van Aert going on yet another hopeless mission that accomplishes nothing but gasses him. And come tomorrow he'll likely be of even less use for Jonas as a consequence.

I don't know what he's thinking. I suppose he's too stubborn to accept that he's not a top top tier rider any longer. It's obviously not easy to accept but it's been years of regression at this point.

the last thing that leaves a fighter is his self belief. And maybe the team don't feel they can pull him back into line?

really excited for this stage now.

Jonas really has to attack early to gain back a chunk of time if he's any chance of winning the race overall. Guessing he will wait til the bottom of Courchevel but he will need to be setting a huge pace up the Madeleine too to have a chance to break Pog.

Tadej and UAE really should ride defensively today but I'm sure he will want the stage win if possible too.

I'm expecting the polkadot challengers to break early Martinez, Arensman and maybe even Woods.

I reckon you're right regarding van Aert, he's been riding like he desperately wants to convince himself that he's not washed. But alas, it seems like he is.

Visma will have to make it hard and I reckon they will begin early. I don't think Jonas wants to attack up Madeleine both because there's supposedly a headwind but primarily because his descent is vastly worse than Pogi's, so even if he can create a gap, he'll get caught and then he'll have less fire for de la Loze. I think he'll press hard with the team on Madeleine but they'll need to have at least one or two guys with Jonas to launch him and then go all out from the moment they hit de la Loze. They really just need a mano a mano situation early, and then it's just a matter of who's got the better legs - and if it's Pogi, well, they were never gonna beat him anyways.

Very, very interesting that Pogi sends Wellens into the break. That suggests he approaches the stage defensively. Because if he wants to win and control the stage, he needs the team to keep the break within reach. Sending Wellens suggests he prefers a defensive backup option rather than going all out for securing that the stage is in play. That said, obviously it's not like it's a clear sign that he's concerned, it's not bad to have him out front for reassurancee. But it does suggest he is not 100% confident that if they ride hard today and go all out he'd win - which he has been most of the time the past two years, IMO.

Kuss always turns into a top 3 climber in the world for the last week of the Tour.

That was the most anticlimactic last 40km imaginable after a great first 130km.

I think these last 3 mountain stages might be the most passive I've ever seen Pogacar ride. Stage 14 his team worked hard all day just for him to do nothing on the final climb and outsprint Jonas for 2nd. Stage 16 more of the same but he actually attacked once on Ventoux. Today he didn't work with the group on the false flat which lead to him and Jonas falling back into the group behind and then UAE paced the final climb and he only attacked 400m from the finish. I'm not saying it's bad or wrong, it's clearly fine tactically, it's working and he'll win the Tour, it's just unusual for him. I'm speculating that he's actually a little more affected by his illness than he let's on.

Yes, very anticlimactic stage. It was shaping up nicely on Madeleine, but then it just fizzled out.

Vingegaard clearly did not have the legs that he was hoping for, and Pogacar once again rode conservatively, probably because he's concerned about going too deep, which indicates he's also feeling the pressure. Otherwise I'm sure he'd have gone for these stages - especially today which he had more or less proclaimed that he desired to win.

Either way, he'll win the Tour and (at least) four stages - yet another dominant performance from him, he hasn't been dropped in the Tour in two years and now the question is how many more will it be before we'll see it again. Because I doubt it will happen tomorrow, and why would it happen next year unless something dramatic happens.

We have some some serious battle for the podium though with Lipowitz losing a lot of time today.

Although I hate to criticize a great attacking approach and hindsight is 20/20, it was maybe a bit overzealous that he rode the way he did today, jeopardizing his podium. Second place was unrealistic, and if he had been a little more conservative today, I doubt he'd have lost so much time. That being said, he really made a commendable effort today, it's sad when it doesn't pay off but it was a high risk approach.

on the flip side, Onley was very impressive on the last climb. We have seen many 'promising young riders' have a great first Tour and then not quite move up to the final level, but he has had an excellent Tour and may be one for the future

and the battle for 3rd will be very interesting today

I hope Pog and UAE ride for the stage win today. He rode exactly as I expected him to on yesterday's stage. That stage was too gruelling and it was too risky to launch a long attack and he respects Jonas too much, plus his team did not look good at all until the GC riders slowed down before the last climb.

Now, with only one stage to go, he really should be safe bar a crash and I think he will want his team to get him into position to be close to the lead by the bottom of the final climb and that he might then attack by the mid point of the climb and put the exclamation point on this Tour.

the Green jersey is pretty much out of reach now because Milan has been very efficient at winning the early stage sprints the past few days, but a win on today's stage should also lock him into a polkadot too. which would be his 3rd

The shortened stage should make a Pogacar win today more likely.

They’ve shortened today’s stage?

Edit NVM - just saw it

I was a bit shocked Pogacar did not want to go for any of those Alps stage when he easily could have won all 3

But at least you can argue he's playing it safe with the yellow jersey. But Jonas who has nothing to lose and is happy to just sit in Pogacar's wheel all climb long when he can obviously easily go catch Arensman is just weird. Maybe he likes the number 2

There's just no way Pogacar is at his best.

Yeah, I mean he was doing everything right to go for the stage win and was in a great position and then clearly didn’t have the legs. Even let Jonas beat him to the line and from memory that’s the first time that’s happened all tour

It’s been a very tough tour, even by the Tour’s standards and maybe he’s just exhausted. Or yeah, maybe a small bug? But still a very dominant win over a brilliant contender who should be in his prime

Yup he's clearly not been as untouchable as he was last year - still the best by a wide margin, but he hasn't been (as) superhuman.

It's further confirmed by him getting dropped right now imo, under normal circumstances there's zero chance he gets dropped like that on the climb - by anyone.

What a ride from van Aert though, he puts my critique to shame. He's not done much to help the GC but him winning today makes up for it - especially when considering that even if he had been more of a help to Jonas, it would not have made a difference for the GC.

To the surprise of approximately no one, Pogacar not riding the Vuelta.

VINGEGOAT

What a strong last ten meters.

Gaudu with the outright steal, wow, how does he beat Pedersen and VingeGOAT there?

Mads Pederson is a beast.

it's all set up nicely for the final week. really hope it doesn't get ruined by protestors

what an absolute shambles the Vuelta has been with all these protests. Such a shame and I honestly don't know what the protests think they achieve by disrupting a cycle race

Jonas' performance has been very good and he is the clear #2 Grand Tour rider in the world

Pidcock continues to intrigue me and I wonder how he will plan his next few years. Surely competing in two sports, even two as symmetrical as his, can't be as effective as training purely for Grand Tour GCs. But perhaps it's better for him to be Goaty in the less established sport than focusing purely on road cycling and not quite making it?

Tadej!

https://www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/articles/cgmzlp8gg2yo

I thought he was insane when he went out so early but Pog is gonna do Pog things!

Happy first day of Paris-Nice to those who celebrate

Nice to see it on NBCSN on YTTV, hoping that more cycling content that's usually only on the cock bleeds through to NBCSN.

What an incredible classics season for Pogacar. Is it possible that he's getting even better?

And just like that it's Giro time. Been watching, for whatever reason the race is on CBS networks (TNT/TruTV etc) and it's weird watching slightly different coverage after so many years of only seeing cycling on NBC networks. Never have the sound on so I have no idea how the commentary compares. Vingegaard has to be a heavy favorite.