Vuelta Stage 14 * SPOILER*

Yellow Peril

greasedscotsman wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

Yellow Peril wrote:

Gifting a stage with time bonuses in a race this close and in such exalted company would be the ultimate panache!

Stopping before the finish line, looking at your watch, waiting for your rival to finish before crossing the line. TRUE CHAMPION.

Stopping at the top of a climb to eat an ice cream...

Oh wait, that's been done!

I think you'll find J-Rod has re-written stage 3 to say exactly this

alihisgreat

rozzer32 wrote:

Lichtblick wrote:

rozzer32 wrote:

Contador must be feeling sick after another kick in the balls. Although I don't understand why he is attacking so late. He has his team ride all day and attacks at like 1.5Km to go. J Rod will take that all day long.

Saxo tactics tomorrow from Rozzers DS school.

Get a man in the break or two.
Have Katusha ride on the front all day wearing the guys out.
Just before the final climb get the Saxo boys to drill it on the front.
Contador attack with 5+ Km to go and bridge to the guys from the break who can pace him.

Only way he will beat J Rod, he needs to put J Rod under pressure early, force J Rod to close him down with more than an explosive finish.

I suppose I'm the only one here to say this, but I think your J Rod was a real bastard today.

Didn't put all that effort in all day long, just rode at the back of the Saxo train, then whupped Contador at the finish instead of gifting a stage. Call me naive if you want, but there was another hero who never gifted a stage either - who was it? Merckx? Armstrong? Have I ever seen Contador gift a stage? Yes.

I'm sorry but wtf you talking about? J Rod would never gift a stage as there are time bonuses plus it is Contador, one of the best GT riders cycling has seen. J Rod isn't a good a climber as Contador but Contadors tactics are all wrong, god knows what they are talking about on the bus in a morning. They are being stupid attacking so late, J Rod probably has the most explosive finish in the peloton (excluding sprinters), they need to put him under pressure early where he needs more than just an explosive finish. But fair play to J Rod, he is doing brilliantly so far.

to be fair to Bertie the saxo train did try and put the pressure on.. but they're obviously not quite as good as the Sky train and J-rod wasn't feeling the pressure.


To be honest I'm not surprised that Froome is struggling.. as part of Sky's TdF train he's trained for long constant efforts.. and as such he can't handle the short and sharp attacks of J-Rod and Bertie.

smithy21

He shouldn't be trying to respond to those attacks. Surely if nothing else the TdF should have taught him the quickest way up a hill is to set and sustain a high constant pace. Contadors attacks are doing nothing other than knacker out Bertie before the finish.

That said, Froome's race is run as far as the win is concerned. Podium at best from here unless something happens to one of the leaders. That really shouldn't be too much of a surprise. If Bertie was unable to perform at last years TdF after demolishing the Giro then asking Froome to win the Vuelta after a tough TdF was always a tall order.

This parcours does play to J Rod's strengths along with the bonus seconds on the finish line. He could still come unstuck on a longer climb but I just don't see Contador having the legs to make an attack stick. He looks like he's a bit shocked the old moves don't work as well as they used to. Not sure he has the ability to go from further out.

rozzer32

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

rozzer32 wrote:

Lichtblick wrote:

rozzer32 wrote:

Contador must be feeling sick after another kick in the balls. Although I don't understand why he is attacking so late. He has his team ride all day and attacks at like 1.5Km to go. J Rod will take that all day long.

Saxo tactics tomorrow from Rozzers DS school.

Get a man in the break or two.
Have Katusha ride on the front all day wearing the guys out.
Just before the final climb get the Saxo boys to drill it on the front.
Contador attack with 5+ Km to go and bridge to the guys from the break who can pace him.

Only way he will beat J Rod, he needs to put J Rod under pressure early, force J Rod to close him down with more than an explosive finish.

I suppose I'm the only one here to say this, but I think your J Rod was a real bastard today.

Didn't put all that effort in all day long, just rode at the back of the Saxo train, then whupped Contador at the finish instead of gifting a stage. Call me naive if you want, but there was another hero who never gifted a stage either - who was it? Merckx? Armstrong? Have I ever seen Contador gift a stage? Yes.

I'm sorry but wtf you talking about? J Rod would never gift a stage as there are time bonuses plus it is Contador, one of the best GT riders cycling has seen. J Rod isn't a good a climber as Contador but Contadors tactics are all wrong, god knows what they are talking about on the bus in a morning. They are being stupid attacking so late, J Rod probably has the most explosive finish in the peloton (excluding sprinters), they need to put him under pressure early where he needs more than just an explosive finish. But fair play to J Rod, he is doing brilliantly so far.

to be fair to Bertie the saxo train did try and put the pressure on.. but they're obviously not quite as good as the Sky train and J-rod wasn't feeling the pressure.


To be honest I'm not surprised that Froome is struggling.. as part of Sky's TdF train he's trained for long constant efforts.. and as such he can't handle the short and sharp attacks of J-Rod and Bertie.

But they shouldn't have ridden the whole stage at the front of the peloton when they don't need to, they haven't got a jersey to defend (like Sky had at the TdF). Only come to the front for the last 20-30Km and really push the pace on. Saxo need to get the Katusha guys to work controlling the break, then hit them hard and try and isolate J Rod early. All Saxo did today was provide Katusha drafting services for the stage.

cal_stewart

strange they're not sticking post ban









Yes I did go there

dylanfernley

Really pleased for J-Rod, he has taken this race by the scruff, and although he's tried to downplay his chances, its plain that he must have his best ever chance of winning, i feel the ex -dopers are being shown for what they are, good but not that good. Hope that j rod is clean, his form seems consistent enough, just a guy at the peak of his career, with a 'course' that suits him so well--bit like wiggo in the TdF. Allez

mroli

I'm not totally gripped by the Vuelta so far. Uphill sprint - Degenkolb. Uphill climb sprint - Rodriguez (when he doesn't sleep and give the win to Valverde). Good Cummins/Clarke breaks but getting as predictable as the tour. Maybe it'll light up soon.

iainf72

Cal_Stewart wrote:

strange they're not sticking post ban









Yes I did go there

Did anyone expect him to perform how he used to considering the only racing he's had was Eneco. For someone who hasn't really raced he's in pretty good form.

frenchfighter

Don't write Contador off. With zero racing he is 2nd on GC and looking pretty decent. There are still 3 big climbs to come which he has ridden in preparation. He is angry (100%. He wanted the win in the tt and the first stage he attacked). He will get better and is a seasoned GT winner. Still hold him as favourite. Wait until next year though when he races a normal race programme, will be exciting.

RichN95.

greasedscotsman wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

Stopping before the finish line, looking at your watch, waiting for your rival to finish before crossing the line. TRUE CHAMPION.

Stopping at the top of a climb to eat an ice cream...

Oh wait, that's been done!

It's been done by me on the Dragon Ride. Twice. In one day. No flake, No Panche. Federico and I are agreed on that point.

rebs

I don't think is tired from the tour. I do believe he is his own enemy. He will be putting more pressure on himself on top of the pressure from others.

The time trial looked to suffer on what happened today. He lacked discipline and composure to pace himself. The attack as soon as he got back to the group was a poor decision. Great to watch but at the time the pressure should have been on jrod. Having wiggins to set a steady tempo will perhaps show him how to approach. I do think from me will win a stage and win big in the mountains. His not tired and I think Piti and jrod will suffer more in the coming days. Contadors race to lose I think.

Saxo to pace the early part of climbs then attacks fly sky to pace after this. Sky team is young so gonna be hard to keep calm for them.

Great racing this!

oldwelshman

rozzer32 wrote:

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

rozzer32 wrote:

Lichtblick wrote:

rozzer32 wrote:

Contador must be feeling sick after another kick in the balls. Although I don't understand why he is attacking so late. He has his team ride all day and attacks at like 1.5Km to go. J Rod will take that all day long.

Saxo tactics tomorrow from Rozzers DS school.

Get a man in the break or two.
Have Katusha ride on the front all day wearing the guys out.
Just before the final climb get the Saxo boys to drill it on the front.
Contador attack with 5+ Km to go and bridge to the guys from the break who can pace him.

Only way he will beat J Rod, he needs to put J Rod under pressure early, force J Rod to close him down with more than an explosive finish.

I suppose I'm the only one here to say this, but I think your J Rod was a real bastard today.

Didn't put all that effort in all day long, just rode at the back of the Saxo train, then whupped Contador at the finish instead of gifting a stage. Call me naive if you want, but there was another hero who never gifted a stage either - who was it? Merckx? Armstrong? Have I ever seen Contador gift a stage? Yes.

I'm sorry but wtf you talking about? J Rod would never gift a stage as there are time bonuses plus it is Contador, one of the best GT riders cycling has seen. J Rod isn't a good a climber as Contador but Contadors tactics are all wrong, god knows what they are talking about on the bus in a morning. They are being stupid attacking so late, J Rod probably has the most explosive finish in the peloton (excluding sprinters), they need to put him under pressure early where he needs more than just an explosive finish. But fair play to J Rod, he is doing brilliantly so far.

to be fair to Bertie the saxo train did try and put the pressure on.. but they're obviously not quite as good as the Sky train and J-rod wasn't feeling the pressure.


To be honest I'm not surprised that Froome is struggling.. as part of Sky's TdF train he's trained for long constant efforts.. and as such he can't handle the short and sharp attacks of J-Rod and Bertie.

But they shouldn't have ridden the whole stage at the front of the peloton when they don't need to, they haven't got a jersey to defend (like Sky had at the TdF). Only come to the front for the last 20-30Km and really push the pace on. Saxo need to get the Katusha guys to work controlling the break, then hit them hard and try and isolate J Rod early. All Saxo did today was provide Katusha drafting services for the stage.

Rozzer with all due respects, your post above make no sense.
1) saxo had to ride hard day to try to put pressure on J-rod to take the sting out of his legs. Riding hard for last 20km will never do this so they tried the right thing at least, but J-Rod is an improved overall rider this year
2) Why shout J-Rods team ride at the fron all day? They can afford to let a break get away, it is Bertie who needs to keep pace high and attack and try to get time bonusses also. The pressure is actually on Bertie now.

oldwelshman

rebs wrote:

I don't think is tired from the tour. I do believe he is his own enemy. He will be putting more pressure on himself on top of the pressure from others.

The time trial looked to suffer on what happened today. He lacked discipline and composure to pace himself. The attack as soon as he got back to the group was a poor decision. Great to watch but at the time the pressure should have been on jrod. Having wiggins to set a steady tempo will perhaps show him how to approach. I do think from me will win a stage and win big in the mountains. His not tired and I think Piti and jrod will suffer more in the coming days. Contadors race to lose I think.

Saxo to pace the early part of climbs then attacks fly sky to pace after this. Sky team is young so gonna be hard to keep calm for them.

Great racing this!

Froome is definately tiring, I did not think so initially but it is clear from his TT if you look how close J-Rod and Valverde were to him and even today, with his silly attack he would not have been dropped by these riders normally.
Dont under estimate J-Rod he is very impressive in this tour and I fancy him to go all the way. He road a ballsy tt given how bad he was two years ago and worked hard on this and overall climbing. I hope he wins this thing now as Froome looks cooked.

greasedscotsman

RichN95 wrote:

greasedscotsman wrote:

afx237vi wrote:

Stopping before the finish line, looking at your watch, waiting for your rival to finish before crossing the line. TRUE CHAMPION.

Stopping at the top of a climb to eat an ice cream...

Oh wait, that's been done!

It's been done by me on the Dragon Ride. Twice. In one day. No flake, No Panche. Federico and I are agreed on that point.

Top of the Izoard, one of my friends got a pizza from somewhere. I was quite impressed with that!

rozzer32

oldwelshman wrote:

rozzer32 wrote:

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

rozzer32 wrote:

Lichtblick wrote:

rozzer32 wrote:

Contador must be feeling sick after another kick in the balls. Although I don't understand why he is attacking so late. He has his team ride all day and attacks at like 1.5Km to go. J Rod will take that all day long.

Saxo tactics tomorrow from Rozzers DS school.

Get a man in the break or two.
Have Katusha ride on the front all day wearing the guys out.
Just before the final climb get the Saxo boys to drill it on the front.
Contador attack with 5+ Km to go and bridge to the guys from the break who can pace him.

Only way he will beat J Rod, he needs to put J Rod under pressure early, force J Rod to close him down with more than an explosive finish.

I suppose I'm the only one here to say this, but I think your J Rod was a real bastard today.

Didn't put all that effort in all day long, just rode at the back of the Saxo train, then whupped Contador at the finish instead of gifting a stage. Call me naive if you want, but there was another hero who never gifted a stage either - who was it? Merckx? Armstrong? Have I ever seen Contador gift a stage? Yes.

I'm sorry but wtf you talking about? J Rod would never gift a stage as there are time bonuses plus it is Contador, one of the best GT riders cycling has seen. J Rod isn't a good a climber as Contador but Contadors tactics are all wrong, god knows what they are talking about on the bus in a morning. They are being stupid attacking so late, J Rod probably has the most explosive finish in the peloton (excluding sprinters), they need to put him under pressure early where he needs more than just an explosive finish. But fair play to J Rod, he is doing brilliantly so far.

to be fair to Bertie the saxo train did try and put the pressure on.. but they're obviously not quite as good as the Sky train and J-rod wasn't feeling the pressure.


To be honest I'm not surprised that Froome is struggling.. as part of Sky's TdF train he's trained for long constant efforts.. and as such he can't handle the short and sharp attacks of J-Rod and Bertie.

But they shouldn't have ridden the whole stage at the front of the peloton when they don't need to, they haven't got a jersey to defend (like Sky had at the TdF). Only come to the front for the last 20-30Km and really push the pace on. Saxo need to get the Katusha guys to work controlling the break, then hit them hard and try and isolate J Rod early. All Saxo did today was provide Katusha drafting services for the stage.

Rozzer with all due respects, your post above make no sense.
1) saxo had to ride hard day to try to put pressure on J-rod to take the sting out of his legs. Riding hard for last 20km will never do this so they tried the right thing at least, but J-Rod is an improved overall rider this year
2) Why shout J-Rods team ride at the fron all day? They can afford to let a break get away, it is Bertie who needs to keep pace high and attack and try to get time bonusses also. The pressure is actually on Bertie now.

1) Saxo need to isolate J Rod, he had a man in the break and Morano to pace him until he decided to chase down Contador. Riding on the front allowing Katusha to rest will not isolate J Rod. Plus going full gas into the last climb will certainly add a sting to the legs.
2) Because he is the leader of the race. Saxo can afford to let a break get away, in fact it's probably better one does as J Rod can't have the time bonuses. If a break had stayed clear today Contador would only have lost 5 seconds. Contador (nor anyone else in the peloton) can match J Rods explosive finish, as I've said before Contador needs to attack further out so J Rod can't rely on that alone.

dave_1

Will J Rod set off the trip wire at biopassport department? I don't believe what I see.

vs

mroli wrote:

I'm not totally gripped by the Vuelta so far. Uphill sprint - Degenkolb. Uphill climb sprint - Rodriguez (when he doesn't sleep and give the win to Valverde). Good Cummins/Clarke breaks but getting as predictable as the tour. Maybe it'll light up soon.

There's always football then

rick_chasey

Not sure there's much you can do versus J Rod.

If he matches you on the climb and then outsprints you uphill, what's to do? You can't drop him.

Only chance would be to gamble it all on going long, and we all know that doesn't really work nowadays.

jerry3571

I'm sure Roddy has got Bertie's number in this Vuelta. Bertie doesn't like to share, so Roddy lets Bertie burn himself out, catch him back in his own time and then sucker punches him at the end. If Bertie was able to share the pace then others would work with him. Comes round to bite you in the end. Froomey, Piti and Roddy all won't work with Bertie as Bertie likes to take it all. Being selfish is a bad tactic in the long run and it's funny to see it come back to bite him. I laughed my t1ts off yesterday. Nice one Roddy! Ha! Ha! Funny as hell. Happy days!

-Jerry

frenchfighter

Rodríguez only showed some annoyance when asked if his counter attacks on Ancares showed he had improved in the high mountains. "I never doubted about my capacity to climb, I've always climbed well," he said. "I think somebody's obsessed with that idea."

oldwelshman

Dave_1 wrote:

Will J Rod set off the trip wire at biopassport department? I don't believe what I see.

I hope he's clean but know where your coming from, same with Valverde, oh and its a spannish race!!! Both climbing far better than either of them have befoe in GT

greasedscotsman

oldwelshman wrote:

Dave_1 wrote:

Will J Rod set off the trip wire at biopassport department? I don't believe what I see.

I hope he's clean but know where your coming from, same with Valverde, oh and its a spannish race!!! Both climbing far better than either of them have befoe in GT

I thought Rodriguez did "OK" at the Giro this year?

jerry3571

I think Roddy is being a little bit troubled by a bit of amnesia as before this year he seemed a bit troubled by "what I would call", Jalabert's Disease. Good ability until the 2000 metre mark. I did see Jaja at the Vuelta years ago at the Sierra Nevada climb where, in the Amarillo Jersey, he looked liked he'd had a day on the hubbly bubbly pipe. I had the same exprience myself once when going on me Hols at the Sierra Nevada and the 2nd time up, I was not sure what country or planet I was on. Who needs drugs!!

Jerry