Is that actually his strava account??
Appears so, unless some one else has been doing the TdF stages and uploading them to that account for the last two weeks and all the other races Wout has been in for the last year I’ve followed him 
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I feel fairly confident that some rando isn’t throwing up the 4th fastest time on Wednesday’s TT course… 
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Hah. Yea I just had no idea you could follow the rides pros do there.
Sure…lots of pros post on Strava. One example - Keegan posts every ride and includes his power data.
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Most riders ride on the rest day. Just less or lower intensity. If someone is injured or ill, they might actually just rest. Sepp rode this same route with Wout today.
Yep. Lots of pros on Strava. Some post almost everything, and others post very little. Pog and Wout both put up their rides (with limited data of course).
List from Strava - scroll down for men… Jumbo not listed for some reason
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Yip they do, WVA seems to ride that wee bit harder than everyone else though. I think there’s a segment in there of the stage 16 TT they were probably doing a fast recce.
With over half a million followers just on his Strava alone some product placement ads could be quite lucrative.
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Looking at the remaining stages, am only seeing one left that looks good for a WvA win. That’s assuming he has freedom to fly and the GC isn’t so close that he rides for the team.
Believe his contract allows a lot of freedom but also seems like the kind of guy who would put the GC ahead of his own stage win if the team needed it.
Will be spending Tuesday and Wednesday glued to the TV. Am rather hoping it’s still neck and neck and goes all the way to Paris.
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Oh the last stage not being a procession, but rather an actual competitive stage. Yes please.
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It is an actual competitive stage - just one that happens to be preceded by some fun and games for the riders.
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I’m not sure that is what @DarthShivious meant. I assume he meant the penultimate stage… i.e the one before the possession i.e right up to Paris (not decide tomorrow in the TT.)
Unless its a second different and there are time bonuses on route (even then it would be considered unsporting) nothing will happen and the GC is called with 3km to go if theres a crash.
I remember one year there was a possibility for someone to jump a place in the top ten and there was outrage at such a thing happening, alas it didn’t. The GC is over on stage 20 the only exception is a TT on the last stage. It is traditional and would be seen as an unsporting.
Having said that next year with no Paris final stage tradition might be broken. You might have to wait for there not to be conclusion of the Tour on the final stage until the 2024 edition
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Yes - agree.
I was thinking Stage 19 (Poligny) has a lumpy profile where a strongman like WvA could go on an exploit and possibly get some help from others with similar strengths who fancy the day and who still ‘need’ a stage win (Alliphillipe, MvdP, etc etc). Not a stage where one would expect GC activity and not an obvious stage for sprinters. Almost tailor made for a specific type of break that goes the distance. Expect it to be a boring GC stage but a really fun one to watch as a one day race.
No matter what, the next five days ought to be great entertainment and then the Paris stage is always fun.
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If Jonas loses the yellow jersey in the TT, I bet Jumbo will come out swinging the next day.
If Jonas keeps the yellow jersey in the TT, I bet UAE will come out swinging the next day.
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Interesting hearing different commentators predictions for the TT. There’s some who think Jonas will take time based on his TT performances over the last 2 TdFs but there’s caveats for both of those.
- In 2021 Pog had a huge lead and only needed to not crash, so he took the TT easy
- In 2022 Jonas was very clearly stronger than Pog in the 3rd week, they seem much more equal this year
Based on Pog’s relative form and this course being really well suited towards his strengths of shorter, punchier climbs + some flats where he can push more raw watts based on body weight there are a number of analysts who think Pog has the clear edge.
I’m hearing predictions like Pog taking 20-40 seconds on Jonas which seems a lot to me, but I’m also still emotionally scarred by 2020 Belles Filles 
Hmmmm…I dunno about that. I don’t think I would call a ~6km Cat 2 hill to finish a TT as “short” or “punchy”.
I do think Pog will emerge as the winner tomorrow, but more than 20" seems to be an aggressive prediction for a race that is only 22km.
The good news is that you really only need to watch the last 2 riders…everyone going off before that is just gonna be window-dressing. 
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I dont think that is true.
Jonas has the advantage on paper according to many, and he looks the stronger atm imo. Spikes in power and a ITT aren’t best bed mates. Jonas has a better w/kg and consistency its more important, along with consistently more power on the rises.
A technical course with corners and accelerations out of them would suite Pog more.
On paper Jonas, but I have a feeling Pogacar might take it. Either ways it will be interesting.
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Isn’t the final 3km “only” 3%.
I think Jonas will take 20seconds.
Punchy was Lanterne Rouge’s words but yes I agree it’s not punchy in the typical sense - though I would say the 2.5k at 9.4% part is punchy.
Regardless, the intent was that Pog is generally unbeatable on ~20 minute climbs and Jonas typically has/had the edge in the longer 50+ minute climbs. This is far closer to the Pog spectrum than Jonas’.
Overall I agree though. My gut says Pog takes 10-20 seconds but I wouldn’t be shocked either if Jonas won on the day or if Pog somehow blew him out of the water. We’ve seen too many of these things where the statically most likely outcome doesn’t occur for whatever reason.
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Wait what??! Why is there no Paris next year?? What did I miss?