Vuelta Stage 9 ***SPOILER***
Comments
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smithy21 wrote:I can't make up my mind about this Vuelta. A great race or just a bunch of riders making errors. Maybe both.
I thought Contador rode smart yesterday and then he launches a pointless attack there. Then J Rod launches what looks like a similarly pointless attack and takes some time and bonuses. Really surprised they didn't bring them back.
Both attacks were from a long way out and JRod with his local knowledge was succesful which leads me to believe that both he and Bertie knew that there was a chance such a break could stick.
Froome seems to have nailed his colours to the mast in marking Bertie out of this tour. I hope in so doing he doesn't allow Rodders and Valv to take this away from him.0 -
Weird stage today for sure. Great ride by J-Rod but what the fuck were the other GC teams doing?
Contador seemed to misdjudge his attack as it looked as if he thought that was the start of the climb, surely he would know it was not at 5km?
Who is DS for Sky? He needs to sort them out or he is giving them crap orders? Why on earth do they insist on going bollox out beofre a short 3rd cat climb which blows all their riders out so they did not get over the climb which meant no one to close down J-Rod who was bovioauly going to attack and not be in any trouble with the pace leading into that climb. Contador did not really recover after his early dig so only Valverde ahd any legs and he gained a few seconds but again no one to close J-Rod right down.
The other thing I notice is Froome spends waaay too much time too close to the front in the wind. You cannot sustain that going 30mph he needs to conserve energy much more efficiently. In the run in to the climb he was even in second place and third a few times so by the climb he had not recovered properly. He may be a strong rider but he needs to learn fast. In the TDF he had the advanteg of riding behind Wiggo, Michael Rogers and they did the job perfectly, not too much onto the wind.
I reckon Froome will take the jersey in the TT but he has to wise up to keep it or he will loose it on the mountain top finishes. He has to go for a long sustained effort to rid of J-Ror and Piti on at least one stage or J-Rod could get this on bonuses. Bertie is playing canny expecting Sky to do all the work.
Interesting week ahead but it looks like it will be out of J-Rod, froome and Bertie.
I thought Froome would win but at the moment he does not look the cleverst out of the three.
49th today? hmm0 -
Enjoyed the last 6km. Well designed finish. After 8days of racing makes a good difference.
We're blesses with a great race. Contenders for GC all pretty even (which makes a race a good one ) with no team so strong it chokes it off totally.0 -
At about this time for the last three years it seems that J Rod gets himself into the leaders jersey, causing everybody to ask "can he win it" before flunking it in the TT or having a bad day in the mountains. Can this year be different?
The fact that the TT has a big climb in it should help him limit his losses against Froome and Contador. If can come out of the other side of the TT with a minute or less of a deficit to those two then with a few time bonuses and some late attacks like today he might be in with a shout. I think it depends on whether Contador rides himself into form, if he does then I still think he'll smash everybody in the final week."I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0 -
Glad to see Gilbert win, really enjoying the Vuelta so far, the fact Sky don't have a stranglehold over the Peloton is making the race much more interesting.0
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I would not describe the climb as "big" and he is crap at TT so I expect him to loose time to bertie and froome, between 1:30 and 2:30 i reckon.inkyfingers wrote:At about this time for the last three years it seems that J Rod gets himself into the leaders jersey, causing everybody to ask "can he win it" before flunking it in the TT or having a bad day in the mountains. Can this year be different?
The fact that the TT has a big climb in it should help him limit his losses against Froome and Contador. If can come out of the other side of the TT with a minute or less of a deficit to those two then with a few time bonuses and some late attacks like today he might be in with a shout. I think it depends on whether Contador rides himself into form, if he does then I still think he'll smash everybody in the final week.0 -
I'm a bit undecided by this Vuelta - yes, the racing has been very exciting and attacking but I'm starting to feel it is all a bit 'samey' with reasonably short, very sharp stage finishes. It will be interesting to see if the longer climbs to come this weekend will change the course of the race and with the TT being a decent length (I had thought it was a short one for some reason) hopefully Froome can open up a lead that will force the likes of J Rod and Valv to attack further out. That said I was pleasantly surprised that J Rod got away on this stage and amazed that the other favourites failed to pull him back - nice easy deal to be done with Gilbert left them working well together. I've been impressed by Roche in this race too but still feel he'll be better going for stage wins in GTs than trying for the GC.0
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inkyfingers wrote:At about this time for the last three years it seems that J Rod gets himself into the leaders jersey, causing everybody to ask "can he win it" before flunking it in the TT or having a bad day in the mountains. Can this year be different?
The fact that the TT has a big climb in it should help him limit his losses against Froome and Contador. If can come out of the other side of the TT with a minute or less of a deficit to those two then with a few time bonuses and some late attacks like today he might be in with a shout. I think it depends on whether Contador rides himself into form, if he does then I still think he'll smash everybody in the final week.
He was alright in the final Giro TT.0 -
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Pross wrote:I'm a bit undecided by this Vuelta - yes, the racing has been very exciting and attacking but I'm starting to feel it is all a bit 'samey' with reasonably short, very sharp stage finishes. It will be interesting to see if the longer climbs to come this weekend will change the course of the race and with the TT being a decent length (I had thought it was a short one for some reason) hopefully Froome can open up a lead that will force the likes of J Rod and Valv to attack further out. That said I was pleasantly surprised that J Rod got away on this stage and amazed that the other favourites failed to pull him back - nice easy deal to be done with Gilbert left them working well together. I've been impressed by Roche in this race too but still feel he'll be better going for stage wins in GTs than trying for the GC.
I take your point but do you think that the days of attacking further out by GC contenders is Gone? I mean, that was the way that GC riders such as Flandis, Ulrich, Pantani and LA would secure their leads in the bad old days. The last few GC's (with perhaps a couple of stage exceptions) seem to show a trend towards short sharp attacks until someone gives and the other takes a little bit of time. Even though it looks like two asthmatics getting it on in bed with each other I don't mind it as I believe it is reflecting genuine endurance. What do you think?0 -
Yellow Peril wrote:Pross wrote:I'm a bit undecided by this Vuelta - yes, the racing has been very exciting and attacking but I'm starting to feel it is all a bit 'samey' with reasonably short, very sharp stage finishes. It will be interesting to see if the longer climbs to come this weekend will change the course of the race and with the TT being a decent length (I had thought it was a short one for some reason) hopefully Froome can open up a lead that will force the likes of J Rod and Valv to attack further out. That said I was pleasantly surprised that J Rod got away on this stage and amazed that the other favourites failed to pull him back - nice easy deal to be done with Gilbert left them working well together. I've been impressed by Roche in this race too but still feel he'll be better going for stage wins in GTs than trying for the GC.
I take your point but do you think that the days of attacking further out by GC contenders is Gone? I mean, that was the way that GC riders such as Flandis, Ulrich, Pantani and LA would secure their leads in the bad old days. The last few GC's (with perhaps a couple of stage exceptions) seem to show a trend towards short sharp attacks until someone gives and the other takes a little bit of time. Even though it looks like two asthmatics getting it on in bed with each other I don't mind it as I believe it is reflecting genuine endurance. What do you think?
Yes, I agree to an extent. I think cleaner riding leads to the short, late efforts or the attritional steady but hard climbing that we saw in the Giro and Tour. The former is more exciting to watch but I would like to see a race that has a good balance of the two. I'm not sure if the longer climbs over the weekend and next week will provide this as they still have some crazy gradients on them but at least the length should help blunt the sprints a bit. My concern is that the finishes so far combined with time bonuses perhaps overly favours the GC contenders with a bit of a kick but it does definitely help make the end of the race more exciting which is why I'm unsure how I feel about it.0 -
Pross wrote:Yellow Peril wrote:Pross wrote:I'm a bit undecided by this Vuelta - yes, the racing has been very exciting and attacking but I'm starting to feel it is all a bit 'samey' with reasonably short, very sharp stage finishes. It will be interesting to see if the longer climbs to come this weekend will change the course of the race and with the TT being a decent length (I had thought it was a short one for some reason) hopefully Froome can open up a lead that will force the likes of J Rod and Valv to attack further out. That said I was pleasantly surprised that J Rod got away on this stage and amazed that the other favourites failed to pull him back - nice easy deal to be done with Gilbert left them working well together. I've been impressed by Roche in this race too but still feel he'll be better going for stage wins in GTs than trying for the GC.
I take your point but do you think that the days of attacking further out by GC contenders is Gone? I mean, that was the way that GC riders such as Flandis, Ulrich, Pantani and LA would secure their leads in the bad old days. The last few GC's (with perhaps a couple of stage exceptions) seem to show a trend towards short sharp attacks until someone gives and the other takes a little bit of time. Even though it looks like two asthmatics getting it on in bed with each other I don't mind it as I believe it is reflecting genuine endurance. What do you think?
Yes, I agree to an extent. I think cleaner riding leads to the short, late efforts or the attritional steady but hard climbing that we saw in the Giro and Tour. The former is more exciting to watch but I would like to see a race that has a good balance of the two. I'm not sure if the longer climbs over the weekend and next week will provide this as they still have some crazy gradients on them but at least the length should help blunt the sprints a bit. My concern is that the finishes so far combined with time bonuses perhaps overly favours the GC contenders with a bit of a kick but it does definitely help make the end of the race more exciting which is why I'm unsure how I feel about it.
I was never a fan of "bonifications" but it does force GC contenders to race and the likes of this Vuelta have sold their worth to me. I suppose after the rich food of the 90's and 00's we need to adjust to the new diet and get used to the viewing it provides.0 -
Are you saying that after the steak we have to have chippers?Yellow Peril wrote:I suppose after the rich food of the 90's and 00's we need to adjust to the new diet and get used to the viewing it provides.0 -
bompington wrote:
Are you saying that after the steak we have to have chippers?Yellow Peril wrote:I suppose after the rich food of the 90's and 00's we need to adjust to the new diet and get used to the viewing it provides.
Come on Rick, wheres the drum roll smilie?!"I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0 -
bompington wrote:
Are you saying that after the steak we have to have chippers?Yellow Peril wrote:I suppose after the rich food of the 90's and 00's we need to adjust to the new diet and get used to the viewing it provides.
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Rick Chasey wrote:bompington wrote:
Are you saying that after the steak we have to have chippers?Yellow Peril wrote:I suppose after the rich food of the 90's and 00's we need to adjust to the new diet and get used to the viewing it provides.
...a thang you!
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By the way where the fuck did this word bonification come from ?0
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oldwelshman wrote:By the way where the fark did this word bonification come from ?
It's the French word used for time bonuses. Kelly uses it all of the time along with " general classment" and sounds great with that Irish accent of his. Hammond used it the other day but it wasn't as cool.0 -
Ah, that explains it. I just assumed it was some sort of conflation of "sanctification" and "Bono"Yellow Peril wrote:oldwelshman wrote:By the way where the fark did this word bonification come from ?
It's the French word used for time bonuses. Kelly uses it all of the time along with " general classment" and sounds great with that Irish accent of his. Hammond used it the other day but it wasn't as cool.0
