Vuelta stage 17: "Climbing the Cliff" *spoiler*

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Comments

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Froome grovelling back on!
  • topper_harley
    topper_harley Posts: 597
    And chaves attacks and they drop froome again
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Froome cooked?
  • norvernrob
    norvernrob Posts: 1,448
    edited September 2016
    Amazed people on here were saying Froome still had a chance. He hasn't taken a second out of Quintana on any stage yet, where is he going to find minutes apart from something in the TT.

    Incredible guts again from him though.
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 21,907
    Top 4 finish together. Contador looking most lively across the line, but no points for that.
  • philwint
    philwint Posts: 763
    jesus that looked hard
    Phil

    www.philwinterbourne.co.uk
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    NorvernRob wrote:
    Amazed people on here were saying Froome still had a chance. He hasn't taken a second out of Quintana on any stage yet, where is he going to find minutes apart from something in the TT.

    Incredible guts again from him though.
    Sometimes riders just crack. Quintana is not immune from it. It's unlikely though.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 21,907
    RichN95 wrote:
    NorvernRob wrote:
    Amazed people on here were saying Froome still had a chance. He hasn't taken a second out of Quintana on any stage yet, where is he going to find minutes apart from something in the TT.

    Incredible guts again from him though.
    Sometimes riders just crack. Quintana is not immune from it. It's unlikely though.

    Sometimes they crash into snow banks as well.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    edited September 2016
    Talansky is now 6th. No, me neither
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • bigmat
    bigmat Posts: 5,134
    Froome hasn't really needed to attack until his big loss the other day though, he was just happy to sit within a minute knowing he'd win it in the TT. I suspect that he is pretty knackered at the end of a long season, but if he can take 2 minutes plus in the TT (which I doubt, to be honest) then we might be in for a cracker of a final mountain top finish.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/41991871@N ... otostream/
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
    Well, that climb delivered as much as expected: nothing.
    An absolutely useless, overly steep big lump.

    Since the announcement of the team folding, IAM can't stop winning.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • norvernrob
    norvernrob Posts: 1,448
    TheBigBean wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    NorvernRob wrote:
    Amazed people on here were saying Froome still had a chance. He hasn't taken a second out of Quintana on any stage yet, where is he going to find minutes apart from something in the TT.

    Incredible guts again from him though.
    Sometimes riders just crack. Quintana is not immune from it. It's unlikely though.

    Sometimes they crash into snow banks as well.

    In Spain, in September?
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,473
    BigMat wrote:
    I suspect that he is pretty knackered at the end of a long season, but if he can take 2 minutes plus in the TT (which I doubt, to be honest) then we might be in for a cracker of a final mountain top finish.
    Don't really know if that adage applies to GT riders like Froome. They basically only do the Tour and the Dauphiné before and some minor prep races before. Hardly Valverde or Sagan in terms of work load. Just apropos of nothing.

    I'm really wondering what the point is of König riding that ahead of Froome. Sky already have 2 stage wins and even trying to attack Quintana seems more meaningful than pointless climbing ahead. If König had stayed on Froome's wheel on stage 15 he would have at least put pressure today on Quintana to chase. This seems utterly disjointed and lacking of team structure.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,253
    M.R.M. wrote:
    I'm really wondering what the point is of König riding that ahead of Froome. Sky already have 2 stage wins and even trying to attack Quintana seems more meaningful than pointless climbing ahead. If König had stayed on Froome's wheel on stage 15 he would have at least put pressure today on Quintana to chase. This seems utterly disjointed and lacking of team structure.
    But he didn't stay on Froome's wheel on stage 15. So he was just trying to win the stage. There's not much a teammate could have offered on that final climb.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    Well that was underwhelming. The climb was very steep for short periods but didn't think it was any worse than quite a few other Vuelta and Giro climbs. I think it had more of a psychological impact than physical. If anything when Froome was getting temporarily dropped it looked to be due to being under geared.
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,473
    RichN95 wrote:
    But he didn't stay on Froome's wheel on stage 15. So he was just trying to win the stage. There's not much a teammate could have offered on that final climb.
    He could have at the minimum helped bridge attacks by Contador or Chaves. Guess winning a stage is great, but as a DS I'd sign König as a domestique and thus his work for Froome would be more a reason to sign him for me than a "somewhat pointless" possible stage win when your leader is most likely out of it, but not absolutely certainly (out of it).
    Or does this just mean Sky are no longer fighting, but rather just completing the GT in case Quintana crashes?
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • davidof
    davidof Posts: 3,116
    Above The Cows wrote:
    OnYourRight wrote:
    Something tells me hypster is fat.

    I'm the same size as Emma Pooley

    Talking of whom, she rode the Stelvio leg of the Haute-Route Dolomites today for fun, right after winning the world duathlon title.
    BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
    Instagramme
  • thegibdog
    thegibdog Posts: 2,106
    M.R.M. wrote:
    RichN95 wrote:
    But he didn't stay on Froome's wheel on stage 15. So he was just trying to win the stage. There's not much a teammate could have offered on that final climb.
    He could have at the minimum helped bridge attacks by Contador or Chaves.
    Helped how?
    https://gibworth.mypixieset.com
  • m.r.m.
    m.r.m. Posts: 3,473
    By giving him a wheel to follow. I'm sure the drafting advantage isn't great, but it's better than nothing. Maybe that opens up the opportunity for Froome to attack at the very end. Froome was able to close the gaps by riding to wattage. Maybe he would have had enough to attack once at the end. I'm not saying it would have made a world of difference or anything, but this strategy doesn't seem to really be of any benefit to the team either.
    PTP Champion 2019, 2022 & 2023
  • thegibdog
    thegibdog Posts: 2,106
    There is no way that giving Froome a wheel to follow would have made enough of a difference to enable him to attack. König couldn't have made any difference to the GC race today, so a stage win (which he should've had if he'd ridden the climb more aggressively) would have been the best possible outcome for him and the team.
    https://gibworth.mypixieset.com
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,143
    Gesink put out average 453w for 16 minutes up that climb. That's quite a big number.
  • bobmcstuff
    bobmcstuff Posts: 11,435
    Definitely doping then.
  • DeVlaeminck
    DeVlaeminck Posts: 9,104
    thegibdog wrote:
    There is no way that giving Froome a wheel to follow would have made enough of a difference to enable him to attack. König couldn't have made any difference to the GC race today, so a stage win (which he should've had if he'd ridden the climb more aggressively) would have been the best possible outcome for him and the team.

    I wondered if perhaps Konig had left too much in the tank too - he did seem to close quite fast towards the end.

    Today does suggest that the only way Froome is getting close to Quintana is if the Colombian has a crash or some other misfortune - he doesn't look anywhere near getting time back on the climbs and I can't imagine Movistar letting Sky pull the kind of stunt that was pulled on them the other day. The TT should favour Froome but he doesn't look fresh and without a realistic (famous last words) chance of pulling the time back you wonder if he'll have the motivation to put in one of his best performances.
    [Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]
  • thchris1958
    thchris1958 Posts: 117
    OnYourRight wrote:
    I saw that. Anyone know his reason? The fight seems to have gone out of him since he abandoned the Tour in a good position. He’s a bit of an enigma.

    from Velonews:

    “The bad news is that we lost Tejay,” said BMC Racing sport director Valerio Piva. “He was not good at the start of the stage, and he was immediately dropped.”




    “He came into the Vuelta without the best preparation, and we were hoping day by day that he would be better,” Piva said. “I think the fatigue [set in], and the day after the rest day is always a difficult time for him. That is disappointing for him, but that is the race, and we need to stay concentrated on the other team goals that we can achieve.”
  • Richmond Racer 2
    Richmond Racer 2 Posts: 4,698
    Froome doesn't look like he has the legs to do anything special in the last few days of this race. Looks like he's clinging on for dear life right now.

    If he manages to keep 2nd by end-Sat, a back to back Tour win + 2nd place in the Vuelta isn't exactly a bad season tbf
  • hypster
    hypster Posts: 1,229
    Richmond Racer 2 wrote:
    Froome doesn't look like he has the legs to do anything special in the last few days of this race. Looks like he's clinging on for dear life right now.

    If he manages to keep 2nd by end-Sat, a back to back Tour win + 2nd place in the Vuelta isn't exactly a bad season tbf

    I agree, I thought he looked very jaded at the Olympics and his TT performance there doesn't bode well for Friday. Given that Quintana has the incentive and Froome doesn't, I'd be surprised if Froome takes more than 1:30 out of Quintana anyway.

    Then there's no way that Froome can make up the extra two minutes on the final stage based on how he looks now. All Movistar/Quintana have to do really is mark Froome on the final stage but if Contador or Chaves go up the road then Quintana will go after them with Froome struggling to keep up, a repeat performance of yesterday's stage really.
  • timoid.
    timoid. Posts: 3,133
    Well that stage was underwhelming. Vuelta needs to rethink its parcours.
    It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 7,557
    Very dull end. Those stupidly steep climbs are just too hard for anyone to sustain any sort of attack.
  • hypster
    hypster Posts: 1,229
    Imagine the race we would have had now if Froome/Sky hadn't been half asleep on stage 15? Quintana might still have taken say 50 seconds out of Froome on that final climb for a lead of 1:44. Game on.
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    davidof wrote:
    Above The Cows wrote:
    OnYourRight wrote:
    Something tells me hypster is fat.

    I'm the same size as Emma Pooley

    Talking of whom, she rode the Stelvio leg of the Haute-Route Dolomites today for fun, right after winning the world duathlon title.

    The woman is immense!
    Correlation is not causation.

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