Vuelta Stage 16 *Spoilers*

joelsim

The Dawg has said he's going for the win so he has to go for it. Nairo can afford to follow now. The climb on Saturday is a long one, not too steep.

blazing_saddles

Joelsim wrote:

The Dawg has said he's going for the win so he has to go for it. Nairo can afford to follow now. The climb on Saturday is a long one, not too steep.

Ay, when did he say that though, if I may ask?
(cos I haven't picked up on it again)

joelsim

Chris Froome: I am not going to stop trying
Chris Froome held station in second overall heading into the final rest day at the Vuelta a Espana, with a sprint finish deciding stage 16.

The Brit remains on the overall podium, three minutes and 37 seconds back on Nairo Quintana (Movistar), after finishing safely inside the bunch in Peniscola.

Team Sky hit the front with 10 kilometres to go to ensure Froome was well positioned, with the eventual sprint victory going the way of Jempy Drucker.

“There was a lot of talk about potential crosswinds and you could see all the teams were thinking about that,” Froome told Cyclingnews. “It was quite a nervous peloton, everyone was really on guard today and didn’t want to see a repeat of yesterday certainly.

“It was a technical run-in, so we wanted to be on the front end of it, you could see Tinkoff were thinking the same thing, they had numbers up there. But it was more about being up there and not getting caught out today.

"I’m still in second place, which obviously I’m happy about, but I am a lot further back than I was going into yesterday, so obviously that was a big blow. But that’s cycling, things can change in the blink of an eye and I’ve got to keep fighting to the end. Of course I’m not just going to give up now. It’s less possible than it was before but it doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying.

“It’s difficult to say what’s actually better out on the road. Yesterday’s stage on paper was not the hardest stage but we’ve seen the biggest gaps in the race so far. It really depends on what the riders decide and what tactics prevail.”

blazing_saddles

Ah.
Sorry, I thought you were talking about winning up that cliff, not the whole race.

joelsim

Realistically he is going to have to try to win up that cliff though, well beat Quintana handsomely though, which would be easier if Movistar haven't got a couple of riders up the road.

RichN95.

Joelsim wrote:

Realistically he is going to have to try to win up that cliff though, well beat Quintana handsomely though, which would be easier if Movistar haven't got a couple of riders up the road.

On a climb like that teammates are going to be of little use wherever they are.

larkim

It's got to be a case of getting to the bottom in the best shape you can and then soloing as you suggest with whatever you have in reserve. And if you can bring some extra "fight" to the party with your innate competitive spirit etc, perhaps that could break your opponent.

It could all come down to how much either of them really want the Vuelta win with about 2km to go; if either of them drops it mentally, they'll lose 90s or more.

blazing_saddles

RichN95 wrote:

Joelsim wrote:

Realistically he is going to have to try to win up that cliff though, well beat Quintana handsomely though, which would be easier if Movistar haven't got a couple of riders up the road.

On a climb like that teammates are going to be of little use wherever they are.

Well, the could be at the finish to throw down a rope...