2018 PRO thread

[maquisard]

Part of me thinks Thomas needs to leave Sky now regardless, I think he just needs a change. Was really glad to see Peter Kennaugh leave Sky for Bora as he is a great GC rider who had the misfortune to be stuck on a team with lots of even greater GC riders.

[itsacarr]

Curious what footbeds they are working with in that FDJ photo.

[Rondje]

Thomas. He's already spoken about going to the Tour this year with freedom to chase his own podium instead of being a super-domestique like before. Maybe alongside Wout Poels if he's back on top form?

Heck, if Froome does get a full length ban Thomas would default to being their main guy for 2019 as well, and wouldn't have to leave for Trek at the end of the season.

They might have made a mistake by letting Landa go if Froome get's banned. But are you serious about Thomas his freedom in the TDF? I highly doubt that, we seen what happened in Sky with the Wiggins/Froome duo. There is always 1 GC guy that the others have to work for.

[UpFromOne]

Police: You just registered double the blood limit for alcohol. Step out of the car, please.
Driver: But I only had one drink! That's impossible!
Police: What are you, a comedian?
Driver: My kidneys! My kidneys!
Police: OK, let's go down to the station.
Driver: Could we just keep this under wraps so my family doesn't find out?
Police: Oh, you certainly ARE a comedian!

[bilwit]

Thomas. He's already spoken about going to the Tour this year with freedom to chase his own podium instead of being a super-domestique like before. Maybe alongside Wout Poels if he's back on top form?

Heck, if Froome does get a full length ban Thomas would default to being their main guy for 2019 as well, and wouldn't have to leave for Trek at the end of the season.

They might have made a mistake by letting Landa go if Froome get's banned. But are you serious about Thomas his freedom in the TDF? I highly doubt that, we seen what happened in Sky with the Wiggins/Froome duo. There is always 1 GC guy that the others have to work for.

He's had "free" reign the last few times he's ridden the Tour so it wouldn't have been any different. I think in 2015 he crashed or something so he ended up giving Froome a wheel at one point because his GC was over. There's also teams like BMC who gave Van Garderen protected status before he blew up and it was clear Porte was vastly superior.. except in that case TJVG wasn't much help to Porte at all afterward. Being a protected rider but not GC leader just means you don't have a role where you do a specific job, blow up, then hang out in the grupetto afterward.

[wingguy]

They might have made a mistake by letting Landa go if Froome get's banned. But are you serious about Thomas his freedom in the TDF?

That's what he thinks is going to happen.

Team Sky are planning as if Froome will be eligible to race come January and at the team camp this week Thomas was given the chance to ride either the Tour, Giro or both. He chose the Tour but with the caveat that if he was in form he would be able to race for himself and that if Froome was either struggling or not at the race for obvious reasons then the Welshman would be given his own opportunity to lead the team.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/geraint ... de-france/

[Rondje]

They might have made a mistake by letting Landa go if Froome get's banned. But are you serious about Thomas his freedom in the TDF?

That's what he thinks is going to happen.

Team Sky are planning as if Froome will be eligible to race come January and at the team camp this week Thomas was given the chance to ride either the Tour, Giro or both. He chose the Tour but with the caveat that if he was in form he would be able to race for himself and that if Froome was either struggling or not at the race for obvious reasons then the Welshman would be given his own opportunity to lead the team.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/geraint ... de-france/

Okay, so only if Froome was struggling he could go full out.

About today's TDU stage. Really strong sprint of Viviani, but Ewan should have had this if he didn't hesitate so long.

[ave]

Also it just seems like his positioning and timing isn't quite up to par with the most elite sprinters. I think he's often at the front too early and tends to be early to kick off his sprint. In my mind, stylistically and physically, he's the next Cav. Once he figures out to wait until the last moment and rely on his explosion rather than necessarily his top speed (which isn't up to par with Greipel or Kittel) - I think he'll be a force.

Apparently he heard me.

Yet, another day, another story!

[Kjetil]

Fumble in the Winery.

[petepeterson]

Thomas gets so much hype for a guy who's won Paris Nice once. He's never finished in the top ten on GC in a GT guys.

[KWalker]

Agreed. He has flashes of glory, but nothing that indicates he is even in the top 20 GC riders.

[rainerhq]

Oh this Cervelo is ugly. Like random parts from garage had been put together.

[Imaking20]

Aero stem and round bar. Makes total sense.

[UpFromOne]

Did he actually test and choose it, or was this simply foisted upon him by the sponsor?

[micky]

I would guess that as we're still in January, they are probably testing it on the road.