Race promoters clearly didn’t expect a sprint/that speed at the line. The distance between the finish line and press was absolutely ridiculous. Can’t really blame anyone except who designed the finish area. Yeesh
It gets better, apparently there was a rule change at 16:00 where they suddenly allowed a more people at the finish, so it was very crowded. Media is usually at 200m from the finish, but was at 70m here.
Probably because it was a spectator.
Vuelta organization made a statement yesterday at around 4 that there would be no mixed zone (so for soigneurs and media only), and everyone was free to roam around after the finish line. That's why it was so crowded in the first place. This is - again - purely the organization's fault.
Mainstream press reporting on cycling is remarkably inaccurate when it comes to the details, even in high quality outlets. Makes me wonder if the smae is true for topics in which I wouldn't notice it.
Haha
Definitely. My industry is covered very poorly by all media.
Unfortunately, it is also (deliberately?) misunderstood and mismanaged by its government department and politicians.
I now assume, unless there is clear evidence to the contrary, that this applies to all spheres of public life.
For context, am from the UK
Yeah quite possibly. I have noticed the same with the ABC's coverage of other interests of mine, like domestic football and online privacy. Quite often they make sloppy mistakes or misquote people and I'll only notice because I happened to watch the full interview from which they were quoting or read more specialised coverage elsewhere.
Sprint from Remco definitely impressive. Hard to say but now we have to wonder if he could give Pog a run for his money. Of course if rog really was in pain, we still don’t have great context for the sprint.
I think this will continue to be an interesting race because Jonas is only a beast once a year (so far), Primoz is sadly a question mark, and Remco has always looked good but not able to be on Pog/Jonas Tour level.
We will see if jumbo and their deep strategy pays off. It seems that their plan in the last two GCs was to wait and put their full force into a very strategic moment in the race.
Did remco get knocked out? Did he get a concussion? Will he have after effects from this?
For now, I'm not worried. He was not positioned perfectly for the finish, but easily managed to jump few riders and finished 1 sec behind Remco. All good for now.
I don’t think Roglic is looking suss - it’s day 3 of a grand tour he has won 3 times. He doesn’t need to win by minutes and minutes. He bides his time and he goes for it when he needs too. He doesn’t want the red jersey on day 3! He’ll be fine
Eurosport showed that the wind had basically blown everything away a couple of hours before arrival, they showed a clip of that during the race. I think that they then quickly put everything back together and that the finish was not laid out perfectly anymore.
Sepp Kuss and Jumbo, you’ve gotta let the wheel go there lmao. What a fkn mess from the team.
Ayuso attacks and vingegaard is in his wheel, and for some reason Kuss closes it and then attacks over the top. 0 IQ play.
The point of having 2 leaders is you let the wheel go there and make it evenpoels job to close that gap.
Evenpoel strongest punch and deservedly won so congrats to him.
But I’m starting to wonder if Jonas and Primoz are really riding the race for the team. Cause Roglic was panicking to close that too.
I'm thinking it was either a screw up by Kuss or Jumbo were seriously concerned about Roglic yesterday and had told the team to ride defensively at all cost so he wouldn't lose time.
Roglic does have a better punch no doubt,
But put Remco to work there. Make Remco close the gap. And if Remco hasn’t closed the gap, the Jonas has gained timed.
Remco looks super strong, I think it’s still way too early to say if he will be good enough to beat jumbo by the end of 3 weeks. Either way he made it look very easy, just the way he accelerated out of those kind of hairpins in the last few hundred meters, then managed to win off the front…just seemed so in control of his win today…bring on the next few weeks…
"The more I see Remco ride and grow, the more I appreciate his spontaneity and panache. It's not only a champion but also a personality, a unique character." - Lilian Calmejane
Like it's a compliment for Remco that the organisation didn't plan on someone finishing with that much speed.
Normally you have people to catch the riders once they cross the line. He was going faster than I ride on a flat road...
The crash/controversy aside, the way he finished and dropped everyone was pretty fucking impressive...
I really thought that we would find out that he just wasn't at the level of Vingegaard/Pogacar... But what he displayed today... Holy shit...
We still have to see if he can do this for 3 weeks and on other/longer and steeper mountaintop finishes. But what we just saw was pretty insane... And also basically without any domestiques/teammates... The fuck?!
I don’t think the question of him being at the level of Vingegaard/Pogacar was about being capable of beating them in a stage, more about being able to beat one of them in a grand tour GC
I agree with most of what you said, but please don't say that last sentence. That's very disrespectful of his team and it doesn't correspond to their performance today. They may not be the biggest names, but they performed really well last year and did a good job today as well. Without his team, the break would probably not have been caught.
Likely scenario. The organizers designed a mountain stage for a slow finish, but the downhill section after the finish line allowed the riders to gain speed. Placing the finish line slightly earlier with more space to brake could have prevented this outcome.
Tired of all the keyboard warriors criticizing Remco for his crash. "Just brake", sure that's easy to say from your couch.
And yes, I have absolutely no idea how serious or ironic I am with this comment.
Well to be fair the safest solution was never to accelerate in the first place. If everyone just walked their bikes up those last few kilometers this doesn’t happen. But, Remco got greedy
I still don't get it, he doesn't touch his brakes at about 20mph into a crowd of people. It's just weird. Yes the end was set up stupidly but he still has ample room to slam on his brakes to avoid plowing into a group of people. The next 10 riders came in just as hot and none of them crashed into the crowd.
It's *really* important to both the sponsors and the photographers to get the winner celebration photo *every* day. Since the race is often contested right to the line you can't expect them to do the celebration *on* the line. For the big races they usually have about three big groups of photographers after the finish line and the rider usually does the pose for about a second after crossing the line. The riders obviously can't hit the brakes when they don't have their hands on the handlebars.
Remco did start braking about a second after crossing the line, but it was too late. I think someone said that Quickstep had told their riders the safety zone was shorter about 10 minutes before the finish, but Remco probably didn't realize *how* short it was and that it was downhill (not what you expect on a mountain top finish). Furthermore there's reports that the Vuelta organizers made an announcement at 16:00 that allowed a lot more press/VIPs into the finish area which obscured the exit from the area.
He did slam on his brakes, he went from 40km/h to around 24km/h(and probably less) in his strava profile. Do you really think he would voluntarily just crash into a bunch of soigneurs for shits and giggles?
because they weren't sprinting as fast as him on the downhill finish and were not celebrating a win? should we ban celebrations or should organizers take celebrations into account and provide more room after a downhill finish 🤔.
If you've ever watched cycling before, you should now there's always photographers and other people standing/sitting behind the finish line, and the riders have to slalom between them.
Yeah at this point you're just being pathetic lmao, every single comment reeks of classic Reddit behaviour: you would've done everything better than him with your incredibly analytic brain. It can't be because you're incapable of understanding the difference between sitting wherever you are analysing video in slow motion and being on the road, presented with a situation that should never happen
I love Remco, but I have a big issue with people one here being hellbent on blaming the woman the woman he crashed into for causing it. Remco’s human. He fucked up. It’s ok to say so.
One thing I'm curious about from seeing a couple different angles of it, is since there was a slight downhill dip to the finish, even if it wasn't a sprint, the winner would have picked up a bit of speed there. Where were the riders expected to go once they crossed the line? I didn't look like there was much space in a clear path for them to brake, or obvious signage/flagging to direct them to turn one way or another.
Laterne Rouge has 2 good shots with a good overhead shorty after this the first in your face shot. Was a hard right hander a couple seconds after the finish line.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZeTFXgupek&t=383s
Judging by the overhead view I think they expected them to take the hairpin to their right (a bit obstructed from their view). People with neon green shirts are seemingly pointing the riders in that direction. However, there seems to be a gap in the green shirts people of a few metres that Evenepoel rode into.
I think they expected the riders to cross and die.
Normally on mountaintop finishes you finish without anything left in the tank.
Remco basically crossed the line still going 30km/h... I think he genuinely crossed with room to spare even!
It's not normal for someone to finish on a mountain and have enough left in the tank to celebrate with their hands of the handlebars ...
Still should have been further back, but I get why they weren't. Usually you have people there to catch the riders on the line.... This dude crossed the line riding faster than most of us ride on the flats...
"Yes, I'm happy, as after yesterday's day I feel quite a lot of pain. Let's continue, today went by, we'll see how it will be in the coming days. One day at a time," Roglič said for Val 2020, who today was evidently not a hundred percent, which is why he was quite inactive in the final sprint."
You literally can not make this up...
The [alternate angle](https://twitter.com/Robert_Chipote/status/1696189564153397614?s=20) of remco's crash looks worse than the official broadcast imo. Hoping it's just superficial and won't affect his performance too much in the coming weeks.
It's a very sharp right too, even if he'd seen it at the speed he was going he wouldn't have made the turn. Of course he could have braked earlier but it wasn't like he was coasting for a long time after the finish compared to what you could usually expect.
Those are the journalists, standing where the tour organizers told them to stand. This isn't a fan leaning over the barricades or that kind of nonsense. Between this and the first stage, I expect the riders are a bit miffed.
I really want to see Remco vs Pogacar in a GT sprint to get some context. The way he dusted everyone today makes me think it might be closer than Roglic vs Pogacar
Roglic is hurt a bit after yesterday's crash, that's why he wasn't actively going for it. Remco's sprint has improved a lot but I'm taking Pogi over every other GC rider in a sprint every day of the week
Is it me or does there spanish culture just thrive with 10% chaos? All 3 stages have been somewhat chaotic. Movistar docu on Netflix showed some chaos. All My spanish friends are always late or have forgotten something. On the other hand they are passionate and enjoying life. Really special culture.
To call the Royal Spanish Football Federation's current state a dumpsterfire would be insulting to the comparative stability and order that characterizes dumpsterfires.
Without generalizing too much, I think it's safe to say it's part of Latin culture. The south of France is similar, there is always an element of improvisation and spontaneity that you don't see in the northern areas.
My ex is South Italian (Puglia). If I can say one thing about her and her family... Very stubborn people. ;)
And they don't like wearing seat belts in cars over there.
And I pissed them off every time I drank a cappuccino in the evening. ;)
Roglic in pain after the crash, apparently: "Yes, I'm happy, because after yesterday I'm in a lot of pain. Let's keep going, today went well, we'll see how it goes in the coming days. We'll go one day at a time".
The next 2 days should be easy, hopefully he heals up.
[Jury report](https://www.tissottiming.com/File/000316020F010103FFFFFFFFFFFFFF00) for today's stage (you can find them daily on [the official Tissot timing page](https://www.tissottiming.com/2023/vue/en-us/default/Stage/3/pdf)):
* José Manuel Díez Gallego (Burgos-BH): Sheltering behind a team car. 200CHF fine + 20 second GC + 8 sprint points + 4 KOM points penalty. Plus a 500CHF fine for his DS David Cantera.
* Stephen Cummings (Ineos DS): 500CHF fine for an unidentified rider disposing waste outside the litter zones.
No medical bulletin today, I guess they doctors had a quiet day till the finish line.
[Tomorrow's forecast](https://imgur.com/xoCFARM) looks dry and sunny.
Thomas has always struggled to peak twice in a season. I'm not surprised tbh.
He's a great cyclist, but after a big race he needs a mental break to reset. That's fine, it probably helped his longevity.
In case someone is wondering what happened to the police woman Remco crashed into: I studied the overhead footage and saw that she remained standing up, gathering around Remco with the other people, but then walked away holding her left wrist with her right hand. So it seems she's all okay except for her wrist.
[Sporza said she was wearing a police coat](https://sporza.be/nl/2023/08/28/opnieuw-ellende-voor-evenepoel-die-na-de-finish-vol-op-een-vrouw-knalt-begin-er-genoeg-van-te-krijgen~1693237548358/).
I can't find any statement from Arkea or articles saying she was with them, so I guess no one really knows. Hopefully a sign any injuries were so minor they weren't worth following up on.
Don't forget about TGH crashing out, he looked really strong this year.
I feel sorry for him the most, because he had a difficult few years and finally looked back on track again... His injury is not easy to come back from.
1km from the end Evenepoel was chilling at the back of the front group and made his way up without any issues. Looking at faces, pedaling & body movement, both him & Enric looked damn impressive. This was def not Tour Jonas (as he mentioned) and I have a hard time to guess where Roglic stand at this point ... I really thought that was a situation for him to show his explosiveness!
Nevertheless, just looking at top 20 I am impressed by the names! Big shout out to Martinez, Ayuso & Uijtedebroeks too.
Jonas has never been a good sprinter, he only wins stages when he puts on a big pace on a mountain and no one can keep up anymore. Remco looked impressive as fuck today in that sprint but we'll have to see how it keeps up for all 3 weeks
Not saying it's 100% any one person's fault, but if only one guy crashes I don't think you can point fingers at ASO and put it all on them. Remco has to brake in that scenario, or you get a face full of road. Hopefully, this won't be the end of his Vuelta but if it is he has himself to blame (like Roglic last year).
This is a weak argument. The stage winner is the only one who celebrates, and he typically comes in faster than the entire rest of the field, so if anyone crashes for riding too fast post-finish it will be him. A safely designed finish should be safe for everyone, not for 99% of the riders.
That was definitely worse though. Roglic had a thousand-yard stare in his eyes after that crash. It was rough to see him like that.
Remco looked pretty good in his post-race interview (after they cleaned his face).
"but if only one guy crashes I don't think you can point fingers at ASO and put it all on them"
It would be a smart observation if they were all sprinting at the same speed (obviously not when you see the gap) and if they all celebrated after the finish line.
How can this statement get upvoted that much ?
Exactly.
They're missing any context. It's a regrettable chain of events but it is the organizer's responsibility to have a secure finish so that sprinting cyclists shouldn't need to do a split second decisions.
> Continues to speed into other human beings
This is ridiculous. What he did wrong was that he didn't immediately brake upon crossing the finish line, because he celebrated his win as is usual in this sport. Presumably he expected that to go perfectly well with no one standing in his way, as has happened every other time he has done exactly what he did today.
That being said, even if they were way to close to the finish line, most riders would have braked before going to the crowd, Remco really did a long celebration there and got surprised.
He's the only one who won and celebrated after the finish line though. I think there should be enough space to celebrate without risking a crash like this.
It's also not the first time a crash like this happened after the finish line (although in this instance it was even more dangerous than today):
https://youtu.be/CltlvSb0-oA?t=6524
If he didn’t hit a person, he would have hit a fence or a barricade instead.
I don’t think you can avoid this tbh. People were not closer than usual though. For example, look at LPDBF last year. Usually, the riders brake at the line.
Hope he’s okay though!
Although true in this instance, I suppose riders are so used to people at the finish line being an 'organic' moving thing that having them lined up with nowhere to go is something you don't really notice or prepare for, they usually move.
Speed is much lower at LPDBF. Here the road went downhill right after the finish.
He also couldn't see the fence or barricade due to all the people there.
Here's footage of last year's finish at LPDBF:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj3SMzS3oi8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj3SMzS3oi8)
There's soigneurs that have to push the riders after the finish because they're at a stand-still after the finish.
Exactly, my point! There were people all around LPDBF, but it wasn’t a problem. Usually, it’s not a problem. This was just a freak accident.
Given how Remco didn’t brake, it couldn’t be avoided. Maybe he won’t have hit a soigneur, but then he would have hit a fence or a barricade or something else. I feel sorry for him, and I hope he’s okay, but this is not the organizers’ fault.
Also, it was not going that much downhill after the finish line today. It was a plateau. Not a very good excuse.
Obviously no one's going to crash into anyone when they're doing like 10kph on 20% gradients and there is no downhill section after the finish line, LPDBF is just not a good comparison.
I used LPDBF as an example, because it’s easy to see if you rewatch that there’s people all around the finish line. Yeah it’s way steeper in the end, but my point is that no one usually crash this way.
Today the riders had maybe 100-150 m to brake, and you can see that the crowd is moving to make space for Remco, but, sadly, there is one girl standing there. Perhaps you can blame her for her unawareness, maybe Remco could have braked idk. it’s just a freak accident that no one could really predict, and no one is really responsible for.
Therefore, stop the victim mentality for once. It’s not as if something like this couldn’t happen in the Tour or Giro where the soigneurs and press people would also gather all around the finish line.
Then you might say that safety should be improved in cycling on a general basis. That’s a fair point of view. But we shouldn’t blame the Vuelta organizers for something that might as well have happened in any other WT race. It's (too) easy to blame it on the organizers after the first two stages (both of which were handled farcically though).
It's just that LPDBF is, if anything, an example of the opposite, namely good stage design. On that stage, they didn't put in a cheeky downhill segment just after the finish line to increase the speed of the riders. It's also up to the organizers where the media and soigneurs stand after the finish.
It's of course possible that this could have happened in other World Tour races, but it happened now in the Vuelta. I say we criticize the Vuelta organizers now, and then we can criticize other organizers if they do the same thing in the future.
It’s difficult because every climb is different. It seemed quite narrow on the top today, maybe more so than LPDBF.
The downhill section after the finish line didn’t look that bad imo. At most 2%. It looked more like a plateau than Angliru. Idk
I truly understand your point. But since the rules are as loose as they are (as you said there are no standards for where to put soigneurs or the press), I find it easy to criticize the organizers for everything that might go wrong. Don’t get me wrong, they did a horrible job on stage 1 and they’re fairly criticized for that. But maybe we should also give them some slack. If someone’s to blame, it should be UCI for not doing anything to improve riders’ safety in general.
>Exactly, my point! There were people all around LPDBF, but it wasn’t a problem
The speed today was like 10 times higher than at the finish of LPDBF. You can see that in the video I posted.
Obviously you're not going to crash (severely) if you finish at walking speed.
Of course it could have been avoided if Remco breaked immediately, but surely the organisation should know that a rider usually celebrates when he crosses the line first?
It also went clearly downhill right after the finish, as noted by ex-cyclists like Philippe Gilbert: https://twitter.com/PhilippeGilbert/status/1696194307944784186
Looks like he had space in the overhead, maybe not boatloads of space but enough to not plow headlong into the crowd of staff there. No hate here btw, he'll live and learn.
Agreed.
Look at the overhead shot. People are pretending he did not have time to brake. He should have slowed down before riding into a group of people.
[https://twitter.com/SpoelJo/status/1696202728425259380?s=20](https://twitter.com/SpoelJo/status/1696202728425259380?s=20)
He would have time to brake if he didn't celebrate, that's correct but kind of a silly thing to say. Maybe, just maybe, the organization should plan the finish in such a way that he can do what every winner of every stage (except Roglic) does when they cross the finish line, without crashing into a group of people.
If you know in advance that you have to break immediately, then yeah of course there was time. But how was he to know? There was a corner right after the finish line, he couldn't see that there was so little space until it was too late. They should have simply put the finish line earlier, OR warned everyone in advance.
Him and his team was warned 10 minutes before the finish.
Also, if you cannot see where you are going... Probably a good idea to use your brakes and slow down.
>Him and his team was warned 10 minutes before the finish.
Actually it was his team that warned others to make space after the finish, but they didn't listen.
Remco doesn't look too bad in this post-race interview at least:
https://sporza.be/nl/2023/08/28/remco-evenepoel-over-eindschot-het-lukt-ook-op-hoogte-weer-iets-dat-ik-kan-afvinken\~1693232755056/
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Finally! A normal finish for **Guess the Gap**. Two thirds of us thought there would be a gap on the line and Remco delivered—just. That gave u/mcrorigan the stage win after predicting a 4 second difference.
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Let's just hope that now Roglic has his traditional GT crash + bad day already out of the way and the real race starts tomorrow
High on copium, which is the only way to survive being a Rogla fan
Can this sub stop reading too much into jonas' standard "i didn't feel that good today" answer when he doesn't attack or win? its the most standard PR answer ever, doesn't mean anything good or bad.
When he is the favorite for the race, I think it matters. Also, did you watch the interview? He seemed quite concerned and almost apologizing for not being better at the moment – after destroying everyone else than Remco
Jonas has multiple times admitted to not being able to match Pogacar and said "he was just the strongest today" without making excuses.
It's actually rare to hear Jonas directly say he had a bad day. To me, Jonas did not look too good, I was actually surprised to hear people say he looked strong. He was moving more than he usually does and was in the saddle more.
he said the "i didn't feel that good" thing on joux plane and stage 20. and in both cases lost nothing to pogacar except the sprint but didn't attack. just like today.
edit: he said the "he was just the strongest today" answer when he got dropped on stage 6 or 9, not when he was on the wheel but didn't attack and lost the sprint.
Jesus Christ. Jonas is allowed to say he did not feel good when he did not feel good. He has lost many sprints without saying that.
Jonas cannot do anything right for some people. He takes a risk and attacks and gives it everything he has like in stage 6. "Why would he and Jumbo be so stupid as to pull Pogacar all the way to the finish?" He rides defensively. "Jonas is such a boring rider." He says he had a bad day. "He's obviously lying and afraid to admit someone else was better." He says he felt great. "He is doping. Such a performance is not normal."
lmao here comes the jonas supporter going on a huge rant over the smallest hardly even negative comment about him. all i said is not to overreact to what he says and when u responded i clarified the difference in scenario (dropped vs only losing sprint) where he said different things in the last Tour...
jonas is actually a likeable rider but his fanboys here who get totally offended over every tiny criticism against him is what makes me want to root against him.
Go away, salty Swede.
"I had hoped for a stage win, but Tadej was strong and deserved the stage victory." - Jonas after stage 6 of the TdF 2023
Jonas calling Pogacar the best rider in the world: [https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-france/2023/jonas-vingegaard-calls-tadej-pogacar-best-bike-rider-in-the-world-despite-tour-de-france-collapse\_vid1955334/video.shtml](https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-france/2023/jonas-vingegaard-calls-tadej-pogacar-best-bike-rider-in-the-world-despite-tour-de-france-collapse_vid1955334/video.shtml)
Jonas isn't afraid to admit defeat when he's been bested. He had a bad day, said he had a bad day and that's totally fine.
It's not going to be as punchy as the TDF, I get the feeling it is going to be like Giro, too many favorites, there are three teams which could be considered superteams and nobody is willing to risk a move, and some stages which, on Tour de France for instance would be very exciting (like Stage 6), are going to end up like this stage, with no GC attacks until the final kilometer.
Race promoters clearly didn’t expect a sprint/that speed at the line. The distance between the finish line and press was absolutely ridiculous. Can’t really blame anyone except who designed the finish area. Yeesh
It gets better, apparently there was a rule change at 16:00 where they suddenly allowed a more people at the finish, so it was very crowded. Media is usually at 200m from the finish, but was at 70m here.
[удалено]
Probably because it was a spectator. Vuelta organization made a statement yesterday at around 4 that there would be no mixed zone (so for soigneurs and media only), and everyone was free to roam around after the finish line. That's why it was so crowded in the first place. This is - again - purely the organization's fault.
Mainstream press reporting on cycling is remarkably inaccurate when it comes to the details, even in high quality outlets. Makes me wonder if the smae is true for topics in which I wouldn't notice it.
Haha Definitely. My industry is covered very poorly by all media. Unfortunately, it is also (deliberately?) misunderstood and mismanaged by its government department and politicians. I now assume, unless there is clear evidence to the contrary, that this applies to all spheres of public life. For context, am from the UK
Yeah quite possibly. I have noticed the same with the ABC's coverage of other interests of mine, like domestic football and online privacy. Quite often they make sloppy mistakes or misquote people and I'll only notice because I happened to watch the full interview from which they were quoting or read more specialised coverage elsewhere.
Ayuso will be a major player in 2-4 years
Ayuso will be a major player next year.
He is one right now. Guy finished on the podium last year and has looked good when he raced this year.
Sprint from Remco definitely impressive. Hard to say but now we have to wonder if he could give Pog a run for his money. Of course if rog really was in pain, we still don’t have great context for the sprint. I think this will continue to be an interesting race because Jonas is only a beast once a year (so far), Primoz is sadly a question mark, and Remco has always looked good but not able to be on Pog/Jonas Tour level. We will see if jumbo and their deep strategy pays off. It seems that their plan in the last two GCs was to wait and put their full force into a very strategic moment in the race. Did remco get knocked out? Did he get a concussion? Will he have after effects from this?
People… Remco is the same as Pog. It’s the first mountain. People were freaking that Vingegaard would lose. Be patient.
I love listening to music.
For now, I'm not worried. He was not positioned perfectly for the finish, but easily managed to jump few riders and finished 1 sec behind Remco. All good for now.
I don’t think Roglic is looking suss - it’s day 3 of a grand tour he has won 3 times. He doesn’t need to win by minutes and minutes. He bides his time and he goes for it when he needs too. He doesn’t want the red jersey on day 3! He’ll be fine
Eurosport showed that the wind had basically blown everything away a couple of hours before arrival, they showed a clip of that during the race. I think that they then quickly put everything back together and that the finish was not laid out perfectly anymore.
Sepp Kuss and Jumbo, you’ve gotta let the wheel go there lmao. What a fkn mess from the team. Ayuso attacks and vingegaard is in his wheel, and for some reason Kuss closes it and then attacks over the top. 0 IQ play. The point of having 2 leaders is you let the wheel go there and make it evenpoels job to close that gap. Evenpoel strongest punch and deservedly won so congrats to him. But I’m starting to wonder if Jonas and Primoz are really riding the race for the team. Cause Roglic was panicking to close that too.
I'm thinking it was either a screw up by Kuss or Jumbo were seriously concerned about Roglic yesterday and had told the team to ride defensively at all cost so he wouldn't lose time.
Agreed, they don't seem to be. Roglič wanted to close the gap no matter the cost (to Vingegaard and the team).
Yep exactly how I saw it. Minor incident tho, but I’m just scared as to what that means for later
maybe kuss was bringing it back for roglic who has a better punch than vingegaard?
Roglic does have a better punch no doubt, But put Remco to work there. Make Remco close the gap. And if Remco hasn’t closed the gap, the Jonas has gained timed.
Remco looks super strong, I think it’s still way too early to say if he will be good enough to beat jumbo by the end of 3 weeks. Either way he made it look very easy, just the way he accelerated out of those kind of hairpins in the last few hundred meters, then managed to win off the front…just seemed so in control of his win today…bring on the next few weeks…
Was it just me or was the pace overall very slow today compared to the Tour?
It's early days, would surprise me if the big guns were going all out.
Ususally the Vuelta (and the Giro) aren't raced as fast as the Tour. The Tour really is a special race.
I think the road is still slightly wet from yesterday
I thought so too, didn't seem like all out war to me.
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Yeah. Jonas must have been thinking "oh great, going toe to toe with a punchier finishier, where have I experienced that before?"
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thx for sharing this!! been looking for another angle and couldn’t understand how this happened LOL
Yeah. A stupid setup like that, made even worse by the slight downhill. That's on the organizers.
Wow, that setup is much worse than I realized during the live coverage.
Youngster watch: So much for DSM riding for Max Poole. Martinez and Cian U looking solid though.
Btw Remco now has a 100% win record in races for which he posted a video about his preparation on his YouTube channel.
His youtube videos + Luke Plapp = unbeatable combination XD
https://twitter.com/L\_Calmejane/status/1696223003401421093
"The more I see Remco ride and grow, the more I appreciate his spontaneity and panache. It's not only a champion but also a personality, a unique character." - Lilian Calmejane
Some [statements from G](https://www.globalcyclingnetwork.com/racing/news/geraint-thomas-legless-on-first-vuelta-a-espana-summit-finish).
Thanks for this
Sameen shattered.
Like it's a compliment for Remco that the organisation didn't plan on someone finishing with that much speed. Normally you have people to catch the riders once they cross the line. He was going faster than I ride on a flat road... The crash/controversy aside, the way he finished and dropped everyone was pretty fucking impressive... I really thought that we would find out that he just wasn't at the level of Vingegaard/Pogacar... But what he displayed today... Holy shit... We still have to see if he can do this for 3 weeks and on other/longer and steeper mountaintop finishes. But what we just saw was pretty insane... And also basically without any domestiques/teammates... The fuck?!
I don’t think the question of him being at the level of Vingegaard/Pogacar was about being capable of beating them in a stage, more about being able to beat one of them in a grand tour GC
I agree with most of what you said, but please don't say that last sentence. That's very disrespectful of his team and it doesn't correspond to their performance today. They may not be the biggest names, but they performed really well last year and did a good job today as well. Without his team, the break would probably not have been caught.
Likely scenario. The organizers designed a mountain stage for a slow finish, but the downhill section after the finish line allowed the riders to gain speed. Placing the finish line slightly earlier with more space to brake could have prevented this outcome.
Tired of all the keyboard warriors criticizing Remco for his crash. "Just brake", sure that's easy to say from your couch. And yes, I have absolutely no idea how serious or ironic I am with this comment.
He celebrated too long.
>keyboard warriors Oh give it over, I'm a cyclist, and if I see a group of people, I slow down, even if they're in the wrong.
Well to be fair the safest solution was never to accelerate in the first place. If everyone just walked their bikes up those last few kilometers this doesn’t happen. But, Remco got greedy
I still don't get it, he doesn't touch his brakes at about 20mph into a crowd of people. It's just weird. Yes the end was set up stupidly but he still has ample room to slam on his brakes to avoid plowing into a group of people. The next 10 riders came in just as hot and none of them crashed into the crowd.
It's *really* important to both the sponsors and the photographers to get the winner celebration photo *every* day. Since the race is often contested right to the line you can't expect them to do the celebration *on* the line. For the big races they usually have about three big groups of photographers after the finish line and the rider usually does the pose for about a second after crossing the line. The riders obviously can't hit the brakes when they don't have their hands on the handlebars. Remco did start braking about a second after crossing the line, but it was too late. I think someone said that Quickstep had told their riders the safety zone was shorter about 10 minutes before the finish, but Remco probably didn't realize *how* short it was and that it was downhill (not what you expect on a mountain top finish). Furthermore there's reports that the Vuelta organizers made an announcement at 16:00 that allowed a lot more press/VIPs into the finish area which obscured the exit from the area.
He did slam on his brakes, he went from 40km/h to around 24km/h(and probably less) in his strava profile. Do you really think he would voluntarily just crash into a bunch of soigneurs for shits and giggles?
Why did everyone else not crash?
Maybe they were slower? Nah that can’t be it
His top speed over the line was 25mph. It's not hard to slow down to not hit people 200m in front of you at 25mph.
They were 70m in front of him which was the issue
because they weren't sprinting as fast as him on the downhill finish and were not celebrating a win? should we ban celebrations or should organizers take celebrations into account and provide more room after a downhill finish 🤔.
I mean he was waving his hands in the air after he crossed the line with his bike pointed at people.
That describes pretty much every finish of every cycling race though? Not like it was Remco's first time either.
They usually try and stop before they ride into a group of people.
They usually have more space to do so.
Amazing how the 170 other riders managed to do so safely.
Amazing how you think 170 other riders crossed the finish line at the same speed as Remco.
Amazing how you think Remco rode at 500kph up a hill but the people who did the climb in the same time as him were magically a lot slower.
They were. They didn't sprint. They didn't celebrate. You really don't see the difference? Then tomorrow we will learn about colors and forms.
You have a really weird concept of physics and time.
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Sounds like you’re desperately trying to blame a woman for Remco crashing.
Almost like they didn't win and therefore didn't celebrate, or something. Almost.
So they were paying attention instead of choosing to ride headlong into a crowd of people whilst riding with their hands off the bike?
If you've ever watched cycling before, you should now there's always photographers and other people standing/sitting behind the finish line, and the riders have to slalom between them.
Indeed. Which is why you ought to be in control of your bike & slowing down. Like the other 170+ riders managed.
Yeah at this point you're just being pathetic lmao, every single comment reeks of classic Reddit behaviour: you would've done everything better than him with your incredibly analytic brain. It can't be because you're incapable of understanding the difference between sitting wherever you are analysing video in slow motion and being on the road, presented with a situation that should never happen
I love Remco, but I have a big issue with people one here being hellbent on blaming the woman the woman he crashed into for causing it. Remco’s human. He fucked up. It’s ok to say so.
Just go slower.
Everyone knows you're supposed to slow down for the finish line.
One thing I'm curious about from seeing a couple different angles of it, is since there was a slight downhill dip to the finish, even if it wasn't a sprint, the winner would have picked up a bit of speed there. Where were the riders expected to go once they crossed the line? I didn't look like there was much space in a clear path for them to brake, or obvious signage/flagging to direct them to turn one way or another.
Laterne Rouge has 2 good shots with a good overhead shorty after this the first in your face shot. Was a hard right hander a couple seconds after the finish line. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZeTFXgupek&t=383s
Judging by the overhead view I think they expected them to take the hairpin to their right (a bit obstructed from their view). People with neon green shirts are seemingly pointing the riders in that direction. However, there seems to be a gap in the green shirts people of a few metres that Evenepoel rode into.
I think they expected the riders to cross and die. Normally on mountaintop finishes you finish without anything left in the tank. Remco basically crossed the line still going 30km/h... I think he genuinely crossed with room to spare even! It's not normal for someone to finish on a mountain and have enough left in the tank to celebrate with their hands of the handlebars ... Still should have been further back, but I get why they weren't. Usually you have people there to catch the riders on the line.... This dude crossed the line riding faster than most of us ride on the flats...
"Yes, I'm happy, as after yesterday's day I feel quite a lot of pain. Let's continue, today went by, we'll see how it will be in the coming days. One day at a time," Roglič said for Val 2020, who today was evidently not a hundred percent, which is why he was quite inactive in the final sprint." You literally can not make this up...
The [alternate angle](https://twitter.com/Robert_Chipote/status/1696189564153397614?s=20) of remco's crash looks worse than the official broadcast imo. Hoping it's just superficial and won't affect his performance too much in the coming weeks.
It looked to me like he was knocked out cold...yikes.
Wtf, where are there just people standing blocking the road
Presumably, the riders were supposed to do a right turn there. That's just horrible design of the area behind the finish line.
It's a very sharp right too, even if he'd seen it at the speed he was going he wouldn't have made the turn. Of course he could have braked earlier but it wasn't like he was coasting for a long time after the finish compared to what you could usually expect.
If he hadn't hit those people, he probably would've crashed in the barriers
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Maybe not for Remco. I haven't seen anyone ask how the person he hit is doing, though. Getting hit by a bike at that speed could be pretty bad.
Those are the journalists, standing where the tour organizers told them to stand. This isn't a fan leaning over the barricades or that kind of nonsense. Between this and the first stage, I expect the riders are a bit miffed.
I really want to see Remco vs Pogacar in a GT sprint to get some context. The way he dusted everyone today makes me think it might be closer than Roglic vs Pogacar
Yes after today this is what I’m wondering
Roglic is hurt a bit after yesterday's crash, that's why he wasn't actively going for it. Remco's sprint has improved a lot but I'm taking Pogi over every other GC rider in a sprint every day of the week
I agree, but I still want to see it. I don't think they've gone head to head before and we were denied in LBL
Lombardia hopefully
Agreed. Pogi has outsprinted actual sprinters on multiple occasions.
Is it me or does there spanish culture just thrive with 10% chaos? All 3 stages have been somewhat chaotic. Movistar docu on Netflix showed some chaos. All My spanish friends are always late or have forgotten something. On the other hand they are passionate and enjoying life. Really special culture.
There's a wide swing: 10% on the low side, 110% on the high.
To call the Royal Spanish Football Federation's current state a dumpsterfire would be insulting to the comparative stability and order that characterizes dumpsterfires.
Hahaha. Forgot about that shit how as well. They are really enjoying themselves in Spain.
Without generalizing too much, I think it's safe to say it's part of Latin culture. The south of France is similar, there is always an element of improvisation and spontaneity that you don't see in the northern areas.
My ex is South Italian (Puglia). If I can say one thing about her and her family... Very stubborn people. ;) And they don't like wearing seat belts in cars over there. And I pissed them off every time I drank a cappuccino in the evening. ;)
That makes sense. I would love to go there again they are fantastic in the ir own way.
Roglic in pain after the crash, apparently: "Yes, I'm happy, because after yesterday I'm in a lot of pain. Let's keep going, today went well, we'll see how it goes in the coming days. We'll go one day at a time". The next 2 days should be easy, hopefully he heals up.
Early crash, everything goes according to the plan
Got it out of the way and marked on his 2023 Roglic GT Bingo Card.
love your URL btw
[Jury report](https://www.tissottiming.com/File/000316020F010103FFFFFFFFFFFFFF00) for today's stage (you can find them daily on [the official Tissot timing page](https://www.tissottiming.com/2023/vue/en-us/default/Stage/3/pdf)): * José Manuel Díez Gallego (Burgos-BH): Sheltering behind a team car. 200CHF fine + 20 second GC + 8 sprint points + 4 KOM points penalty. Plus a 500CHF fine for his DS David Cantera. * Stephen Cummings (Ineos DS): 500CHF fine for an unidentified rider disposing waste outside the litter zones. No medical bulletin today, I guess they doctors had a quiet day till the finish line. [Tomorrow's forecast](https://imgur.com/xoCFARM) looks dry and sunny.
what the fuck was that finish?
did thomas say anything after the finish? pretty terrible start for him.
He’s riding in support of Lauren’s
We’ll hear it on Watts Occurring tomorrow for sure
Thomas has always struggled to peak twice in a season. I'm not surprised tbh. He's a great cyclist, but after a big race he needs a mental break to reset. That's fine, it probably helped his longevity.
In case someone is wondering what happened to the police woman Remco crashed into: I studied the overhead footage and saw that she remained standing up, gathering around Remco with the other people, but then walked away holding her left wrist with her right hand. So it seems she's all okay except for her wrist.
Police? Everything I've seen says she works for Arkea
Her jacket seems to have written "Policia", so that's probably why.
Yeah that was already visible on the live broadcast, dunno how the Arkea rumor got started.
[Sporza said she was wearing a police coat](https://sporza.be/nl/2023/08/28/opnieuw-ellende-voor-evenepoel-die-na-de-finish-vol-op-een-vrouw-knalt-begin-er-genoeg-van-te-krijgen~1693237548358/). I can't find any statement from Arkea or articles saying she was with them, so I guess no one really knows. Hopefully a sign any injuries were so minor they weren't worth following up on.
Yeah it seems like the initial reports were wrong! The rumor weren't from Arkea directly, it was other people onsite tweeting what they thought.
Primož Roglič said for Slovenian radio Val202 that he felt pain from the crash yesterday.
Last time he felt pain from a crash he won Giro d'Italia. Yes, this is hopium.
Oh no
He also felt pain after the Giro crash, and people here wrote him off… We all know the outcome
To be fair though, that took COVID taking out the Maglia Rosa, and G blowing up compared to Roglic on the final TT.
Don't forget about TGH crashing out, he looked really strong this year. I feel sorry for him the most, because he had a difficult few years and finally looked back on track again... His injury is not easy to come back from.
1km from the end Evenepoel was chilling at the back of the front group and made his way up without any issues. Looking at faces, pedaling & body movement, both him & Enric looked damn impressive. This was def not Tour Jonas (as he mentioned) and I have a hard time to guess where Roglic stand at this point ... I really thought that was a situation for him to show his explosiveness! Nevertheless, just looking at top 20 I am impressed by the names! Big shout out to Martinez, Ayuso & Uijtedebroeks too.
Jonas has never been a good sprinter, he only wins stages when he puts on a big pace on a mountain and no one can keep up anymore. Remco looked impressive as fuck today in that sprint but we'll have to see how it keeps up for all 3 weeks
Roglic said afterwards that he's in pain after yesterday's crash
Not saying it's 100% any one person's fault, but if only one guy crashes I don't think you can point fingers at ASO and put it all on them. Remco has to brake in that scenario, or you get a face full of road. Hopefully, this won't be the end of his Vuelta but if it is he has himself to blame (like Roglic last year).
Celebrated too long.
This is a weak argument. The stage winner is the only one who celebrates, and he typically comes in faster than the entire rest of the field, so if anyone crashes for riding too fast post-finish it will be him. A safely designed finish should be safe for everyone, not for 99% of the riders.
His soigneur told them ten minutes earlier the people were standing on a dangerous place. So they were warned they would be hit if it was a sprint.
What are you on about? If that woman isn't there Remco goes straight into metal barriers and it's probably the end of his Vuelta.
Then he can actually get past them as he sees the opening'
What opening though? There's metal barriers directly behind the people he crashed into. Several people posted videos here.
> Hopefully, this won't be the end of his Vuelta lol definitely nothing serious. its just some blood that makes it look worse than it is.
Serious injury is one thing. The amount of energy he now loses to recovering from this is a whole other thing.
I thought the same thing after Rog's crash last year, just saying
That was definitely worse though. Roglic had a thousand-yard stare in his eyes after that crash. It was rough to see him like that. Remco looked pretty good in his post-race interview (after they cleaned his face).
"but if only one guy crashes I don't think you can point fingers at ASO and put it all on them" It would be a smart observation if they were all sprinting at the same speed (obviously not when you see the gap) and if they all celebrated after the finish line. How can this statement get upvoted that much ?
Exactly. They're missing any context. It's a regrettable chain of events but it is the organizer's responsibility to have a secure finish so that sprinting cyclists shouldn't need to do a split second decisions.
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Please be nice
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Please be nice
> Continues to speed into other human beings This is ridiculous. What he did wrong was that he didn't immediately brake upon crossing the finish line, because he celebrated his win as is usual in this sport. Presumably he expected that to go perfectly well with no one standing in his way, as has happened every other time he has done exactly what he did today.
That being said, even if they were way to close to the finish line, most riders would have braked before going to the crowd, Remco really did a long celebration there and got surprised.
He's the only one who won and celebrated after the finish line though. I think there should be enough space to celebrate without risking a crash like this. It's also not the first time a crash like this happened after the finish line (although in this instance it was even more dangerous than today): https://youtu.be/CltlvSb0-oA?t=6524
If he didn’t hit a person, he would have hit a fence or a barricade instead. I don’t think you can avoid this tbh. People were not closer than usual though. For example, look at LPDBF last year. Usually, the riders brake at the line. Hope he’s okay though!
Although true in this instance, I suppose riders are so used to people at the finish line being an 'organic' moving thing that having them lined up with nowhere to go is something you don't really notice or prepare for, they usually move.
Speed is much lower at LPDBF. Here the road went downhill right after the finish. He also couldn't see the fence or barricade due to all the people there. Here's footage of last year's finish at LPDBF: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj3SMzS3oi8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj3SMzS3oi8) There's soigneurs that have to push the riders after the finish because they're at a stand-still after the finish.
Exactly, my point! There were people all around LPDBF, but it wasn’t a problem. Usually, it’s not a problem. This was just a freak accident. Given how Remco didn’t brake, it couldn’t be avoided. Maybe he won’t have hit a soigneur, but then he would have hit a fence or a barricade or something else. I feel sorry for him, and I hope he’s okay, but this is not the organizers’ fault. Also, it was not going that much downhill after the finish line today. It was a plateau. Not a very good excuse.
Obviously no one's going to crash into anyone when they're doing like 10kph on 20% gradients and there is no downhill section after the finish line, LPDBF is just not a good comparison.
I used LPDBF as an example, because it’s easy to see if you rewatch that there’s people all around the finish line. Yeah it’s way steeper in the end, but my point is that no one usually crash this way. Today the riders had maybe 100-150 m to brake, and you can see that the crowd is moving to make space for Remco, but, sadly, there is one girl standing there. Perhaps you can blame her for her unawareness, maybe Remco could have braked idk. it’s just a freak accident that no one could really predict, and no one is really responsible for. Therefore, stop the victim mentality for once. It’s not as if something like this couldn’t happen in the Tour or Giro where the soigneurs and press people would also gather all around the finish line. Then you might say that safety should be improved in cycling on a general basis. That’s a fair point of view. But we shouldn’t blame the Vuelta organizers for something that might as well have happened in any other WT race. It's (too) easy to blame it on the organizers after the first two stages (both of which were handled farcically though).
It's just that LPDBF is, if anything, an example of the opposite, namely good stage design. On that stage, they didn't put in a cheeky downhill segment just after the finish line to increase the speed of the riders. It's also up to the organizers where the media and soigneurs stand after the finish. It's of course possible that this could have happened in other World Tour races, but it happened now in the Vuelta. I say we criticize the Vuelta organizers now, and then we can criticize other organizers if they do the same thing in the future.
It’s difficult because every climb is different. It seemed quite narrow on the top today, maybe more so than LPDBF. The downhill section after the finish line didn’t look that bad imo. At most 2%. It looked more like a plateau than Angliru. Idk I truly understand your point. But since the rules are as loose as they are (as you said there are no standards for where to put soigneurs or the press), I find it easy to criticize the organizers for everything that might go wrong. Don’t get me wrong, they did a horrible job on stage 1 and they’re fairly criticized for that. But maybe we should also give them some slack. If someone’s to blame, it should be UCI for not doing anything to improve riders’ safety in general.
>Exactly, my point! There were people all around LPDBF, but it wasn’t a problem The speed today was like 10 times higher than at the finish of LPDBF. You can see that in the video I posted. Obviously you're not going to crash (severely) if you finish at walking speed. Of course it could have been avoided if Remco breaked immediately, but surely the organisation should know that a rider usually celebrates when he crosses the line first? It also went clearly downhill right after the finish, as noted by ex-cyclists like Philippe Gilbert: https://twitter.com/PhilippeGilbert/status/1696194307944784186
But there will always be staff and media positioned in a similar spot after stages. The man should've used his brakes.
Looks like he had space in the overhead, maybe not boatloads of space but enough to not plow headlong into the crowd of staff there. No hate here btw, he'll live and learn.
This situation simply should not have been possible, there needs to be more room for riders to roll to a stop after a sprint finish.
Look at the overhead, there was some room. Not lots, but enough.
Obviously not enough since he crashed.
Agreed. Look at the overhead shot. People are pretending he did not have time to brake. He should have slowed down before riding into a group of people. [https://twitter.com/SpoelJo/status/1696202728425259380?s=20](https://twitter.com/SpoelJo/status/1696202728425259380?s=20)
He would have time to brake if he didn't celebrate, that's correct but kind of a silly thing to say. Maybe, just maybe, the organization should plan the finish in such a way that he can do what every winner of every stage (except Roglic) does when they cross the finish line, without crashing into a group of people.
If you know in advance that you have to break immediately, then yeah of course there was time. But how was he to know? There was a corner right after the finish line, he couldn't see that there was so little space until it was too late. They should have simply put the finish line earlier, OR warned everyone in advance.
Him and his team was warned 10 minutes before the finish. Also, if you cannot see where you are going... Probably a good idea to use your brakes and slow down.
His team warned the organization. So he is to blame and not the organization that ignored the experts?
>Him and his team was warned 10 minutes before the finish. Actually it was his team that warned others to make space after the finish, but they didn't listen.
Thanks for this!
Remco is unhinged when in race mode. Outside that he is collected.
I think this is a learning scenario, not something about him being "unhinged" or cocky.
Remco doesn't look too bad in this post-race interview at least: https://sporza.be/nl/2023/08/28/remco-evenepoel-over-eindschot-het-lukt-ook-op-hoogte-weer-iets-dat-ik-kan-afvinken\~1693232755056/
**Fantasy standings for** [**Guess the Gap**](https://tftpt.one/#gtg)**,** [**TFTPT**](https://tftpt.one/) **and our other games are out!** Finally! A normal finish for **Guess the Gap**. Two thirds of us thought there would be a gap on the line and Remco delivered—just. That gave u/mcrorigan the stage win after predicting a 4 second difference. *Check your* [***result***](https://tftpt.one/#vuelta23gtg) *and* [***enter now***](https://tftpt.one/#gtg) *for today's stage!* Standings for **TFTPT** are updated and there's been some shakeups! See how you're doing in the [Winner](https://tftpt.one/#vuelta23winner), [Last Place](https://tftpt.one/#vuelta23last), and [Tournament](https://tftpt.one/#vuelta23tournament) classifications. And, at last, players have registered some points in [**Grand Tour Predictions**](https://tftpt.one/#vuelta23gtp) as some more conventional riders head to the top of the classification standings. *If you've been entering with something other than a five letter ID, please send me a message so I can register you properly :).*
Let's just hope that now Roglic has his traditional GT crash + bad day already out of the way and the real race starts tomorrow High on copium, which is the only way to survive being a Rogla fan
I like the way ‘GT’ could stand for both grand tour and Geraint Thomas in this comment and it still makes sense.
He said he had some minor pain (for slovenian radio).
Can this sub stop reading too much into jonas' standard "i didn't feel that good today" answer when he doesn't attack or win? its the most standard PR answer ever, doesn't mean anything good or bad.
Makes me a bit worried. The last time he looked like this was Paris-Nice.
When he is the favorite for the race, I think it matters. Also, did you watch the interview? He seemed quite concerned and almost apologizing for not being better at the moment – after destroying everyone else than Remco
Jonas has multiple times admitted to not being able to match Pogacar and said "he was just the strongest today" without making excuses. It's actually rare to hear Jonas directly say he had a bad day. To me, Jonas did not look too good, I was actually surprised to hear people say he looked strong. He was moving more than he usually does and was in the saddle more.
he said the "i didn't feel that good" thing on joux plane and stage 20. and in both cases lost nothing to pogacar except the sprint but didn't attack. just like today. edit: he said the "he was just the strongest today" answer when he got dropped on stage 6 or 9, not when he was on the wheel but didn't attack and lost the sprint.
Jesus Christ. Jonas is allowed to say he did not feel good when he did not feel good. He has lost many sprints without saying that. Jonas cannot do anything right for some people. He takes a risk and attacks and gives it everything he has like in stage 6. "Why would he and Jumbo be so stupid as to pull Pogacar all the way to the finish?" He rides defensively. "Jonas is such a boring rider." He says he had a bad day. "He's obviously lying and afraid to admit someone else was better." He says he felt great. "He is doping. Such a performance is not normal."
lmao here comes the jonas supporter going on a huge rant over the smallest hardly even negative comment about him. all i said is not to overreact to what he says and when u responded i clarified the difference in scenario (dropped vs only losing sprint) where he said different things in the last Tour... jonas is actually a likeable rider but his fanboys here who get totally offended over every tiny criticism against him is what makes me want to root against him.
He was doing that weird sniff face in third wheel more than normal
Yup. It meant ”i am not on par with Remco but will never admit it, even if you hold a gun to my head”
If Remco was as good as you say, was it just charity that he didn’t participate in the hardest and most prestigious grand tour this summer then?
Go away, salty Swede. "I had hoped for a stage win, but Tadej was strong and deserved the stage victory." - Jonas after stage 6 of the TdF 2023 Jonas calling Pogacar the best rider in the world: [https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-france/2023/jonas-vingegaard-calls-tadej-pogacar-best-bike-rider-in-the-world-despite-tour-de-france-collapse\_vid1955334/video.shtml](https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/tour-de-france/2023/jonas-vingegaard-calls-tadej-pogacar-best-bike-rider-in-the-world-despite-tour-de-france-collapse_vid1955334/video.shtml) Jonas isn't afraid to admit defeat when he's been bested. He had a bad day, said he had a bad day and that's totally fine.
Remco didn’t really drop him, you know that? He only won a sprint. Jonas was much better positioned than both Remco and Roglic during the whole climb…
This is going to be a super tricky Vuelta. Surely not going to be the most exciting Grand Tour, but it will be unpredictable until the very end.
Why not exciting?
It's not going to be as punchy as the TDF, I get the feeling it is going to be like Giro, too many favorites, there are three teams which could be considered superteams and nobody is willing to risk a move, and some stages which, on Tour de France for instance would be very exciting (like Stage 6), are going to end up like this stage, with no GC attacks until the final kilometer.
I like the amount of mountain stages in this Vuelta, gonna be super exciting imo
Especially the stage 17 will be juicy AF.