Itzulia Basque Country 2021 ***Spoilers***

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  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 26,262
    Roglic is depressingly impressive.
  • jam1e
    jam1e Posts: 1,068
    I'd forgotten how much I hate roadside fans ****ing about at the side of the road.
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 6,932
    Pog, Roglic, Old man Valverde, A Yates, Landa
  • jam1e
    jam1e Posts: 1,068
    Considering Roglic has struggled a bit with GT durability could racing this hard this early be considered a bit unwise?
  • roscoe
    roscoe Posts: 465
    So basically, if you want to win a race, don't enter one that Pog or Rog have entered?

    Is this why SDB says he wants the Grenadiers to be more fun, he knows they can't go head to head with the young guns?
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,815
    roscoe said:

    So basically, if you want to win a race, don't enter one that Pog or Rog have entered?

    Is this why SDB says he wants the Grenadiers to be more fun, he knows they can't go head to head with the young guns?

    Primoz thanks you for the flattery; he’s 31. ;)
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,157
    jam1e said:

    Some bottles thrown by the front 4?


    Maybe, I didn't see it myself. But it's worth noting that it's not a DQ in a stage race
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • andyp
    andyp Posts: 10,114
    RichN95. said:

    jam1e said:

    Some bottles thrown by the front 4?


    Maybe, I didn't see it myself. But it's worth noting that it's not a DQ in a stage race
    It can be. Do it three times in one stage race and you're out. (You get fined for offences one and two).
  • jam1e
    jam1e Posts: 1,068
    I wonder if that explains some of the confusion which seems to be present in minds of the race officials regarding who does and doesn't get kicked out?
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,815
    edited April 2021
    I saw several riders fling bottles at the start of the climb, but I also someone who might well have been an official holding out a non-Basque, red flag.
    Let's face it, we know how dumb the UCI can be, but even they must have realised that riders were going to want to discard any excess weight before tackling a final climb with those gradients.

    Meanwhile, the CPA aren't prepared to take things lying down.

    https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/riders-fight-against-punishment-for-throwing-bottles-to-roadside-fans/
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • gsk82
    gsk82 Posts: 3,470
    The AG2R guy was spraying his water away instead of throwing the bottle just before the climb
    "Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,815
    edited April 2021
    It might be a fair way from the finish, but I can see Pogacar lighting the blue touch paper again, with the final climb's explosive potential.



    But first just a dash of San Sebastian.



    Before the Slovenian launch pad.


    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • roscoe
    roscoe Posts: 465
    blazing_saddles said:

    roscoe said:

    So basically, if you want to win a race, don't enter one that Pog or Rog have entered?

    Is this why SDB says he wants the Grenadiers to be more fun, he knows they can't go head to head with the young guns?

    Primoz thanks you for the flattery; he’s 31. ;)
    🤣 good point
  • gsk82
    gsk82 Posts: 3,470
    roscoe said:

    blazing_saddles said:

    roscoe said:

    So basically, if you want to win a race, don't enter one that Pog or Rog have entered?

    Is this why SDB says he wants the Grenadiers to be more fun, he knows they can't go head to head with the young guns?

    Primoz thanks you for the flattery; he’s 31. ;)
    🤣 good point
    I think it's Rich who likes to point out that he's older than Quintana.
    "Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 26,262
    Climb finishes 20km from the finish, but 15km is descending, so should be a fun finish.
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,864
    Those two are a different level ...
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,157
    mididoctors said:

    Those two are a different level ...


    At the moment....
    I remain unconvinced by Roglic's Tour de France credentials. He consistently fades in the third week in GTs.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,864
    RichN95. said:

    mididoctors said:

    Those two are a different level ...


    At the moment....
    I remain unconvinced by Roglic's Tour de France credentials. He consistently fades in the third week in GTs.
    He has that hanging over him
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,864
    The guy has won the vuelta twice
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,157
    I know I'm labelled a Froome fanboy by some (hello Rick), but I there really wouldn't be a better story in cycling than him getting back to close to his old self and challenging the new generation*


    *Roglic is older than Quintana
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,864
    Froome won me over after that giro but frankly he needs a miracle now to be match fit by July
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,157
    mididoctors said:

    The guy has won the vuelta twice


    Last time out he needed Movistar to save him from Carapaz beating him. Put the TT on the last weekend and attack him in the last week and those bonifications aren't going to be enough.
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 16,864
    RichN95. said:

    mididoctors said:

    The guy has won the vuelta twice


    Last time out he needed Movistar to save him from Carapaz beating him. Put the TT on the last weekend and attack him in the last week and those bonifications aren't going to be enough.
    Everyone gets help 🤔😉
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • gsk82
    gsk82 Posts: 3,470
    RichN95. said:

    mididoctors said:

    The guy has won the vuelta twice


    Last time out he needed Movistar to save him from Carapaz beating him. Put the TT on the last weekend and attack him in the last week and those bonifications aren't going to be enough.
    He was never losing the vuelta, even without a bit of help from movistar.

    He did crumble in the final TT of the 2018 tour when I thought he'd push Froome for the podium though.
    "Unfortunately these days a lot of people don’t understand the real quality of a bike" Ernesto Colnago
  • jam1e
    jam1e Posts: 1,068
    I watched that final stage of the vuelta and movistar definitely helped him out.

    Whether through spite or coincidence is another matter but he could very easily have lost that.

    (It was spite)
  • Dorset_Boy
    Dorset_Boy Posts: 6,932
    RichN95. said:

    mididoctors said:

    The guy has won the vuelta twice


    Last time out he needed Movistar to save him from Carapaz beating him. Put the TT on the last weekend and attack him in the last week and those bonifications aren't going to be enough.
    Don't forget that last year's Vuelta didn't have 21 stages, and he only won due to the time bonuses and was on the ropes on the penultimate stage. Carapaz rode the Vuelta in less time than Roglic. Had Roglic had the extra missing stages in his legs he may have crumbled further.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 72,734
    blazing_saddles said:

    I saw several riders fling bottles at the start of the climb, but I also someone who might well have been an official holding out a non-Basque, red flag.
    Let's face it, we know how dumb the UCI can be, but even they must have realised that riders were going to want to discard any excess weight before tackling a final climb with those gradients.

    Meanwhile, the CPA aren't prepared to take things lying down.

    https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/riders-fight-against-punishment-for-throwing-bottles-to-roadside-fans/

    https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/trentin-hits-back-at-rider-criticism-of-uci-super-tuck-ban/
    _
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,157
    edited April 2021
    gsk82 said:

    RichN95. said:

    mididoctors said:

    The guy has won the vuelta twice


    Last time out he needed Movistar to save him from Carapaz beating him. Put the TT on the last weekend and attack him in the last week and those bonifications aren't going to be enough.
    He was never losing the vuelta, even without a bit of help from movistar.

    He did crumble in the final TT of the 2018 tour when I thought he'd push Froome for the podium though.

    Roglic had a 45s lead going into the last major stage. It had reduced to 15s by the time he managed to follow Movistar's wheels

    Roglic also faded in the 2019 Giro. He was only 10th in the final TT - behind Nibali
    Twitter: @RichN95
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 26,262
    The last climb is where Yates, Bernal and Landa got dropped in San Sebastian 2019 with 70km to go.
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 21,815
    rick_chasey said:

    blazing_saddles said:

    I saw several riders fling bottles at the start of the climb, but I also someone who might well have been an official holding out a non-Basque, red flag.
    Let's face it, we know how dumb the UCI can be, but even they must have realised that riders were going to want to discard any excess weight before tackling a final climb with those gradients.

    Meanwhile, the CPA aren't prepared to take things lying down.

    https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/riders-fight-against-punishment-for-throwing-bottles-to-roadside-fans/

    https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/trentin-hits-back-at-rider-criticism-of-uci-super-tuck-ban/
    I get the feeling that when the riders demanded the UCI improved race safety, they didn't realise that might also mean they would be forced into change too.
    I also get the feeling that this rule was the UCI getting their own back on the riders for the "inconvenience."
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.

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