Vuelta Stage 14 *spoiler*

13

Comments

  • smithy21
    smithy21 Posts: 2,204
    They both looked in better shape than Rodriguez and Nibali :lol:
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    I think Wiggins looked fragile at times today. Not at the end, mind you, but I think if someone had really cranked it in the last 3 km of the penultimate climb they would've got rid of him.

    But really good ride by Wiggins.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • smithy21
    smithy21 Posts: 2,204
    ^ Surely if someone could have cranked it at that stage they would have done?
  • saintdracula
    saintdracula Posts: 232
    Froome might well turn out to be the Barack Obama of procycling.
  • symo
    symo Posts: 1,743
    I don't think Wiggins looked fragile, he was gently turning up the wick on his opponents and it worked. Nibali looked wasted and Rodriguez looked like the finish needed to move 6km forward.
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  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    smithy21 wrote:
    ^ Surely if someone could have cranked it at that stage they would have done?
    Yes. The only one who could possibly have done that would have been Froome...
  • Turfle
    Turfle Posts: 3,762
    Surely Wiggins and Froome DID crank it in the last 3k.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Turfle wrote:
    Surely Wiggins and Froome DID crank it in the last 3k.

    Of the penultimate climb. Final climb no chance, but Wiggins was blowing fairly hard at one point (I think when J-Rod did his wierd little jump off the front)
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Turfle
    Turfle Posts: 3,762
    iainf72 wrote:
    Turfle wrote:
    Surely Wiggins and Froome DID crank it in the last 3k.

    Of the penultimate climb. Final climb no chance, but Wiggins was blowing fairly hard at one point (I think when J-Rod did his wierd little jump off the front)

    Ah, my mistake.

    I think to be honest everyone was struggling at that point. Cobo and Mollema both looked like they were ready to crack after opening a small gap. Whichever face you chose to look at had pain all over it.
  • jonginge
    jonginge Posts: 5,945
    In the last couple of k when Wiggins was on front I was thinking if Froome backs off a touch mollema would have to make a big, big effort to get back on brad's wheel....

    Cobo now the big danger
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  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    The lesson from today is you see how quickly you can lose a minute. Or two.

    So anyone within a couple of minutes is certainly still in with a sniff of winning
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • mroli
    mroli Posts: 3,622
    Jonginge - agree with that - when Wiggins is "thresholding" it and Froome is holding his wheel and others are holding Froome's wheel, sometimes I think Froome should just let it drift a little - coming round him and closing a gap would really hurt someone...
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  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Odds on BMC offering Froome a lot of cash at the moment would be fairly high I'd say.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • Turfle
    Turfle Posts: 3,762
    Green Edge in need of a GC rider too.
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    Turfle wrote:
    Green Edge in need of a GC rider too.

    You were Kenyan, then British, now you're Australian! :lol:
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
    Sky surprised everyone, today.
    Just at the point when they were supposed to get attacked and have their climbing frailty exposed, they crank it up and expose some major cracks in their opponents armour.

    So, does the Spanish alliance get behind, Juan "I'm back" Cobo, or try same again tactics for the Angliru?
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    Not sure whether either the Angliru or Pena Cabarga are made for such big alliance tactics - it's more each for themselves. The last couple of stages in the Basque Country on the other hand...
  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,436
    Only 5 out of 81 PTPers have picked Wiggins for GC.....


    C'mon Roche
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  • Moomaloid
    Moomaloid Posts: 2,040
    Froome... what a beast!!

    So what happens tomorrow if Froome can go harder than Brad? Hopefully it wont come to that, but would he be able to ride for himself do we think?

    Also, anyone think that Nibs and JRod may have decided after being dropped to save hold back a bit? They did look on the rivet, but who knows. Cobo looks good for tomorrow, maybe he's the threat now?
  • yourpaceormine
    yourpaceormine Posts: 1,245
    If Sky had won the stage then their 1-2 performance would have been ultimate tribute to Txema, as it was it was pretty amazing. Just wondering how much the emotion of today boosted the performance, or did they get carried away? Wiggins looked like he was struggling after crossing the line.

    What was going on just after Brad crossed the line? Can anyone lipread Spanish or was it French? Looked like he was having words with a UCI official.

    As an aside - WorldTour points for the Vuelta clearly don't count for this year's World Championships standings; so will they get carried over into 2012? And will Sky renew Froome's contract - until the Vuelta I would have had him down as one of the eleven.
  • squired
    squired Posts: 1,153
    Great effort by both Sky riders to stay 1-2. Whatever happens tomorrow no-one can say that Wiggins and Froome haven't given 100% in this race. In fact, if both blew completely I wouldn't be upset, as they have already done incredibly well.

    One has to ask though where Wiggins might have ended up in the TDF based on how he is riding in the Vuelta. He wouldn't have been dropping Contador or the Schleks, but he would have been able to stay pretty close to Evans throughout.

    God knows what will happen on Sunday. Such a shame that neither Eurosport or ITV4 is showing it live in the UK.
  • yourpaceormine
    yourpaceormine Posts: 1,245
    itv4 is streaming it live, but yes agree absolutely ridiculous that neither broadcaster is showing possibly the most important stage. Hopefully be able to find a good twitter feed... movistar is usually pretty good
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    So tactics for tomorrow? The other teams have to leave it all to Sky, so how do they achieve that. Leopard / Rabo / EE / Liquigas did a lot of the solid pace work today, so they've got to stop that stuff and force Sky to burn their matches early. But it's not exactly brutal before the final climb.

    Hmmmm
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • wicked
    wicked Posts: 844
    yourpaceormine wrote:
    If Sky had won the stage then their 1-2 performance would have been ultimate tribute to Txema, as it was it was pretty amazing. Just wondering how much the emotion of today boosted the performance, or did they get carried away? Wiggins looked like he was struggling after crossing the line.

    What was going on just after Brad crossed the line? Can anyone lipread Spanish or was it French? Looked like he was having words with a UCI official.

    As an aside - WorldTour points for the Vuelta clearly don't count for this year's World Championships standings; so will they get carried over into 2012? And will Sky renew Froome's contract - until the Vuelta I would have had him down as one of the eleven.

    Better than struggling a few km's before the line surely?
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  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    edited October 2012
    Really pleased to see Wiggins and more so Froome killing off the field including some real big guns.

    Wiggins said if he rides threshold in the mountains they wont stay with him or will struggle.

    I would have thought J-Rod would be able to do the business tomorrow but he is well done.

    Stage 14 results
    1 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 4:39:01
    2 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC + 0:25
    3 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Geox-TMC + 0:29
    4 Wout Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro + 0:40
    5 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky + 0:45
    6 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky
    7 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank
    8 Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC
    9 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi + 0:55
    10 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto + 1:00

    General Classification after Stage 14
    1 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky 55:54:45
    2 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky + 0:07
    3 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank + 0:36
    4 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC + 0:55
    5 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek + 0:58
    6 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana + 1:23
    7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale + 1:25
    8 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek + 1:37
    9 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto + 2:16
    10 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha + 2:24

    Only 2.5 mins separating the top 10 after nearly two weeks racing :shock:

    If Nibali is on form tomorrow I think he is danger - he did very well on Zoncolan, especially 2nd half. As has been said, Cobo dangerous.

    Last 3km
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53KDPGmCDOg
    Contador is the Greatest
  • FJS
    FJS Posts: 4,820
    iainf72 wrote:
    So tactics for tomorrow? The other teams have to leave it all to Sky, so how do they achieve that. Leopard / Rabo / EE / Liquigas did a lot of the solid pace work today, so they've got to stop that stuff and force Sky to burn their matches early. But it's not exactly brutal before the final climb.
    Yes, very different situation than this morning, with the GC so close that several teams had 'GC leader responsibilities'. The penultimate climb tomorrow is very steep, with a very steep technical descent - wouldn't be surprised if Nibali tries something there tomorrow. He's still only 1'25 behind on GC.
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    WOW any one know why Scarponi DNF?
    Contador is the Greatest
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    frenchfighter wrote:
    WOW any one know why Scarponi DNF?

    He said his legs around working properly or something like that.
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    Ok thanks.

    Disappointed Mr Martin is 21st at 5.5mins.
    Contador is the Greatest
  • frenchfighter
    frenchfighter Posts: 30,642
    "Nibali is the one who has the most options. In the last Giro, he climbed the Zoncolan with me and was amazing, and it's going to be difficult to take time on him," he insisted. "The most dangerous person for Nibali could be himself," he said. "If he maintains his level, he's well on his way. He's a very solid rider, consistent, and he already has the experience of having won the Vuelta."

    "On the Angliru, you usually don't get big time gaps, but if anyone has a bad day, he could lose everything. They can't fail. It could be a good stage for Joaquím Rodríguez," he indicated.

    In comparing the Angliru and the Zoncolan, Contador pointed out similarities, saying that "both have similar slopes, but the Asturian climb is less constant than the Italian one."

    "The Zoncolan is worse because it gives you no respite. The Angliru, however, has a bit of a let-up that enables you to break the rhythm," he added.
    Contador is the Greatest

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