Vuelta stage 8 *****Spoilers*****

thegibdog

Nice, straight sprint from Bouhanni...

Art Vandelay

Over head shots - Bouhanni definitely clear.

The_Boy

Just realised I backed bouhanni + 1.5 stages. Makes up for him losing twice when I backed him for the win.

woody1545

Did anyone fancy GC types lose time in the end?

The_Boy

Nobody major. Navarro list around a minute, but didn't see anyone else of now.

Pross

thegibdog wrote:

Nice, straight sprint from Bouhanni...

To be fair he started and finished in pretty much the same position near the left barrier (he just more or less touched the right barrier along the way). I've never understood why the sprinter at the front doesn't ride in a straight line, where's the benefit in moving left or right on a straight finish other than disrupting others :?

Good work by Kiri and Kennaugh to set things up for the echelon. Pete's turn was impressive, 65kph to real string it out and create the little gaps ready for OPQS to widen the breach. Shame no favourite got caught out though and lucky Quintana and Valverde were awake to it as most of their team seemed to miss out.

SCR Pedro

Someone tell me it was a yawn-fest. I only caught the end interview, and Eurosport aren't showing any highlights this evening. Instead we get a billion hours of bullshit tennis. Makes me wonder why I paid for Eurosport Player .

The_Boy

Pross wrote:

thegibdog wrote:

Nice, straight sprint from Bouhanni...

. I've never understood why the sprinter at the front doesn't ride in a straight line, where's the benefit in moving left or right on a straight finish other than disrupting others :? .

Trying to shake people from their wheel perhaps? Obviously I'm not a sprinter. No doubt the reality is that some sprinters struggle to keep to a straight line.

blazing_saddles

The_Boy wrote:

Degwnkolb to put on a complaint just to spite bouhanni?

So that his biggest rival for the points jersey is given the win?
Don't think so.

Nothing much wrong I thought. Matthews was never going to get there.
These sprints are getting mighty sensitive for some folks.
Soon have to give them all lanes like on an athletics track.

The_Boy

Blazing Saddles wrote:

The_Boy wrote:

Degwnkolb to put on a complaint just to spite bouhanni?

So that his biggest rival for the points jersey is given the win?
Don't think so.

Nothing much wrong I thought. Matthews was never going to get there.
These sprints are getting mighty sensitive for some folks.
Soon have to give them all lanes like on an athletics track.

I wasn't being serious, you silly sausage

frenchfighter

Yes good job Bouhanni. Pleased Degenkolb didnt win.

Nice crosswind action there instigated by Contador's team. Quintana getting dropped was a bit scary but glad GShim had a reason to close the gap. Valverde said he had no idea he was dropped. Valverde doing a great job of being at the head of the peloton as he should.

-

“It was pretty frightening, I twice had the same feeling [of a slow puncture], even after changing a wheel,” Contador said in response to questions - but only after he had given teammate Daniele Benatti a huge hug at the finish. “He looked after me so well today in the echelons, he’s like a life insurance,” Contador said. “He’s not called Bennati, he’s called ‘locomotive’.” he joked.

Pross

frenchfighter wrote:

Yes good job Bouhanni. Pleased Degenkolb didnt win.

Nice crosswind action there instigated by Contador's team. Quintana getting dropped was a bit scary but glad GShim had a reason to close the gap. Valverde said he had no idea he was dropped. Valverde doing a great job of being at the head of the peloton as he should.

-

“It was pretty frightening, I twice had the same feeling [of a slow puncture], even after changing a wheel,” Contador said in response to questions - but only after he had given teammate Daniele Benatti a huge hug at the finish. “He looked after me so well today in the echelons, he’s like a life insurance,” Contador said. “He’s not called Bennati, he’s called ‘locomotive’.” he joked.

Hey? When did Kiri and Pete join Tinkoff??

Mad_Malx

frenchfighter wrote:

Valverde said he had no idea he was dropped.

Yeh, right.

I don't follow racing anything like as much you, but I really struggle with the love for Valverde.
I've very seldom seen him do anything admirable (his win the other day was possibly the only one I've seen).
Sure, he is tenacious, but I can't imagine Quintana believing he is going to provide support. He will only ride for himself, even if drops off the GC.

above_the_cows

What what, there were ECHELONS!!!!!!! and I missed them?

Damn real life.

BelgianBeerGeek

Yes ATC, echelons. Kind of.

I thought Bohanni was a wee bit naughty until I saw the replays on ITV4. He was away and nearly caught, but it wasn't that close. Superb win, especially when you watch him lurking. Name-checked M Soupe too, which was nice.

frenchfighter

frenchfighter

“The final worked out the way I wanted it to up until about 15-25metres to go,” Matthews, who won stage three earlier this week, said to the Orica website.

“Mitch (Docker) gave me a good lead out to string the bunch out so I didn’t get swamped, then Bouhanni hit out from about 200m and I got on his wheel.

“I went to come around him but unfortunately a small movement in the final when you are going that speed washes off a lot of speed. I had to stop pedaling when he gave the little flick but that’s racing.

“We wanted to see what the commissaires said. We thought it was a bit touch and go but it’s their opinion that counts and we can only try."

“Unfortunately they made the decision, I was second place and we have to go with that.”

Sport director Neil Stephens said the result was frustrating but that the team would immediately turn their attention to the ext opportunity.

“The race organisers had already asked the commissaires to review the finish when I arrived. I reviewed it with them and in my mind it confirmed our doubts,” Stephens said.

“They were split two against two as to what the decision should be. In the end they said it was a difficult decision but that they would award the stage to Bouhanni.

“That’s racing, it’s a difficult decision and we just have to respect the commissaires. We will just fight to win a stage another day.”

frenchfighter

mulletmaster

Anybody found a gif of the finish? Missed the stage today and I'd love to see the sprint.

RichN95.

mulletmaster wrote:

Anybody found a gif of the finish? Missed the stage today and I'd love to see the sprint.

Last 2km

http://www.steephill.tv/players/youtube ... qA&yr=2014

Steephill is always the place to look for clips.

gsk82

frenchfighter wrote:

Looks like a broken collarbone.

antsmithmk

gsk82 wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Looks like a broken collarbone.

He doesn't look natural on the bike does he? Very awkward. Almost makes Froome look like a natural. Notice the figure on the lever too... A sign of a nervous man.

dsoutar

BelgianBeerGeek wrote:

Yes ATC, echelons. Kind of.

I thought Bohanni was a wee bit naughty until I saw the replays on ITV4. He was away and nearly caught, but it wasn't that close. Superb win, especially when you watch him lurking. Name-checked M Soupe too, which was nice.

I had to laugh when he said he didn't know Matthews was there. Looked worse head on versus the overhead. A fair result but another half a wheel forwards from Matthews and Bouhanni would have had a DQ for a move like that. The intent was there which isn't great to see but I guess that's sprinters for you

specialgueststar

I thought it was Tom Boonen who declared the first echelon -like the hunter who knows just the right time to strike

classic echelons are always preceded by a change in pace to string the peloton out - Lil Pete did that - at the optimum moment Boonen waggled his finger and the mysterious echelons formed - the overhead shots make it seem like a weather phenomenon - storm clouds forming and dying - Evans worked his team hard - as it turned out - for little avail

G Soupe although I prefer JAWS

Anonymous

antsmithmk wrote:

gsk82 wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Looks like a broken collarbone.

He doesn't look natural on the bike does he? Very awkward. Almost makes Froome look like a natural. Notice the figure on the lever too... A sign of a nervous man.

He's looking awfully big here, considering his normal size.

joelsim

Mad_Malx wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

Valverde said he had no idea he was dropped.

Yeh, right.

I don't follow racing anything like as much you, but I really struggle with the love for Valverde.
I've very seldom seen him do anything admirable (his win the other day was possibly the only one I've seen).
Sure, he is tenacious, but I can't imagine Quintana believing he is going to provide support. He will only ride for himself, even if drops off the GC.

To be fair he did in last year's tour after he lost loads of time.

iainf72

I believe Valverde isn't that popular with his peers. Make of that what you will (unlike say J-Rod, Bert or Froome)

deejay

RichN95 wrote:

Last 2km

http://www.steephill.tv/players/youtube ... qA&yr=2014

Opinion. :?:
Nacer Bouhanni isn't looking where he's going most of the time as he spends more time looking under his arms.
Just before the line he looks up and is surprised he has moved across the road and in that instant he loses control.
He obviously knows where Michael Matthews is but not which side of the road they are.
So my vote is it was an unintentional flick on Michael Matthews.
However I can see a likeness to Djamolidine Abdoujaparov and at other times a bit of Mark Cavendish.

frenchfighter

Macaloon

SpecialGuestStar wrote:

I thought it was Tom Boonen who declared the first echelon -like the hunter who knows just the right time to strike

classic echelons are always preceded by a change in pace to string the peloton out - Lil Pete did that - at the optimum moment Boonen waggled his finger and the mysterious echelons formed - the overhead shots make it seem like a weather phenomenon - storm clouds forming and dying - Evans worked his team hard - as it turned out - for little avail

Lovely stuff. The brutal cull of the weakest to sever the cord. Real drama.