Miguel Ángel Lopez Discussion Thread

[Blanco]

Posted halfway through the Giro there was a chance lopez could get on the podium - He hung on well without ever looking to be in top form, and was lucky in stage 19. because if Dumoulin/Pinot drilled the last km of Finestre, he would have finished in the Pozzovivo group.

Wasn't close to the last kilometer in Finestre when Pinot had a flat?
How were they going to drill it?
Even if they had the strength I don't know what stopped them having Froome within a minute. In fact they were drilling it before the puncture just because they needed to catch Froome. I just don't understand the comment.

Lopez was in trouble from before halfway through the climb - Riding a faster tempo would have dropped Lopez for good - And maybe if Carapaz helped he would have won the white jersey.

They rode the fastest tempo they could, they were chasing Froome, remember?

[Bot. Sky_Bot]

It's a shame that with such approach he is at podium.
It wasn't exciting Lopez, I'm so disappointed by his overall performance.
I'm not Movistar fan, but yesterday after Pinot's troubles, hoped Carapaz will be 3rd.

[Ruudz0r]

I think people are a bit too critical here, Lopez did try several attacks in this race, for example he attacked on Etna (twice I think) but had no legs, he attacked on Prato Nevoso and stayed away from the GC guys, he attacked on Jafferau and there were some other (small) attacks. I dont think he had the climbing level of the Vuelta 2017 (and/or the competition was harder) and thus it was less spectaculair, besides that he might have had a bit more wiggle room in the Vuelta than here in the Giro. I do think his race was fine though, not working in the finestre stage was very obvious for me especially with him just being able to hold on at finestre, and riding the last stage defensively with Pinot already gone was very logical as well.

[barmaher]

There was no reason from a GC perspective for Lopez to work with Dumoulin. His rival for the white jersey was in the group, and his rivals for a podium were in the group. His priority was defending white, and that is what he did.

That said, he won't be able to expect much of a dig out from Dumoulin in future races where he needs help. It is important to be popular in the peloton. Contador has benefitted from this a few times.

[staubsauger]

There was no reason from a GC perspective for Lopez to work with Dumoulin. His rival for the white jersey was in the group, and his rivals for a podium were in the group. His priority was defending white, and that is what he did.

That said, he won't be able to expect much of a dig out from Dumoulin in future races where he needs help. It is important to be popular in the peloton. Contador has benefitted from this a few times.

He nearly was left behind on the Finestre. If that ascend is just ~2 kilometers longer in fact he ends up in the Pozzovivo group after the descent unless he hangs onto Reichenbach. So of course he prefered to rest in the group where his big competitor for the white jersey was present to. Logically that resulted in Carapaz doing nothing as well, since he instantly looked better on the Finestre. So it wouldn't have been wise to spend energy compared to López by working with Dumoulin, Pinot and Reichenbach. I guess that's why Pinot was primarily angry with Lopez, since he was the one changing the groups dynamics in their disfavor!

[barmaher]

I agree with all of that, staubstauger. I think there would have been a happier medium with Lopez doing a couple of turns in the front, so long as Carapaz reciprocated.

[carton]

I agree with all of that, staubstauger. I think there would have been a happier medium with Lopez doing a couple of turns in the front, so long as Carapaz reciprocated.

It's a tricky one. Between Finestre and Sestriere he definitely did what he had to do, he was getting gapped on Sestriere as well.

I do think I agree that a few soft pulls were probably for the best at least between Sestriere and Jafferau, if Carapaz was willing to go for it as well. But I think that was also a DS issue. Carapaz and Lopez are both really young and have really strong directors. If they were telling them to sit, both of those guys were going to sit. So a little behind the scenes negotiating was what Sunweb would've needed to do. And I'm not sure that's a good thing.

Again, given the result, it was absolutely the right tactical play. Pinot ended up cracking anyway, and Dumoulin and Froome were too strong. In hindsight, not working was completely the right move.

And as for the peloton capital earned by helping out Dumoulin: ask Reichenbach what that's really worth. Yes, too bad for Tom that having Lopez there meant that Carapaz was not going to work and Pinot wasn't going to fully committ. But that's how it plays out some times. And that's a good thing.

I think it's a lot worse when guys start working for no reason. I can think of another Colombian saving a Giro for a popular former Champion on Finestre. As much as I enjoyed seeing Il Falco race, that I could've really done without.

[DNP-Old]

On a well deserved break right now, after that San Sebastian and Burgos before conquering La Vuelta.

[Escarabajo]

It's a shame that with such approach he is at podium.
It wasn't exciting Lopez, I'm so disappointed by his overall performance.
I'm not Movistar fan, but yesterday after Pinot's troubles, hoped Carapaz will be 3rd.

Carapaz over Lopez??
I thought they both were playing the same game!

[jfazendeiro]

The last climb of the next three stages will have at least a sector of several kilometers with an average gradient above 10%. The last three kilometers of La Camperona have a 13.2% gradient, Los Praeres have four kilometers with 12.5% and Lagos de Covadonga a sector of three kilometers with 10.9%.
The results obtained by Miguel Angél López in similar finals in last year Vuelta a España contrast with the performances obtained in climbs with gradients between 6 and 8%.

St.5 Ermita St. Lúcia, 3.7km with 8.8%. The last 2km have a 10.4% gradient
Classification: 42º +5:26 / +55s (14.86s/km) for the 1st GC contender.

St.8 Alto Xorret de Catí, 3.4km with 12.4%. The finish-line was placed 4km ahead.
Classification: 31º +1:55 / +28s (8.24s/km) for the 1st GC contender.

St.17 Los Machucos: 7.2km with 8.7%. The first 6.5km at 10.4%.
Classification: 3º +1:04 / +36s (5s/km) for the 1st GC contender.

St.20 Alto de l’Angliru: 12.5km with 9.8%.
Classification: 16º +3:56 / +3:39 (17.52s/km) for the 1st GC contender.

[Red Rick]

Muchachos and Angliru aren't really fair. On the Angliru he was dropped way before the climb started, and on Los Muchachos he was 2nd or 3rd of the GC contenders behind only Contador who went full retard like he hadn't gone in years

[Escarabajo]

Sometimes I get amused by this comparisons. This rider is good on gradients between 6 and 7% but then it gets bad between 7 and 10% but after that it is back to good.

Simple, it depends on talent and how good he is riding now.

[Escarabajo]

Congratulations on his second podium of the year.

About my comments for him at La Vuelta I have to say that probably he should have been second and closer to Yates on GC. Sometimes I felt that he didn't leave everything on the table. Maybe he was too cautious. Maybe it was also tactical errors like not working with other riders but it looked like he had more strength left at end of stages.

The first mountain stage he attacked too late costing him seconds. Last Saturday he didn't cooperate with Quintana and what it was worse he sprinted too late as well. Yesterday he attacked at the end again too late looking like he had some strength left. And finally today he realized that he had come to the end of the road for opportunities and gave it all. And that's why he is third.

[Zinoviev Letter]

I think that he made an awful lot of serious attacks in this race for a guy who got a lot of criticism for passivity. He wasn’t passive. Where the criticism was more justified though was where it focused on his decisions about when to work with others. I still have no idea why he made some of those decisions.

Still, for a guy who can’t TT, two GC podiums in two attempts is pretty damn impressive.

[SafeBet]

I think what leaves some people (including me) a bit cold about him is not the lack of attacks. It's the feeling his attacks are often half hearted, he looks back a lot and doesn't commit.
Yesterday he finally challenged his inner self and went all out. That was brave, at last, and worth a podium spot.

[PremierAndrew]

I think what leaves some people (including me) a bit cold about him is not the lack of attacks. It's the feeling his attacks are often half hearted, he looks back a lot and doesn't commit.
Yesterday he finally challenged his inner self and went all out. That was brave, at last, and worth a podium spot.

Exactly, the reason I like Yates so much is that when he attacks, he commits to it.
I honestly don't think there was much difference in strength over the three weeks between Yates and MAL. Even if MAL had played it perfectly tactically, he would probs still have lost due to their TTs but it could have been close.

But very well ridden yesterday

[Hugo Koblet]

I liked his ride yesterday. He looks kinda like an angry pitbull. However, he needs to improve his time trialing, otherwise he'll never win a Grand Tour.

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Nobody is questioning Lopez aggresiveness.

More the fact he almost never cooperates. Saturday was the first time in a long time he collaborated or worked with somebody. Often he either attacks and goes alone (fair), but most of the time when somebody catches up to him he stops immediately or only rides the wheel. That's the criticism. And he did that too often again this race. He committed in the end, which got him the podium. But if he continues to race like he did in the rest of this Vuelta he will have a hard time ever winning GT's. You need some sort of collaboration sometimes...

[Red Rick]

I liked his ride yesterday. He looks kinda like an angry pitbull. However, he needs to improve his time trialing, otherwise he'll never win a Grand Tour.

I think Lopez has more room for improvement in maximizing the gains of his good days in the mountains than improving his ITT. Obviously he should try to do both, but he'll always have to win GTs in the mountains, and for that he needs to strike when he's good.

[tristecsinamigos]

I liked his ride yesterday. He looks kinda like an angry pitbull. However, he needs to improve his time trialing, otherwise he'll never win a Grand Tour.

What is it that make him hard to improve ITT? According to PCS, he's 6 kg heavier than Simon Yates or Quintana.