Vuelta stage 6 un-related spoiler.

RichN95.

frenchfighter wrote:

I’ve calculated that I’ve only spent 14 nights in my own bed since May 1 this year

That's nothing. Charlie Sheen has only spent 14 nights in his own bed since 1988.

inseine

I know it's early days, but I'm not surprised to see Froome going so well. He looks invinsible to me. SKY got Wiggins preparation just right so I don't see him cracking. I'd like him to win but I'd also like to see a bit more attacking from the others.

Tom BB

In fairness to Quintana, he did a lot of work on the front today. As you say though, JVB finishing 9 minutes down is pretty lame (although it wasn't that long ago that Wiggins would routinely lose 10 minutes on a mountain stage and then say that he was saving energy for le Tour, how times change!)

thomthom

What a class act Alberto is. The man just dropped him

“I liked the attitude of Froome today,” he added. “It is important for the race to see riders of this calibre attack.

“It's good for the Vuelta, which will also give me some opportunities in the coming days.”

mfin

ThomThom wrote:

What a class act Alberto is. The man just dropped him

“I liked the attitude of Froome today,” he added. “It is important for the race to see riders of this calibre attack.

“It's good for the Vuelta, which will also give me some opportunities in the coming days.”

Good comments from him (i agree!! honestly). But not a class act...

"Will you grant permission for a DNA test to prove this stored Puerto blood is not yours then seeing as you say it isn't, then it'll be cut n dry, and if it isn't like you say it isn't then you'll be vindicated Mr Alberthole, so nothing to worry about and everything's cool, so, will you give permission?"

"No"

mfin

Quite an interesting stage today, definitely shaping up to be an interesting race this.

oldwelshman

Interesting stage.
I dont think Froome will crack, Sky will have his condition just right.
Sky must be happy at the moment, today at the end was Uran and Porte keeping pace high and Valverde had the finish ripped from his legs and you could see steak man struggle a bit also due to heat and pace.
Sky will be happy not to have the jersey yet which will ease workload of the team.
I think the top three is more or less decided just will see different positions.
I cannot see J-Rod not loosing some time somewhere on a long climb and cannot see him finishing within a minute of Froome in the TT which only as a 400m blip in it.
I would like to see Froome win and think he will, depends if the spanniards all try to gang up and do him over but he has three good climbers with him so should be ok.
Dont want druggies to win another event was bad enough with the olympics RR.

ocdupalais

oldwelshman wrote:

Sky must be happy at the moment, today at the end was Uran and Porte keeping pace high and Valverde had the finish ripped from his legs

It was Uran and Henao, not Porte. The latter was dropped off well before the last climb (interesting considering his Tour form - does this mean Sky are preserving his energies for the last week?). I'm no Sky fan-boy, but I'm struggling to find any words of appreciation around here for they way they rode yesterday. If it had been Saxo lining it out up the final climb to launch a Bertie attack, I'm sure we'd be reading a lot about what a fabulous display of brilliant team riding it was and watch and learn from the master, etc.

So I'll say it, then: that last climb was a display of brilliant attacking racing from Sky. The 2 Colombians emerged on the front as if from nowhere. The turn by Henao for much of the climb had everyone pretty much on the limit, then Uran stuck the knife in with an injection of pace for about 80 metres that reduced the lead group by half to 6... leaving Fenton Froome to er, stick another knife in. Props to J Rod, too: his style at a finish like that is amazing (Froome by comparison looks like a threshing machine).

inkyfingers

OCDuPalais wrote:

oldwelshman wrote:

Sky must be happy at the moment, today at the end was Uran and Porte keeping pace high and Valverde had the finish ripped from his legs

It was Uran and Henao, not Porte. The latter was dropped off well before the last climb (interesting considering his Tour form - does this mean Sky are preserving his energies for the last week?). I'm no Sky fan-boy, but I'm struggling to find any words of appreciation around here for they way they rode yesterday. If it had been Saxo lining it out up the final climb to launch a Bertie attack, I'm sure we'd be reading a lot about what a fabulous display of brilliant team riding it was and watch and learn from the master, etc.

So I'll say it, then: that last climb was a display of brilliant attacking racing from Sky. The 2 Colombians emerged on the front as if from nowhere. The turn by Henao for much of the climb had everyone pretty much on the limit, then Uran stuck the knife in with an injection of pace for about 80 metres that reduced the lead group by half to 6... leaving Fenton Froome to er, stick another knife in. Props to J Rod, too: his style at a finish like that is amazing (Froome by comparison looks like a threshing machine).

It may not have pleased the purists, but it was sure effective.

I kept thinking Henao was going to pull over but he just kept going, very impressive.

ocdupalais

Yeah - Henao's barely poked his head above the parapet all year; now he's putting the World's best on the rack.
I know these guys are pro's and train for untold hours, etc, but I try not to forget just how immense it is to be able to attack from a group already going at what, for some, is their maximum.

inkyfingers

OCDuPalais wrote:

Yeah - Henao's barely poked his head above the parapet all year; now he's putting the World's best on the rack.
I know these guys are pro's and train for untold hours, etc, but I try not to forget just how immense it is to be able to attack from a group already going at what, for some, is their maximum.

Henao and Uran were riding with the leaders in the Giro, though not attacking much. Henao also rode well in Pais Vasco and Poland from memory. Both are real talents but need to establish whether they are GT contenders, short stage racers, stage hunters, or in Uran's case, a hilly classics contender.

Richmond Racer

OCDuPalais wrote:

Yeah - Henao's barely poked his head above the parapet all year; now he's putting the World's best on the rack.
I know these guys are pro's and train for untold hours, etc, but I try not to forget just how immense it is to be able to attack from a group already going at what, for some, is their maximum.

To be fair, Henao's picked up a good number of second places in his first season in Europe, and he was pretty impressive in the Giro. Better than Uran at the top of the Stelvio, actually - he had to hold up to pace him back up with a few ks to go.

Porte was on the sickly side at the start of the Vuelta, but feeling better each day, apparently.

Richmond Racer

And agree, it was a very impressive display by Sky on the climb - including Flecha on the run in to the foot of it.

ocdupalais

Richmond Racer wrote:

Porte was on the sickly side at the start of the Vuelta, but feeling better each day, apparently.

That's all the other teams will be wanting: a resurgent Porte in the last week...

inkyfingers wrote:

Henao and Uran were riding with the leaders in the Giro, though not attacking much. Henao also rode well in Pais Vasco and Poland from memory. Both are real talents but need to establish whether they are GT contenders, short stage racers, stage hunters, or in Uran's case, a hilly classics contender.

I guess it was a bit of inadvertent casual racism on my part: that Sky have acquired 2 Colombians who are going to light up every hilly race going... because they're Colombians.
Hopefully, yesterday will serve to show that they're not just hanging in with the leaders in the GT's: they've moved into that select band of riders that shape the race.

frenchfighter

No surprise on Henao. He is a climber and has a good turn of speed. He was great in the Giro.

mattshrops

frenchfighter wrote:

I’ve calculated that I’ve only spent 14 nights in my own bed since May 1 this year, which means I’ve been unpacking my suitcase most evenings and packing it again most mornings in between.

On the bright side, we’ve been staying in the same hotel in Logrono for the last two nights, which at least means I could leave my suitcase alone.

The hotel, however, is built on top of a supermarket which means we have to eat in the supermarket cafe. It’s a cheap, €5, all-you-can-eat type of thing where the food, as you can imagine, is geared more towards casual shoppers and truck drivers than professional cyclists. It has been miserable.

When you nearly break a tooth on a piece of pasta, you know there’s something wrong and we’ve resorted to having one of the soigneurs cook our pasta on the team bus instead of eating the supermarket stuff.

-Roche

Interesting article and leaves you wondering when in previous threads some have rubbished the idea sky have a different approach to training etc. Can you see the sky team living like this? ok its not training but it does have an effect and maybe indicative of other things??

RichN95.

OCDuPalais wrote:

Yeah - Henao's barely poked his head above the parapet all year; now he's putting the World's best on the rack.
I know these guys are pro's and train for untold hours, etc, but I try not to forget just how immense it is to be able to attack from a group already going at what, for some, is their maximum.

He was 9th in the Giro, 3rd in the Tour of Poland and 2nd in the Vuelta a Burgos. For a guy in his first year in Europe he's put his head and whole torso above the parapet.

oldwelshman

mattshrops wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

I’ve calculated that I’ve only spent 14 nights in my own bed since May 1 this year, which means I’ve been unpacking my suitcase most evenings and packing it again most mornings in between.

On the bright side, we’ve been staying in the same hotel in Logrono for the last two nights, which at least means I could leave my suitcase alone.

The hotel, however, is built on top of a supermarket which means we have to eat in the supermarket cafe. It’s a cheap, €5, all-you-can-eat type of thing where the food, as you can imagine, is geared more towards casual shoppers and truck drivers than professional cyclists. It has been miserable.

When you nearly break a tooth on a piece of pasta, you know there’s something wrong and we’ve resorted to having one of the soigneurs cook our pasta on the team bus instead of eating the supermarket stuff.

-Roche

Interesting article and leaves you wondering when in previous threads some have rubbished the idea sky have a different approach to training etc. Can you see the sky team living like this? ok its not training but it does have an effect and maybe indicative of other things??

Yes sky do live like that, and all the other teams do, they all use the same hotels and take it in turns to have the better ones in the GT's. They get allocated hotels not choose them.

Jez mon

Having said that, Sky have their own chef and IIRC their own mattresses.

There are ways of minimising the negative effect of having to stay at s***y hotels

mattshrops

Well i'm genuinely surprised at that. Sounds more like the sort of place i'd stay in with clubmates while away :?

frenchfighter