Vuelta stage 8 *spoiler*

Bernardus
Bernardus Posts: 136
edited September 2010 in Pro race
The first real mountain stage.

10090413033-vorschau-vuelta-a-espantildea-etappe-8-anwaerter-auf-den-gesamtsieg-am-alto-xorret-del-catiacute-gefordert.gif

A lot of crashes in the early hours a.o: Gilbert, Arroyo, Petacchi, Cavendish, Caruso and Le Mevel. F. Schleck, Menchov and Vande Velde didn't crash yet.

The leaders are Moncoutie, Bazayev, S. Martinez, Tschopp and Arrieta, they have 5 minutes on the peloton.

Comments

  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    Nearly 8 minutes now. Moncoutie v Arrieta out of the breakaway.
  • Wtf is up with Cervelo? :?
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Gap coming down fast. Just 3"50 Cervelo driving it hard
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    Gap is going back up now. 4'50" with 21 km go.
  • Now it makes sense. :roll:
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Here we go..............Pain time.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • pomtarr
    pomtarr Posts: 318
    Seen painted on the road:

    "F**K YOU UCI"

    :lol:
    "Difficult, difficult, lemon difficult"
  • The gap shrunk nearly 1 minute within 1 kilometer.

    Moncoutie alone at the front

    Sastre attacks
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    Where's Menchov? Him and Frank Schleck the big losers of the day.
  • 1. Moncoutie
    2. Martinez
    3. Tschopp
    4. Arrieta
    5. Rodriguez
    6. Nibali
    7. Anton
    8. Bazayev
    9. Tondo
    10. Sastre

    F Schleck cracked a bit, Menchov is gone.
  • A bit of cat n' mouse. Anton takes the "red" hot potato.
    Nibs looks very threatening for the paella boys.

    Menchov is still on the climb. :oops:
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • afx237vi
    afx237vi Posts: 12,630
    Anton in red according to what just came up on screen. Gonna be tough to defend that for two weeks.
  • calvjones
    calvjones Posts: 3,850
    Can't see past nibs for this but if he falls off and Tondo wins at 200-1I'm on for some new kit 8)
    ___________________

    Strava is not Zen.
  • Wasn´t Frank suppposed to be in his element on climbs like these? He isn´t out completely but might very well be soon. Menchov is gone, as stated above.
    I for one was surprised that Sastre tried to attack even if it lasted two seconds. Considering that he has done both the Giro and the Tour this year he´s doing above expectations.
    "Wo ist mein Fahrrad?"

    -Ralf Hutter of Kraftwerk waking up from a coma after a crashing with his bicycle-
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    No huge differences; no good news for Schleck and Menchov, but they're not completely gone. Menchov lost just over 2 minutes on Anton and Nibs. That's a lot at this stage, but the real mountains haven't even started yet. Tough Vuelta this - with all those hilly stages and hilltop finishes you get the feeling the fight for the GC is already in full swing, but it's all about the last week really.
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    edited September 2010
    Seems like Joaquim was hard done by and should have the leader's jersey:

    http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/rodrigu ... red-jersey

    Where was Andy? Is he here to support his brother? Isn't that why he is 36mins down?

    I wasn't able to watch any - was he doing any work for Frank?
    Contador is the Greatest
  • Seems like a crash had a major impact unfortunately. I know it is part of cycling but it is annoying when luck plays the part and not talent and form

    “I got caught in the big crash and my right knee was painful all the way”, said Menchov. “With this pain, I couldn’t push on the pedals in the final hill. For the moment, it’s a bad day. We’ll see tomorrow if the consequences of the crash make it even worse or not.”

    What a mess!” Gilbert exclaimed after the stage. “The road was wide and we went to a narrower one; [Lampre-Farnese Vini’s] Petacchi got his wheels changed last night and there was no response from the surface at the first braking; that caused the crash at 50km/h.

    “Five or six riders came onto my back,” he continued. “I also felt a chain ring in my back. For at least a minute I couldn’t breathe; my bike was broken; I also had to change my shoes.”
    Contador is the Greatest
  • There is a monument to José María Jiménez Sastre at the base of the steep Alto Xorret del Catí climb before today's finish. Jiménez, an escape artist who was good on the steep stuff, was a former winner of Xorret del Catí at the Vuelta. He died at age 32 in 2003 from a heart attack the year after he retired from cycling. He was also a brother-in-law to Carlos Sastre, who finished 10th today.

    http://www.grassyknolltv.com/2010/vuelt ... 479728.jpg

    Check out Arroyo's damage:
    http://www.grassyknolltv.com/2010/vuelt ... 529313.jpg
    Contador is the Greatest
  • Contador is the Greatest