quite what the likes of Pinot, Fuglsang and Porte were doing at the time , I have no clue. They were riding as hard as they could, but there's only 30 places possible in a bordure and the bunch a...

Xupi

The big problem for Alaphilippe is that Quickstep have very little support for him. Its only really Mas who can support and QS might consider him to be the better long term GC bet anyway at only 1'46 down. The sprint stages are mostly over so its conceivable that QS will ride for either of them in ...

Xupi

As for FDJ (Pinot's team), as per the picture above, they made one fatal mistake which was taking that round about on the wrong side (but they had no space to go on the left I guess). With that unfortunate move, they dropped 40 positions in the peloton and this was enough for Pinot to be trapped (h...

Xupi

There a very detailed article in today's L'Equipe which paints a different story. Dutch Sunweb rider Cees Bol was interviewed yesterday and gave a good account of Ineos' tactical mastery. The initial attempt to form echelons was done by EF, just before a climb. This put a number of GC riders near th...

Xupi

Ineos are always switched-on whenever there's wind. They have great tactical awareness and the firepower to break things apart. In recent years they always seem to initiate these splits. They have not initiated it this time. The first attempt came from Education First, but failed because the wind w...

Xupi

Alaphilippe was instrumental in the development of the bordure. He's on fire. Ineos, same old story. Fair f*cks to them, 2nd and 3rd of GC before the mountains... theirs to lose now. I feel next 2 weeks won't be as exciting as the first. Pinot, what can I say... there's a limited number of riders in...

Xupi

I don't think G could chase as he'd only just got on after his crash, bad timing for him of Alaphilippe's attack. No I mean during the 10k or so that followed the climb in which Alaph and Pinot attacked. G Thomas was in the group and so was Bernal, on TV footage I did not see either of them take th...

Xupi

Geraint Thomas looks so strong, he's the major favourite... but he's taking Pinot too lightly, he should have led the chase behind him, the Frenchman is in the form of his life and one of the peloton's best climbers. Froome would have taken the matter in his hands led the group after that last climb...

Xupi

Another thing: I wouldn't be surprised if Alaphilippe is still in yellow after La Planche. The climb may not be long enough to drop him. And he has the punch to finish with the best. I agree, he may be in yellow until the Pyrenees. On the other hand he may as well lose the jersey tomorrow if there ...

Xupi

Pinot 10th of the sprint, he is in great great form... if he does not fall sick as he usually does, he's go a podium in the legs if not more.

This is the Tour of the FRENCH !!!

salut panamax...

Xupi

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES !!

What a champion ! he's got the stage... what about YJ??

Xupi

Alaphilippe, my man.. come on ! you've got to hold for stage + Yellow ! you're the best !!

Xupi

I am through the moon that we won, our 20th title, incredible... and it is fully deserved, it's one of our best titles ever. With a young generation, a lot of French, and that willingness to play and take risks... That being said, the game in my opinion was closer than people make it. We were often ...

Xupi

Masterji wrote:Really weak across the board. The only WC player is Thomas, the rest are terrible.

Xupi

What a tragedy. Hope he recovers and gets back on a bike soon.

Xupi

On Dupont, he's got less pure explosivity since his injury. Nothing to do with France.

But the man remains outstanding, his defense workload is unbelievable. Bézy is a better distributor. Maybe both should play.

Xupi

Toeava and especially Nanai Williams are't bosh merchants. Toeava was an AB and Nanai Williams is not big enough to punch holes. Raka and Naqalevu, granted although Raka has a mean sidestep on him... I'll give you Nanai Williams, Toeava though is a big unit. I know he's ex-AB. Raka has a mean side-...

Xupi

5 Polynesians in their backline in Bordeaux :

Toeava (Samoa), Moala (Tonga), Raka (Fiji), Nanai-Williams (Samoa), Naqalevu (Fiji)

It's the play style I am talking about here. It's a lot of tanking.

Xupi

Xupi

I do not like Raka, he's the kind of player I would not like to see under the French jersey. A tank who lack any finesse. That being said he is very capable of scoring 3 tries to our backline because he is built like a ton of bricks. By the way the Clermont backline has become very Fiji-dependant, w...

Xupi

Fantastic final, and well deserved for both teams. Will be 50/50.

Come on ST, after such a season you've got to bring it back.

Although Clermont's big Fijian backs are a worry, I think the game will be decided in the forwards where both sets have impressed in their semis.

Xupi

Well done Leinster.

More or less what I expected and predicted, although final score line I feel is harsh for us.

We are not yet capable of winning such a well-drilled side. Too many mistakes, but good stuff also nevertheless.

Go and win the Brennus now!

Xupi

No matter how fantastic that young ST side is, with a will to play and take risks that in my opinion is second to none in Europe right now, we should not over-estimate them. They are still young and raw. This is Leinster, Irish rugby. We will struggle to get possession, every turnover will be paid c...

Xupi

Oh that's an incredible win for Philippe Gilbert, what a fantastic champion he is ! he's got 4 out of 5 monuments to his name now... This race is just amazing, probably my favourite of all classics. Seriously, in which other race do you see riders like Van Aert or Sagan unable to follow on a portion...

Xupi

I also felt some of their confidence has been eroded. Spectacular game, but our defense really is lacking. Bézy had a superb game. So did Kolbe. I liked the way our forwards tore ASM through the middle in the second half, picking from base of ruck and just gaining yards. I just cannot see this ST te...

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