2010 Vuelta al Pais Vasco

[Waterloo Sunrise]

Doesn't want the giant foot ruining all the pics of his big break

I always root for breaks to stay away, but there's an awful lot of downhill near the end, and a peloton can descend pretty quickly.

I was surprised by the time gaps yesterday, and the people who didn't make the second group. Will Thursday's stage be tough enough to shake things up a bit?

You couldn't hope for a much better pair to tackle the final hill (and almost inevitable up and down "flat" either though, to be fair. Both 9 mins down, so no real incentive to chase that hard.

 

[zapata]

Think maybe the two can stay away. Maybe. Seems windy, peloton breaking up as well.

 

[theyoungest]

Why is Rabobank doing all of the work?

To make echelons

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

That second group is tantalizingly close to getting back on. There, they're back.

 

[Moondance]

Why is Rabobank doing all of the work?

Gesink and Freire feel good I guess.

 

[Francois the Postman]

Gap coming down rapidly now

 

[Publicus]

Gesink and Freire feel good I guess.

Seems like a waste of energy. Why not force Caisse to do the work?

 

[theyoungest]

Seems like a waste of energy. Why not force Caisse to do the work?

Maybe Caisse isn't interested in winning the stage, and Rabo is?

 

[Francois the Postman]

Seems like a waste of energy. Why not force Caisse to do the work?

They probably liked the wind opportunity and judged that Caise wasn't playing along with their plans. I suspect they have people feeling good just now, one with a score to settle.

 

[Publicus]

They probably liked the wind opportunity and judged that Caise wasn't playing along with their plans. I suspect they have people feeling good just now, one with a score to settle.

Seems short sighted if their overall goal is GC, but I'm not their DS.

 

[Motion]

I think in 20 minutes they close the gap

 

[python]

looks like rabo is trying to move to and concentrate at the front

 

[Francois the Postman]

Looks like Rabo made the gap small enough to get other teams interested in the chase again. They knocked more than a minute off in a small amount of kms. I suspect they will keep an eye on the pace, if they end up on front again, they do want it more and are feeling very confident then.

Or this is one of many stages where they pulled like mad and were nowhere to be seen towards the end.

 

[Motion]

May be in 10. All teams pushing very hard.

 

[zapata]

Gap coming down rapidly now

Yes, those two minutes disappeared fast. Suppose Freire really wants to win today.

 

[theyoungest]

Seems short sighted if their overall goal is GC, but I'm not their DS.

Their goal is both GC for Gesink and stages for Freire. It would be better to ask why Saxo is working, do they have any sprinters with them?

 

[Motion]

HTC DS to Rogers: game ova

 

[Mellow Velo]

Pretty pan flat in between these climbs. Once again parcours profiles are meaningless.
Unless there's a sting in the final 3rd cat, we could have a buncho sprinto.

 

[Francois the Postman]

Seems short sighted if their overall goal is GC, but I'm not their DS.

I think they really feel like they have a double ace to play.

If they can motivate other teams from not-really-chasing to chasing by pulling a few kms in the wind, and get Freire into position again, I'd try it a few kms and see what happens. The wind is probably what triggered the decision to give it a strong go for a bit, and then see. Won't kill 'em.

 

[luckyboy]

Wow, that gap came down really quickly.

Is there any Eurosport audio about? Watching on Universal with just the sounds of helicopters and the crowd..

 

[Publicus]

Their goal is both GC for Gesink and stages for Freire. It would be better to ask why Saxo is working, do they have any sprinters with them?

I have no idea what they are doing either. All I know is that this ISN'T the way to beat Valverde.

Valiant effort by Rogers, but it's game over.

 

[Motion]

hard tempo for new attacks

 

[Publicus]

I think they really feel like they have a double ace to play.

If they can motivate other teams from not-really-chasing to chasing by pulling a few kms in the wind, and get Freire into position again, I'd try it a few kms and see what happens. The wind is probably what triggered the decision to give it a strong go for a bit, and then see. Won't kill 'em.

They've had a guy or two at the front for awhile (not a few kms). I started watching at 650AM California Time (1450 CET), and Rabobank was at the front along with Caisse.

 

[Beech Mtn]

Peloton driving hard towards this final climb

 

[Francois the Postman]

They've had a guy or two at the front for awhile (not a few kms). I started watching at 650AM California Time (1450 CET), and Rabobank was at the front along with Caisse.

Me too, but the pulling hard by the team only happened over a much shorter distance, i suspected the winds picked up and they weren't happy with the effect so far. When they stepped on it, that clock came down like Rogers had stopped racing.

They will keep a couple at the front anyway, but judging by their behaviour, what Caisse was doing, and the impact it had, obviously didn't suit them in this stage. Taking over from Caisse was apparently judged inconsequential enough for the GC, and meaningful for the stage.