Vuelta al Pais Vasco 2013 *SPOILERS*

danlikesbikes

taking it all the cars up this part means a big crowd for the finish

frenchfighter

No wonder a GC rider didnt attack hard with this ridiculously long flat part in the middle of a climb.

ilm_zero7

frenchfighter wrote:

1.5km to race. This flat piece of road is pretty annoying

makes for a good finish though!

danlikesbikes

nice and tight now they are on the steep steep killer climb

frenchfighter

Edit, may be Serpa with Cunego

danlikesbikes

no camera bike on the front of the peloton

danlikesbikes

Henao off the front & a photo finish

blazing_saddles

Contaflop.
Well worked over by the Colombian barons.

ilm_zero7

beautifully timed by Heano

DeadCalm

Now that was a race!

danlikesbikes

looks like there was an attack off the camera and Bert got left behind, caught out or just didn't have it in the legs? who knows

Turfle

Ouch.

danlikesbikes

Looks like they have given the win to Henao but you never know what the coms will say - from the slowmo (not that they were going that fast) to be elbows out and a bit of leaning and moving over the road but who knows what will come from it

danlikesbikes

Frenchie can you do your magic with a pic of that close up on the finish line? A great lesson in throwing your bike over the line

blazing_saddles

Ulissi continues to rise, as Cunego head in the opposite direction.

frenchfighter

Really wanted Betancur to get that. Like that rider a lot and he deserved that win for his attack. Big shame Henao took it on the line.

Race was ok.

Decent end to the race but that flat was silly and the steepness of the final climb is also silly.

Absolutely no idea how Porte can only be 10secs off the back on a ramp that steep :roll:

FYI for those of you who think Contador was dropped - he wasn't, he was in top 10. And if you think he should win that stage you should watch more racing.

alihisgreat

frenchfighter wrote:

Really wanted Betancur to get that. Like that rider a lot and he deserved that win for his attack. Big shame Henao took it on the line.

Race was ok.

Decent end to the race but that flat was silly and the steepness of the final climb is also silly.

Absolutely no idea how Porte can only be 10secs off the back on a ramp that steep :roll:

FYI for those of you who think Contador was dropped - he wasn't, he was in top 10. And if you think he should win that stage you should watch more racing.

I think its better than what we were seeing in La Vuelta last year for example where they were slogging it out over 20% for far too long.

Quite an exciting finish.

Is there a TT later in the week?

Richmond Racer

Colombia FTW!

What a fantastic finish

Henao's bike throwing skills rather good

danlikesbikes

frenchfighter wrote:

Decent end to the race but that flat was silly and the steepness of the final climb is also silly.

I'm going to disagree with you there.

Organisers did a good job on that stage & often see flats or descents on mountain climbs before a final push to the top.

As for the end was pretty good, apart from poor motorbike camera placement, but only a true climber was ever going to ride in a toe to toe bash out on that final part. Unless a good climber such as Bert or Schleck had attacked before and use the flat/down section to race away.

frenchfighter

Proper mountain tomorrow:


Then rolling:


Then 24km TT:

Richmond Racer

ALIHISGREAT wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Really wanted Betancur to get that. Like that rider a lot and he deserved that win for his attack. Big shame Henao took it on the line.

Race was ok.

Decent end to the race but that flat was silly and the steepness of the final climb is also silly.

Absolutely no idea how Porte can only be 10secs off the back on a ramp that steep :roll:

FYI for those of you who think Contador was dropped - he wasn't, he was in top 10. And if you think he should win that stage you should watch more racing.

I think its better than what we were seeing in La Vuelta last year for example where they were slogging it out over 20% for far too long.

Quite an exciting finish.

Is there a TT later in the week?

Yep. And Porte'll be fancying it from the GC perspective.

frenchfighter

Danlikesbikes wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Decent end to the race but that flat was silly and the steepness of the final climb is also silly.

I'm going to disagree with you there.

Organisers did a good job on that stage & often see flats or descents on mountain climbs before a final push to the top.

As for the end was pretty good, apart from poor motorbike camera placement, but only a true climber was ever going to ride in a toe to toe bash out on that final part. Unless a good climber such as Bert or Schleck had attacked before and use the flat/down section to race away.

I enjoyed it a lot just sometimes I think those ridiculously steep ends nullify proper attacks and make the selection for too few people.

The climb before the flat was excellent - narrow, reasonably steep and winding. Twice that with no flat inbetween and we would have seen a stormer.

Good stage tomorrow also.

DeadCalm

Was desperately hoping Betancur could hang on for the win but, oh well, never mind.

I thought the flat section was interesting. Good to see them ride over all sorts of profiles. It certainly gave the riders something a bit different to think about.

danlikesbikes

frenchfighter wrote:

I enjoyed it a lot just sometimes I think those ridiculously steep ends nullify proper attacks and make the selection for too few people.

The climb before the flat was excellent - narrow, reasonably steep and winding. Twice that with no flat inbetween and we would have seen a stormer.

Good stage tomorrow also.

I know - but just adding some balance as I like it when not all climbs are the same. Plus I do think that if Bert or Schleck had put in a big dig before and got a few seconds they could possibly have held it out on the flat part and maybe even made a few more for a........ trying to think of a none rude phrase..........hard as nails monster climb in the last couple of hundred meters or so.

frenchfighter

JTL and Dombrowski smoked I think.

DeadCalm

GC after stage 3:

1º 15 HENAO, Sergio Luis COL SKY 12:24:26
2º 51 QUINTANA, Nairo Alexander COL MOV a 8
3º 11 PORTE, Richie AUS SKY a 10
4º 91 CONTADOR, Alberto ESP TST a 10
5º 72 CARUSO, Giampaolo ITA KAT a 10
6º 76 SPILAK, Simon SLO KAT a 10
7º 61 FUGLSANG, Jacob DEN AST a 21
8º 128 WEENING, Pieter NED OGE a 21
9º 55 HERRADA, José ESP MOV a 21
10º 83 BETANCUR, Carlos Alberto COL ALM a 21
11º 191 BAGOT, Yohann FRA COF a 21
12º 102 ULISSI, Diego ITA LAM a 22
13º 1 SÁNCHEZ, Samuel ESP EUS a 26
14º 81 PERAUD, Jean-Christophe FRA ALM a 26

Impressive by Weening. Talansky lost 53 seconds and Pinot 65 seconds. Disappointed with that.

blazing_saddles

Pais Vasco is more about shorter steeper climbs than any other race.
Comes with their terrain.
I think it makes for an interesting battle between the GT mountain goats
and the one day puncheurs getting ready for the Ardennes races.
A fair mix in the finish today.

Having said that, I don't think the old Bertie would have been AWOL at the finish.

DeadCalm

frenchfighter wrote:

JTL and Dombrowski smoked I think.

Neither on the provisional results which currently go as far as Rujano in 65th at over 4 minutes.

alihisgreat

DeadCalm wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

JTL and Dombrowski smoked I think.

Neither on the provisional results which currently go as far as Rujano in 65th at over 4 minutes.

Dombrowski is a 21 year old neo-pro so nothing surprising there - he was also tweeting about getting over being sick too.

https://twitter.com/JoeDombro/status/319366309601234944

"Day 3 in Basque Country. Starting to get over being sick and the sun is out. Looking forward to another day. Beautiful part of the world." @JoeDombro

inkyfingers

DeadCalm wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

JTL and Dombrowski smoked I think.

Neither on the provisional results which currently go as far as Rujano in 65th at over 4 minutes.

Surely just worker bees today?

Sounds like last 5k are worth watching today. Good to see Henao getting another win, Sky actually seem to be doing quite well at spreading the wins around the team a bit this year, hopefully Henao and Uran will show themselves in the Ardennes classics this year.

If tomorrow follows this pattern it looks like a GC battle between Porte and Contador in the TT, on current form i'd bet on Porte as Contador seems some way off his very best at this point in the year, sure he'll be 100% come July.