Vuelta 2014 Stage 15 *Spoilers*

adr82

No tA Doctor wrote:

RichN95 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Three idiots and they even speak the same langauge. If they worked together, they could have dropped Froome by a couple of minutes and he would be out of the podium games... instead they played and achieved nothing... no stage, no time, nothing...
They are seasoned riders and should know better

I don't think they like each other though. I think they'd all rather Froome won than one of the others.

Contador was reeking of desperation to put time into Froome. No surprise the others just sat in and let him try. They can play him like that again and again and pull time from the bonuses.

Certainly sounds like he's worried about Froome:

“We didn’t work together at a point when it was vital to try to distance him,” Contador said afterwards. “This was a really good opportunity and even if I did manage to get some time, it could have been more.”

“At the same time, I was watching Valverde and Rodriguez, they’re very fast in the sprints. But Froome is, for me, the strongest rider I’ve ever come across in my career. Between here and Santiago we’ll see how big an opportunity it was that we’ve lost.”

From here.

mm1

We've not seen Froome ride like this since his breakthrough in 2011, its obvious that he's lacking top end which is why he's riding conservatively. Its also obvious that Contador is below par and can't make a decisive move. I can't see Contador cracking and losing the race, but I can't see him putting it beyond doubt either. How well Froome recovers will determine the outcome, I hope he's on his way up but I'm not convinced. Contador's comments show that Valverde and Purito are almost an irrelevance.

ugo.santalucia

Blazing Saddles wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

phreak wrote:

Is he riding into form though? There are still enough stages for him to claw back that time, but he'd need much better form than he currently has.

There is only tomorrow and the penultimate stage... the rest is easy stuff and the final TT... well, you can put 10-20 seconds into an opponent in 9 Km

Erhmm......

500 metres elevation... is that a climb?

RichN95.

ugo.santalucia wrote:

500 metres elevation... is that a climb?

It's no Angliru but with narrow margins and time bonuses it can't be ignored.

DeVlaeminck

Did Froome ride conservatively today or did he just lack the legs to follow whenever they accelerated and then came back when they started playing cat and mouse ? It's one thing not going immediately with every acceleration but if the front three had decided to work together Froome would have been buried today - I think he battled well to limit his losses, I'm not convinced it's a predetermined tactic.

danlikesbikes

Don't know but I think it might be partly his tactic to deal with 3 riders that can happily ride and change the pace so quickly which doesn't seem to suit him.

Yes his form does not seem to be quite there yet, but even in winning form he never seems comfortable with lots of changes of pace rather just apply himself to his limit.

Pross

iainf72 wrote:

Macaloon wrote:

^ High-altitude chess/high-stakes poker hybrid: a sensational sport at times.

Froome is playing chess - Has a strategy and is following it. Bert is playing Whack-A-Mole. See's Froome, tries to attack. Completely reactionary and not very effective.

Is there much more of the stupid steep stuff? Not looked at the route much yet

This. Froome seems to have somehow got into Bertie's head. The sensible thing would have been to watch his main rivals and maybe put in one big attack but he seemed more concerned with trying to make sure Froome was always riding catch up. Froome seems to be doing the cycling equivalent of Ali's 'rope a dope'. I reckon he's going to put in a big attack on the final climb tomorrow and gain some decent time after the others 'turned themselves inside out' for the last two days.

DeVlaeminck

Contador is concerned about Froome because as he says Froome is the strongest opponent he ridden against in his career. Surely the sensible thing is to make sure Froome doesn't close the gap further - he probably calculates that at worst he can match the other two in the mountains bar the sprints for bonus seconds and take a little bit back off them in the time trial.

To me Contador got it about right today, as did Froome, the riders who didn't were Valverde and Rodriguez. They could have either attacked and tested Contador out a bit earlier or cooperated and buried Froome - as neither really attacked Contador with much conviction why not just put Froome out of the picture ?

RichN95.

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Did Froome ride conservatively today or did he just lack the legs to follow whenever they accelerated and then came back when they started playing cat and mouse ? It's one thing not going immediately with every acceleration but if the front three had decided to work together Froome would have been buried today - I think he battled well to limit his losses, I'm not convinced it's a predetermined tactic.

We just don't know. Tomorrow will tell us. I tend to agree with you, but he's never had the acceleration the other three have had. He wins by riding stronger for longer. A trip over four cat 1 mountains tomorrow should suit him.

However, if he does come out all guns blazing and lands a big blow on the others it will go down as one of the best tactical coups I have seen - a long con worthy of Mickey Bricks on Hustle.

frenchfighter

Arredondo quits.

Contador said he would have made the difference had he been on his own. He spoke to Valverde but nothing transpired. JRod was changing the pace up a lot. First time I have heard him confident about his shape - says he feels very good and is happy.

Niemiec hasnt a contract for next year so hopes this ride will help his chances.

Martin fell down a ravine today and had to scramble out with the help of spectators. He said Hesjedal saved him - that guy is pretty bloody brilliant at burying himself.

JRod says he doesnt know what Contador was up to and hopea there is more collaboration and he can win tomorrow. He said Valverde did great as he is suffering but took time and his stages come later this week.

Valverde said he didn't trust Contador or JRod today so was happy to wait and grab bonus seconds. He refers to tomorrow as hellish.

35th rider over 10mins back and PK last man home at over 30mins back.

frenchfighter

Watching it back all I can say is thank goodness Contador is in the race. V and J can say all they like but it was all Contador today and they are total wheelsuckers just like 2012. I hope Contador demolishes them tomorrow.

blazing_saddles

frenchfighter wrote:

Watching it back all I can say is thank goodness Contador is in the race. V and J can say all they like but it was all Contador today and they are total wheelsuckers just like 2012. I hope Contador demolishes them tomorrow.

Good to see that you now agree with the rest of us.

ugo.santalucia

DeVlaeminck wrote:

To me Contador got it about right today, as did Froome, the riders who didn't were Valverde and Rodriguez. They could have either attacked and tested Contador out a bit earlier or cooperated and buried Froome - as neither really attacked Contador with much conviction why not just put Froome out of the picture ?

Exactly... I don't expect much in the way of brain activity from Purito, but Valverde has made a career out of exploiting others' weaknesses and yesterday should have worked with Contador

Paul 8v

frenchfighter wrote:

Watching it back all I can say is thank goodness Contador is in the race. V and J can say all they like but it was all Contador today and they are total wheelsuckers just like 2012. I hope Contador demolishes them tomorrow.

I had a little chuckle when J Rod flicked his elbow for Valverde to do a turn, not a chance in hell unless he was 10m from the finish. Makes Gerrans look like a solo breakaway specialist!