Tour de Suisse 11-19 June [spoilers]

[smutchin]

Attaque de Barguil! The commentators on the French feed I'm watching have suddenly got very excited.

Good to see Barguil back in racing action anyway.

Atapuma still has 50 seconds on the peloton. Wellens is 20 seconds behind him.

 

[Crackle]

No one left for Sky now.

 

[smutchin]

Atapuma holds on for the win! Great stuff.

What on earth was Tejay playing at? He was leading the chase for a lot of the time in the final kms, then when Barguil attacked, he had nothing left to go with him. Would have been interesting to hear what was said on the BMC bus if Atapuma had been caught.

Pierre Latour in third, and takes the overall lead - another very interesting prospect for the French.

 

[smutchin]

No one left for Sky now.

Boswell didn't last long, did he?

 

[Crackle]

Boswell didn't last long, did he?

He didn't seem to have anything, pedalling furiously but the pace seemed to drop. Pierre Latour is someone I don't know a lot about; interesting.

 

[smutchin]

Pierre Latour is someone I don't know a lot about

Me neither, but I think we can be forgiven since he's only 22 and this is his first season as a pro! (Edit: actually his second pro season, but he didn't ride in any WT races last year apart from Lombardia, which he DNF.)

He finished second overall at the Criterium International and won the white jersey at Romandie. He won't be riding in the Tour but is pencilled in for the Vuelta. Could be worth keeping an eye on.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I am really pleased for Atapuma, but then I have a bias towards Colombian climbers dating back to their first arrival in Europe in the 1980s...

Latour has been a 'prospect' for a couple of years, but for once, he seems like a genuine one. Along with Pinot, Bardet and Alaphilippe, we might really, finally be seeing that long-promised resurgence of French cycling.

Finally, for all the talk of Sky disappearing on that climb, Thomas has crept up to 3rd overall, just a few seconds off the lead - perfectly positioned in fact. However, I'm not convinced he has the pure climbing chops to take this one. In fact, I'd much rather he stopped trying to convert himself to a GT contender and concentrated on the Classics, to which his combination of all-round skills and toughness is much better suited, but that's another discussion... I'm always very happy to be proved wrong though.

 

[smutchin]

Latour has been a 'prospect' for a couple of years, but for once, he seems like a genuine one. Along with Pinot, Bardet and Alaphilippe, we might really, finally be seeing that long-promised resurgence of French cycling.

I've just started another thread on this very subject...

Finally, for all the talk of Sky disappearing on that climb, Thomas has crept up to 3rd overall, just a few seconds off the lead - perfectly positioned in fact.

It looked to me like he was doing the classic Sky thing of riding his own race and letting others make the futile attacks. I don't know if he just let the other riders go at the end or genuinely wasn't able to follow them, but he's probably mindful of the fact that there's a time trial to come on stage 8...

In fact, I'd much rather he stopped trying to convert himself to a GT contender and concentrated on the Classics, to which his combination of all-round skills and toughness is much better suited, but that's another discussion... I'm always very happy to be proved wrong though.

Fully agree.

 

[smutchin]

And talking of Colombians, Miguel Lopez looks like another good prospect. Shot his bolt a bit too early today though.

 

[rich p]

And talking of Colombians, Miguel Lopez looks like another good prospect. Shot his bolt a bit too early today though.

Except when I pick him on the pro-pundit thread.
Thomas looked lacking today, considering that he wants us to believe he's a GT contender. It's possible that he's just come back from a big altitude training block - the usual excuse/explanation de jour. I do like G but it's hard to see him besting Froome, Quintana etc.
Is there any reason we should be worried about the number of goood Colombians around these days? I'd hate to think that we'll be looking back in a few years and wondering if we were as naive as we were about Kenyan athletes and Bulgarian weight lifters.
Just kiddin' , I never believed in Kenyan athletes

 

[brommers]

Without the time bonuses Geraint Thomas would be leading the race.

 

[smutchin]

Thomas looked lacking today, considering that he wants us to believe he's a GT contender.

Faded badly towards the end today.

Great solo ride by Weening though. And Richeze second - he's having a good race. Kelderman in yellow now. I thought Gorka was going to hang on but he blew up pretty badly in the final kilometre.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Bit of a shake-up that. Thomas not looking like a potential GT winner, and didn't have the pure climbing legs when needed.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

It was all so much simpler in the "olden days" when Tour contenders used the Tour de Suisse as preparation for the Tour due to the ease of access to EPO.

 

[brommers]

Bit of a shake-up that. Thomas not looking like a potential GT winner, and didn't have the pure climbing legs when needed.

Sadly for Geraint, most of Sky's climbers were in the Dauphine last week, so he's not got any team mates that can really help him.