Paying The Danegeld ***Spoilers***

[No Ta Doctor]

What did you make of Vinny's ride, Doc?

I thought it was decent but wouldn't have spooked Pog with regard to the Tour. Especially as he'll be a bit cooked from the Giro... possibly!

It's difficult to judge when the top level aren't really there as competition (Ayuso crashing out). Blew Martinez out of the water for 40 seconds in 1km after Red Bull delivered them to the finish, did a big solo the next day - which looked a little like the rest of the race wasn't hard enough for him so just wanted some tougher miles in his legs, then failed to drop the other Martinez on the final day and eventually got outsprinted by him. The final day might have been a little cautious due to the weather and tbh, if I were him I'd have let the French lad win the stage on his home turf but make it look good as a bit of goodwill from a lower level player might not go amiss later in the season (I don't think Jonas thinks like that though).

All in all I don't think we've got a gauge on his level from that, and it's basically impossible to tell until he's head to head with Pog, as they're in a class of their own

 

[rich p]

It's difficult to judge when the top level aren't really there as competition (Ayuso crashing out). Blew Martinez out of the water for 40 seconds in 1km after Red Bull delivered them to the finish, did a big solo the next day - which looked a little like the rest of the race wasn't hard enough for him so just wanted some tougher miles in his legs, then failed to drop the other Martinez on the final day and eventually got outsprinted by him. The final day might have been a little cautious due to the weather and tbh, if I were him I'd have let the French lad win the stage on his home turf but make it look good as a bit of goodwill from a lower level player might not go amiss later in the season (I don't think Jonas thinks like that though).

All in all I don't think we've got a gauge on his level from that, and it's basically impossible to tell until he's head to head with Pog, as they're in a class of their own

All good points.
I fear that unless he has as easy a ride in the Giro as Pog did, he'll struggle more in the Tour this year.
I don't blame him for going for the GT set at all though. Maybe he'll prove the team right in that it'll improve his form and chances but I'm not totally convinced.

I'm also more wrong than right but let's gloss over that 😊