Vuelta stage 18 *Spoiler*

FJS

Still in Cantabria, still in the home region of Cobo, and a very lumpy stage, but nothing close enough to the finish to have an impact on the GC.

Although.... there's a big group well ahead (more than 7 minutes), with J-Rod and Kiserlovski. Still, they'd need 12 minutes just to get into the top 10.

MONTAGUTI Matteo (018), KOHLER Martin (032), SIJMENS Nico (046), OROZ UGALDE Juan Jose (055), RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin (081), GAVAZZI Francesco (099), DE GREEF Francis (122), KISERLOVSKI Robert (135), JUFRE POU Josep (139), MALACARNE Davide (147), VANDEWALLE Kristof (149), SANCHEZ GIL Luis Leon (158), GUSTOV Volodymir (163), GENIEZ Alexandre (171), TIMMER Albert (176), HAUSSLER Heinrich (193) and PAULINHO Sergio Miguel Moreira (208).

The size of the break and ther advantage means the bonification seconds at intermediate sprints are gone

afx237vi

Montaguti in the break? He's only 22 pts behind Moncoutié in the polkadot race with 29 available today.

FJS

afx237vi wrote:

Montaguti in the break? He's only 22 pts behind Moncoutié in the polkadot race with 29 available today.

Yep, and considering they have 10 minutes now, it looks like they might well last to the finish, ro at least the hill zone. Big job for Nico Sijmens

richa

FJS wrote:

The size of the break and ther advantage means the bonification seconds at intermediate sprints are gone

Should Sky have kept the break in check to give Froome a chance of sprinting? Been fun to see both Sky & Geox leadouts for the sprint...

afx237vi

RichA wrote:

FJS wrote:

The size of the break and ther advantage means the bonification seconds at intermediate sprints are gone

Should Sky have kept the break in check to give Froome a chance of sprinting? Been fun to see both Sky & Geox leadouts for the sprint...

For 101 km? Not strong enough.

FJS

If there's a stage Sky could try something it's tomorrow, with both the intermediates better positioned and a very steep hill not far from the finish. Still very unlikely though. But well, with 13 seconds you gotta do something

Gazzaputt

I think far from unlikely they won't try something tomorrow.

As said with 13 seconds you gotta to do something and keep pressure on Geox & Cobo.

Wiggo could go off the front into TT mode to pull some of the Geox after him. Break up their train and then let Froome attack on the last climb.

avoidingmyphd

Gazzaputt wrote:

I think far from unlikely they won't try something tomorrow.

aarrgh. all those negatives hurt my head.

Sijmens just pinched the points off Montaguti at the top of Alto del Caracol.

schweiz

it's 15:38 CET and Eurosport is still showing the bloody snooker!

bompington

avoidingmyphd wrote:

aarrgh. all those negatives hurt my head.

Unless it really isn't wrong that you aren't actually doing a PhD then I can't fail to think that you shouldn't have problems working them out.

Which reminds me of the linguistics lecturer who was going on about how in some languages, two negatives made a positive; in some languages, two negatives make a negative; but in no language do two positives make a negative.
A glaswegian voice from the back row pipes up: "Aye, right!"

FJS

Lead group thinned out on the 1st cat climb. Haussler, Sanchez and Gavazzi gone. Sijmens takes the points again ahead of Montaguti.

Does anyone have any of the breakaway riders for PTP?


Problems at Movistar - 3 riders abandoned yesterday, Madrazo today, and the rest riding round with tummy problems. Cuisine PDM?

MrTapir

is nothing happening? is it not an interesting stage?

afx237vi

FJS wrote:

Lead group thinned out on the 1st cat climb. Haussler, Sanchez and Gavazzi gone. Sijmens takes the points again ahead of Montaguti.

Does anyone have any of the breakaway riders for PTP?


Problems at Movistar - 3 riders abandoned yesterday, Madrazo today, and the rest riding round with tummy problems. Cuisine PDM?

Luis Sanchez, but I don't think he's in the break any more.

rick_chasey

MrTapir wrote:

is nothing happening? is it not an interesting stage?

It's the Vuelta.

It's not just the riders who run out of steam .

afx237vi

Why the flip are Euskaltel chasing anyway?

Bronzie

FJS wrote:

Haussler, Sanchez and Gavazzi gone.

Does anyone have any of the breakaway riders for PTP?

I've got LLS :roll:

Thought it would come down to him and Haussler for the sprint when I saw who was in the break #anotheronebitesthedust

gabriel959

There is quite a lot going on but no threats to the GC that is why the lack of info I guess.

Paulinho on his own at the top of the last climb with 26km to go.

FJS

Rick Chasey wrote:

MrTapir wrote:

is nothing happening? is it not an interesting stage?

It's the Vuelta.

It's not just the riders who run out of steam .

You can easily skip that 'just'. The riders are doing at least as much racing as in a similar stage in the Tour de France - you'd have 3 pages of discussion of a little breakaway that Poels and Nico Roche just tried, or Sijmens almost crashing in a descent, or Montaguti almost but not quite taking the polka jersey

MrTapir

Rick Chasey wrote:

MrTapir wrote:

is nothing happening? is it not an interesting stage?

It's the Vuelta.

It's not just the riders who run out of steam .

oh yeah i know what you mean, after watching almost every single stage of the tour, some live (which meant that , with sky plus pausing i watched almost 6 or 7 hours of cycling a couple of times) i never wanted to see another bike race for ages. Watched last night's highlights which was good, great to see such a fantastic finish.

I'm relying on forumites for my Vuelta updates though! no pressure...

Edit: i didnt mean that last sentence to come across so desperate, oops. relying is not the right word

FJS

afx237vi wrote:

Why the flip are Euskaltel chasing anyway?

The breakaway has 12 minutes - Kiserlovski and J-Rod close to Nieve's top 10 GC place

afx237vi

Eurosport should have realised this was going to be a boring stage and made a last-minute bid for the Giro di Padania instead. I love a good punch-up.

afx237vi

FJS wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

Why the flip are Euskaltel chasing anyway?

The breakaway has 12 minutes - Kiserlovski and J-Rod close to Nieve's top 10 GC place

Wow, high stakes!

Almost as audacious as Roche's attempt to move up from 17th to 16th. I was on the edge of my seat for a minute there.

FJS

Bronzie wrote:

FJS wrote:

Haussler, Sanchez and Gavazzi gone.

Does anyone have any of the breakaway riders for PTP?

I've got LLS :roll:

Thought it would come down to him and Haussler for the sprint when I saw who was in the break #anotheronebitesthedust

LLS has just been caught back by the peloton - dropped from a break that has 12 minutes :shock: . Apparently he felt a bit ill this morning, but still ended up in the break :roll:

gabriel959

Paulinho has got nearly a minut with less than 20km to go. Looks like a last hurrah for Radioshack?

rick_chasey

FJS wrote:

Bronzie wrote:

FJS wrote:

Haussler, Sanchez and Gavazzi gone.

Does anyone have any of the breakaway riders for PTP?

I've got LLS :roll:

Thought it would come down to him and Haussler for the sprint when I saw who was in the break #anotheronebitesthedust

LLS has just been caught back by the peloton - dropped from a break that has 12 minutes :shock: . Apparently he felt a bit ill this morning, but still ended up in the break :roll:

That kinda stuff only happens when you ride for Rabo.

FJS

Looks like they're bringing it back - Paulinho has just 11 seconds left

gabriel959

Rodriguez is moaning minie! Everytime they show him he seems to be just doing that.

gabriel959

Good finale!

FJS

Gavazzi takes it. Vandewalle 2nd, not riding very smart there

afx237vi

Gavazzi ends up in a really scenic bit of Spain, there.

greeny12

afx237vi wrote:

Gavazzi ends up in a really scenic bit of Spain, there.

Ha ha! Spain High Street as my mate who lived there used to disparagingly remark...