valverde crash

bonk_king

Just clear this up for me guys. The commentator said after valverde went down that quintana would probably have a sly smile on his face. Why would this be? Would team orders in the movistar camp be that valverde helps pull quintana up the mountains. If this is the case then quintana has lost a valuable asset. Or would it be that quintana possibly looks on valverde as a threat because he's had such an awesome season up to now. The commentators comment has got me scratching my head.

RichN95.

There was a suspicion for many observers that Valverde would ride for himself in the Tour rather than for Quintana

Lanterne_Rogue

Valverde has a history of doing his own thing. Commentators like to show their tactical knowledge by claiming that Movistar are using Valverde to soften up the rest of the leading group. More cynical minds suspect Valverde is trying to soften up Quintana.

Quite a few people suspect Valverde was going too fast because he saw a chance to make himself de facto leader for a while, although I think that's unduly cynical - if you reckon you can go fast enough to nick a stage win you don't need to worry about team rivalries to drive you on.

joe2008

Why wasn't there any soft padding attached to the barriers on those corners for a time trial, particularly once it became apparent it would be a wet day?

blazing_saddles

joe2008 wrote:

Why wasn't there any soft padding attached to the barriers on those corners for a time trial, particularly once it became apparent it would be a wet day?

Why indeed.
The are some unconfirmed reports on twitter that are less than complimentary in regards to the ASO's efforts to ensure rider safety.
That aside, apparently a race motorcycle went down at the Valverde/Izaguirre corner, spilling some fluid (oil or fuel) making it extra slippery. This was the cause of many of the accidents that happened there.

bonk_king

I thought that in pro cycling team orders were everything. Is it possible that because of the season valverde's had so far that movistar cut him some slack and were happy for him to do his own thing knowing that if quintana failed they'd have a good plan B in valverde? Or is it more likely that valverde's sick to death of playing second fiddle to a guy who promises so much but never seems to deliver?

Lanterne_Rogue

bonk king wrote:

I thought that in pro cycling team orders were everything. Is it possible that because of the season valverde's had so far that movistar cut him some slack and were happy for him to do his own thing knowing that if quintana failed they'd have a good plan B in valverde? Or is it more likely that valverde's sick to death of playing second fiddle to a guy who promises so much but never seems to deliver?

This isn't a new thing that's only cropped up this season, if that helps? There's always been a suspicion that Valverde is working for himself rather than Quintana, and the background noise is very much that he wants to destabilise things. How true that is would be hard to tell outside of the team itself, although presumably rumours get around.

The simplest explanation - if one were needed - is that Movistar would indulge him because he's a star Spanish rider on a Spanish team.

RichN95.

It's also often mentioned that Quintana is a bit of an outsider in his own team while Valverde is everyone's friend and the team would probably prefer riding for him.

rick_chasey

Kittel can grab yellow tomorrow.

shipley

I'm gutted for him. He is class on a bike in my opinion and the tour is less interesting without him.

RichN95.

Shipley wrote:

I'm gutted for him. He is class on a bike in my opinion and the tour is less interesting without him.

And he won't even have the usual dropout consolation of a fresh run at the Vuelta

Bo Duke

The hospital was just announced that Valverde's knee operation went well and should be ok. Sean Kelly questioning to what extent he can come back from such a major injury at his age. Blah blah blah...

philbar72

pretty serious knee injury, with probable effect on his career. if he comes back from this, and can perform at the highest level I'd take my hat off to him.