[PJay]

Tour de France Stage 20 Sep 19 Discussn Thread Spoiler Alert. Time Trial!

This is the penultimate day of Tour de France 2020. Although I really miss having the tour in July, it has been an enjoyable tour. The stages had a good balance to keep things interesting, and there was no dominant team or individual to make it boring. We have seen great riding from some newer guys, and have seen impressive work from some veterans. Of course, it is sad that there has been a typical number of crashes including those leading riders to drop out. The array of injuries have not been as bad as we have seen, though.

This penultimate stage is a time trial of nearly 22 miles. The route starts out flat for the first third, has a "false flat" rise for the second third, ending in a slight dip, then the final third is a bona fide climb - La Planche des Belles Filles, used as part of mountain stages in tours of more recent years. Riders will gain about 500 meters along this 3.5 mile climb, which overall has a grade of 8.5%, but has far steeper spots alonmg the way. The cruelest is the final stretch, noted at 20%.

Maybe they should call this a "climb trial?"

This may not be enough to affect the overall GC standings, populated by guys who can climb well. But it will be a spectacle. This final third is so different that we will nto quite be able to tell how someone will finish, relative to others, by their split at the two-thirds mark.

The weather looks pleasant. For a nice walk, not a high-stakes scramble up a Cat 1! Wind will be light, and no expectation of rain.

 

[coldash]

Two races in this stage. 1) GC on overall time and 2) KoM with time taken from the bottom of the last climb. On the KoM, I guess Carapaz might take it relatively easy until the climb but Pogacar will not have that option if he wants to keep his GC position

 

[KoroninK]

A couple of interesting GC battles. Can Porte pull back over a minute on Lopez? Flat TT, yes, this one maybe. Can Mas pull back enough time on Landa? Who knows. I think that depends on which Landa shows up to the TT. Then we have 10th between Caruso and Valverde and who knows what will happen there as well.

If Mas and Valverde both do end up in the top 10, and it's possible Verona and Soler end up in the top 20, they can put 4 riders in the top 20, with 2 in the top 10 and still have been virtually invisible.

 

[Marc]

It is looking like a bunch of riders are going to get eliminated if the top finishers break 55'. Probably the entirety of the Lanterne Rouge contest will be gone AKA most all the sprinters.

 

[upstateSC-rider]

Wow!!!
Is that a spoiler?
Great rides from WVA and Dumoulin also.

 

[Marc]

Not emotionally invested....but after theat duel to the top, I want a piss test. One of those racers looked like drooling death warmed over; the other barely looked winded.

 

[Rashadabd]

Wow just wow. I can’t believe what we just witnessed. He was almost a minute down and he beat a top tier time trialist for the yellow jersey by almost two minutes. Amazing.

 

[troutmd]

Colnago Wins!!!!!

So glad the time trial was held at the end. How fitting. BUT not in 31 years has it been so epic. Yellow/White/Polkadot at 21.

Kudos to Bob Roll (excellent job replacing legendary Paul S.), Chris Honer extremely insightful studio commentary, and Alan Blyth on the moto for best ever from that venue.

Sad to see its over tomorrow and such a Covid relief from NBCsn. Thank you.

 

[Rashadabd]

I agree 100%. It’s the best TdF I have seen and probably the best grand tour too.

 

[BCSaltchucker]

1st time in 31 years I have enjoyed watching a TDF ITT.

reminiscent of stage 17 in 2006, which was likewise very exciting at the time.

I still prefer to watch mano a mano climbing battles over an ITT though. What is more exciting is the sudden emergence of this dominating 21 year old over the course of this crazy season and the last Vuelta. THREE stage wins, no less, in a first appearance in the TDF. Someone worthy of taking the crown from fantastic Froome into this decade.

 

[troutmd]

I agree 100%. It’s the best TdF I have seen and probably the best grand tour too.

Thank you,

Leaving aside today's historic (in caps) EPIC stage with huge/enthusiastic crowds, the competition for the Green and Polkadot jerseys has been mano-y-mano for three weeks adding excitement to the tour.

Oh, not to be political, seeing so many people wearing masks along side the road, was encouraging.

And one more, a big tip of the hat to NBC for pulling off their broadcast under such different and difficult times. For example, both Phil and Bob where not just many miles from the Tour, but from themselves broadcasting in nearly seamless manner. Whoever directed all this deserves consideration for an Emmy. Brilliant!

 

[JSR]

Most ITTs are like watching paint dry. This one was a blast!

Something that has me confused pertains to the KOM. As I understand it, the climbers’ points were awarded based on riders’ times on the climb. Kind of like comparing Strava KOMs. I’ve seen the points that were earned, but not the actual times. Do I have it right? Has anyone seen the times?

edit: I checked Strava (duh!). Richie Porte is the only one of the top six to post. His time was 15:10, earning the Strava KOM.

 

[coldash]

Most ITTs are like watching paint dry. This one was a blast!

Something that has me confused pertains to the KOM. As I understand it, the climbers’ points were awarded based on riders’ times on the climb. Kind of like comparing Strava KOMs. I’ve seen the points that were earned, but not the actual times. Do I have it right? Has anyone seen the times?

edit: I checked Strava (duh!). Richie Porte is the only one of the top six to post. His time was 15:10, earning the Strava KOM.

You can find all of the times here

https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-de-france/2020/stage-20/today/time-splits

 

[ogre]

I don’t think Roglic can blame losing the Tour because of this, but I think that goofy TT helmet that barely covered his forehead cost him at least 30 seconds. I have a gigantic forehead which makes helmets sit on my melon similarly. As noted this was an epic performance only eclipsed by LeMond’s 89 ITT

 

[dcb]

What a stage and what a great tdf! It's not as if Roglic has a bad TT either but Podacar just killed it. I feel kinda' bad for Jumbo Visma to have had as good a tour as they did and come out of it like this but at least they got some stage wins. Van Aert was great as well as Kuss!

Also, props to Team Sunweb. They had a great tour as well. Sagan was clearly not the best sprinter but at least he and Bora fought until the end.

 

[azpeterb]

I don’t think Roglic can blame losing the Tour because of this, but I think that goofy TT helmet that barely covered his forehead cost him at least 30 seconds. I have a gigantic forehead which makes helmets sit on my melon similarly. As noted this was an epic performance only eclipsed by LeMond’s 89 ITT

We noticed that too. It seemed like his helmet had slipped farther back late in the stage. But he lost by so much I don’t think we can blame the helmet.

In other news, the manufacturer has halted production of its new Muffin Top Aero helmet after today’s devastating race results.

 

[JSR]

You can find all of the times here

https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-de-france/2020/stage-20/today/time-splits

I hadn’t seen that site before. Pretty cool!

If i sort on time check 2 to the finish the first six names are the ones who earned mountain points, so that seems to be what I was looking for.

 

[il sogno]

This was one of the greatest TDF time trials ever. What an amazing performance. I thought Pogacar was going to blow up, the way he started, but he was able to keep it going. Yay Colnago!

 

[aclinjury]

I don’t think Roglic can blame losing the Tour because of this, but I think that goofy TT helmet that barely covered his forehead cost him at least 30 seconds. I have a gigantic forehead which makes helmets sit on my melon similarly. As noted this was an epic performance only eclipsed by LeMond’s 89 ITT

Roglic must have lifted his helmet over his ears to cool his head once the climbing started. That's what it looked like to me.

 

[il sogno]

Not emotionally invested....but after theat duel to the top, I want a piss test. One of those racers looked like drooling death warmed over; the other barely looked winded.

Would you want a piss test for Porte too? Cause he did super well too.