Mom, I'm scared. - AFP

  • "Ineos and Jumbo are capable of making the race monotonous", worries Romain Bardet.
  • The Dutch, in great shape this season, are "the absolute favorites of the Tour de France," said former cyclist Stef Clement.

From our special correspondent in Nice,

Richie Porte calls them the "killer bees." The Jumbo-Visma hunt in yellow and black, yes, but the comparison seems a bit wonky. We want to baptize them “stoomwals”: ​​the steamroller. During confinement, the Jumbo-Visma ate lion. Since the resumption of the season, the Dutch have rolled over the rest of the peloton: George Bennet raised his arms on the Gran Piemonte, Wout van Aert won the Strade Bianche and Milan - San Remo, Primoz Roglic won the Tour de l ' Ain and rushed towards victory over the Dauphiné, before a nasty fall.

With their second leader Tom Dumoulin, the Jumbo are "the absolute favorites of the Tour de France", enthuses the former Dutch rider Stef Clement, now consultant for the chain Nos. She could offer nice naps to her viewers this summer. "We must not be under any illusions, there are two teams above the rest, Ineos and Jumbo, which are able to lock the race and make it monotonous," sighs Romain Bardet. "I am necessarily afraid that the race will be padlocked, as was the Dauphiné until the fall of Roglic", confirms Thibaut Pinot.

"The leaders all had a bad day at the Dauphiné"

The floor is on the defense. Stef Clement, who ended his career with Jumbo, is surprised that this debate arises in France: “I think the Tour is very unpredictable this year. The preparation was unprecedented, the peloton missed three months of racing. At the Dauphiné, the leaders were inconstant, they all had a bad day! "

Roglic is on the verge of winning a seated time trial sprint. pic.twitter.com/Z68hdHMa1W

- The Big Loop (@LaGrosseBoucle) August 7, 2020

Stef Clement therefore denies our original idea, according to which the Jumbo “are going to spoil the Tour”. Steve Chainel, consultant for Eurosport, has already told us: the Jumbo “will not be able to run after all the hares. They will race, but not run over it. "

"No energy to block everything"

Come to think of it, we can see some factors of uncertainty:

  • the war of position between the Jumbo and the Ineos should allow Thibaut Pinot's Groupama-FDJ to stay wisely in the wheels and therefore to protect themselves to dynamite the race in the third week;
  • the fact that Julian Alaphilippe and Romain Bardet renounce any ambition to the general promises great battles to go hunting stages;
  • the course, very difficult, will not leave room for error to the three favorites. If Egan Bernal, Tom Dumoulin or Primoz Roglic have a day without, the addition could quickly be counted in minutes;
  • the weather is looking pretty bad, with late summer thunderstorms starting this Saturday in Nice;
  • the falls multiply in the platoons since the deconfinement.

Are you still skeptical? Let Bernard Thévenet try to convince you:

I don't think we'll be bored. The Tour is really difficult: they won't have the energy to always go full speed and block everything. From Monday, after the mountain stage, there will be gaps in the standings and therefore riders who can start from far. Last year, there was less control than usual, we even saw a breakaway with 20 riders, unheard of in fifteen years! Sports directors have changed their mentality. "

But not us: we always prefer to complain in advance.

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  • Cycling
  • Thibaut Pinot
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  • Tour de France
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  • Cycling