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2011 Vuelta a España, Stage 19: Noja - Bilbao (158,5km)

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Jul 24, 2010
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Sky were just a domestique short on the final climb. The plan seemed to be to get any gap over Cobo at the top, and then make it man v man on the descent and flat. Unfortunately there was still 20 or so riders there to chase them. Had Froome gone any earlier it would have ended the same.
 
sultanofhyd said:
But Sky could have brought the break back and let Froome and Cobo sprint it out for the stage/seconds, see if Froome had it in him for a sprint of just a few seconds.

Yes, that's true of course.

But again, this climb was hard enough to get a sufficient margin at the top. The thing is, you need to have the legs... and Froome hasn't been able to get real time from Cobo on the mountains in the whole Vuelta.
 
el chava said:
Great stage. And about time the Vuelta decided to go back where the real fans are.

I like the expression when Anton rides, the "grinta" style face.

Well, it wasn't only the Vuelta's fault, there are/were some problems in the region ;) It's exactly Giro Padonia story. Even now there were people saying that this was just another try of the Basque government to integrate with Spain.
 
Jul 26, 2011
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Arnout said:
Well, it wasn't only the Vuelta's fault, there are/were some problems in the region ;) It's exactly Giro Padonia story. Even now there were people saying that this was just another try of the Basque government to integrate with Spain.

This is not like Padonia at all! But let's not have that discussion in this thread :).
 
sultanofhyd said:
But Sky could have brought the break back and let Froome and Cobo sprint it out for the stage/seconds, see if Froome had it in him for a sprint of just a few seconds.

I don't think Sky could have brought it back. Lokvist was burned out when Anton still had a 1:30 lead. Not sure what Sky's tactics were though. Bradley seemed to be soft pedalling for a while. I guess it might have been a combination of trying to allow a few guys up front to bridge up to and use the crowd (I guess they checked that out on the first lap). Anyway, it didn't work out and Cobo was pretty much glued to Froome's wheel. Looks like game over, insert coin unless there's a howling side wind on the finishing plateau tomorrow.

p.s. Great win for Anton on home turf. At least that gets a :)
 
Aug 1, 2009
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Wow , great stage, great fans and good ride by Igor, Froome should have attacked earlier but i guess he didn't has the legs of Peña Cabarga.

Euskaltel saves the year winning stages in the Giro, Tour and Vuelta.
 
Forunculo said:
Sky fool tactics all the Vuelta. First political with Wiggins and now bad lecture about the race.

Tactics only get you so far. The race is ultimately a test of who is faster (If sky were stronger there would be more of them in the group, they would TTT faster, ect.). I think everyone can live with the fact that Froome just is not strong enough to overtake Cobo. No need to over complicate things
 
Mar 14, 2010
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Was hoping Anton could hold on! Loved the stage purely for joy the carrots would feel if they won. Amazing crowds on a Cat 2. Picked a few quotes that i add +1!!

The Hitch said:
That was what is called a "moment of awesomeness"

The Basque fans are just the greatest.

The only thing missing was Anton going to both sides and clapping the hands of the fans while rolling in.

Magic stage.


Descender said:
Great stuff from the Basque Antón and the Basques. Today is a great day for cycling.

boomcie said:
Totally awesome. That must have been an incredibly nice feeling at the finish for him.

Once again: pure class.

El Pistolero said:
There couldn't have been a better winner today. Tomorrow that guy with the weird name without any pro victories!

EderShamir said:
Amazing day, always loved Euskaltel and the Basque fans, truly the greatest ones! Hopefully the Vuelta will come to Bilbao again next year, but with Anton wearing the Red Jersey.
 
May 3, 2010
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More Strides than Rides said:
Tactics only get you so far. The race is ultimately a test of who is faster (If sky were stronger there would be more of them in the group, they would TTT faster, ect.). I think everyone can live with the fact that Froome just is not strong enough to overtake Cobo. No need to over complicate things

think the ttt is a sore point by sky at the moment.
 

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